Chico, CA exterior, September 2010, still with the SPT 1992 Remodel exterior.
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.
[https://youtu.be/W8EtubUJ76w]
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.
(2) 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 |
Animatronics