Monday, March 17, 2014

My Daughter Had Her Birthday Party At Chuck E Cheese

I know the thought of going to Chuck E Cheese makes people do this:




But really, it's not so bad.

Natalie wanted to have her birthday party there.

The plus?

You get to go to the front of the line. And trust me, the line at Chuck E Cheese will be long on a Saturday afternoon. I felt like Usher as I went towards the front and explained that we had a reserved party.

Yes, it was crowded. Yes, it frightened my husband, who does not like crowds. My son, who has Autism, kept going, "What is this?" as we pushed through people.

But the party area? It's not as crazy.



I like having a party at Chuck E Cheese because all you basically have to do is show up. They take care of setting everything up. Passing food out. CLEANING UP. That's my favorite bit. Some people want to Pinterest their heart out for parties. I am not one of those people.


Natalie invited 12 friends and all of them showed up. Our hostess was friendly and explained what all would be happening. She went over what drinks and pizza toppings we wanted. She said that for the first hour the kids could use their tokens and then it would be time to eat pizza, have cake, dance with Chuck E, and open presents.


I also liked the fact that I didn't have to entertain anyone. I am not a fan of awkward silences. You do not have to worry about awkward silences at Chuck E Cheese. For one, it's too noisy. Two, everyone is distracted by all the rides and games.


We paid for the middle package, which is $16.99 per kid. But each kid leaves with a collectible cup and microphone balloon. Plus they get 36 tokens. I opted to do my own goodie bags.


I tried to fill them with non-crappy things. I bought princess candies, Frozen themed necklaces, pencils, clip on hair pieces, rings, and erasers in the shape of lipstick.


I followed Natalie around as she used her tokens.


At one point she was like, "You can go. I'm with my friends now."


Everyone eventually made their way back to the table for pizza.



The birthday child gets a tiara or crown with tokens in it.

Notice the Frozen birthday cake? I didn't make it. Jessica from Jessica's Cakes made it. If you live around the Oklahoma City area, give her a call. She can make almost any cake.

(You can purchase a cake from Chuck E Cheese if you didn't want to bring one.)




After pizza, Chuck E comes out to dance. The birthday kid gets a guitar balloon and can go up front and dance with Chuck E. Natalie is not shy and happily did this. Tommy would never. It's why he's only had family birthdays. He'd prefer less noise and not being asked to do things, you see.


She is not afraid of the giant mouse, at all.


Oh, and yes, you will share the birthday area with other parties, but each have separate tables and each get separate hostesses. (Or host.)

The birthday kid gets a rock star medallion after the dance.



There's also a competition with the other parties on who can shout the loudest. That's what's going on here.


Here's Natalie shouting. She loves being noisy. She's never been a quiet kid.



Then it was time for cake!







After cake, it was Ticket Blaster time where the kid can win 1000 tokens. Natalie was like, "I'm trapped!"





She did not get the 1000 token card. BUT, it turns out there wasn't a card in there. So her hostess gave her 3 1000 token cards. Sweet.


Then it was present time!











I didn't have to worry about the wrapping paper. Or any of the trash.

It was awesome.

Do I recommend a party at Chuck E Cheese?

Yes!

Natalie wants to do it again next year.

Now, Saturday wasn't her REAL birthday. But we wanted her friends to be able to make it so we opted for a weekend party.

Her REAL birthday is on Wednesday.

But I'm glad she was able to have a fun party.

With no awkward silences.

(And did I mention I didn't have to clean up?!)

27 comments:

  1. My mom use to rent the roller skating rink when I was little and I loved it. Glad she had such a great time.

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  2. I'm glad she had such a fun birthday! Personally, I think Chuck E Cheese is in the innermost ring of hell, lol!

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  3. Chuck E Cheese scares me, but at least she had a blast!

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  4. Is she turning SEVEN this week?? What a big girl.
    I went to a birthday party on Saturday that was at a butterfly museum. It was pretty cool and totally crowded, but we had rock star status and went to the front of the line, so that was nice.
    Winter birthdays are hard! I'm a summer birthday and so are both of my kids so we always have parties at home - spilling out into the yard. However, I like the creative ways to do indoor ones.

