Oh yeah they were way better when they were dark and creepy. Always kids crying, kids fighting, Chucky always had duck tape at the base of his tail from kids tearing it off lol. LOVED IT
The dim lighting MADE chuck e cheese as a kid! I remember in the mid-90s walking into one for the first time in years. I was so shocked and sad, it looked like a daycare center to me. This video is so great, and rare.
@@tracytre38 That's what they all look like, along with arcades in general these days for the most part too, sadly. The dim, dark lighting really added to the amazing atmosphere of these places, which sadly got lost as time went on too.
This video is such a treasure. I think my family has a few 90s home videos that were taken at Chuck E. Cheese's, but certainly not this early! The world is a different place now. That man hadn't even seen someone using a camcorder before. Thanks for filming this and saving it for all of these years (and of course for uploading it!)
Not sure what streets or anything, but it would have been one in the Tampa area in Florida. My uncle also took many photos of his granddaughter's birthday party at a Showbiz Pizza in the early to mid 80s; I hope to make a slideshow of those and post them as well.
I’ve been watching and revisiting this video for about 13 years now. I’ve decided it is my favorite thing on TH-cam. Around the time I discovered the video years ago, I went on a quest to visit as many PTT (although then/now CEC) stores that I could in Southern California to see what remained of the good ol’ days I remembered. This video set off a fire of nostalgia in me (I was a mid 70’s baby) and it lasts to this day. I know live in Phoenix, not terribly far from this location, which is now a sad, bereft, shell of a shopping center... I only recently put together that I now live 10 minutes away from a place I’ve been watching in this video like a religious observance for years. Here now, bleached in the Valley’s sun...whispering ghosts of the past... the ghostly sounds of chirping arcade games singing in my head. Remembering the taste of pepperoni, cake and ice cream, and the magical, dark atmosphere...glowing game cabinets. Oh, those days. I’m a kid again every time I visit this video. Thank you for that.
I just discovered this video and I feel the same way! I want to go hunt them all down now but I better hurry cuz they've closed them all down just recently :( This video is so fascinating
This is exactly how I remember my first visit to Chuck E Cheese as a little kid in 1985..All dim and mystical with no windows and those sounds.....I can almost smell the dirty socks and urine odors emitting from the ball pit watching this.....
Careful, it may get pretty boring after a while where nothing ever changes, no lessons are learned, and the same mistakes are always made. If you haven't seen it already, I recommend you watch that old Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day.
Me too! This one sort of reminds me of the Chuck E Cheese which was open that same year in Johnson City, NY, near my 80's/childhood hometown of Binghamton, NY, as well.
I bet they could make some money again now that the kids back then are all in their 40's now and want to relive some of that Arcade magic. Millenials would dig it since its "retro"
The Chuck E Cheese in Mayfield Heights (outside of Cleveland) Ohio that we used to go to in the 80s as kids is still there today. (well they moved to the other side of the plaza due to reconstruction) but it's the same Chuck E Cheese! This video reminds me of how dark it always was in there back then, to set the mood for all the arcade games. Chuck E Cheese today is nothing like that anymore...it was really something special back then...
I know, really! The new bright lighting they started to use by then really killed the magical, special atmosphere these places (and arcades in general) had back in the day as well!
What a trip down memory lane that was. It's weird. It's as if you knew you were filming a piece of history the way you documented everything. Thank you for sharing!
Oh my God, the Chuck E. Cheese in Syracuse New York that I used to go to had that animatronic and those classic arcade games too. I distinctly remember the Elvis-like Lion animatronic. It used to be so much fun to go to Chuck E. Cheese back in the day.
I went to that one every now and then as a kid back in the day. Though the Chuck E Cheese that I mostly went to was the one closer by me in Johnson City, NY, near my 80's/childhood hometown of Binghamton, which was so great as well.
The King, You Mean? Because I Think You Either Went To Mattydale Which Opened From 1981-1995, Or The Unknown Addressed Syracuse Location, Which Opened In August Of 1982 And Closed Unknown.
@@eascec8374 I remember the King John Elvis lion initially being at the Chuck E Cheese in Johnson City, NY, as well, than was later replaced by The Beagles a few years or so later. I vaguely recall what the old Syracuse location was like, and remember they had the Popeye arcade game there (which was mainly why I went to that one back in the day as well too), but not much else about it I can remember in particular. That city eventually got a new location which opened in 2002, like when the former Johnson City C.E.C. closed down sometime shortly after (or maybe just before the end of) 96, and eventually relocated to nearby Vestal, NY, in 2001.
This reminds me of the Chuck E. Cheese near my town back then. Spacious, dark, and it had a crawlspace under the stage. There was a lounge for parents near the front.
@@matty6598No locations remain today with the 80s interior. Closest you’ll find is a mid-90s interior in a couple scarce locations. Dim lighting was still at Northridge, CA in the stage area until it remodeled last year.
This beats the heck out of the current Chuck E Cheese's. I wish I could have gone in one of these ones. One downside of being born in the 21st century.
I know, and it sucks that C.E.C's. resemble daycare centers far more than video arcades these days too it seems! Good thing I got to see the glory days of them, since I was born in 83 though! (L.O.L.!)
