Chuck E. Cheese is bringing its new Adventure World playground concept to Crest Hill, Illinois, with a multilevel active-play venue slated to open in 2027. The announcement places the south suburb in a growing lineup of cities getting the format, which trades coin-operated arcade games for climbing structures, obstacle courses and soft-play zones built for kids ages 3 to 8.
According to CBS Chicago, Adventure World locations typically span 12,000 to 18,000 square feet of play and exploration equipment, alongside dining and celebration space. The outlet reports the venues feature themed zones with names like Munch's Cosmic Bounce, Bella's Castle Quest, Jasper's Bubble Reef and Chuck E.'s Jungle Temple, plus structures, slides, obstacles and ball pits — a play element the chain hadn't featured since 2011. There's also a toddler zone for younger kids, a giant video wall running a digital live show, and a Power Up Station serving popcorn, nachos, pizza and wings.
Randy Forsythe said families want a place where kids can move and use their imagination all day, with food and celebrations built in, per the CBS Chicago report. The outlet also notes admission covers all-day play for children, a policy Chuck E. Cheese has said applies system-wide. That structure matches details from the flagship Arlington, Texas location, where CultureMap Dallas reported admission is set at $19.99 per child for all-day play, including free entry for up to two accompanying adults and no height restrictions on the equipment.
From San Jose Pizza Parlor to Suburban Playground Brand
Chuck E. Cheese was founded in 1977 by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, and its first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre location opened in San Jose, California, the CBS Chicago report notes. The chain arrived in Illinois in 1981 with a location in Loves Park near Rockford, and later opened a Chicago spot at the Harlem-Foster Shopping Center at 7300 W. Foster Ave., which once featured three rooms of animatronic musical acts. That Foster Avenue site became a Little Caesars CaesarLand later in the 1980s and today houses a Planet Fitness gym, according to the same account.
Chicago-area families have watched the brand shift away from that animatronic era for years. Chuck E. Cheese announced in November 2023 that it would end animatronic performances at all but a few locations nationwide, according to a company announcement preserving the robotic Munch's Make Believe Band stage show at select spots led by Northridge, California. The chain currently operates 15 locations in the Chicago area, including one in northwest Indiana, per the CBS Chicago report.
Crest Hill Joins a Fast-Moving National Rollout
Crest Hill isn't traveling alone. Adventure World locations are also set to open in Flint, Michigan; Chesterfield, Missouri; Lakewood, Colorado; Los Angeles; and two other California cities in 2027, and in various cities nationwide before the end of 2026, per the CBS Chicago report. That 2026 wave includes stops in West Fargo, North Dakota; Chandler, Arizona; Rochester, New York; Las Vegas; and Houston and Plano, Texas, according to a Chuck E. Cheese blog post. Hoodline previously reported on Houston filings for one of those Texas venues, part of a rollout that traces back to the format's debut in Arlington, Texas, in November 2025.
The concept has become one of the most successful openings in Chuck E. Cheese's nearly 50-year history, per the CBS Chicago account. The company is now moving beyond U.S. borders too — Chuck E. Cheese announced its first international Adventure World expansion in September, partnering with operator Grupo Dicrejart to open three locations in Jalisco, Mexico, according to InterPark, with the first Mexican site in Plaza Patria set to open in October.
A Company Rebuilt After Bankruptcy
The expansion follows a major corporate turnaround for parent company CEC Entertainment. The company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2020 after eliminating roughly $705 million in debt and securing $100 million in liquidity, according to a PR Newswire release at the time, with the restructuring transferring ownership to lenders led by Monarch Alternative Capital. Before launching standalone Adventure World sites, CEC completed a systemwide refresh in 2024 that added trampoline zones and interactive dance floors to more than 450 U.S. Chuck E. Cheese locations.
In February, CEC Entertainment named former CFO Scott Drake as President and CEO, succeeding David McKillips, who had led the company's post-bankruptcy restructuring and the initial rollout of Adventure World, per a company announcement covered by outlets including Restaurant Dive. The active-play format is designed to compete directly with indoor trampoline and obstacle parks, according to Blooloop, and arrives amid a broader industry boom — the global family indoor entertainment center market was valued at $32.22 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $82.13 billion by 2030, per NextMSC.
Crest Hill's playground is still a couple of years out, but it lands amid a period of visible change for the brand across the region, including in Portland, where Hoodline reported this year on a former store reborn as a pickleball club, and in Pearl City, where a longtime location closed after 30 years. Whether Adventure World can match the staying power of the animatronic era that once filled rooms like the old Foster Avenue location remains to be seen once the Crest Hill doors open.
