The Fall River Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre opened in about February 1985 Located on (35 Mariano Bishop Blvd Fall River MA 02721) with the Danvers, Massachusetts’ Balcony Stage while Danvers Location replaced it with the Family Album Stage which was a prototype animatronic show that never made it out of the few locations it was tested in. The Fall River Location would later add the house themed Stage (the C Stage), many recall Jasper the “Dog With a Banjo”. They would close in Spring 1991 and become a new family entertainment center known as Big Top. A local by the name of Paul Janice had this to say about the closure “from what I heard, Chuck E Cheese wanted the owner to pay for remodeling so they dropped the franchise and made Big Top”. Another Local named Malerie Rosa had this to say about the switch “not much changed when it turned into big top.” One of the few changes Big Top made was with the Animatronic show. All of the robots were skinned to their mechanical insides to be retrofitted and changed to a clown theme with a clown as the main character of the business with the name “Topper”. A news report interview from FUN107 Radio with a customer said “The Clowns were demonic looking”. According to a member of the owners family by the name of Aaron Bell-Dias claims his mother has “a bunch of photos” and his family dressed the animatronics in “their own clothes”. At some point, Big Top Disposed of the retrofitted Chuck E. Cheese Animatronics and switched over to a more advanced type of animatronic stage produced by Creative Presentations, called the “Pantones”, the pictures are below. Big Top ran for many years, with some of the most popular arcade games there being “whack a mole” and “down the clown”. In December 2007, Big Top closes and it was believed that the show and stage were still there, until recently when Logan Carreiro went to the Fall River Facebook page to look for answers. He was directed to the name “Charlie Bell”. someone many said worked there and played a significant role in the business. After looking through old phone books like White Pages that had been made digital Logan found multiple numbers, many of which had been out of service for years. One had a voicemail box so he left a message looking for Charlie there. 2 days later in July 2022 Logan would receive a Phone Call from Charlie Bell. After a 45 minute conversation regarding big top multiple things were discovered. One of them being that they closed in 2007 after he sold the property and business to a family who wanted it in 2006. Apparently they were having troubles maintaining it, and shut it all down after only a year of ownership. According to former employee sources, the prizes that you could win at the counter was bought from the toy store next door “KB Toys”. With toy prices at a expensive toy store like KB Toys, it’s reasonable to think they were desperate for income. Multiple individuals claim they lost a partnership with the “prize provider”. A year later the trademarks for Big Top Kiddie Play-land And Restaurant was filed for again. This time it was for a smaller version that opened in Hanover, Massachusetts without any animatronics. This arcade was located in the Hanover mall. It is rumored to have sat there until the mall was demolished and rebuilt without Big Top in 2020. As of 2023 the original Big Top location in Fall River is now a harbor freight store. I visited the site recently and there is no remanence at all of its former owners. Recently the first photos of big top and the former Chuck E. Cheese surfaced online after Logan asked locals that had been there. Even with all these pieces of information we still don’t know where the animatronics are. Charlie told Logan “the Animatronics were sold” to an unknown “individual” in the New England region making them extremely hard to track down. In October 2023 there was also statements made about the animatronics being sent to a landfill in Fall River, MA which contradicts this statement from Charlie and has been nearly proven fake, there is more information on these allegations down the page a bit. In conclusion There’s a immense chance there is nothing left of them. in November of 2023 A individual named Stephan Beckler was found under Big Top’s trademarks. When making calls using phone books to Stephen, His Wife picked up and explained to Logan Carreiro, that Beckler had passed away in 2022 and was the owner and supplier for Big Top In Fall River. They later helped in Hanover in supplying that location but did not own the establishment. She also mentioned another Big Top Location Yet to be discovered in East Providence, RI. We don’t have any information besides this on the location, but at one point there was talk about a Chuck E. Cheese location in Cranston/East Providence but is yet to be confirmed to exist, it would make sense seeing they converted a Chuck E. Cheese in Fall River To Big Top. Under the patents where Logan had found Stephen’s information he discovered copyrighted newspaper advertisements From the Fall River Herald News, there is more to read on this matter further down the page. On another note, there has been at least 6 calls made from different individuals about Big Top And The Fall River Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre to its final resting place which is now a Harbor Freight, as mentioned earlier. all of these calls have turned up with no information at all whatsoever on any new history.
Big Top’s Building Now:
Elliot A. Salter Helped to file these trademarks in 1992
CIRCA 1990
Extra Archives: in 2022 a small children’s book went up on Facebook marketplace with the item description claiming it was from Big Top. The images are blurry but you can definitely make out the words “big top” on the front page cover. When the seller was asked for more images there was no response. The product was being sold in Pennsylvania hundreds of miles away from Big Top’s former location.
According To https://mapquest.com, which is a review service online for public eating establishments, the direct phone number to Big Top was 508-675-4800
When The Relocated Big Top Opened Few games from the original location in Fall River remained, one of the items saved was this trash lid with a clown on it. these images were found on a auctioning website called HiBid during the liquidation of the location before closure.
The Skee ball had its panels replaced but still has the same machinery, they also re-cushioned the chairs and added white paint. you can see they are the same chairs by their unique oval squiggly shape on the middle of the backrests. All of these changes were carried out by “BeckGames” in East Providence, RI
A message from the author:
I am deeply grateful for your time and attention spent on reading my research findings! When I embarked on this journey of exploring the topic at hand, I encountered a significant challenge: the absence of any online evidence validating the existence of Big Top and the Fall River Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre. The only shred of information I could locate was a FUN107 article that recounted “people’s experiences” at the establishment during the 90s and 2000s. However, to my disappointment, the article lacked any visual documentation, such as photographs or videos, that would confirm the location’s existence.
In the midst of my pursuit, a beacon of light emerged in the form of my dear friend Kaelan Johnson. Thanks to his dedication and support, I was able to access exclusive insights before anyone else, shedding light on the topic.
Furthermore, I must extend my heartfelt appreciation to the entire Chuck E. Cheese community. Their unwavering passion and commitment to preserving the history and legacy of these beloved establishments proved to be an invaluable resource. Through their collective efforts, they provided me with a comprehensive list that documented “every Chuck E. Cheese location ever opened.” This meticulously compiled list not only confirmed the existence of Big Top and Fall River Chuck E. Cheese but also furnished essential details about the animatronic stage it housed and the specific time period in which the location thrived.
Once again, I extend my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to my research journey, whether it was through sharing personal experiences, offering unwavering support, or providing valuable information. Your contributions have been invaluable in unraveling the mysteries surrounding Big Top and Fall River Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre, enriching our understanding of these cherished establishments and their significance within the Chuck E. Cheese community.
Big-Top History 