Second Chuck E. Cheese Adventure World coming to D-FW

Chuck E. Cheese is developing its second Adventure World location in Plano, following the launch of the kids' entertainment brand's new active play concept in Arlington last year.

The project is coming to Creek Walk Village, a shopping complex at 801 W. 15th St., according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Renovations at the 18,000-square-foot site will begin Sept. 7 and expected to be completed by Dec. 7, according to the filing.

CEC Entertainment, Chuck E. Cheese's Irving-based parent company, has not commented publicly on the new location and did not respond to a request from The Dallas Morning News for more information, including when the site is expected to open to the public.

But the new Adventure World facility joins a recent push by the company to expand its entertainment portfolio beyond the traditional arcade-and-pizza concept fans are familiar with as it faces pressure to reevaluate its business model.

Chuck E. Cheese operates 467 locations across the U.S. and Canada, according to its website. But that number is down from over 600 locations in 2020, when a harsh slowdown in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the entertainment giant to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was also carrying nearly $1 billion in debt from a leveraged buyout in 2014.

In recent years, the brand has been experimenting with new “active play†spaces at many of its remaining locations to help drive demand and lessen the burden of its ongoing financial troubles.

In 2024, Chuck E. Cheese began rolling out play areas called Ninja Runs at many of its locations — indoor obstacle courses with climbing that include walls, trampoline zones and balance beams designed for children shorter than 56 inches. There were 125 by the following year, when they were rebranded as Superhero Playgrounds.

“When we looked at where the trends are going in the kids area, it's really leaning into these massive, multilevel active play areas,†David McKillips, CEC Entertainment's CEO at the time, previously told The News. “And who better to do that [than the] No. 1 name in kids, and that's Chuck E. Cheese.â€

So, the company decided to take that idea to new heights. In November, it opened the doors of its first Adventure World — a supersized version of the Superhero Playground that spans three levels of a 12,000-square-foot facility. Though the company designed the attraction for families with kids between the ages of 3 and 8, it features no height restrictions, meaning older siblings and parents can join in the fun.

If the Arlington Adventure World location is any indication, the forthcoming Plano site will likely feature a similar multilevel obstacle course with ball pits, slides and more. And this time, the company has an additional 6,000 square feet to work with.

The renovation is expected to cost $850,000, according to the TDLR filing, and it will be privately funded by CEC Entertainment. The facility is being designed by Irving-based Prizm Architects.

Chuck E. Cheese was expected to open five or six new Adventure World locations this year, but the Plano location appears to be the only one that has moved beyond the brainstorm phase.

McKillips previously told The News that the Dallas-Fort Worth region was chosen as the concept's launch pad because of the brand's strong presence in North Texas. Texas has the second-most locations of any state at 61, behind California with 75.

Chuck E. Cheese has also invested over $300 million in renovating over 450 of its locations, and it launched Chuck's Arcade last summer, an elevated arcade experience that targets older audiences in an effort to keep them as “lifelong fans†of the brand.

The brand operates a traditional Chuck E. Cheese location in Plano at 1604 Preston Rd., about a 13-minute drive from the planned Adventure World.