Big Changes Coming to Kids' Birthday Parties

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Hey it’s Leslie Harris. It always struck fear into my heart when I heard that my kids were going to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party.

Sure they had a great time, but they would come home over stimulated and hopped up on sugar, begging me to throw them their own birthday party with the rat, I mean mouse. Plus, that animatronic band… Well there was just something creepy about it. And they would always bring home some cheap crap that would get broken or lost shortly thereafter.

Well the animatronic band is playing its final encore. Chuck-E-Cheese is removing Munchies Make-believe band at all of their locations except for at one location in Northridge California,.

Instead you’ll find more arcade games, a giant video wall, a new interactive dance floor, and a new trampoline zone. I’m guessing this is a lot cheaper to maintain.

I’m starting to miss the rat. That room was a bit more low-key, and a little quieter than the rest of the joint.

There are more than 450 Chuck-E-Cheese locations in the United States, and 19 of those are in Illinois. I know there’s one in Darien, Batavia, Villa Park, Schaumburg, Naperville and Joliet.

So now my mind is wondering, what happens to all of those animatronic figures? Are they in some kind of deserted warehouse, or creepy landfill? Will they be auctioned off to the highest bidder? Would you actually want one of those things in your home?

Please leave your thoughts on all of this on our Facebook page, and long live the rat. I mean mouse.