2023 Northridge Grand Reopening Party

The Northridge Grand Reopening Party was a reopening event on November 10, 2023 for Northridge, CA (8425 Reseda Blvd) after their CEC 2.0 Remodel Program and a celebration for the location now becoming the Munch's Make Believe Band Residency. The event started at 4pm PST with a press event featuring David McKillips and Nolan Bushnell. From 6pm PST to 8pm PST the store would be open to the public, where it would be at maximum capacity almost the entire event. Logan Carreiro, a special guest, would also be denoted 'Chief Entertainment Officer' at the event and given access to the press event with their family and friends. The Chuck E Cheese Northridge Grand Re-Opening Show would also debut at the event.

History

Planned Reopening

On October 12, 2023, CEC Entertainment would send a letter to Logan Carreiro, a kid who had previously petitioned for the company to save its animatronics and had made headlines previously in the year, for an invitation to the store's grand re-opening. He will be flown with all expenses paid to the event to be named the honorary title 'Chuck E. Cheese Chief Animatronic Officer'. The letter also stated that Northridge would be the 'animatronic team's new permanent home', being the first official statement given on Northridge's remodel keeping the animatronics. This would imply CEC would be using the remodel and Logan's honorary title as a PR move to combat the controversy of removing animatronics in the CEC 2.0 Remodel Program . On that same day, Donovan Marcelle, programmer for CEC Corporate, would hold a livestream programming an unknown show segment. This was despite just a month earlier confirming that all showtape programming was to cease due to budget cuts. In this, they would pin a message in the livestream chat saying 'Programming something special..... but what???!!'. This hints toward the possibility of the new programming being for the event, but has not been confirmed officially.⁽¹⁾ On October 14th it would be confirmed by Logan that the grand re-opening event would be taking place on November 10th.⁽¹⁾

Chuck E. Cheese LIVE Announcement

On October 25th, 2023, CEC would start a livestream and subsequent Facebook Event for a 'Chuck E. Cheese LIVE Announcement'.⁽³⁾ Its description stated 'Chuck E. Cheese has big news to share with fans young and old.'. The livestream would start on many platforms, having the characters announce the new plans for the location to become the permanent residency for animatronic characters. A PopVerse article would also report with more statements and pictures.https://www.thepopverse.com/chuck-e-cheese-five-nights-at-freddys-freddy-munchs-munch-s-make-believe-band-returns The livestreams itself however had multiple issues with being muted and starting in the middle of the announcement.

Reopening Event Party

The party would start on November 10th at 4pm on as a media preview event lasting until 6pm. From 6pm to 8pm the public is allowed in the restaurant. The media preview will feature Nolan Bushnell and David McKillips to discuss the legacy and future of the company. The public event would be confirmed to start with the animatronics performing with their exclusive location-specific showtape ⁽³⁾ Visitors will get free cake and a poster upon visiting, alongside having chances to win prizes such as a free Chuck E. Cheese birthday party or a VIP play band loaded with one full year of unlimited All You Can Play time. If visiting the event with any Chuck E. Cheese tokens, they can be traded in for an exclusive commemorative pin. The first 25 families to enter will get 1 free hour at the arcade. During the event's press release, the previously stated 'Chief Animatronic Officer' Logan would instead be set to be crowned 'Chief Entertainment Officer for the day'.

Event

During the press event only a couple news reporters were spotted filming and interviewing the special guests. No major news outlet was spotted reporting it. CEC would open the doors early around 4:30pm, bringing in guests and having Noland and David speaking about CEC, its history, and its future. One film crew was covering this section, though it is unclear if this was CEC filming their own promotional footage, or another outlet. Throughout the event the venue would be at maximum capacity. Many Chuck E. Cheese fans would attend bringing in classic merchandise and shirts. Two notable guests would dress up as Chuck in his coach outfit, and one as Jasper in his 90's design. The Chuck E Cheese Northridge Grand Re-Opening Show would play on loop for the entire event, alongside one live show being done. A balloon drop would happen during the live. The raffle would start later in the event with Logan picking winners out of a Ticket Blaster .

Stage Troubles

Prior to the event around 3pm PST, technicians were attempting to play the Chuck E. Cheese Northridge Nights Show 2023|Northridge Nights Show and having issues with playing a live show. Very noticeably throughout the event Chuck's back head shell was coming off of its hinges, prompting a technician to briefly fix it while the curtains were still up. Issues with the spotlights also arose. Helen's spot was positioned between her and Munch lighting up just the wall, Pasqually's was between him and Jasper, and Jasper's spot signal was incorrectly going to both Munch and Pasqually's spotlights. The store had also incorrectly hooked up their microphone into the Cyberamic Control System to allow their voice to play over the speakers. This caused their audio input to feed directly into the signal processing of the computer, taking their voice as signals for the characters. This caused lights, character movements, and curtains to sporadically switch on and off when they spoke. One of these instances caused Chuck's curtain to close in the middle of a show, and would not open again until the next show played.

Videos

Link	Description
Link	The second half of Logan's stream prior to the press event. The first half is currently lost.
Link	Logan's stream of the press event.
Link	Two short videos of the press event.
Link	A video by logan of the press event.
Link	News coverage during the press event.
Link	Part 1 of CEC Reminder's coverage of the public opening.
Link	Part 2 of CEC Reminder's coverage of the public opening.
Link	Part 3 of CEC Reminder's coverage of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.
Link	A video by logan of the public opening.

References

3. https://www.facebook.com/events/s/chuck-e-cheese-live-announceme/1038949547126773/