Is Chuck E Cheese appropriate for a 2 year old?

[Anonymous]

I remember loving this place as a kid. Was wondering if it was appropriate for my 2 year old son.

Has anyone been to the Gaithersburg one?

[Anonymous]

I would say no. The food is terrible and it's basically an arcade packed with video games.

[Anonymous]

Have you been since being a parent? Kids love it - most parents I know hate it. Pizza's lousy, it's incredibly noisy, it's not terribly clean. yech.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't take my 2 year old there solo but he's been as part of a family friend's birthday where the kids were 5 - 7 and he had a good time.

[Anonymous]

mine is 2.5 and has been to 2 birthdays there. all she wanted to do was sit on this one ride that is a swing that goes slowly back and forth. she didn't like the games or the other rides and it was pure chaos (dirty, loud, bad food, lots of yelling brats), despite being a morning birthday. had it not been a close friend of hers, i would have declined.

[Anonymous]

As a parent, please, NO!!! Groan whenever I see a bday party there. But the kids? Well, the whole place was too overwhelming and freaked my toddler out-- she ended up leaving in tears. And the 5 year old whose bday it was didn't seem to be having much fun, either.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if all CEC are the same, but the one where we live now (not DC area) is great for a 2 year old. We do try to avoid weekends, but they have little rides and some games that are age appropriate. Weekdays the place is empty. Ours is clean and well-lit, not like the one I remember from when I was a kid. And if you have a coupon it comes out to about 8 tokens/dollar. DH likes to take the kids a couple times a year for a treat.

Weekend birthday parties are a nightmare though. The noise level is terrible and there are just too many people.