rockstar chuck

rockstar chuck began appearing in commercials, on the website, and on merch like plushies, in place of where avenger chuck used to be. there aren't rly any rides or games featuring rockstar chuck as far as i'm aware, except for a lot of avenger-era photo rides having their statues replaced with rockstar chuck. starting in 2013, the avenger tokens were replaced with rockstar ones. sometime in between 2012 and 2014, the avenger puppet was replaced with a rockstar one. i'm not sure what happened to the avenger puppets but if i had to guess, they're probably in the corporate office or smth. the avenger chuck walkaround would be replaced with the rockstar one as well. when the site was redesigned in late 2012, the games featuring avenger chuck were removed. some of them were kept but they were redesigned to have rockstar chuck instead.

at least avenger chuck would live on in store signage, decor, and animatronics. that is, until stores began to get remodeled...

2.0

2.0 had a few minor predecessors: some stores got an update in 2013 that replaced the avenger artwork and exterior logos, and some got an update in 2015 with new wall colors and sometimes a different logo. but these were nothing compared to 2.0. 2.0 debuted in summer 2017 in san antonio, texas and was a complete remodel of stores. exteriors got this green color scheme, a new logo and wordmark, and the removal of the "'s" at the end of "chuck e cheese's" so now it's just "chuck e cheese." the interior got new flooring, new booths, new art, and a dance floor to replace the animatronics. the replacement of the animatronics is what 2.0 is most known for.

the animatronics are probably being removed bc corporate believes that gen alpha doesn't want to see them. they're also costly to maintain. almost all chuck e cheese's fans are incredibly upset that the animatronics are being removed in favor of a giant tv on the floor. they believe that this is erasing history and that chuck e cheese's wouldn't be what it is today without the animatronics. i definitely agree with this. i think the 2.0 remodel is ugly as hell and makes all locations look the same when they used to be unique, removing the incentive to visit different locations. i've heard some ppl say that remodeled stores have shorter lifespans; i think this is just anecdotal evidence but i wouldn't be surprised if it was true. some locations don't have 2.0 but these are pretty rare.

u may be wondering what happens to the animatronics and decor when a location remodels or closes. unfortunately it isn't good. chuck e cheese's has become very protective of their intellectual property. they tell staff to destroy things with chuck e cheese branding on them so it's less recognizable; this is to reduce the chance of someone trying to steal their ip. the methods used to destroy these items, and how much they're destroyed, depends on location. when it comes to animatronics, sometimes they're sent to other locations for parts. with non-branded stuff, it usually just gets thrown out. sometimes stuff gets sent back to corporate, and i've heard of things being auctioned off, but usually it justs gets thrown away. thankfully, fans often go through the trash and rescue things, from major items like animatronics and walkaround suits, to small things like decor.

preservation

most preservation efforts have been done by fans who salvage stuff from the trash and keep it in their private collections. there's a surprising amount of ppl online who have animatronics just hanging out in their houses ! unbekannt5939 on youtube is an example of this; this studio c bot is theirs. but cec corporate has also made some attempts to preserve their past bc they recieved so much backlash from rolling out 2.0.

starting in november 2023, chuck e cheese's began introducing legacy stores. these are stores that have remodeled to 2.0 but kept the animatronics. the first legacy store was the one in northridge, california. the next ones were, in order: nanuet, hicksville (new york), springfield (illinois), and charlotte (pineville) (north carolina). these all opened in july 2024. the nanuet location is the only legacy store with a studio c animatronic. northridge is a 2-stage, hicksville and springfield are 1-stages, and pineville is a 3-stage; these all use cyberamic animatronics.

this is, ofc, better than nothing. but i do wish there were more studio c legacy locations. studio c chuck is my fav animatronic and i want to be able to see him but new york is across the country so it's gonna take time and money to be able to go there. the location in burbank still has their studio c bot, so i rly hope i can go see him there before they take him out.

also, the pineville location has an exclusive room called the retro room. it has a bunch of chuck e cheese's merch, decor, and other memorabilia. from the avenger era, it has the sign from the opening of the 500th store (glendale, arizona), posters, the statue from a photo ride, a timeline of important events, an exterior sign, almost every token, and a giant token on the wall. there's also a lot of stuff from other cec eras. i rly want to go here someday !

the san antonio, texas location (the one on military drive) has a storage room that used to be a party room; all of the avenger/cool chuck decor that used to be in there, is still in there as of june 2024. this makes sense bc the room is just used for storage. there's no point in spending money remodeling it bc the only ppl that are going to see it are employees. other locations may also have rooms like this.