The current ones shouldn't even be called CEC. Everything is different from >30 years ago. Barely any arcade games, and basically none from the 20th century. No ball pit, animatronic concerts, crawl spaces, trains, possibly no skeeball, and the pizza is completely different. BTW, I was born in 1981
Ich habe 1983 bei Chuck E. Cheese in Californien mein 10. Geburtstag gefeiert und werde die leckere Pizza dort nie vergessen und auch diese großen Figuren und Spielautomaten, sowas cooles hat es in deutschland bis Heute nie gegeben.
Thank you so much.You literally brought some of my best childhood memories out of my head and straight on to video.I was 11 years old in 1983 and Chuck E Cheese was my favorite hangout.When I think back to the 80s the first image that always seems to come to mind is the ARCADE they used to have.The sights and sounds of all those video games and the sheer joy of being there is something that I will never forget.So yesterday I was having one of these nostalgic flashbacks and the thought occurred to me to check You Tube just in case someone happened to have a video of Chuck E Cheese back in the good old days.To my delight they sure did.Yours.This video really takes me back.That tour was wonderful to watch.
As a kid, I remember them feeling very large with a few different rooms and it had a dark/or deem lighting. When I drive by them these days it's not how I remembered, and seeing this video comfirms my memories to be correct. Thanks for the video.
Love this video. I had my 13th birthday at CEC in 1983 in Lynnwood WA (near Seattle). by far the highlight for me at that party was Atari's Star Wars arcade cockpit which was very new then. After the party we went to toys r' us which was very close by where I used my b-day money to buy the Nintendo game and watch pocket games Mario Bros and Donkey Kong II. Both CEC and Toys R' Us are still in Lynnwood but not the same.
Lynnwood lost its last Chuck E. Cheese's last year. This one I refer to was at 3717 196th St. SW, which was originally a ShowBiz Pizza Place that opened in 1986 to replace an older ShowBiz at 3815 196th St. SW. The 3717 196th St. SW location was the only ShowBiz Pizza Place in all WA to make it into the Concept Unification era that saw it be transformed into a Chuck E. Cheese's during 1991 (using some of the old signage from the former Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre at 18811 28th Ave.), and it was thus also the only one in all WA to have the 3-stage set. Neither the Bellevue nor Seattle ShowBiz Pizza Places made it past 1989.
this video is amazing. i was 5 in 1983, and the arcade was one of the few places my father would take me as a child. seeing all those games looking new is incredible, its just the way i remember it! now i collect old arcade games and pinballs... thank you so much for sharing!
The best memory is how dim the lighting was. That is what made the experience unique. Now it’s just sad the lack of good games and then right lighting. Everything was better back then, even the shows felt grand. I wish Chuck E. Cheese would make a retro version so my kids could experience a true childhood. The memories of running in there with just socks and in the dark. I could swear there was a batting cage at the Pasadena, CA location whe it was on the lower part of the building.
These places were a heck of a lot bigger back then, mine is just a large room that they cram everything into, they had balconies and multiple floors jeez
kobun37 wouldn't surprise me. I miss the separate room deal myself, but my town didn't get a PTT or SPP location at all so our CEC locations follow the current layout.
I remember this one in particular from my early childhood. The place was HUGE. Cavernous. Compared to the humble little Chuck E Cheese down the street from me now, it was a damned Arabian palace. How the mighty have fallen. Does anyone know the cross streets for this one?
Stumbled across this in 2021 - my GOD! The nostalgia hit me in the gut like a mule kick! Almost in tears. I miss the CEC in Fort Worth TX. Climbing under the stage, going through the cheese maze and popping out in the arcade near the ballpit. Even as a kid I hated the food, just went there to play! (EDIT-2023 - Had to come back and watch it again! Nostalgia is an addictive drug... This video needs to go one for another 15-20 minutes!)
Can anyone name all the game that can be heard and seen? Starting at 2:28 the games that I can identify by sight are in this order: Games identified by sight roughly in order of appearance: Super Pac-Man (side of machine) Qix (believed to be the Taito cabinet to the right of Donkey Kong Jr.) Donkey Kong Jr. (up close) Front Line (panned across title marquee) Joust Donkey Kong (barely noticeable, to right of Centipede) Centipede (up close) Not sure (top of machine shown poking out behind Wild Western) Wild Western (up close) Not sure (looks kind of like Joust but isn't, can see screen but no marquee, machine to left of Popeye) Popeye (up close) Rescue (up close) Pole Position (cockpit, up close) Not sure (some type of redemption game, or juke box?, behind Blue Print) Pengo (up close) Night Driver??? (screen seen briefly when panning away from Pengo) Blue Print (up close) Frogger (up close) Moon Patrol (up close) Ms. Pac Man (seen from side, fast pan by) Subroc-3D Not sure (cockpit with flashing red light on top back, seen briefly after Subroc-3D) Burger Time (close up, original "P" pepper buttons can be seen on control panel) Nibbler Stargate a row of Skee Ball machines Games heard in order of appearance: Super Pac-Man (heard throughout) Qix (heard throughout) Rescue (heard less occasionally) Pole Position (heard once or twice) Popeye (heard once) I'm interested to see if anyone can help identify the "Not sure" machines.
