Save the only legacy Chuck E. Cheese location in Canada and preserve its animatronic band! ੯·̀͡づ♫

📍 LOCATION: 2452 Sheppard Ave E, North York, ON M2J 1X1

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I recently visited this location in July 2026, and I went there for one reason... to see Munch’s Make Believe Band, the last remaining animatronic band at Chuck E. Cheese's in all of Canada, and one of six legacy locations. These characters are part of the history of Chuck E. Cheese, and they represent a form of entertainment that has almost completely disappeared.

The Willowdale location originally opened in 1983 as a Pizza Time Theatre, making its history even more significant. Today, there are only six official Chuck E. Cheese legacy locations in the world. Willowdale is the only legacy location outside the United States. This location is not just another Chuck E. Cheese. This is Canada’s last home of Munch’s Make Believe Band.

For the ShowBiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese fandom, places like this are so important. When I went there in July 2026, I was extremely excited. I had wanted to experience the 2-stage for a long time and had driven four hours to see it. But when I arrived, I learned that the band was no longer performing and was being kept on idle mode. The characters were still there, but instead of performing their shows, they were simply moving back and forth. I was also told by the manager that they no longer had access to showtapes being run for the animatronic stage. I was honestly heartbroken.

These characters have survived decades of changes, remodels, and closures precisely because people care about them. And that is why it is so devastating to hear that this rare legacy location may now disappear altogether.

A development application has been submitted for Victoria Square Shopping Plaza that proposes demolishing the existing plaza and replacing it with a new development. If the proposal proceeds, Toronto could lose its only remaining Chuck E. Cheese location and Canada could lose its only remaining Munch’s Make Believe Band location. That would be an enormous loss. Not just for Chuck E. Cheese fans. Not just for the animatronic fandom. But for entertainment history.

For people like me, these characters are connected to special memories, creativity, music, and an entire fandom that has grown around preserving this history. The animatronic bands also have a unique connection to ShowBiz Pizza Place, whose Rock-afire Explosion became one of the most beloved animatronic bands in entertainment history. When ShowBiz Pizza Place and Pizza Time Theatre merged in the late 80s and became one company, the legacy of these robotic bands continued through Chuck E. Cheese’s Munch’s Make Believe Band.

That history is disappearing incredibly quickly. We have already watched countless stages be removed and destroyed. Fans have watched locations that contained decades of history become modernized, with many of them closing entirely. Fans fought for the company to save at least some of these stages, and eventually a handful were preserved. It would be devastating if Willowdale became another lost location.

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What we are asking for:

1. Save the Willowdale Chuck E. Cheese location.

We ask the City of Toronto, the developer, and all parties involved to explore every reasonable option to preserve Chuck E. Cheese within the redevelopment rather than demolishing it.

2. Preserve the animatronic stage in its entirety.

Munch’s Make Believe Band currently at the Willowdale location should not be discarded or destroyed. If the existing building cannot remain, the stage should be carefully preserved and relocated rather than lost forever.

3. Bring the animatronic shows back.

The characters are still there. Let them perform again. Fans should have the opportunity to actually experience the thing that makes this location historically significant. We ask Chuck E. Cheese and CEC Entertainment to restore regular programming for the animatronic stage and make use of the legacy location for what it was intended to preserve.

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I don't want to look back years from now and know that Canada once had something this special and we let it disappear. I don't want future fans to only be able to see these characters in photographs and YouTube videos. I want people to be able to walk into a Chuck E. Cheese in Canada and actually see Chuck E., Helen, Munch, Jasper, and Pasqually together on a real animatronic stage. I want the next generation to experience what so many of us became passionate about. And I want the people who have spent years preserving, documenting, repairing, collecting, and celebrating this history to know that it mattered.

🧀🎸🎤 PLEASE SAVE TORONTO’S CHUCK E. CHEESE AND CANADA’S LAST MUNCH’S MAKE BELIEVE BAND!

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Sources

Information about Willowdale’s history and legacy location status: https://showbizpizza.fandom.com/wiki/Chuck_E._Cheese_Legacy_Locations

Information about the potential closure: https://www.insauga.com/long-standing-chuck-e-cheese-in-toronto-could-be-demolished-for-new-development

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Our fight in Toronto is not the only fight happening right now. Toledo, Ohio is also fighting to save its Chuck E. Cheese on Airport Highway, another location loved by its community. Please consider signing and sharing their petition as well: Save Chuck E. Cheese Toledo Ohio