Usually for my youngest two (13 months apart), I have a small dinner for them with immediate family at either my house or a restaurant. They’ve never actually had a big birthday party with friends and extended family. I always feel guilty asking people to come to two separate parties and giving gifts, so I’ve always just done it this way.

I’ve been feeling bad lately though because my oldest had always had big parties for her birthdays. So, this year I wanted to do something different. I decided to do a joint birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.

The set up was relatively easy. I chose a Sunday because my oldest had a softball tournament that weekend. I was pleasantly surprised that Sunday birthday parties get an extra 100 tokens. That was nice. I also got an extra 20 tokens for using their hotline to call and arrange the party. I only booked a week in advance and was still given a time that was good for me. I was able to get a crown and a cape for each of the birthday girls, along with a cardboard cutout of a Princess with a place to put your face in for pictures, (I will post a pic of that). To have 2 birthday “stars” was only $4.99 extra. That was another pleasant surprise. I paid $14.99 each for 12 kids. This gave each kid pizza, a drink, a souvenir cup, and 30 tokens. I could’ve had a cake, but chose to bring my own cupcakes instead.

I also ordered 2 large pizzas and soft drinks for the adults. I should’ve ordered more because I ran out and had no idea, I wish the host would’ve let me know. My only real complaint was it was the host’s last day and I think she was saying a lot of goodbyes because she wasn’t around enough. We had to wait in line at the register multiple times for drinks, food, extra tokens, etc.

All total the cost was around $270 when you include the extra trips to the register for drinks and tokens. It was not bad at all and the kids had a great time. The birthday girls got to go in the ticket blaster machine and the videos from that were priceless. They also got to meet and dance with Chuck E Cheese which they enjoyed.

Would I book a party at Chuck E Cheese again? Probably. Not having to worry about cleaning up after 12 kids was wonderful! I really feel the service was only off because it was the host’s last day and I don’t blame Chuck E Cheese for that.

Here’s a video of my poor girls being lost in the Fun Tank (Ticket Blaster Machine). They had no idea what to do!