I had Donkey Kong and Popeye on my Coleco, wow those arcade machines take me back. You know. If they brought back Arcades with vintage games I bet they'd make money again. The 8-bit games are coming back fast. look at that, Joust, Pole position, Mrs PacMan, Centipede, Frogger! I used to play Moon Patrol on the Apple 2's at school in the 80's.
Oh man, so awesome back in the day when CEC didn't suck. Actual arcade games--the sounds in this video alone get my nostalgia going. Some of my earliest gaming memories. Nowadays, all of the CEC I see dont even have arcade games, just crappy kids stuff. Regrettable.
You sir, are a LEGEND! Madman millionaire dream is to open a retro-style pizzaria/arcade. Wonder if I could get the rights to use the classic designs...
Wow everything in this video seeing the old school Chuck E. Cheese in 1983 is beyond nostalgic the dim lights,arcade games,even a ball pit even tho I wasn’t born in the 80s it takes me down memory lane😊
We had a Pistol Pete's in Houston. I had my 11th birthday there in 1988. It was pretty cool, but this CEC video really brings back the memories. Thanks for posting this!
He got footage of Popeye!! I still remember my first time getting to play it was at a Chuck E Cheese arcade.. I must've played for hours while dad got loaded watching the Elvis animatronic Lion thing...
In the late 70s to mid 80s, we lived at Villa Alegre at 46th & Thomas. We were at the CEC every weekend cuz it was my bro and I's favorite place to go.
@@payson1 Teen night at CEC, never heard of it, that i can remember. Was too busy playing video games like a nut and trying to win a CEC stuffed animal and sit on his lap with with my own photo from the Polaroid One Step Instant camera. Until i was around 12, i worshipped him.
I remember this location, but it wasn't Chuck E Cheese for very long. My sister had her birthday party there in fall 1985 and by that time it was Pistol Petes Pizza. However it looked pretty much the same
Mr. Anti-Flash Sentry Once-Ler Muniz 54 screw it man me and the wife are going on Friday when we’re off. There’s no law against it and I know she’d love it too!!
Hey..... there's one of those.... HEY! one of those movie things... Hahaha man some things never change! Most CEC managers today couldn't tell you what a video camera was either!
man this is crazy! I think the aesthetics of the 80's are incredible and this place without anyone gives a feeling of peace and uncertainty at the same time lol anyway I loved the video! (this reminded me a lot of a fnaf vhs tape)
If corporate wanted to take advantage of all the nostalgia people have today, they would open up a few retro Chuck E. Cheese pizza time theaters for us 30 to 40 year olds who remember how it use to be.
I know, and finding one of them is about as common as locating a payphone too! You can still find many arcades in boardwalks, and amusement parks, (along with some mini golf courses) and what not, but that's about it pretty much though.
I wish there were more videos around here like this. I haven't been to Chuck E. Cheese's since 1990 (I was about eight years old), and I forgot what most of it looked like back then. I remember there being a couple of rides, the animatronic stage, the prize counter, and the ball pit (which was the main reason I always wanted to go to CEC when I was little).
I recently went back to this location. It was very interesting to see how the structure is basically the same. The place is abandoned but I looked inside and saw that it was basically all gutted but very roomy. I wish that I have the opportunity to go inside but still very interesting.
wow, i wonder if this dude knew that these games and this franchise would become legendary for pop culture. truly amazing video, thanks so much for posting :) this is history that matters that isn't in the books.
This video brought a tear to my eye. This is truly remarkable footage. 5 starred and favorited for me. Grats on keeping the footage for so long! superb video :D thank you so much for sharing, you made my night
Hahah man, thank you so much for posting this. I went there a couple times when it was a Pistol Pete's Pizza...I'm constantly reminded of it because it's where I played Bubble Bobble, Xevious, Turbo OutRun and Pit Fighter for the first time. :D Thank you for doing that 360 camera pan...that confirmed it for me :)
This is great footage! I loved the early CEC.I was a tech at our location.The sounds of Fantasy Forest are fantastic.I hear Qix.Why did it close so early? Ours lasted 9 years before being bought out.Nothing beats the old CEC's!
The Jack in the Box across the street is still there to this day but the area is a dump now. I lived in Phoenix for 2 years and I always drove down Cactus Rd and made a right on 43rd Ave to get to school at the ASU west campus until the pandemic shut everything down and I finished college almost entirely online. It was still a fun adventure living in Phoenix for 2 years and Phoenix and the state of Arizona will always have a special place in my heart.
As someone born in 1970 this is what cec looked like when i was 13.. loved playing pole position there.. looking for footage of Seventies cec.. back then they had B&W games,,, young me was scared of those.. but i mostly outgrew them..
Remember how dark they used to be? I was at one yesterday (first time in 25 years) and it was so bright! I know they probably did that to help parents keep an eye on their kids, but part of the fun of CEC was being able to escape from your parents...LOL
The location of this Chuck E cheese was at 43rd and Thomas Arrowhead Plaza Phoenix Arizona. It's crazy to see how the jack in the box is still there today.
I'm pretty fascinated by this clip...except for the cars, the arcade games and the dried out colors, everything here in 1983 looks exactly like today...
