Chico, CA (966 East Ave)

Chico, California, 966 East Ave, Store #230/3039 was a Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre that opened in July 1982 with a Balcony stage and closed on January 11th, 2011 as the only Fun Zone & Pizza.

Stages

The Chico, CA location opened with a Balcony Stage with Harmony Howlette, Madame Oink, and Helen Henny guest stars over the course of its decade run.

Chico would also house The King for a period of time, it is unknown when the character was removed.

At some point after 1988, the show was converted into the Chuck E.'s House Façade then finally converted into a 2-Stage in 1993.

It is unknown whether the location received any technical attention to their show whatsoever nearing its final years, the characters were in such a decrepit condition to a point where little to any movement was noticeable from the show.

As a result of the franchise losing the rights to use the CEC name for the location in 2011, the characters' internal mechanisms were removed, and have three of the animatronics retrofitted to generic animals with suits.

After the location's second closure, the animatronics would possibly end up being sold for $100.^[1]

History

Chico opened July 1982 as a Pizza Time Theatre, and making it out through PTT's bankruptcy. In 1993 the location would remodel, possibly for the first and only time, and would receive at least two different game packages throughout the years.

During the last few years of Chico operating under the Chuck E. Cheese's brand, the animatronics had little to no maintenance and only certain movements would operate correctly. A common rumor is that they had stopped using prizes from CEC corporate and instead replaced them with dollar store toys; It's also been said that they served frozen pizza they had gotten from a nearby vendor.

In 2010 the store would fail to fund its own remodel to the CEC 2005 Remodel Program, only painting select walls. This decision would ultimately lead to corporate getting involved and revoking the franchise's license to the location once and for all.^[2]

Because of this, the franchisee started Fun Zone & Pizza. Various pieces of CEC decor were either reskinned or hidden away from public viewing. Fun Zone would end up not pulling in the amount of money as the store's owner intended, so Fun Zone eventually had to close as well.

During closure, the store sold everything from the store decor, arcade machines, to even the Cyberamics' empty frames.

After the franchisee left the location for good, the store became a seasonal Halloween store at some point before becoming vacant once again in 2015.^[3] The location was finally demolished in 2016 and replaced with DaVita Dialysis center. In 2019, Fun Zone's generic mascot costumes would show up on Facebook market place and would be sold for an unknown amount.

Arcade Machines

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (Bootleg cabinet)
Jurassic Park (1994)
Daytona USA
Chuck E. Cheese's Circus
Photo Ride with Chuck E. Cheese
Hightops Basketball Arcade Machine
Wheel Of Fortune (2001)
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Chuck E. Cheese's Trolley Car (Blue variant)
Puff the Magic Dragon Coin Operated Ride
Chuck E. Cheese's Air Hockey Table (1996)
Caveman Clobber
Dinoscore
Arctic Thunder
Cruis’n USA
Pot O’ Gold
Wheel Of Fortune (Coin Pusher)
Buddy Bear
Swamp Stomp
Spider Stompin’ (there were 2 of these)
Dunk N’ Alien
Dinospin
Goin’ Fishin’ / Fishin’ Fun

Videos

Link	Description	Filming Date
https://youtu.be/mfqVbOlWI0U	Dancin’ All Night Long	2009
https://youtu.be/SBvvxhAsOJQ	Birthday Star 2001	December 8th, 2007
https://youtu.be/zUefRhKWpsA	Birthday Extravaganza 2008	2009
https://youtu.be/fGT8IAgCskk	Birthday Extravaganza 2008	November 22nd, 2008
https://youtu.be/DaCBZyrnORA	Chuck E. March 2001	November 22nd, 2008
https://youtu.be/1v5IvFhARBU	Birthday video	September 6th, 2008
https://youtu.be/W8EtubUJ76w	The Infamous No More Chuck E. Cheese video	May 2nd, 2011
https://youtu.be/S4nqebm43CI	Fun Zone's Closure	September 18th, 2011
https://youtu.be/JLdBhKEfmbI	The vacant building 4 years later	2015

Gallery

Chico's balcony stage
Chico PTT ad
Chico PTT ad for the Salad Bar
Chico as a Pizza Time Theatre
The King at Chico
Cool Chuck walkaround, presumably taken sometime in the 90s
Some of the Gameroom
Some of the main counters
Walkaround with a 90s vest
Avenger walkaround in the showroom
Super Chuck in the showroom
Chuck E. Cyberamic
Avenger walkaround and animatronics
Helen, Munch, and Jasper
Birthday photo taken inside the showroom
The Gameroom
Some of the Gameroom and Showroom
Exterior from presumably 2011
Another exterior photo of Chico
Fun Zone & Pizza exterior
Chico being demolished
Chico as it stands today
Chico yelp review 1
Chico yelp review 2
Chico yelp review 3
Chico yelp review 4
Photo of the Dinosaur costume used at the location on the Facebook marketplace
Photo of the Dog costume used at the location on the Facebook marketplace
Photo of the Lion costume used at the location on the Facebook marketplace
Photo of the Cow costume used at the location on the Facebook marketplace

Animatronics


Animatronic	Manufacturing Date	Installed	Removed	Whereabouts
Chuck E Cheese (Cyberamic)	1981/1982	1982	2011	Destroyed
Guest Star / Helen Henny (Cyberamic)	1981/1982	1982	2011	Destroyed
Mr. Munch (Cyberamic) / Dog (Mr. Munch Retrofit)	1981/1982	1982	2011 / 2012	Unknown/Sold
Jasper T. Jowls (Cyberamic) / Lion (Jasper T. Jowls Retrofit)	1981/1982	1982	2011 / 2012	Unknown/Sold
Pasqually (Cyberamic) / Cow (Pasqually Retrofit)	1981/1982	1982	2011 / 2012	Unknown/Sold
Warblettes (Cyberamic)	???	1982	1988	Unknown
Waving Flags (Cyberamic)	???	1982	1988 / 1993	Unknown
Applause Board (Cyberamic)	???	1982	1988	Unknown
Drum Board (Cyberamic)	???	1982	1988	Unknown
The King / King Kat (Lounge)	???	1982	Late 80's / Early 90's	Unknown
Singing Flowers (Cyberamic)	1989/1990	1988	1993	Unknown
Wink (Cyberamic)	1990's	1993	2011	Unknown

References

[1] ttps://youtu.be/S4nqebm43CI

[:0-2] ttps://youtu.be/W8EtubUJ76w

[3] ttps://youtu.be/JLdBhKEfmbI

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