Chuck E. Cheese — Restaurant in Springfield

July 2019 this is my THIRD VIP party this year. Turns out other parents had no idea this was a thing until they came to my daughters party in February. Now many of my friends have booked these parties for their kids. Today my friend had a party for her twin boys here. I need to give a shout out to (I think his name is) Jeremy. I would’ve been exhausted in his shoes keeping after refilling the machines these kids were emptying and fixing anything they broke but he wasn’t phased by it. In fact, he joked with us and the kids and kept a smile on his face the entire time. If that isn’t an amazing employee, I don’t know what is. What makes these parties extra special is that as a parent you’re usually running around like a chicken with your head cut off but Chuck E Cheese doesn’t make you work. They literally do everything down to cutting and serving the cake AND cleanup. Springfield Chuck E Cheese keeps things kept up, working, and clean. I’ve been to many other facilities that put the Chuck E Cheese name to shame but this one sets the bar as high as it could go. Thank you for yet another memorable birthday at Chuck E Cheese Springfield.

February 2019 Best. Birthday. Ever. I never thought I could honestly enjoy myself at a place like this. While booking a party online, I saw a “VIP” party option. Upon clicking on it, I noticed it said for this type of party that you would have the facility to yourselves (no other parties at the same time). I thought, yeah right... no other screaming whining kids? Too good to be true. Turns out, it’s a real thing!! The party was at 9am which seems early for pizza but by the time you’re done playing UNLIMITED games for two hours, you’ve worked up an appetite and it’s already 11:00. Everyone at my daughters party was raving about the experience. Two other moms booked parties for their kids birthday parties based on this experience. Do yourself a favor, try the VIP party. Worth....

Expensive for what you get. Their "medium" pizza is the size of a small anywhere else but they still charge $20 for it. Decent flavor though, especially the crust!

Here's the real problem. I bought myself and our two kids 90 minute time cards and set a timer on my phone to keep track. You pay for X time and from your first game you have X amount of time to play unlimited games. Sounds great, right? Well my card expired 30 minutes early. Equivalent of $10 of game time.

When I mentioned it to the manager he added 20 minutes (better than nothing but not what I paid for) which was nice. And let me be clear - the staff is excellent. Zero complaints there.

But when he added the 20 minutes I set another timer on my phone, my kid's cards expired 10 minutes earlier than mine. Despite having the same time on all three. So I did some testing and found the games would take minutes off your card. From 1-3 at a time per scan of your card.

Further, several of the machines are broken. And the card reader takes several attempts to work. It will register the swipe, take the "credits" but then not start, draining your credits or time in the process.

The only reason I am giving 2 stars is because the staff is absolutely phenomenal. Patient and willing to work with you to resolve things and make sure you're happy.

We won't be going back. Kid Vegas has become too scammy and crooked....

I really wanted to give 3 ½ stars...

My family and I are new to Missouri. We came from Southern California and most of the the Chuck E Cheese restaurants closed indefinitely during covid. So when we saw this one open, my 4 yr old was all about it. So we took him for his birthday and we were a little disappointed. Now mind you, we went on a Wednesday evening, 5 o'clock or so. We weren't sure if they were open; outside paint and signage looked a little weathered and the parking lot was almost empty. We get inside and the employee at the door looked miserable and never said a word to us. No "Hi" or "welcome" or anything. He just stamped our arms and let us in. We were surprised to see that there was no playground tubes and it just felt a little sad. It was pretty empty. When Chuck E came out to greet the kiddos and dance, the door employee looked very unhappy with having to dance with him. No enthusiasm or encouragement or anything.

The plus side was the other employees behind the counters. They were super helpful, friendly and engaging and the food was great. We expected to spend way more than we did, so that was awesome. We did have a good time I just wish the atmosphere of the establishment was more on the positive side. Especially when dealing with little ones post covid.

Hope...