Dark Secrets Of Chuck E Cheese That The Employees Don’t Want Us To Know

By Jessica O'Neil 10 months ago

The costumes aren’t washed regularly

Image Source: Reddit
Don’t expect the head mouse in charge to smell like flowers and roses. Employees have said that the costumes are not cleaned very often, and the inside tends to smell pretty terrible. We advise staying a few feet away if you value your sense of smell.

The employees are always hooking up

Image Source: Reddit
There’s something so irresistible about sticky floors and animatronic creatures playing a jaunty tune. Like most restaurant staff, employees at Chuck E Cheese can’t seem to get enough of each other. Expect the front-of-house and back-of-house staff to regularly canoodle during their shifts.

Your order mistakes are employee gains

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Did you order cheese pizza and receive pepperoni instead? Your server is likely elated. Staff members usually eat the kitchen’s mistakes, as long as the food hasn’t been touched by guests. Some staff members have even admitted to putting in false orders so they can get a free meal during their shift.

Don’t trust the salad bar

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Okay, did you really expect a supremely fresh salad from a place with a ball pit and screaming children? Employees have said that the salad bar isn’t really up to par. Sometimes, when cycling the food out from day to day, older lettuce will be put at the bottom of the tray and topped with new lettuce to give the appearance of 100% fresh produce.

Parents lose their kids pretty often

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Seeing as Chuck E Cheese is a kid-centric place, you’d think remembering your kid is pretty easy. For some parents at this establishment, no child left behind isn’t an ideology they tend to practice. Staff at multiple locations have reported parents forgetting to take their children home or pick them up, leading to authorities being called.

Your pizza slices may not be from the same pizza

Image Source: Reddit
This scandal was something that gripped the nation when it first broke. Rumors had spread that Chuck E Cheese would put pizza slices together from unfinished pies, leading to a mismatched pizza that was completely unappetizing. One investigation even found this claim to be true, leading hoards of people to opt out of eating at several locations.

Expect parents to overdrink

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Though Chuck E Cheese usually has a strict two-beer maximum for parents and guardians, this isn’t always followed by staff. Employees have reported that parents will overdo it all the time during events and birthday parties, even getting so belligerent that they have to be kicked out or arrested in some cases.

Someone may have died at your location

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Yup, some locations have been the scene of disturbing violence. In 1993, a man named Nathan Dunlap killed four employees in Aurora, Colorado. Other locations have seen their fair share of grimness as well. In 2022, a man was killed by gun violence outside of the Indianapolis location while families were inside.

The bathrooms are a hub for sexiness

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It’s gross, but it’s very true. Insatiable teens have been caught hooking up in the bathrooms of Chuck E Cheese, having zero regard for the dozens of innocent children at play just beyond the confines of the tiny stalls. If you’re looking for a place to get it on, may we suggest a place with fewer families?

They deliberately understaff locations

Image Source: Reddit
This is a common thing for many restaurants across the United States. To keep labor costs low and to line the pockets of the company executives, Chuck E Cheese will purposely hire fewer people than they need, choosing to overwork the staff they do have instead.

Breaks are rare for employees

Image Source: Reddit
Though a thirty-minute break is mandated, some locations will not honor this rule. Employees are regularly told to work through their break and are even told to still clock out while they do so! This practice is 100% illegal, but it doesn’t stop many stores from instructing their employees to overwork themselves day in and day out.

The police are often called

Image Source: City of Franklin, TN
Brawls, screaming parents, abandoned children, disruptive teenagers, you name it. There are countless reasons why Chuck E Cheese employees require the assistance of authorities throughout their time at the company. Some locations even admit to calling the police nearly every day due to unruly and unsafe situations.

Guests will refuse to leave

Image Source: Pasadena Star News
You’d think once the mops come out and the music turns off people would get the hint to leave. In some cases, many choose to ignore these cues and keep partying away, even after they are told to get going. Certain customers feel entitled to the space, forcing employees to call the police or risk getting into an altercation with guests.

Women are usually the cheese master himself

Image Source: Reddit
At a large number of locations, women tend to be in the Chuck E Cheese costumes. This is usually because the costumes aren’t too roomy, and kids can get really aggressive when they see the mouse out and about in the play area, kicking or punching the mouse down below.

The game room prizes can be bought outright

Image Source: Reddit
This isn’t well advertised, but you can always purchase the arcade prizes if you don’t have enough tickets to redeem. Employees are instructed to push ticket sales rather than prize sales, so you’ll probably get roped into buying the tickets first, since this is a way for the company to make more money.

