This Birthday Party Staple Of Your Youth Is Going Away

Say it isn’t so!

Chuck E. Cheese, the pizza restaurant that birthday party dreams are made of, has announced its animatronic band will go silent!

You probably went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese or had one there yourself. The arcade games, ball pits, rides, and animatronic musical shows were one of the best ways to celebrate turning another year older.

Well, now the restaurant chain has announced that Munch’s Make Believe Band will be phased out at all but five of its 400 locations across the United States. That means the end of an era for characters Chuck E. Cheese, Helen Henny, Mr. Munch, Jasper T. Jowls, and Pasqually.

Chuck E. Cheese originally wanted to get rid of the animatronics at all but two restaurants, but negative public reaction caused them to keep the band together at five locations. You will still be able to see Munch’s Make Believe Band in Pineville, NC, Hicksville and Nanuet, NY, Springfield, IL, and Northridge, CA.

“The adoration of the Chuck E. Cheese brand continues to captivate kids and adults, so it felt great to give fans a bit of our history,” said the company’s Chief Insights and Marketing Officer, Mark Kupferman, told People Magazine.

The locations that are losing the animatronic band will instead gain more screens, digital dance floors, and trampoline gyms.

Chuck E. Cheese has been around since 1977.