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Chuck E Cheese Birthday

January 31st, 2011

Chuck E Cheese Tyler TexasA room of a dozen three year old children is stressful in the first place but when you put a dozen three year old children in an extremely loud and crowded restaurant and throw a giant mouse, bad pizza, and a few video games in the middle of the chaos, you get a Chuck E. Cheese birthday. I do not know what I was thinking when I had my little girl’s birthday there. I was not sure where I was going to do the party until due to Tyler unreliable January weather. When we decided to have the party indoors we called the restaurant and tried to get the package deal and reserve a table for the party. They said that they can not allow us to reserve a table so close to the party time, but they said to just come in and try to find an open table. We tried to come into the restaurant after the lunch rush but it was still really crowded. I wanted Chuck E. Cheese to come out and sing to my little girl for her birthday but they said that he will not come out and sing happy birthday unless we bought a cake. I did not want to pay a lot of money for a cake with bad icing piled on top of the cake. I thought it was pretty ridiculous that they would not go sing to a toddler.

I really recommend not having a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese if you can not reserve the package deals. If you do reserve the package deals, be prepared to have an extremely loud party that you can not hear yourself think no less have any conversation with any of your guests. The waiter and waitresses come out and sing to about six or seven kids at the same time. You might end up sharing a table with another kid’s birthday party. The chaos is too much to handle. After your kids have danced with Chuck E. Cheese and ran around the table a few times, you can let them loose through the restaurant and allow them play video games to their heart content. The video game area can be so crowded, when I bring my children there I feel like I am watching them like a hawk. The rule of Chuck E. Cheese is that you are suppose to get your hand stamped when you walk through the door, the stamp on your hand is suppose to match the stamp on the hand of all the children that came with you. Last time I went there I walked in and they did not stamp my hand and my daughter did. When I walked out they asked to see my hand and I just said that I did not get my hand stamped and he just let us out. I was glad that I was able to leave with my child but I was thinking in the bad of my mind if they would of checked stamps if my kids were walking out with someone else.

It is true that children love this restaurant. It is like a gambling hall for kids. They spend the twenty five cent token to win three tickets that are worth a penny each. At the end of the day parents spend fifty dollars on tokens so that their kids can bring home a two dollar toy. Kids do not see the fact that they are getting ripped off. They have fun playing the games and running away from their overwhelmed parents. I really do not like Chuck E. Cheese and will never again throw a birthday party there. It was days before I got rid of the pounding headache. It s fine to eat there during the week and allow your children to get their energy out, and have a fun day; but going during the busy weekends it is not really worth it.

Helpless in Target

March 29th, 2010

Target is one of my very favorite stores here in East Texas. It is one of the best stores to buy clothes and to register for wedding and baby showers. But as I walked through the store to the electronic department I was in a hurry.

I am pretty clueless when it comes to understanding electronics. And I was in need to buy my husband a HD cable. I had no idea what that was. I knew that it was a cable that you stuck into your television. I walked over to the “help” desk and waited for a employee to come to the desk. Two employees walked by the desk and when they saw me, they tried to not make eye contact. Usually I would of just searched the store until I actually found someone that was willing to do their job, but for the sake of this articles, I waited for someone to actually try to help me. Finally a young boy came up to the desk and I asked him to help me. He looked around for someone else to do his job. His lack of excitement to be at work was completely off putting, and to be blunt, annoying.

I asked him where I can find HD cables. He pointed in a general direction and told me they were “over there”. So, at this point I was extremely frustrated with the young kid. I told him that I really had no idea what I was looking for or what kind of cable I should use. He looked at me like I was retarded and told me he was going to get someone to help me. It would take more time to find someone to come over and show me, than to just show me himself. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and asked for some woman to come over to electronics. I asked him if he worked in this department. Apparently you can work in the electronics department but with manly video games and televisions. He grabbed the phone and called an outgoing line right in front of me. I was beyond annoyed by the rudeness of the employee. A woman came up to me and ask what I needed help. I told her that I just needed to be shown where the HD cables were at and which one I should use. She walked me over to the next aisle. About twenty feet. Really? He could not walk me over twenty feet? I grabbed the cable that I needed and left the store disappointed and frustrated. If you don’t know what you are looking for when it comes to the electronic selection, do not go to Target.

Fire Mountain Amusements in Tyler Texas

February 5th, 2010

FIRE MOUNTAIN AMUSEMENTS

14722 Highway 155 S
Tyler 75703
903 561 2670

Open at weekends – opening times vary according to season – see www.firemountainamusements.com for details.

Located 3 1/2 miles south of Tyler on Highway 155 is Tyler’s amusement park – Fire Mountain – you can’t miss the volcano shape!

This is a children’s amusement park – not the best in the world, but still a lot of fun for small kids. They have mini golf, bumper boats, scrambler bikes, go-karts and minikarts and inside arcade-style amusement games. We have been there twice with our kids for parties and each time they have come home desperate to go back!

One advantage to Fire Mountain is that there is no charge for entry to the facility (or for parking). This means that parents can supervise their own kids if needed at no extra cost. I loved watching my kids playing golf and bumping on the boats and it was good to see them playing the video games so enthusiastically. My son loved winning tokens and exchanging them for tiny treats at the end of the day.

The party package at Fire Mountain includes the use of a room which you can decorate however you like and a drink and plate and napkin are provided plus room clean up. You are responsible for bringing in your food and cake though there are 3 -4 pizza places who make regular deliveries to Fire Mountain. They supply the invitations and each child is given a wristband which allows one ride on each attraction plus 20 tokens for use in the arcade. You have to have 10 or more party goers to use the party room.

Fire mountain is not a cheap day out for the kids. Tickets are $1 each and you need 5 tickets for the go-karts and bumper boats and 4 for the scrambler cars and mini-golf. If you buy $50 of tickets you save 10%. The best way to do it is to buy a wristband which lets you do everything once. The cost for wristbands is $18 for under 9s and $20 for over 9s.

There is little variety at Fire mountain. Unless you are a big fan of places like Chuck-E-Cheese, it is not somewhere you would want to go regularly. Also there is no food on site (as yet) which is definitely a negative point. But once or twice a year or with a party, Fire Mountain is great fun.

The owners are quick to admit that they are still developing this amusement park. Watch this space because Fire Mountain could get much bigger in years to come.