Crazy this was my arcade I lived across the street in the apartments at this time the video was taken thank you for posting it reminds me of spending a lot of time with my dad in there
I hated how the theatre concept was changed into the showroom concept, but I didn't care if I didn't like CEC's concept changes, I really liked their newer showroom concept (not the concept from Phase IV). It still looked like a theatre because of their balcony, record posters, dim lighting, reserved tables, the sign saying "The Chuck E. Cheese Show" during the intro of the show (for existing stages), and lighting on the stage. I really hate seeing what the showroom looks like now during Phase IV.
I gave this video a like. I do not rate videos very much. I thank you for providing a video that is a blast from the past. Back in those days malls, arcades and Chuck e cheeses were poorly lit and dark. This video supports my claim.
I bet the guy at 2:20 could have never imagined that the simple "video thing" that was taking pictures of him would someday put him in front of an audience of millions of people across the world...
This video needs to be securely archived. We must never forget the ORIGINAL 80s Chuck E cheese
I want to time travel to this place and spend the day there with a bunch of quarters and classic video games.
i would too but time travel machine don’t exist
Michaelangelo Davidson why did you have to comment that three times
@@sharmarlafoster475 i didn't see this until now but idk i only commented one time i guess my keyboard backed them f***ed up or something
@@sharmarlafoster475 or it might be i spelled something wrong i was 11 at that time
Michaelangelo Davidson oh ok
I can't believe that they were actually that dark
Yeah, they had deem lighting back then. It felt completely different.
They were but some of it's the camcorders they had then which didn't do that well in low light settings.
All Arcades were like that. That's how you knew where the games were... look for the dark room with all those great 8-bit sound effects.
Oh yeah they were way better when they were dark and creepy. Always kids crying, kids fighting, Chucky always had duck tape at the base of his tail from kids tearing it off lol. LOVED IT
Looks like he filmed before it was open. May not have had all the lights on. The one in San Jose wasn't dark.
This takes me back. I'll take this one over today's Chuck E Cheese any day
Yup! This place was something back then.
I miss the dim lights. Really added to the ambiance. That whole area of town was so different back then. I miss it.
agochoa I agree I miss 80s phoenix. Thats my hometown
@@oliverdelgado6952 Same here
The dim lighting MADE chuck e cheese as a kid! I remember in the mid-90s walking into one for the first time in years. I was so shocked and sad, it looked like a daycare center to me. This video is so great, and rare.
@@tracytre38 That's what they all look like, along with arcades in general these days for the most part too, sadly. The dim, dark lighting really added to the amazing atmosphere of these places, which sadly got lost as time went on too.
I like the dim lighting too. Now most locations have those hideous fluorescent lights.
This video is such a treasure. I think my family has a few 90s home videos that were taken at Chuck E. Cheese's, but certainly not this early! The world is a different place now. That man hadn't even seen someone using a camcorder before. Thanks for filming this and saving it for all of these years (and of course for uploading it!)
I'd love to. I'll just have to do some digging.
Not sure what streets or anything, but it would have been one in the Tampa area in Florida. My uncle also took many photos of his granddaughter's birthday party at a Showbiz Pizza in the early to mid 80s; I hope to make a slideshow of those and post them as well.
Bat Munch I just posted one of my home videos on my channel tonight!
I’ve been watching and revisiting this video for about 13 years now. I’ve decided it is my favorite thing on TH-cam. Around the time I discovered the video years ago, I went on a quest to visit as many PTT (although then/now CEC) stores that I could in Southern California to see what remained of the good ol’ days I remembered. This video set off a fire of nostalgia in me (I was a mid 70’s baby) and it lasts to this day. I know live in Phoenix, not terribly far from this location, which is now a sad, bereft, shell of a shopping center... I only recently put together that I now live 10 minutes away from a place I’ve been watching in this video like a religious observance for years. Here now, bleached in the Valley’s sun...whispering ghosts of the past... the ghostly sounds of chirping arcade games singing in my head. Remembering the taste of pepperoni, cake and ice cream, and the magical, dark atmosphere...glowing game cabinets. Oh, those days. I’m a kid again every time I visit this video. Thank you for that.
I just discovered this video and I feel the same way! I want to go hunt them all down now but I better hurry cuz they've closed them all down just recently :( This video is so fascinating
did they turn the store into anything or no?
@@Mr.Timwell It’s sadly just a quiet strip mall now with some medical offices and a discount clothing store. H&R Block, etc.
I finally found this video again. It is just like a Chuck E. Cheese I knew that is long gone.
I feel the same way
This is exactly how I remember my first visit to Chuck E Cheese as a little kid in 1985..All dim and mystical with no windows and those sounds.....I can almost smell the dirty socks and urine odors emitting from the ball pit watching this.....
If only they had a candle of that scent
@@anthonysequeira731 lmao...
That guy @ 2:16 seems blown away by these new personal video recorder things.
Sherpaful Heyyyy, very perceptive..
He looks like the kid from goonies
Hung over.Love the show room bench as his chair
I would love to permanently live in the 80's again!!!
❤️❤️
Careful, it may get pretty boring after a while where nothing ever changes, no lessons are learned, and the same mistakes are always made. If you haven't seen it already, I recommend you watch that old Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day.
