The Circles of Light stage is a stage format found at Chuck E. Cheese's locations that opened with the stage or replaced a previous stage from 2012 to 2021. The COL was the last stage to be created before the Rockstar era. The COL was also the first stage to have options with an animatronic, or without an animatronic.
History[]
In early 2012, Weigl became a Vendor Partner with CEC Entertainment Inc., to help with the new stage design.
Circles of Light was introduced to Chuck E. Cheese locations in August 2012. CEC was planning for the fifth iteration of the main stage attraction when Weigl was asked to engage in the conversation. A major priority was to evolve the technology to allow for more advanced programming and control.
Dubbed Circles of Light, the new stage show includes many new elements designed to further engage the guests and highlight the Chuck character. Features include a large HD screen on the wall, enhanced theater-quality lighting, and touch-sensitive LED-backlit wall panels. The new stage is fabricated by Corman and Associates and continues to use the famous Chuck character produced by the California-based animatronic’s studio, Garner Holt Productions.
In September 2012, the test stage in Dallas Montfort removed their animatronic. This would not affect Circles of Light installations afterwards until August 2013 when the second animatronic-less store opened their doors in Montgomery, Alabama. From there on every Circles of Light stage would be installed with no animatronic with the exception of franchises like Tucson, AZ, Chandler, AZ, and Kapolei, HI.
Since the Chuck E. Cheese Halloween Boo-Tacular Show 2022, Circles of Light shows have no longer been programmed, though from November 1 to November 20, 2022, the Chuck E. Cheese Evergreen Show 2022 (August Update) played again for stores that had yet not switched to the new CEC Showtape Networking Module during that time. This is because of the Studio C SD/HD's special file formats not being able to support the new system. Since the Chuck E. Cheese Winter-Winner Land 2022 Show, Circles of Lights (and every other Studio C-based stage type) have had an extra "random lights" program installed, intended to make use to the stage's many lights, as during the initial testing of the Navori system, stage lights on Studio C did not function. The lights will change color each song, a supposed "random" effect, although it will be the same if the same show is viewed multiple times from the same stage.
As of March 2023, 84 Circles of Light stages remain in the United States, South America, and the Middle East.
Current Circles of Light Stages[]
TODO: Finish rest of locations, when they were installed, their version, and notes about the location(s)
| Location | Installed | Version | Notes |
| Birmingham, AL (Hwy. 280) | February 2013 | 16M COL | Only COL with bot in Alabama |
| Tuscaloosa, AL | August 2015 | No animatronic COL | |
| Montgomery, AL | August 2013 | No animatronic COL | |
| Chandler, AZ | April 2015 | No animatronic | Formerly 32M COL. Received 2.0 in March 2023, removing the bot and keeping the COL, and adding a Dance Floor. Second Last 32M COL. |
| Tuscon, AZ | October 2014 | No animatronic | Formerly 16M COL. Received 2.0 in March 2023, removing the bot and keeping the COL, and adding a Dance Floor. |
| Little Rock, AR | April 2014 | No animatronic COL | Only COL in Arkansas |
| San Diego, CA (College) | December 2012 | 16M COL | Last COL with bot in California |
| Carson, CA | January 2014 | No animatronic COL | |
| Rohnert Park, CA | 2015 | No animatronic COL | Former 1-Stage. 1-Stage sent to Citrus Heights to replace their Road Stage. |
| San Jose, CA (Tully) | 2018 / 2019 | No animatronic COL + 2021 Dance Floor | 2.0. Former PTT. Largest CEC in the US. |
- There is a technical easter egg hidden in the Circles of Light stage. During any video segment other than the Chuck E. Live segments or the musical acts, there are three circles that are always changing color while the others remain a single color. Pressing the color changing circle in the center under the screen will cause the stage to flash and shimmer.
- Currently, 19 Circles of Light stages remain with animatronics, these include 18 COLs with a 16M bot and 1 with a 32M bot.
Gallery[]
.webp "A2ObnvCCYAEykAO (1).webp (45 KB)")
.webp "O (1).webp (114 KB)")
.jpg "Maxresdefault (13).jpg (155 KB)")
.png "Screenshot (89).png (958 KB)")
.png "Screenshot (90).png (714 KB)")
| ||||||||||||||||||||