This post was originally written in partnership with Chuck E Cheese back in January 2017. All information has been updated current to 2020. All opinions are 100% honest and my own!
Why A Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party?
One of the hardest things about not living near my family is not being there for all the special occasions – the concerts, the games, the graduations, and the birthdays. Since we won’t all be together again until who knows when, over Christmas break we decided to have a little Chuck E. Cheese party for my son K, so he would get the chance to celebrate with his cousins for once. It’s been a long time since I’ve either had or been to a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, but this one was way better than the ones I remember growing up. I can definitely see why Chuck E. Cheese is now America’s #1 place for birthday parties – it’s a one-stop shop for fun with food, activities, and entertainment all covered in one of the Chuck E Cheese birthday packages! We had both kids and adults, and I can confidently say everyone had a great time!
The Ultimate Guide to a Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party
I’ve planned a few more parties at Chuck E Cheese since the first one, and I’m excited to share my tips and tricks for hosting the ultimate Chuck E Cheese birthday party! I’ve broken this guide into various sections so feel free to click through to the section you want to know most about. Or better yet, read them all!Chuck E Cheese in 2020Chuck E Cheese PricesChuck E Cheese Birthday CouponsChuck E Cheese Birthday PackagesChuck E Cheese Party Add-onsWhich of the Chuck E Cheese Party Packages is the Best?Chuck E Cheese Menu OptionsChuck E Cheese CakeHow to Make a Chuck E Cheese ReservationFree Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party InvitationsOther Things to Know
Chuck E Cheese in 2020
There are a number of things you need to know before going to or hosting a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese in 2020. You can find their official policies and procedures here (they’re constantly changing), but here’s a quick list. Like with anything else, you need to make the decision for your own family how safe you feel it is to go to Chuck E Cheese or not.
Health Precautions
Some locations are still closed or only open for pizza pickup, not open inside. You can find the updated open locations list here. Temperatures will be taken (just like if you were going to Disney World in 2020) and guests with temps higher than 100 degrees or symptoms will not be allowed to enter.Mask requirement is based on the local policies, not necessarily required across all locations. Hands will be sanitized upon entry and hand sanitization options available throughout the location.Games, restrooms, and dining rooms will be sanitized every 30 minutes.
Social Distancing
Certain seating and booths will be closed for social distancing.Certain games and character experiences may not be available and multi-player games may be limited to one player. Social distancing should be observed throughout the area. Birthday parties and group events are still available but group numbers may be limited for social distancing. More details on birthdays available below.
Procedure Changes
A kid check selfie will be taken instead of hand stamps when you enter (as a mom who hated the stamps, I sure hope this stays!)No touch payment options accepted.Pre-packaged bags available for guests at the ticket counter. Salad bar is closed for the foreseeable future, house salads are available for purchase. Touchless tickets now automatically saved to your play card rather than paper tickets (YESSSSSS!)
Chuck E. Cheese Prices
Let’s start with the most important question – how much does a Chuck E Cheese birthday cost? The answer… it depends. It depends on how many kids you’re inviting since everything is done per child. It depends on which of the four Chuck E Cheese birthday packages you choose. And it depends on what add-ons you buy (food or other things). Here a quick breakdown of cost if you were to have 10 kids at the party and 4 adults (no additional charge) and wanted to use Chuck E Cheese for pretty much everything. With the extra adults, I’ve also added on the following to the package price, other than for the Ultimate Super Star package that comes with pizza for adults, no other add-ons.
Two extra large 1-topping pizzasFour drinks8″ round cake
Here’s what each of these packages would run you based on the calculations above, excluding taxes.