The only thing you can do in the 80s is cocaine and voting for Ronald Reagan.
I would gladly give up everything from the last thirty-three years to just live 1980-1989 on repeat.
@@Tr0nzoid me too... me too 🥺
I was born in 1983 and the nostalgia levels on this video are at a million, billion, jillion.
Me too! This one sort of reminds me of the Chuck E Cheese which was open that same year in Johnson City, NY, near my 80's/childhood hometown of Binghamton, NY, as well.
That's sweet vintage footage! No arcade games at Chuck E. Cheese these days, kids think they're too hard.
They're losers!
I bet they could make some money again now that the kids back then are all in their 40's now and want to relive some of that Arcade magic. Millenials would dig it since its "retro"
Arcade games slowly disappeared from Chuck E. Cheese's after 1985, as this commercial proves:
th-cam.com/video/UMz7FSoDCo8/w-d-xo.html
@3mate1 I'm gen z and I love this type of stuff. I would go there all the time!
Its really spectacular that this was recorded like this. Its like the person knew that in later years we would miss this.
I wasn't even alive during this time period and I miss this
The Chuck E Cheese in Mayfield Heights (outside of Cleveland) Ohio that we used to go to in the 80s as kids is still there today. (well they moved to the other side of the plaza due to reconstruction) but it's the same Chuck E Cheese! This video reminds me of how dark it always was in there back then, to set the mood for all the arcade games. Chuck E Cheese today is nothing like that anymore...it was really something special back then...
I know, really! The new bright lighting they started to use by then really killed the magical, special atmosphere these places (and arcades in general) had back in the day as well!
why did I comment this
What a trip down memory lane that was. It's weird. It's as if you knew you were filming a piece of history the way you documented everything. Thank you for sharing!
I will download this video file, save it to a Micro SD card, put it in a box and bury it for people in the future to see. What you have is amazing.
+Vendzor
LOL! Thanks!
+mp3aa no problem haha
Now in the future kids will be great fun for what they have
Wow for a second I thought I was back in 1983, seriously. We had such a wonderful childhood. GREAT VIDEO friend
Oh my God, the Chuck E. Cheese in Syracuse New York that I used to go to had that animatronic and those classic arcade games too. I distinctly remember the Elvis-like Lion animatronic. It used to be so much fun to go to Chuck E. Cheese back in the day.
Wait in Syracuse NY that’s the one I go to now
im from syracuse too. i went there all the time.
I went to that one every now and then as a kid back in the day. Though the Chuck E Cheese that I mostly went to was the one closer by me in Johnson City, NY, near my 80's/childhood hometown of Binghamton, which was so great as well.
The King, You Mean? Because I Think You Either Went To Mattydale Which Opened From 1981-1995, Or The Unknown Addressed Syracuse Location, Which Opened In August Of 1982 And Closed Unknown.
@@eascec8374 I remember the King John Elvis lion initially being at the Chuck E Cheese in Johnson City, NY, as well, than was later replaced by The Beagles a few years or so later. I vaguely recall what the old Syracuse location was like, and remember they had the Popeye arcade game there (which was mainly why I went to that one back in the day as well too), but not much else about it I can remember in particular. That city eventually got a new location which opened in 2002, like when the former Johnson City C.E.C. closed down sometime shortly after (or maybe just before the end of) 96, and eventually relocated to nearby Vestal, NY, in 2001.
This reminds me of the Chuck E. Cheese near my town back then. Spacious, dark, and it had a crawlspace under the stage. There was a lounge for parents near the front.
I remember being incredibly disappointed when they permanently closed the crawl space off because someone threw up in there. Lol.
Does the Chuck E Cheese near your town still have the dim lighting? I'm trying to find some that still have the 80s interior and dim lighting
@@matty6598No locations remain today with the 80s interior. Closest you’ll find is a mid-90s interior in a couple scarce locations. Dim lighting was still at Northridge, CA in the stage area until it remodeled last year.
This beats the heck out of the current Chuck E Cheese's.
I wish I could have gone in one of these ones.
One downside of being born in the 21st century.
Curtis Husted I was born in 1999 and it sucks that we weren’t alive then.
I know, and it sucks that C.E.C's. resemble daycare centers far more than video arcades these days too it seems! Good thing I got to see the glory days of them, since I was born in 83 though! (L.O.L.!)
I was born in 2012 and I like retro games sadly I wasn’t born in the 80s😕📺📺🕹🕹😕😕
@@retrogamerkid3792 Wow you was born in 2012?
The current ones shouldn't even be called CEC. Everything is different from >30 years ago. Barely any arcade games, and basically none from the 20th century. No ball pit, animatronic concerts, crawl spaces, trains, possibly no skeeball, and the pizza is completely different. BTW, I was born in 1981
Fantastic video. So cool to hear the classic arcade sounds 🥰
So 12 years ago and now here we are. Still cherish and love this video!! Thank You!
reminds me of a casino.....
Blessings for the footage. Its a Gem.
Ich habe 1983 bei Chuck E. Cheese in Californien mein 10. Geburtstag gefeiert und werde die leckere Pizza dort nie vergessen und auch diese großen Figuren und Spielautomaten, sowas cooles hat es in deutschland bis Heute nie gegeben.
