Fall River, MA (35 Mariano Bishop Blvd)
Former site of Fall River's Pizza Time Theatre / Big Top Kiddie Playland, currently Harbor Freight Tools, in 2021 (PC: Adam Cecil)
Fall River, MA (35 Mariano Bishop Blvd) was a Pizza Time Theatre that opened in February 1985 with a Balcony Stage, closing sometime around 1991 with Chuck E.'s House Facade. The location became a one-off family entertainment center named Big Top Kiddie Playland shortly after, initially retrofitting the Cyberamics before the decision was made to install Celebration Station's W.O.O.F. Radio on the House Facade stage. The Big Top Kiddie Playland closed sometime around 2007, with the building space being taken up by Harbor Freight Tools since then.[1]
History
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (1985-1991)
Fall River opened as a franchised Pizza Time Theatre in February 1985 with a Cyberamics Balcony Stage, a relocation from the Danvers, MA (139 Endicott St) store. As there was a shortage of Cyberamic characters and shows at the time, Danvers shipped their entire Balcony Stage to Fall River and installed a Family Album to take the place of their main entertainment. By 1988-1989, the Balcony Stage was converted into a Chuck E.'s House Facade.
When asked about the closure of Fall River's Pizza Time Theatre, local Paul Janice claimed that Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. asked the franchise owners to pay for a remodel (presumably the SPT 1988 Remodel Program). Possibly due to high costs with the remodel, the owners decided to defranchise and transform the Pizza Time Theatre into their own family entertainment center, the Big Top Kiddie Playland restaurant, for Spring 1991.[1]
Big Top Kiddie Playland (1991-2007)
According to another Fall River local, Malerie Rosa, not much was changed in terms of atmosphere upon the conversion into Big Top Kiddie Playland. However, the first order of business was to retrofit the Cyberamic characters of Chuck E. Cheese's into an original cast of characters. Although there is minimal documentation, the characters were supposedly given all-new cosmetics to resemble clowns, with Chuck E. being replaced with mascot "Topper Clown." Aaron Bell-Dias, a son of the owners, claimed to have many images of Big Top Kiddie Playland, including the Cyberamic retrofits (though have yet to resurface). As customers found the retrofits to be "demonic-looking clowns," the owners decided to sought after another animatronic show to replace them, which came in the form of Creative Presentations' W.O.O.F. Radio (previously created for the Celebration Station chain). The characters from W.O.O.F. were installed in a bizarre manner, choosing to radically alter the existing House Facade stage to accommodate for the different animatronics. Major Moose and Harry Hound were installed on opposite ends from the typical stage setup for W.O.O.F. with their legs hidden by the Munch and Pasqually modules. The Pantones (Purrscilla Purr, Big Bear, and Doc Fox) were arranged just like the traditional W.O.O.F. configuration, with the Chuck E. module removed along with the Jasper and Helen railings. The live show platform on the House Facade was used as additional support for Purrscilla's piano and Big Bear's drum set. It is unknown whether or not Big Top also included Howard Le Trec and Accu-Duck, as images suggest they were absent.
Not much is known about Big Top Kiddie Playland throughout the 1990's and 2000's, though it has been claimed that prizes at Big Top were sourced from the KB Toys next door in the plaza. This was supposedly due to Big Top losing their prize vendor and resorting to buying up KB's stock of toys. Charlie Bell, the co-owner of Big Top, decided to sell the Fall River location to an unidentified family that offered to take over operations in 2006. However, it did not last, as Big Top's Fall River location ended up closing permanently the next year due to mismanagement and lack of maintenance. The W.O.O.F. Radio animatronics (believed to have remained in Big Top up to that point) were said by Charlie to have been sold to an "unknown individual" in the New England region, deeming it as impossible to track down with minimal information. Another Big Top Kiddie Playland location opened sometime later in the 2000's at the Hanover Mall in Hanover, Massachusetts (albeit smaller in size and without animatronics) that closed by the 2010's and was demolished in 2020.[1]
Stages
| Stage | Installed | Removed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balcony Stage | February 1985 | 1988-1989 | Originally from Danvers, MA (139 Endicott St). |
| Chuck E.'s House Facade | 1988-1989 | Spring 1991 | One of three House Facades (C-Stages) installed in the New England region. |
| W.O.O.F. Radio | 1990s | 2007 | Location origins unknown. Animatronics installed within the existing House Facade stage. Only W.O.O.F. Radio show to ever be installed in Massachusetts and the New England region in general. |
Animatronics
Gallery
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Big Top Kiddie Playland (Formerly Chuck E. Cheese) Advertisement -
Major Moose and Purrscilla Purr Animatronics on the House Facade Stage -
Major Moose and Purrscilla Purr Animatronics on the House Facade Stage -
The Pantones Animatronics on the House Facade Stage -
W.O.O.F. Radio Animatronics on the House Facade Stage