Employees tend to quit left and right

Image Source: Chuck E. Cheese Wiki - Fandom
Chuck E Cheese isn’t a company that has a high staff retention rate. Many employees barely make it a year due to the working conditions, like long hours and horrific clean-up duties. If you have to clean up child vomit almost every day, you’d probably quit too!

Creepy customers come in often

Image Source: Reddit
Yes, you guessed it. Plenty of weirdos flock to these kid-centric locations. This includes teens who try to prey on younger girls or strange childless adults who stand a little too close to the ball pit. Staff will usually report any weird behavior to authorities or kick out the perverts themselves.

Family fights happen nearly every day

Image Source: WBEZ
Birthday parties are stressful, and they’re even more difficult when six are occurring all at once. Because of the noise, large groups of screaming children, and half-drunk adults, brawls are bound to happen. Expect to see parents going at it and two rival families duking it out in the parking lot.

Cleaning up can be downright horrific

Image Source: Reddit
When kids are involved, you know there will be some pee or puke in a corner somewhere. For Chuck E Cheese employees, this is their daily reality. So many kids wet themselves in the play area that it’s pretty much expected, and vomiting in the ball pit is just a regular day at most locations.

Parents allow their children to do anything

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When bringing your kids to a place designed for children, you still need to keep an eye on them and discipline any bad behavior. It is not up to the staff to supervise your kids. Some parents believe that these locations are basically daycares and will refuse to pay attention to rambunctious children.

The bathrooms are a total hazard

Image Source: Reddit
Do we even have to explain it? You’ve seen - and smelled - the tragedy that is a public bathroom at a chain restaurant. Well, it can be a billion times worse at Chuck E Cheese. Think soiled diapers, pee-covered floors, poop on the walls, and crayon graffiti all over the walls.

Kids pee all over the play area

Image Source: Business Insider
No, that leak isn’t coming from the ceiling! Kids have a difficult time holding their bladders, which isn’t their fault by any means, But, when spending the day consuming buckets of soda and running around at full speed, accidents are bound to happen. You’ll notice a puddle or two on the jungle gym for sure if you decide to work here.

Old employees must destroy their costumes

Image Source: Reddit
Chuck E Cheese policy states that all former staff must not wear or keep any of their old costumes. This is likely because it totally ruins the magic to see mouse without his head. It is also because the company does not want to risk having the costumes resold or worn outside of its intended use.

The food isn’t always fresh

Image Source: Reddit
As mentioned before, the salad isn’t always the best and the cheese pizza could definitely be from other orders. Items like wings or breadsticks tend to be frozen and could spend a long time sitting in the window before they are eventually delivered to your table.

Scared kids are a source of enjoyment for employees

Image Source: Reddit
Some employees enjoy terrorizing the children. They will purposely follow around a child who is afraid of the costume to get a laugh, or they’ll simply giggle behind the scenes at kids who run away screaming from the animatronics. Honestly, with all the stuff they have to endure as an employee, can you blame them?

The staff will drink on the job

Image Source: Reddit
Sobriety isn’t a common thing at Chuck E Cheese. Some staff members will drink throughout their shift, or stay at the location after hours to get loaded in the dining room or parking lot. The kitchen staff may even be a little tipsy while preparing your pizza. 

It’s pretty hard to get fired

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Locations across the country are pretty desperate for staff. Because of this, it takes a lot to get the boot from Chuck E Cheese. Employees will pull a no-call-no-show often, or even arrive several hours late for their shift, and be met with zero punishment.

Mistakes are frequent, expected, and ignored

Image Source: Reddit
Don’t expect your meals to arrive pristine, or for your complaints to get addressed properly when visiting these locations. Since Chuck E Cheese isn’t as common or celebrated as it used to be, customer service has gone downhill, leading to a shift full of mistakes and management that couldn’t care less.

Parents love to make birthdays all about them

Image Source: Reddit
A child’s birthday party is a magical time for them that will be remembered for years to come. Some parents use this opportunity to give themselves the bday bash they never had. They’ll terrorize the staff when they don’t get exactly what they want, and some even blow out their child’s candles and open their gifts!

The hand stamps don’t always stop kid mixups

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Chuck E Cheese requires parents and children to have matching invisible hand stamps so they can ensure all families leave with the correct kids. However, this doesn’t stop some people from grabbing the wrong child or even kids from getting abducted by wandering predators.