I was 4 when chuck e cheese opened in 1977 and when it was the 80s i go there with my friend even if we were old to go to cec good memories
Thank you so much.You literally brought some of my best childhood memories out of my head and straight on to video.I was 11 years old in 1983 and Chuck E Cheese was my favorite hangout.When I think back to the 80s the first image that always seems to come to mind is the ARCADE they used to have.The sights and sounds of all those video games and the sheer joy of being there is something that I will never forget.So yesterday I was having one of these nostalgic flashbacks and the thought occurred to me to check You Tube just in case someone happened to have a video of Chuck E Cheese back in the good old days.To my delight they sure did.Yours.This video really takes me back.That tour was wonderful to watch.
You made my day. Glad you enjoyed it.
As a kid, I remember them feeling very large with a few different rooms and it had a dark/or deem lighting. When I drive by them these days it's not how I remembered, and seeing this video comfirms my memories to be correct. Thanks for the video.
Love this video. I had my 13th birthday at CEC in 1983 in Lynnwood WA (near Seattle). by far the highlight for me at that party was Atari's Star Wars arcade cockpit which was very new then. After the party we went to toys r' us which was very close by where I used my b-day money to buy the Nintendo game and watch pocket games Mario Bros and Donkey Kong II. Both CEC and Toys R' Us are still in Lynnwood but not the same.
schmitty1944 hi, I don’t know why I’m here watching these old videos as I was born in the early 2000’s, but I live near Lynwood! :)
I live in Bellevue wa
Lynnwood Had A Showbiz Back Then, So You Went To A Showbiz Pizza Place At The Time.
Lynnwood lost its last Chuck E. Cheese's last year. This one I refer to was at 3717 196th St. SW, which was originally a ShowBiz Pizza Place that opened in 1986 to replace an older ShowBiz at 3815 196th St. SW.
The 3717 196th St. SW location was the only ShowBiz Pizza Place in all WA to make it into the Concept Unification era that saw it be transformed into a Chuck E. Cheese's during 1991 (using some of the old signage from the former Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre at 18811 28th Ave.), and it was thus also the only one in all WA to have the 3-stage set. Neither the Bellevue nor Seattle ShowBiz Pizza Places made it past 1989.
@@eascec8374 You saying it wasn't called Chuck E Cheese?
Holy smokes, this sets off the nostalgia. I would have been 5 at this time.
Wow. I grew up right down the street. 83rd and Indian School. Spent time here and good ol' Pistol Petes Pizza
Even though I wasn't born to see this I prefer this over what is chuck e cheese is now
this video is amazing. i was 5 in 1983, and the arcade was one of the few places my father would take me as a child. seeing all those games looking new is incredible, its just the way i remember it! now i collect old arcade games and pinballs... thank you so much for sharing!
Such a great video!!! You really captured what Chuck e Cheese used to be! Thanks!!!!
Man this place was huge back then.
love the old classic games! it brings tears of joy to my eyes =)
brian idman mine too mate.
I can't believe someone posted this 18 years ago. This must be one of the first TH-cam videos.
The best memory is how dim the lighting was. That is what made the experience unique. Now it’s just sad the lack of good games and then right lighting. Everything was better back then, even the shows felt grand. I wish Chuck E. Cheese would make a retro version so my kids could experience a true childhood. The memories of running in there with just socks and in the dark. I could swear there was a batting cage at the Pasadena, CA location whe it was on the lower part of the building.
These places were a heck of a lot bigger back then, mine is just a large room that they cram everything into, they had balconies and multiple floors jeez
kobun37 wouldn't surprise me. I miss the separate room deal myself, but my town didn't get a PTT or SPP location at all so our CEC locations follow the current layout.
I remember this one in particular from my early childhood. The place was HUGE. Cavernous. Compared to the humble little Chuck E Cheese down the street from me now, it was a damned Arabian palace. How the mighty have fallen. Does anyone know the cross streets for this one?
He called a video camera"one of those video things" 🤣😂. I love the 80's
Stumbled across this in 2021 - my GOD! The nostalgia hit me in the gut like a mule kick! Almost in tears. I miss the CEC in Fort Worth TX. Climbing under the stage, going through the cheese maze and popping out in the arcade near the ballpit. Even as a kid I hated the food, just went there to play! (EDIT-2023 - Had to come back and watch it again! Nostalgia is an addictive drug... This video needs to go one for another 15-20 minutes!)
Can anyone name all the game that can be heard and seen? Starting at 2:28 the games that I can identify by sight are in this order:
Games identified by sight roughly in order of appearance:
Super Pac-Man (side of machine)
Qix (believed to be the Taito cabinet to the right of Donkey Kong Jr.)
