* This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Chuck E. Cheese’s . The opinions and text are all mine.
A couple of months ago Chuck E. Cheese’s approached me about throwing a party at one of their locations in order to review their new birthday party options. As any of my regular readers know, I am usually an elaborate homemade themed party thrower, so I hesitated for just a brief moment. But, as my regular readers also know, my health has not been great this year, and the thought of an incredibly fun birthday party that I DIDN’T HAVE TO CLEAN, DECORATE, OR PREPARE FOR sounded so incredible that it almost seemed unreal. Plus, my husband pointed out that his whole childhood he had longed for a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, and that it was pretty much every kid’s dream. Good point, mister! So I eagerly accepted the awesome offer, and my son was ecstatic when we told him! My kids actually had never been to a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant before, and, let me tell you, it exceeded all of their expectations! In fact, at the end of the party my son asked if he could have all of the rest of his birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese! I’d call that a success, wouldn’t you?! 🙂
I scheduled the party with their new online reservation system. (I love it when I don’t have to call and wait and deal with people on the phone, don’t you??) There are four party package options, and we chose the “Mega Super Star” package. Among other things, it includes an employee that is your “host” and helps throughout the party (Much to Mom’s delight!), unlimited game passes (The same thing as tokens.) for each kid for the two hour party (Which the kids were ecstatic about!), tons of extra tickets for the birthday child, pizza and drinks for each kid, a birthday show and pinata full of tokens and tickets, big, toy filled GOODY BAGS for each kid (Hooray for Mom not having to put any together!), and, believe it or not, MORE! There are also four different themes to choose from: “Party Like a Rock Star,” “Sports, Sports, Sports,” “Dressed in Pink Party,” and “Chuck E. Super Fan.” We chose “Sports, Sports, Sports,” although, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really notice much to reflect that theme. However, my child could not have cared any less — he was way too busy having fun and only noticed the fun, colorful, energy-filled atmosphere and, most of all, the GAMES! Here’s a REALLY fun fact: If you reserve a VIP party you get the ENTIRE PARTY AREA TO YOURSELF! Talk about fun!! We didn’t do that because the day of our party the VIP option was very early in the morning, and I am NOT a morning person. Haha. It sure sounds amazing, though!
As the kids arrived they dropped off their coats and gifts with me at our party table (Which was all prepped and ready when we arrived, by the way. Love it!) and then took off to just play, play, play! My favorite part of the party was that I didn’t have to run after them and supervise their every move! Because they were all 8 years old, they were all old enough that they didn’t need help at all, and we didn’t have to worry a bit about them leaving the restaurant because Chuck E. Cheese has a great kid safety check program at the door where a child can’t leave without the adult that brought them. (They put matching stamps on your hands.) In fact, my husband saw a young child trying to escape and being stopped by an employee at the door so that they could find his parents. AWESOME! My 4 year old (blonde pig tails) did need help, but her daddy helped her play while I held down the fort dealing with logistics with our party host back at the table. The kids had SO much fun, as I’m sure you can see in the pictures below.
We took a break mid-party to get together at our party table for pizza, drinks, and the birthday show, followed by the pinata full of tokens and tickets. Boy, oh boy, was that pinata a hit with the kids! It was a pinata where you pulled the strings and one of them popped open the pinata, so there was no swinging of bats and hitting one of your friends instead. (I have vivid memories of being hit hard in the head by a friend swinging at a pinata one Halloween in middle school. OUCH.) The pinata is only available with the Mega Super Star birthday party package. FYI.
Immediately following the pinata, the birthday boy got to go into the “ticket blaster” and grab tickets as they flew around him. He loved it.
When it was time for cake I was grinning from ear to ear. Want to know why? It is because when we arrived at the restaurant I told our employee party host that I wanted a cake. He asked how big, and then it magically appeared. This party took me NO PREP! SO stress fun!! It was amazing. Ahhhh…. They also each got a serving of Dippin’ Dots, and who doesn’t love Dippin’ Dots?!
The kids were all so antsy to get back to playing that they elected to skip opening presents and just have my boy open them at home. When I offered that as an option they unanimously voted “yes.” It was hilarious. As the party wrapped up, they were all so sad to leave, but they were all extremely excited by the large, toy filled goody bags! (Those are also only available with the Mega Super Star package. Shown below on the right.)
My kiddos were so excited to get prizes with their tickets. The birthday boy had gotten so many extra tickets that we were able to combine all of the tickets he had been given with the tickets that they had both won and get them each great prizes. They were two very happy kiddos!
Overall, this party was an incredible success! When I went to “settle up” at the cash register I was very surprised by how much more affordable it was than I had expected, and all of the kids had an absolute BLAST! Oh, and let us not forget the BEST part: I DIDN’T HAVE TO PREPARE ANYTHING, CLEAN MY HOUSE BEFORE, CLEAN UP AFTER, OR STRESS ABOUT ANYTHING!!! NOTHING!!!! It was so liberating! I was having a stressful week, and on Wednesday I turned to my husband and said, “Wait! Isn’t our boy’s birthday party on Saturday?!” I had FORGOTTEN it was coming up because I didn’t have to do anything to get ready! Usually before my parties I am FRANTICALLY making things and setting up all of the details. I love how they turn out, but they are definitely very stressful to prepare! For this Chuck E. Cheese party I just signed up online, sent out an online invitation, and showed up. WOW. Just . . . WOW. It was glorious! Maybe I will have to honor that boy’s request to have his parties at Chuck E. Cheese every year from now on! 🙂
The bottom line: we all loved our experience having a Chuck E. Cheese party, and I would definitely recommend it to other parents!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Chuck E. Cheese’s. The opinions and text are all mine.
Rachel says
WOW. Best day of Callum’s life! I’d say this was a mom-win for sure!
Jennifer Lifford says
Looks like you all had a blast! I love having parties outside of our home – easiest clean-up ever!!
stickman says
Party was fun! They will be very happy, I will celebrate the birthday of the children here in a day not far.