Tourism & Hospitality | Wednesday 4 February, 2015 12:24 pm |

Chuck E. Cheese and friends celebrates opening of entertainment centre and hosts a singalong with kids from the Rashid Centre for Disabled

“Where did all the fun go? Only Chuck E. Cheese knows,” sang Chuck E. Cheese in his catchy rock-pop jingle this afternoon. The event was held to celebrate the official inauguration of his newest entertainment centre, Chuck E. Cheese Oud Metha, which opened in Dubai today with live music and dancing. The life-sized animated character has been providing children with playful atmospheres around the world since his inception in the 1970s in the US, and he’s finally arrived to the United Arab Emirates to make sure he’s got a whole new set of friends waiting to hang out with him in his newest home “where a kid can be a kid.”
In fact, fun is what Chuck E. and friends are all about, as media, VIPs and the families of kids from the Rashid Centre for Disabled (RCD) discovered this afternoon. Held under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Juma’a Bin Maktoum Bin Juma’a al Maktoum acting chairman of Rashid
Paediatric Therapy Centre, the morning commenced with an elaborate ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by a tour around the bright and colourful play facility from Nael Fouad, CEO of Magnolia Group, the restaurant management holding company for Chuck E. Cheese in the UAE, and Mariam Othman, general manager of RCD. Afterwards, the upbeat song “Fun is Healthy” was performed by Chuck E. Cheese and friends alongside the endearing group of young deaf children from the RCD as they put on their dance shoes and expressed their feelings through music in a lively onstage show. The song, now available online on the ChuckECheeseUAE social media platforms including YouTube, goes on to talk about how parents should tuck away their phones and take their kids out to play, a reminder always that parents are also responsible for keeping their kids healthy and active.
The grand opening was held after months of activities introducing Chuck E. Cheese and his crew to kids across the city, with visits to events and a competition mobilizing young children to participate in a goofy contest where they were asked to submit photos of themselves wearing their funniest faces as part of Chuck E.’s Funniest Face Challenge. Children from the RCD also had a private visit from Chuck E. Cheese and friends and have been participating in the contest by contributing their own photos to the social challenge, which has spurred hundreds of photos of adults and children. As part of the competition, the Magnolia Group donated tuition for a full year to one student at the Rashid Centre for the Disabled.
Following the ceremony and performance, trophies were handed out to His Highness for his attendance and to Mariam Othman for her work bringing children from all walks of life together as well as her fundraising efforts towards improving education materials and training standards at the Rashid Centre for Disabled.