Donkey Kong Jr. (up close)
Front Line (panned across title marquee)
Joust
Donkey Kong (barely noticeable, to right of Centipede)
Centipede (up close)
Not sure (top of machine shown poking out behind Wild Western)
Wild Western (up close)
Not sure (looks kind of like Joust but isn't, can see screen but no marquee, machine to left of Popeye)
Popeye (up close)
Rescue (up close)
Pole Position (cockpit, up close)
Not sure (some type of redemption game, or juke box?, behind Blue Print)
Pengo (up close)
Night Driver??? (screen seen briefly when panning away from Pengo)
Blue Print (up close)
Frogger (up close)
Moon Patrol (up close)
Ms. Pac Man (seen from side, fast pan by)
Subroc-3D
Not sure (cockpit with flashing red light on top back, seen briefly after Subroc-3D)
Burger Time (close up, original "P" pepper buttons can be seen on control panel)
Nibbler
Stargate
a row of Skee Ball machines
Games heard in order of appearance:
Super Pac-Man (heard throughout)
Qix (heard throughout)
Rescue (heard less occasionally)
Pole Position (heard once or twice)
Popeye (heard once)
I'm interested to see if anyone can help identify the "Not sure" machines.
I had Donkey Kong and Popeye on my Coleco, wow those arcade machines take me back. You know. If they brought back Arcades with vintage games I bet they'd make money again. The 8-bit games are coming back fast. look at that, Joust, Pole position, Mrs PacMan, Centipede, Frogger! I used to play Moon Patrol on the Apple 2's at school in the 80's.
Oh man, so awesome back in the day when CEC didn't suck. Actual arcade games--the sounds in this video alone get my nostalgia going. Some of my earliest gaming memories. Nowadays, all of the CEC I see dont even have arcade games, just crappy kids stuff. Regrettable.
Yeah, I think it was about $900.00
I still have it. Holds a full size VHS tape.
I used it last 10 years ago! :-)
You sir, are a LEGEND! Madman millionaire dream is to open a retro-style pizzaria/arcade. Wonder if I could get the rights to use the classic designs...
@@maxcooper6554
Contact Elon...
Where do I nominate this for best vid on TH-cam? Seriously...this is incredible and exactly the kind of thing I look for on here. 10 stars!
Wow everything in this video seeing the old school Chuck E. Cheese in 1983 is beyond nostalgic the dim lights,arcade games,even a ball pit even tho I wasn’t born in the 80s it takes me down memory lane😊
It was so much cooler being a kid back then than it is today.
Hey Michael!.. It's one of those video things. -1983
The original CEC looks like Dave and Buster's
***** Is there any footage of Showbiz Pizza Place similar to this video?
I said the same thing in another reply lol.
We had a Pistol Pete's in Houston. I had my 11th birthday there in 1988. It was pretty cool, but this CEC video really brings back the memories. Thanks for posting this!
He got footage of Popeye!! I still remember my first time getting to play it was at a Chuck E Cheese arcade.. I must've played for hours while dad got loaded watching the Elvis animatronic Lion thing...
In the late 70s to mid 80s, we lived at Villa Alegre at 46th & Thomas. We were at the CEC every weekend cuz it was my bro and I's favorite place to go.
Did you ever attend our Teen Night?
@@payson1 Teen night at CEC, never heard of it, that i can remember. Was too busy playing video games like a nut and trying to win a CEC stuffed animal and sit on his lap with with my own photo from the Polaroid One Step Instant camera. Until i was around 12, i worshipped him.
@@80sCrazyCatDadNGunAddiction wow so you went all the time to this cec? thats awesome what memories do you have of this place?
I remember this location, but it wasn't Chuck E Cheese for very long. My sister had her birthday party there in fall 1985 and by that time it was Pistol Petes Pizza. However it looked pretty much the same
WOW! This just brought back a ton of memories! Awesome that you did the arcade games in detail! THANK YOU!
Thank you for uploading this video. You are one of few that thought to film and document this place and time.
It's like someone went back in time to make a TH-cam video, then waited all these years to upload it. That's what this feels like. Wonderful.
If Chuck E. Cheese was still like this I’d still be going at 46-no matter how bad the pizza is!!
Our pizza was great.
mp3aa DUDE the breadsticks are still to die for!! Wish my kid isn’t 23-I can’t go back without looking like a weirdo!!
Agreed and I would still eat up and enjoy the damn pizza
Mr. Anti-Flash Sentry Once-Ler Muniz 54 screw it man me and the wife are going on Friday when we’re off. There’s no law against it and I know she’d love it too!!
@@payson1 How much have the pizza tastes changed since then and what pizza flavors were available?
Hey..... there's one of those.... HEY! one of those movie things... Hahaha man some things never change! Most CEC managers today couldn't tell you what a video camera was either!
man this is crazy! I think the aesthetics of the 80's are incredible and this place without anyone gives a feeling of peace and uncertainty at the same time lol anyway I loved the video! (this reminded me a lot of a fnaf vhs tape)
If corporate wanted to take advantage of all the nostalgia people have today, they would open up a few retro Chuck E. Cheese pizza time theaters for us 30 to 40 year olds who remember how it use to be.
43rd Ave and Thomas looks way different now. They put a Peter Piper Pizza there but it went out of business too.
such a cool video taking us back in time when arcades ruled. Sad to see arcades pretty much dead now...at least mall arcades anyway.
I know, and finding one of them is about as common as locating a payphone too! You can still find many arcades in boardwalks, and amusement parks, (along with some mini golf courses) and what not, but that's about it pretty much though.
This is the best chuck e cheese video on youtube, I never knew it looked like this, so mysterious!
