Ticket prices getting out of hand?

We have the dine-in theater here at Disney, as well as other IMAX high price viewings. I hate the cost to go there anymore. So I just started avoiding the movie going experience since we were spending $50-$60 for tickets and a few snacks.

Then I found an old drive in theater that is about 30 minutes away, 40-45 with traffic.... and I LOVE IT! All new films, showing them on the day they release, plus it is $5.00 per adult, and $1.00 for kids. My wife and I get to go for $10.00, stop at a store before hand, bring in our own snacks for dirt cheap, sit in the AC because you don't need to open any windows, as you tune your radio to the station for the surround sound. That means no bugs either . There are no kids screaming, no people talking or texting.... and the best part? The $5.00 is for a double feature. The only downfall is that they only have two screens, so you will have to want to see the films they show or you won't have much of a choice. But this past weekend we paid our $5.00 each, and saw the double feature of Wonder Woman and From Nothing Comes A King. The other screen was playing Baywatch and Snatched as their double feature.

My wife and I only go to the local Studio Movie Grill anymore. Tickets tend to run about $10-12 per adult. However, you can also buy drinks, a full meal, and you get to eat it while you watch, in assigned seats, provided to you by ushers.

Nobody is being obnoxious on their cell phones. Teenagers aren't causing a ruckus. The floor is clean and not sticky. The seats are comfortable.

It's the best theater experience I've had, which is why it's pretty much all we do anymore. That may change when my kid is old enough to handle a film (in which case, it'd probably be a matinee), but that's a few years away. The total experience usually ends up being closer to $80, but that includes a meal with drinks (beer or liquor), while watching a movie.

We usually go, oh, maybe 4-5 times a year, and usually just to see a Star Wars or Marvel movie. Pretty much everything else we end up watching at home on some streaming service.

Laspector said:

I've never been to (or even seen) one of these luxury theaters you guys speak of where you can order food and drinks and have recliner seats etc. When you say order food, are you talking ordering food like in a restaurant? You can actually order a full meal and eat it while watching the movie? Is there tables in front of your chairs? Do you just eat it off your lap? Are there waiters walking around during the movie? Wouldn't this be very disruptive to the viewing experience?

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I've only ever been to the Alamo in Austin, Texas so I can't say it's all like that but to answer all your questions: yes.

Yeah, this is becoming a tricky one these days to balance the experience of seeing a film in the cinema against the cost. Given the very short period of time now between the general release date ending and the availability on all media types is about three months now the case to go see a film immediately gets weaker. And as a commited cinema goer since I was a kid I find that a surprisingly sad thing to think and say.
But the fact that several VFX heavy films I've seen at the multiplex actually look much better on my updated home system is another huge factor. Watching "Rogue One" on blu ray was a much better experience at home than in the cinema, it looked so crisp and detailed and the Tarkin/Leia moments worked so much better. When 4K really gets a grip thats likely to become an even bigger factor in my decision when I go.
Another thing that REALLY is starting to effect my enjoyment of a cinema visit is the behaviour of the rest of the audience as mentioned by others. Twice in the last three visits on the day of release there has been somebody doing something that spoilt it.
One was a carer who decided to bring their charge, whose behaviour would have got them thrown out if it wasn't so obvious they had special needs. I was a row away and the endless loud questions,toilet breaks and "sushing" was enough to drive me to move back, along with several others.
Another was a pratt who again had so little self control that the rest of us got an almost endless monologue of their opinion on the film, like he was doing prep for a pod cast. Despite being told to shut up, it lasted about ten minutes before it started again.Eventually he was removed, but half the film was done by then.
And I guess I'm discounting at least several interuptions with either phones going off, or their screen lights flicking on and off for text messages or people munching through seemingly bottomless packets of particularly noisy snacks,so much so I've pretty much decided to avoid peak viewing times altogether . Weekends and school holidays have become almost completely "no go" periods for me .
At the moment I am settling on what I call, "must see", "wait see" and "won't ever see" policy rating for films. My old favorites like the Star Wars, Alien, and Marvel franchises are a must see because seeing them on the big screen does usually bring back a touch of the old magic of being with a good crowd. And I still feel paying the price of a single screen ticket will help guarantee they keep making those films.They do after all spend millions make them!!!
And I'll usually support a critically well rated movie because I want to see those kind of films done again. "Deadpool" was a brilliant first showing experience because of the hard core fans it attracted, and because ,of course ,it was dead funny. And so we will get another because of the great box office.
But the rest are fast becoming just "wait see" options for Netflix, pay to view or Amazon sale bargins. Both "Ghost in the Shell" and "Alien: Covenant" really should have fallen into that catagory if I hadn't had such a strong personal interest in them. But then again "Logan" "John Wick 2" and " Kong:Skull Island" were worth a cinema visit.
Yet looking ahead there are just six films in the remaining year that I will go to see rather than now wait. Well down on my usual total of around twenty plus.

I will say that one thign that really helped my theater experiences was NOT going to opening weekend/night showings anymore. You would think that being among likeminded fans would help, but it doesn't. In my experience, it just makes the theater more rowdy because people feel like they're just sitting at home with their friends in their living room.

I guess the other reason why I go so infrequently is that the films themselves are so infrequently worth it these days. My Marvel and Star Wars average enjoyment has been pretty solid. Outside of that? In the last 15 years, it's been extremely hit-or-miss. Films themselves just...aren't worth going to a theater for in many cases. It's been a gradual experience. Not every film turns out to be crap or mediocre at best. But enough have that I just don't chance spending that kind of money on a gamble, especially when the theater experience --outside of my favorite spot -- is so hit or miss.

