Cheese E. Street

Cheese E. Street was an attraction build into a few Pizza Time Theatre locations in 1983. The attraction was a façade of houses and buildings, with a token-operated turnstile in the center building to gain access to the interior. Inside would be a collection of slides, a rotating 'barrel of fun', and three levels of crawling and climbing space.

Locations

The attraction would only be installed at a certain number of locations. (N/A is a placeholder)

• Milwaukee, WI (2701 S Chase Ave) - April 1983
• San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd) - April 22, 1983
• Danvers, MA (139 Endicott St) - April 24, 1983
• East Norriton / Norristown, PA (2834 Dekalb Pike) - June 1983
• West Mifflin, PA (2260 Lebanon Church Rd) - August 1983
• Cheektowaga, NY (Thruway Mall) - N/A
• Johnson City, NY (365 Harry L Dr) - N/A
• Parkway Parade, Marine Parade, Singapore - N/A
• Kowloon, Hong Kong, China - N/A

Layout

The attraction needed a space of 32' wide, 20' deep, and 12' to 15' high, likely meaning the upper clock portion sticking up past the rest of the façade could be replaced with something shorter.⁽¹⁾ The majority of the play structure had a two to three level play area. On the left side, a door that read 'Stage Door' could open and let parents watch their children from inside. An exact copy of the blueprints are found in the Kooser Road location's 1983 installation blueprints, detailing the layout.⁽²⁾ Though there are other Cheese E. Streets seen with a slide that leads outside of the play structure.

Audio Tapes

Multiple audio tapes were used for the attraction. One singular audio tape, hosting 27 music tracks, would loop continuously outside the attraction. Another would play audio for the Cheese E. Street clock located on the exterior, inviting guests into the attraction. A third would play audio for the Cheese Factory portion, though this is unclear if this was exterior or interior audio.

Outtakes

Four outtake tracks were found within the archive for the original audio tapes. These are:

• Sesame Street (Track ???)
• The Typewriter (Track ???)
• This Old Man (Track ???)
• The Waltzing Cat (Track ???)

History

Before Cheese E. Street was conceptualized, its creators, Kip Atchley, and Reed Lawson managed a haunted house of their own creation on the outskirts of Napa, California.http://www.showbizpizza.com/info/documents/ptt/ptt_gamesexaminer-street.pdf Built over the course of twelve years, the attraction caught the attention of Nolan Bushnell, founder of Pizza Time Theatre, who visited the attraction in July 1982.⁽³⁾ Being impressed by the craftsmanship, he pitched to Atchley of a fun house-fantasy land attraction for his Pizza Time Theatre chain. The duo would then be hired for development. The attraction would be developed at the Pizza Time Theatre Hollister, CA Games Manufacturing Center https://www.facebook.com/pizzatimetheatre/photos/anyone-remeber-the-cheese-e-street-or-cheese-factory-funhouse-check-it-out-see-p/238500822857482/  over the course of the next nine months. During the second month of development, in September of 1982, Pizza Time Theatre ran a magazine for store employees called The Games Examiner which would run a front-page article on Cheese E. Street. In the article, there can be seen blueprints of the front façade and a preliminary sketch of its exterior, alongside the mention of a model of the attraction, which would be seen in other discussions of the attraction. A videotape of this model would be shown off at the 1982 PTT Maui, Hawaii Convention (Event)|1982 PTT Maui, Hawaii Convention just one month later.⁽⁰⁾ It, along with other videotapes of attractions, would be a part of the Chuck E. Cheese's New Product Expo portion of the convention, which ran a few hours each day from October 2nd to October 4th.⁽⁴⁾ Plans for the first Cheese E. Street to open would be at the San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd) location, with employees from the R&D division coming to help build it⁽¹⁾, though seemingly this first opening would be superseded by the Milwaukee, WI (2701 S Chase Ave) franchise store getting theirs built first around the same month. Flyers stating Kooser's premiere date were still given around this time.⁽¹⁾