I wish there were more videos around here like this. I haven't been to Chuck E. Cheese's since 1990 (I was about eight years old), and I forgot what most of it looked like back then. I remember there being a couple of rides, the animatronic stage, the prize counter, and the ball pit (which was the main reason I always wanted to go to CEC when I was little).
It was a new store. Video was taken just before opening.
This is even better than my local Chuck E Cheese (which closed). Why can't 2000's kids have nice things.
It's why they're vapid adults.
I recently went back to this location. It was very interesting to see how the structure is basically the same. The place is abandoned but I looked inside and saw that it was basically all gutted but very roomy. I wish that I have the opportunity to go inside but still very interesting.
Hearing the sounds of Pole Position in the background makes me feel like I've been transported to another era.
wow, i wonder if this dude knew that these games and this franchise would become legendary for pop culture. truly amazing video, thanks so much for posting :) this is history that matters that isn't in the books.
The Video is so good.. like it’s so old but its amazing
This video brought a tear to my eye. This is truly remarkable footage. 5 starred and favorited for me. Grats on keeping the footage for so long! superb video :D thank you so much for sharing, you made my night
Hahah man, thank you so much for posting this. I went there a couple times when it was a Pistol Pete's Pizza...I'm constantly reminded of it because it's where I played Bubble Bobble, Xevious, Turbo OutRun and Pit Fighter for the first time. :D
Thank you for doing that 360 camera pan...that confirmed it for me :)
This is great footage! I loved the early CEC.I was a tech at our location.The sounds of Fantasy Forest are fantastic.I hear Qix.Why did it close so early? Ours lasted 9 years before being bought out.Nothing beats the old CEC's!
I took this footage myself.
I was the technical director there.
Hey, Just wondering who the guy is at 2:14 and does he know about this being on TH-cam years later.
@@alexgamer2169
I have no idea lost track of him years ago
The Jack in the Box across the street is still there to this day but the area is a dump now. I lived in Phoenix for 2 years and I always drove down Cactus Rd and made a right on 43rd Ave to get to school at the ASU west campus until the pandemic shut everything down and I finished college almost entirely online. It was still a fun adventure living in Phoenix for 2 years and Phoenix and the state of Arizona will always have a special place in my heart.
I love the "ghosting" bright lights create on old film.
As someone born in 1970 this is what cec looked like when i was 13.. loved playing pole position there.. looking for footage of Seventies cec.. back then they had B&W games,,, young me was scared of those.. but i mostly outgrew them..
Remember how dark they used to be? I was at one yesterday (first time in 25 years) and it was so bright! I know they probably did that to help parents keep an eye on their kids, but part of the fun of CEC was being able to escape from your parents...LOL
back when CC actually had arcades games. been to about 6 of these, none have arcade games, not even SNK or anything... so sad.
It's a shame.
Oh, the sweet sound of old arcade games just before you choose you play one of them.
WOW, i was 11 going on 12 Years Old in 1983 trying to BREAK DANCE, lol
I DJ'd the Friday night teen nights.
We'd have break dance contests.
@@payson1 WOW !!!!, I wish you had old video footage of that
aww. simpler times, when video games were 8 bit and a time when every game wasn't a racing game, DDR and an adaptation of a mobile game.
The location of this Chuck E cheese was at 43rd and Thomas Arrowhead Plaza Phoenix Arizona. It's crazy to see how the jack in the box is still there today.
I cannot comprehend how one person could "dislike" this.
11 now
Too cool ...like walking back in time...priceless with all the audio
I'm pretty fascinated by this clip...except for the cars, the arcade games and the dried out colors, everything here in 1983 looks exactly like today...
Crazy this was my arcade I lived across the street in the apartments at this time the video was taken thank you for posting it reminds me of spending a lot of time with my dad in there
whoa you lived across from this chuck e cheeses? wow cool how often did you go here?
I hated how the theatre concept was changed into the showroom concept, but I didn't care if I didn't like CEC's concept changes, I really liked their newer showroom concept (not the concept from Phase IV). It still looked like a theatre because of their balcony, record posters, dim lighting, reserved tables, the sign saying "The Chuck E. Cheese Show" during the intro of the show (for existing stages), and lighting on the stage. I really hate seeing what the showroom looks like now during Phase IV.
I gave this video a like. I do not rate videos very much. I thank you for providing a video that is a blast from the past. Back in those days malls, arcades and Chuck e cheeses were poorly lit and dark. This video supports my claim.
Its 2023 and I’m watching this!
The look of this old PTT location really reminds me of the CEC 2.0 concept they are testing out right now in San Antonio locations. :)
amazing footage! i was born in 80 and i always new that chuck's was a lot bigger than it is now. thanks for providing the proof!
wow it's sooo cool like the way I remmember it as a kid!!!
This video is a piece of history
Have you ever thought about going back and making a comparison video?
Who’s here after the 2019 remodeling man I miss this look the 2019 remodel version doesn’t even have animatronics
I bet the guy at 2:20 could have never imagined that the simple "video thing" that was taking pictures of him would someday put him in front of an audience of millions of people across the world...
WHOA U HAVE ONE OF THOSE VIDEO THINGS AWESOME!!! XD
this opened a year before i was born chuck e cheese rocks
And there I was... 0:52
Is it possible that you now own that exact figure?