Star Package (cheapest option) – $220 Super Star Package (middle option) – $275 (excluding taxes)Mega Super Star Package (best value option) – $330Ultimate Super Star package – $350
Chuck E Cheese Birthday Coupons
While Chuck E Cheese doesn’t normally offer specific Chuck E Cheese birthday coupons, that doesn’t mean you can’t use regular coupons to buy extras once you’re there. Each store has their own set of coupons available regularly so check out your local store page to see what coupons are available for your party day! Also, be sure to look online when you’re making your Chuck E Cheese reservation because some days offer you special bonus play points! And you might get extra play points for booking online. Those extra play points (what replaced tokens) can really add up. Or can just be fun for you to play some games while the kids are! Some of the offers I saw at our closest location included:
Get 20 play points for booking onlineGet 100 play points for hosting a party on Friday or Sunday (since Saturdays are so busy)Get 100 play points for hosting a party Saturday at 10AM (apparently the early time is harder to fill!)
Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Packages
Chuck E. Cheese currently offers four different birthday packages – Star, Super Star, Mega Super Star, and Ultimate Super Star Package – with different options and perks for each package (find the full comparison list and Chuck E Cheese prices here).
All Chuck E Cheese Birthday Packages
All four of the party packages start with the same thing then just upgrade from there. Here’s what you get with any party package:
Reserved table for 2 hoursTablecloth, paper goodsDedicated party server/hostTwo slices of pizzas and unlimited drinks for each childPlay pass points or tokens (number is based on the package)Ticket blaster experience for the Birthday Star
In addition to the items above, here’s the breakdown of the bonuses that come with each of the Chuck E Cheese packages.
Star Packages ($14.99 per child):
30 play points or 30 tokens per childCoil wristband per child (if location has Play Pass) 3 helium balloons for the partyExclusive birthday star play band for the birthday child250 bonus tickets for the birthday child
Super Star Packages ($19.99 per child):
45 play points or 45 tokens per child500 bonus tickets for the birthday childExclusive birthday star play band for the birthday childCoil wristband per child (if location has Play Pass)Collectible cup with FREE refills for the life of the cup per child (just remember to bring the cup when you go!)6 helium balloons for the party
Mega Super Star Packages ($24.99):
All you can play games for the duration of your party (or 60 tokens for locations without Play Pass) 1000 bonus tickets for the birthday childExclusive birthday star play band for the birthday childCoil wristband per child (if location has Play Pass)Collectible cup with FREE refills for the life of the cup per child Goody bag per childDippin’ Dots per child 9 helium balloons for the party
Ultimate Super Star Packages ($26.99):
All you can play games for the duration of your party (or 60 tokens for locations without Play Pass)1500 bonus tickets for the birthday childExclusive birthday star play band for the birthday childCoil wristband per child (if location has Play Pass)Collectible cup with FREE refills for the life of the cup per childGoody bag per childDippin’ Dots per child9 helium balloons for the partyPlay band upgrade per child at locations with Play PassTicket tote per child2 large 1-topping pizza for adults
Chuck E Cheese Party Add-Ons
In addition to the Chuck E Cheese party packages above, you can also add on a couple of additional things when you’re booking your party including:
More helium balloonsParty favorsPlay Pass coil wristbandsPull string piñata (see below for more info on this one)Mouse earsCandyGold Chuck E Cheese medallions
Which of the Chuck E Cheese Party Packages is Best?
For us, getting the Mega Super Star package for the kids was a no-brainer. In addition to all of the standard things the other party packages come with (pizza, drinks, dedicated party space, and tokens), the Mega Super Star also included Chuck E Cheese party favors for each child, Dippin’ Dots ice cream, and a 1000 ticket Chuck E Cheese coupon for the birthday child! Make sure to put the bonus tickets in a safe place, we totally lost ours before it was time to turn them all in. But the real seller for us on the Mega Super Star package is the all you can play option. Some kids burn turn through play points so fast that having unlimited play was amazing. At the end of the day if you look at my pricing above, going up each tier is going to cost you an extra $50 for every 10 kids. If you can swing it, the Mega Super Star Package gives you way more for your buck than the Star or even the Super Star package. But if you don’t care about the collectible cup, goody bag, or Dippin’ Dots or unlimited play then by all means go for one of the lower packages and just do the unlimited play upgrade. And if you’re looking at the Mega Star versus the Ultimate Super Star package – it’s about a $20 difference at the end of the day if you’re planning to get pizza for the adults anyway. But that $20 doesn’t really get you much other than ticket totes (not necessary right now with the touchless ticket system), so I’d go with the Mega Star for the best value. When we got to Chuck E Cheese, they had the party space all set up and ready to go. My son was so excited to see his name on the sign, and the kids were all excited about their Chuck E Cheese collectible cups and their Chuck E Cheese party favors – full of treats, tickets, tokens, and toys!
