Confessions of a Chuck E Cheese employee

 I recently got a chance to speak to a friend from one of the Twitch/Discord communities I'm in who just so happened to have once worked for one Charles Entertainment Cheese (AKA Chuck E Cheese).

This person, though, wanted to remain anonymous in this interview, so I'll refer to them as "CEC Anon" for lack of a better term.

NOTE: THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT IS MOSTLY AS DONE IN THE DISCORD DM, WITH GRAMMAR EDITS AS WELL AS SOME CONTENT EDITS (ME ASKING TWO QUESTIONS AT ONCE, DOING ONE WHILE WAITING ON AN ANSWER FOR THE OTHER)

Me: Do you remember what animatronic "stage" you had when you were working there?

CEC Anon: I was actually too afraid of them to have anything to do with them. But I was a waitress/in costume.

Me: Ah... which costumes were you in, if you remember?

CEC Anon: Whoever they needed me to be. There was never really a rotation or anything. It's whoever was working and what they needed. Sometimes we only had a Chuck E. Sometimes we had Helen Henny, Chuck E. AND Jasper. But it depends on who was working, how many tables were sat, etc.

Me: Also, dealing with the little kids that tend to go to CEC still makes you braver than me, not even taking the animatronics into consideration.

CEC Anon: Yeah, being around kids was kinda rough cause at that point I never was really around them.

Me: Were you able to play any of the arcade games?

CEC Anon: I was able to play when everyone left. We would sometimes have down time afterwards.

Me: Rumor has it that CEC Pizza gets recycled and reused, what's your thoughts on that?

CEC Anon: That is not true haha. We did cut the pizza before it went into the oven and it wouldn't come out in even slices because of each slice coming differently, especially since they weren't always evenly cut.

Me: thanks for clarifying it for anyone who might be reading this blog post.

BTW, are you comfortable with revealing when/how long you were an employee? If not, I understand.

CEC Anon: Yeah! I started working there in 2007 and worked there for a year. (Was age 17-18 at the time)

Me:I figured you've heard the whole thing about them planning on eventually having NO locations with animatronics, instead having that dance floor in that area of the building. What's your thoughts on that?

CEC Anon: Honestly, they wouldn't be missed lol. They didn't work half the time and it was legit terrifying. The kids were usually afraid of them anyway.

Me: BTW, in your opinion...Did the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise help or hurt the CEC brand overall?

CEC Anon: I honestly don't know much about the franchise. But from what I've seen, the games look really fun and creepy! I've always wanted to play.

Me: BTW, what's your thoughts on the OTHER pizzerias that had animatronic bands and arcades that tried to copy what was then known as Pizza Time Theater (like Showbiz Pizza)...that is if you even knew there were competitors in the older days.

CEC Anon: I don't know of any others. I don't think there are any that are in my area, actually.

Me: Do you happen to have any specific memories from your time working at CEC?

CEC Anon: I will never forget the awful smell of the mask that we had to put on lol.

Me: Anything else that stood out about your time working there?

CEC Anon: I really don't think so. I can't remember tbh. It's been a long time hah!

Me: If the store stays in operation long enough for the young ones reading the blog post...would you 

recommend working there later in life?  Or would you rather they just enjoy it as a customer.

CEC Anon: I wouldn't advise against it. It's good life experience as an adult in the working world.

Best piece of advice if anyone does choose to work there:
If you get easily overstimulated, then it's def not the place for you. Also, make sure you have some sort of history with working with kids. It's not easy when there's packs of them.

Me: BTW, what was the weirdest thing you found in the ball pit?

CEC Anon: I don't think I ever found anything weird haha! Surprisingly!

Me: I'll admit to wanting to go there (as a customer) WAY past the brand's target age.
Would that be a normal thing for growing kids?

CEC Anon: I think there would be a few raised eyebrows, just for the fact that it's mostly catered to young kids. 

Me: Another thing, i assume you've seen the CEC branded frozen pizzas in stores by now.

CEC Anon: No, I haven't seen that actually.

Me: (Shows our former employee a Food & Wine article on the frozen CEC branded Pizzas)

CEC Anon: It's cute if you're a huge fan.

Me: I haven't tried it myself, since 1: I'm not a kid and 2: what would i do with the E-tickets (said E-tickets meaning the prize tickets which are now on a card rather than a mess of actual tickets you had to keep up with back in the day).

CEC Anon: Yea, exactly!

Me: Going back to the costume thing, was it as hot/sweaty and hard to breath in as one would imagine being in a mascot costume?

CEC Anon: It was really hard to breathe in it. Half hour and I'd be DYING. All you get are the eye holes. And it's hard to know that EVERYONE had sweat just as much in the outfit you're now sweating in. It's really gross.

Me: yesh! One last question...What was the best and worst part about the whole experience

CEC Anon: Best part? Mm.... getting paid lol. The worst part was definitely getting trampled by kids when you're dressed as the character. You definitely have to brace yourself for getting hit..

Me: Well, thanks for taking the time to talk about the experience.

CEC Anon: Thank you for the opportunity! ❤️