Dallas-based Chuck E. Cheese, the restaurant chain known for combining pizza and entertainment, is executing a comeback that includes a new amusement park-style format with trampolines, climbing walls, and other next-level attractions.
They’re called Adventure Zones, and the chain is adding them to select locations as part of a global rollout for 2025. That includes a newly opened location in Allen at 2265 N. Central Expy., as well an already-open location in Grand Prairie, at 2760 W. I-20, which was retrofitted with the Adventure Zone package.
The changes come following a bankruptcy filing by parent company CEC Entertainment, LLC, in June 2020 — one that has inspired the new strategy at a cost of more than $300 million.
The Adventure Zones are like an adjoining park, with a separate entry charge from $10-$18 (discounted with monthly passes), with amenities such as trampolines, a ninja run obstacle course, climbing walls, and balance beams.
CEO David McKillips says that the innovation "has truly completed the experience and taken it to the next level. Kids love it. Parents love it. It’s transforming the way families enjoy Chuck E. Cheese, and we couldn’t be more excited."
One major change was the removal of longtime signatures such as their animatronics which McKillips called "a hot debate."
“Families have told us that traditional trampoline parks and bounce houses can feel overwhelming for little ones surrounded by bigger kids and teens, so we thoughtfully designed our Adventure Zones for younger kids,” McKillips says.
Now there's an increased focus on the digital games and interactive activities that their audience has grown up with.
To keep the parents engaged, they've upgraded their menu, improving the pizza recipe and adding new flavors such as BBQ pizza, Hawaiian pizza, meatball pizza, as well as wings and meatballs in three flavors, such as spicy Korean BBQ.
Chuck E. Cheese was founded by Atari video game founder Nolan Bushnell and opened its first location in 1977 in San Jose, California as "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre" — the first restaurant to combine pizza, games, and animated entertainment. The company has been headquarteed in Irving since the mid 1980's, and currently has 480 locations, including 63 in Texas.
