As a Chuck E. Cheese superfan, it probably won’t surprise you where Sloan chose to have her birthday party. This past Saturday, our new 5-year-old hosted seven of her friends at the wildly popular entertainment center’s Spokane Valley location.

Sloan hosted seven of her friends at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate her birthday on Saturday.

Yes, birthday parties are back as the pandemic continues to loosen its grip on our world. All one needed to do to see this reality expressed was peek inside Chuck E. Cheese for a half second on Saturday. But more on that in just a bit.

If you are a parent and are considering where to allow your child to host their birthday party, I thought I would give you some pros and cons for choosing Chuck E. Cheese.

Pros

Even though Sloan had her heart set on a Chuck E. Cheese party, Sid did look around at some of the trampoline parks and inflatable centers around Spokane. By a decent margin, Chuck E. Cheese offered the most affordable “per kid” price. You might be surprised to learn what some places are asking for birthday parties.

I feel the value of a Chuck E Cheese birthday party is strong compared to other alternatives. Sloan got some special time with Chuck E. and much more.

The value we received was another positive. The per kid price included an unlimited game card for TWO HOURS, pizza, unlimited soda in a Chuck E. Cheese souvenir cup, ice cream, and a party favor bag. We felt like Sloan’s friends were well taken care of.

That value also provides enhanced treatment for the birthday kid. It all starts with the name badge they receive and wrist watch they are given to activate the games, a VIP piece of “bling” that contrasts with the standard card that all the other children get. The birthday designee also receives free tickets, recognition from Chuck E. Cheese himself, and a chance inside the ticket booth where occupants are challenged to grab as many tickets swirling in the air as possible.

Sloan in the Chuck E. Cheese ticket booth with her cousin, Mikayla.

The flexibility is also nice. We could have purchased a cake from Chuck E. Cheese but we weren’t required to do so. Rather, we were allowed to bring our own cake to the facility and our party host gladly served it to the kids. That is another thing, Chuck E. Cheese assigns an employee to your party to facilitate the schedule, serve food/drinks, make the birthday kid feel special, and provide customer service.

We were able to bring our own cake to Chuck E. Cheese.

Cons

On the other side of things, it wasn’t like Sloan had a private party. There were five other birthday parties taking place during the same noon – 2 p.m. time slot as Sloan’s. All these parties took place on the same floor area, with six rows of seating (one row per party) lined up right next to each other.

With so many parties taking place simultaneously, that obviously translates into lots of kids running around. The gaming floor was pretty busy on Saturday resulting in wait times at some games and a long line at the ticket redemption prize counter.

Also, Chuck E. Cheese is Chuck E. Cheese. For those people who experience anxiety walking into a place with kids running wild all over the place or who think that Chuck E. Cheese pizza tastes like cardboard, your perception is unlikely to change even if you are experiencing the venue from a birthday party perspective.

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With all that said, judging by my count, the positives still outweigh the negatives. Because of that, I feel like I can recommend Chuck E. Cheese for your child’s birthday party. And oh yeah, Sloan can too! Don’t Blink.