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  5. i love places where you go in, have your party and leave with presents with zero cleanup!

    glad she had a blast. however, i know for us, every time we go to a bday party at chuck e cheese, kayla get sick!

    -kathy | Vodka and Soda

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  6. I'm glad it was such a great party for Natalie!! I do like those parties that are no work other than showing up and maybe bringing in the cake!!!

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  7. The Chuck E. Cheese mouse scared me to death when I was little but I'm not going to lie, I'd consider having baby boy's parties there one day...favorite part is definitely the no clean up!!
    -Marley
    http://www.afandlove.blogspot.com/

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  8. Sounds like it was a blast! And yes, its nice that Chuck E Cheese was able to do all that. The hostess looked like she was having as much fun!

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  9. out of all the birthdays my kids have had, we've only done Chuck E. Cheese once, but it was a blast! I love CEC. I actually like their pizza.

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  10. Sounds like a win all around!

    I'm glad she had fun, and you had nothing to clean up. That's the stuff right there.

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  11. I've done parties at home and at places and I have to say, I love having them away from home. No mess to clean up is the best part for me. Plus I like that I don't have that awkward moment when I want everyone to leave and they don't.

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  12. Looks like it was an awesome party. Love the cake!!

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  13. I love the frozen theme. Soooo cute. The cake is adorable.

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  14. I was in my mom's town last week for March Break and guess what! Canada does have a Chuck E Cheese!! Near Grandma's house!
    which sadly is 2 hours away from us.
    bummed.
    totally gotta clean up next party.

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  15. We've been to parties before at Chuck E cheese. The kids love it. We usually have my daughter's parties in our yard, since her b-day is in July.

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  16. I hate chuck we cheese but seeing the happiness it brings my daughter, I'll keep going over and over again! Natalie looked like she had a blast and you can't beat that!!!! Her calke looks awesome too!!!

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  17. I always have high hopes of throwing a pinterestingly awesome party, and then I'm like WHY?!?! I just ends up stressing me out! I do like to attempt to make a cool cake though...and that Frozen cake by Jessica is pretty cool! Stella would love a Chucky cheese party, and I would be the mom shouting the loudest to ensure our group won the the shouting contest! :)
    Eva Marie Taylor

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  18. Looks like Chuckie was a hit! I had one of my boys birthday parties there. I have 3 boys and it was eons ago so I am guessing it was probably my oldest baby who is 25 now!!

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  19. Hold the phone... you get to dance onstage with Chuck himself?! I guess I know what we're doing for my 30th next year!!!!!

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  20. I used to love and hate the Chucky Cheese parties because like you said, you had to fight through the crowd to get to the party area. And God forbid if your child takes off to the play area where the crowd is, it's enough to make a mom loose her mind. I'm so glad those days are over for me LOL. So glad you and your little girl had a great time and you're willing to do it again. You deserve the brave crown for that one.

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  21. funny pictures
    kss
    new post: http://tupersonalshopperviajero.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/8-best-shoes-and-bags-from-fall-runways.html

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  22. I once had a job hostessing kids parties at a leisure center. I don't think I ever summoned the energy the lady in the picture has! I'm glad Natalie enjoyed it, and that you didn't have to clean up. Cleaning up after is the worst part of any party.

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  23. No clean up? That's my kind of party.

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  24. We're planning for our son's party and CEC is one of the options. This was helpful to read!

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  25. Wow birthday parties got a whole lot cooler since I was a kid. I remember it was just pizza, tokens, and an appearance by Chuck E. Happy Birthday to Natalie!

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  26. My husband would never survive a party there! We don't actually have on that close, so it's not really an issue. I do love parties away from home though. So much less clean up and awkwardness. I'm trying to think of a good place for my son's birthday party in early May. It will be mostly family, but I still don't want to clean my house for it.

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