Chuck E Cheese Menu Options
Every kid gets two pieces of pizza included with any of Chuck E Cheese birthday party packages, but if you’re like us and have adults or older siblings coming as well, I definitely recommend ordering some more things off the main Chuck E Cheese Menu as well. While the menu doesn’t have a ton of variety, they do have a bit of something for everyone – including individually packaged gluten free pizzas that my sister-in-law and her gluten-free family really appreciated. It’s one of the few places I’ve seen where they literally cook the pizza inside the sealed package, so there’s no possibility of cross-contamination. The only downside was they only had gluten-free cheese pizzas available and only in a personal size. These are the current offerings for the ad-on menu for Chuck E Cheese party packages:
Pizzas – large 1 topping or large specialityGluten-free personal pizzas I mentioned aboveWings – party and a family size availableSampler platter with things like buffalo wings, fries, and cheesy breadVeggie platterSandwich platter with french friesAdult soft drinks
We went with the traditional pizza, wings, and a veggie platter to round out our comfort food extravaganza. The kids all loved eating at their own special table and two pieces of pizza each was enough to keep them going for playing all the Chuck E Cheese games!
Does Chuck E Cheese sell birthday cakes?
Chuck E Cheese also offers a bunch of different Chuck E Cheese cake options as well as other themed options like Barbie, Hello Kitty and Batman. We bought one of the 8″ round cakes (serves 12) but if you’re doing a party with lots of kids and adults, I’d go with their 1/4 sheet cake option that serves 18-20. You can get a cake in vanilla or chocolate as well vanilla or ice cream to go with it! Or bring in your own cake if you’d prefer, although I’m all for keeping it easy and ordering a Chuck E Cheese cake was easy.
Chuck E Cheese isn’t just for the kids! With fun games, different food items, and free WiFi, the parents and adults that came to our party had just as much fun as the kids. Well, maybe not quite but almost. And there was definitely an epic battle of who could beat my little brother in Skeeball. It was not me. Another nice perk to inviting parents is having other adults to help you keep an eye on the kids. Chuck E Cheese does an awesome kid safe check where you get stamped at the door with your kids and then those kids can’t leave without their corresponding adult. It definitely makes me feel better to know that some random person can’t walk out with my son if I happen turn my back for one second.
Ready to Book Your Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party?
How to Make a Chuck E Cheese Reservation Online
One of the best things about planning our party was being able to book it online. I hate making phone calls, and we were doing it at one of the Chuck E Cheese locations that’s not nearby, so going in wasn’t an option. The new system lets you select your package, how many people, your additional food or add-ons, and an available time/date all online. It’s seriously so simple – just go to ChuckECheese.com to book up to 90 days in advance but seriously who knows when they’re having their party that far in advance? You can make changes to lower the number in your reservation up to 24 hors before your party so book the max number you invited then give them the final number a day or two before. If you’d rather have the party space all to yourself, choose the VIP option when you’re booking your party, and you can get in before the restaurant’s normal open hours! That’s HUGE right now with social distancing being so important.
Free Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party Invitations
Because Chuck E Cheese likes to make things easy, they even have an option where you can generate and send (via email) Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party Invitations to all of your invites! Simply go here to create the email invitations. Don’t want to send invitations via email? There’s an option to download invites (and thank you cards!) as well.
This post was originally sponsored by Chuck E Cheese and has since been updated.
