Make life easier for everyone by throwing a Chuck E Cheese birthday party. Let my experience with Chuck E. Cheese guide you in planning the perfect Chuck E. Cheese party. Everything you need to know from Chuck E. Cheese prices to what options you have for Chuck E Cheese birthday packages!
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The Ultimate Guide to a Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party
With ten kids under the age of five between my siblings and me, we go to Chuck E Cheese a lot. We’ve had all sorts of different parties there including one just this past year for my youngest son!
We’ve also been holders of Chuck E Cheese passes (the ones where you can pay one price to go as much as you want for a time period), so let’s just say I’ve spent more than my fair share in Chuck E cheese over the past few years!
We’ve had both kids and adults at our most recent Chuck E Cheese birthday parties and everyone always has a great time, so I can definitely see why Chuck E. Cheese is 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!
But it can be a bit confusing deciding which Chuck E Cheese birthday party packages to choose as well as things like if the Chuck E Cheese cake you can order is actually good! Luckily, I’ve covered all of that and more in this guide!
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!
Chuck E. Cheese Birthday Packages
Chuck E. Cheese currently offers three different birthday packages – Fun, Mega Fun, and Ultimate Fun packages – with different options and perks for each package (find the full comparison list and Chuck E Cheese prices here).
The All New Fun Package
This brand new package is $99.99 for six kids to receive the following (adults are free):
- 2 hours of unlimited gameplay per kid with redemption prizes
- Upgraded prizes (100 bonus E-tickets) per kid
- Unlimited soft drinks per kid
- 1 Play Pass card for each kid
- Chuck E Cheese birthday show
- Decorated table
The birthday star also receives 1,000 bonus e-tickets, a ticket blaster experience, and a collectible birthday star play band.
Important!
Pizza and the party host are not included in the package above so it’s pretty much just a bulk discount for your kid to be able to bring five friends with them and get two hours of unlimited gameplay (what they all really want anyway).
You can also add on additional kids to receive the same items for $19.99 each.
Mega Fun
This package is the base birthday party package that Chuck E Cheese used to offer and includes:
- 2 hours of unlimited gameplay per kid
- Unlimited soft drinks for each kid
- Chuck E cheese birthday show
- Decorated table
- 2 slices of pizza per kid
- 1 additional large 1-topping pizza (for adults)
- 250 bonus E-tickets per kid
- Collectible cup with unlimited lifetime refills per kid (if they remember to bring it back…)
- Dedicated party host
- Dippin’ Dots ice cream for each child
The birthday star also receives 2,000 bonus e-tickets, a ticket blaster experience, and a collectible Chuck E. Cheese Tote bag.
Ultimate Fun
The final birthday package that is offered is similar to what you’ll see in the photos in my post! This is the biggest package you can get and includes:
- 2 hours of unlimited gameplay per kid
- Unlimited soft drinks for each kid
- Chuck E cheese birthday show
- Decorated table
- 2 slices of pizza per kid
- 2 additional large 1-topping pizzas (for adults)
- 500 bonus E-tickets per kid
- Collectible cup with unlimited lifetime refills per kid (if they remember to bring it back…)
- Dedicated party host
- Dippin’ Dots ice cream for each child
- Play pass card with coil wristband for each kid
- Chuck E Cheese goody bags (pictured below)
The birthday star also receives 4,000 bonus e-tickets, a ticket blaster experience, and a collectible Chuck E. Cheese Tote bag.
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 balloons
- Party favors
- Play Pass coil wristbands
- Pull string piñata (see below for more info on this one)
- Mouse ears
- Candy
- Gold Chuck E Cheese medallions
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. These are based on my location in Kansas City – it’s possible that it may be different elsewhere but this should give you a good starting idea!
Here’s what each of these packages would run you based on the calculations above, excluding taxes.
- Fun Package (for 6 kids only) – $99
- Fun Package for 10 kids (4 add-ons) – $180
- Mega Fun Package – $290 (excluding taxes), or $28.99 per child
- Ultimate Fun Package (best value option) – $350, or $34.99 per child
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 Chuck E Cheese 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!
I also highly recommend signing up for the Chuck E Cheese email list and downloading the Chuck E Cheese app and checking it for special offers and deals. There are regularly coupons that get loaded in there once you sign up for an account that can help you save money on birthday parties!
Which of the Chuck E Cheese Party Packages is Best?
This is a question that only you can answer unfortunately depending on what’s important to you and if you’re planning to get food or not.
If you’re getting food, I personally recommend the mega fun package because it comes with pizza drinks, and Dippin’ Dots for each kid. Those are all high-value items.
If you’re considering upgrading from the Mega to the Ultimate Fun package, the price difference is $60 and the kids will get a coin bracelet to hold their card, more bonus tickets (not needed in my opinion), a goody bag (also not needed since they can turn in tickets for prizes), and an extra pizza.
If I was personally booking a package right now, I’d go with just the Mega package because I think the upgrades aren’t necessary, so I’d save the extra $60.
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
For the Mega Fun and Ultimate Fun Chuck E Cheese birthday party package, every kid gets two pieces of pizza included , 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
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, Paw Patrol, Batman, Hello Kitty, and PJ Masks. 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.
Tip!
If you would prefer to have less people around during your party, Chuck E Cheese offers early access parties on Saturdays from 8-10AM and on Sundays from 9-11AM. You’ll be part of just a limited number of parties in the showroom to give the kids less competition for their favorite games!
Party FAQs
How much does it cost to have a birthday at Chuck E Cheese?
It totally depends on how many kids. Packages start at $16.66 per child and go up to $34.99 per child. Get full price breakdown in the pricing section.
Does Chuck E Cheese do anything for birthdays?
If you don’t want to do an actual birthday party, you can visit Chuck E cheese during your child’s birthday week and get 20 minutes of free unlimited game play with a $10 purchase!
Is there an age limit at Chuck E Cheese?
Children under 18 will not be admitted without an adult but other than that, anyone can go!
Can adults go to Chuck E Cheese birthday parties?
Adults are invited too! You don’t have to pay for adults to come but just know they won’t get any food, drinks, or tokens to play unless you purchase extra with your package!
Can you bring your own food?
You’re not allowed to bring in any outside food other than ice cream and cake.
You are allowed to bring in your own table decorations, paper goods (NOT cups), and goody bags if you want to go with a particular theme.
Can you bring your own decorations?
All parties are set with a Chuck E Cheese Super Fan theme. If you want a custom theme, you can bring the supplies and set it up yourself.
What is Chuck E Cheese’s no-show policy?
Chuck E Cheese birthday policy allows for up to two no-shows on the day of your party, with the minimum paid guests (changes by location and package). So if you have issues getting people to RSVP or someone RSVPs and then can’t make it, you’re good for up to two kids.
This post was originally written in 2017 and has since been updated.
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