The Fate of Amarillo’s Chuck E Cheese Animatronics

I think I spent more time than anyone at Chuck E Cheese here in Amarillo when my daughter was growing up. We were there once or twice a month. I mean at least. Maybe even more.

My daughter loved Chuck E Cheese. She had a few birthday's there. Then she grew out of it. She got too big. That was a sad time for me. As much as I complained about going there I also missed it when she grew out of it. Now she has a daughter and the cycle continues.

She already had one birthday there for here second birthday back in September. She was living in Dallas so we had it there. Gone were the animatronics at that location. I was sad. I had no idea about what was happening here in Amarillo. It had been years since I stepped foot inside.

I heard the rumors that they still had the stage show. They still had the animatronics but it wouldn't be for long. They were all going away basically. So when my granddaughter came to town we had to check it out.

The stage was still there. The animatronics were still there. I was excited. I couldn't wait to see them work. I was talking to an employee and she told me not to get too excited. They were going to be gone soon. The setup they had was there but I wouldn't be able to see them perform anymore. They were not going to go off. Every once in a while I would be able to see Chuck E Cheese's eyes blink. A hand might move that was about it.

I was telling a coworker about it and he said that had to be pretty recent because they were there about eight months ago and they were working then. What a shame.Amarillo is about to end up with an interactive screen like other Chuck E Cheese's.

A part of the children's childhood is gone—no more in Amarillo.