I very rarely go to movies anymore for the same reasons mentioned.

Last one I saw was Force Awakens.

3 years ago I did go 2 weekends in a row and that has never happened before. Godzilla, then X-Men Days of future past.

Solo4114 said:

I will say that one thign that really helped my theater experiences was NOT going to opening weekend/night showings anymore. You would think that being among likeminded fans would help, but it doesn't. In my experience, it just makes the theater more rowdy because people feel like they're just sitting at home with their friends in their living room.

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Same here. We usually wait and go the 2nd or 3rd weekend when the crowds tend to be more sedate.

Now that you mention it, in the last 8 years, I can't think of a single movie that I have seen in a theater that wasn't Marvel or Star Wars.

Well, I take that back--counting the last two Dark Knight movies. Honestly, the third one, I should've waited.

I saw a movie on amazon the other night that I got for free, it was called Parker, it was ok, but I was glad I hadn't paid cinema money to see it.

glunark said:

I saw a movie on amazon the other night that I got for free, it was called Parker, it was ok, but I was glad I hadn't paid cinema money to see it.

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IMHO, most movies where the person's name is used for the title tend to suck...

Not Hooper though, a classic, and an Adam West cameo to boot.

glunark said:

Not Hooper though, a classic, and an Adam West cameo to boot.

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Loved Hooper.. I wasn't fond of Lucy, Napoleon Dynamite, Billy Madison, or Jack Frost.. all of which I paid to watch in theaters. Movies that I've watched once and never did it again lol. It's movies like that that kind of brought my theater experience to an end. The only things I watch in heaters now are Star Wars and Marvel films

sent from the cockpit of SLAVE I

Pretty much the same, although I've seen all but suicide squad at the cinema too, but now DC are cranking out things like aquaman, flash, and cyborg (was anyone crying out for this one?) They will all be blurays.

Laspector said:

I've never been to (or even seen) one of these luxury theaters you guys speak of where you can order food and drinks and have recliner seats etc. When you say order food, are you talking ordering food like in a restaurant? You can actually order a full meal and eat it while watching the movie? Is there tables in front of your chairs? Do you just eat it off your lap? Are there waiters walking around during the movie? Wouldn't this be very disruptive to the viewing experience?

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As others mentioned, yes. The CineBowl (they have a bowling alley) near me, you place your order as you go in, sit down, they bring it to you, there are slide out mini-tables (like those desk-chairs in schools?) in your loge seat, or a table in front of you. I believe teh Alamo Drafthouse has become a successful chain. Many local theaters have used this model of the "drink beer, eat some noshies while we screen the film."

Moviefreak said:

…Then I found an old drive in theater that is about 30 minutes away, 40-45 with traffic.... and I LOVE IT! All new films, showing them on the day they release, plus it is $5.00 per adult, and $1.00 for kids. My wife and I get to go for $10.00, stop at a store before hand, bring in our own snacks for dirt cheap, sit in the AC because you don't need to open any windows, as you tune your radio to the station for the surround sound.

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Erm. You sit and run your engine for two hours throughout the movie? Not such a great deal for the atmosphere, but glad that you like it. :-\ (teasing)(

CutThumb said:

… Another thing that REALLY is starting to effect my enjoyment of a cinema visit is the behaviour of the rest of the audience as mentioned by others. Twice in the last three visits on the day of release there has been somebody doing something that spoilt it. ….

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Your examples were extreme, but I suspect we've all had them. I've been to screenings wehre different people were all "Shhhh!" to someone's grandkid, and were the grandparents doing anything? Nope. It amazes me (sign of getting old and crochety) that theaters now have pre-screening PSAs not just about "silence your phone" but "don't use your phone" and "don't talk throughout the movie" and so forth. Think: they have pre-feature PSAs asking people to behave appropriately for a movie theater that isn't their living room.

I appreciate seeing a film with an audience that's engaged, but I'm old enough to rmember what that was like on the second weekend of Star Wars [sic] in 1977. We sighed, we gasped, we cheered, we clapped — together.

I'll be insensitive enough to share that when I heard of the Aurora, CO, theater massacre, after getting over the shock, I thought, "Wait, someone brought a BABY to a midnight screening of a loud, violent PG-13 movie?! Wait, someone brought a six year old to a midnight screening of a PG-13 movie?? WHAT were these people thinking?" Clearly not, Gee it's after your bedtime, let's go to a matinee. Not, Hey, this movie's rating indicates not appropriate for pre-teens, maybe Mom and Dad should go see it first.

Doesn't excuse the violence that sicko inflicted on the audience, but to me it was an example of what theatrical moviegoing is like today. Not many people are thinking through whether it's appropriate to bring young children to a movie theater. They just do it, and to heck with the other paying customers if their kids aren't well-behaved.

PropReplicator2 said:

IMHO, most movies where the person's name is used for the title tend to suck...

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Well, LOCKE was pretty good. BRONSON. Doe the MEU films like Captain America, Iron Man, et al count here?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I wouldn't count MEU or DCEU movies as those, just because those all go towards one general purpose: an expanded universe story. I'm talking about individual story films. But I haven't seen a LOCKE yet.. I'll give it a try for sure

sent from the cockpit of SLAVE I

Laspector said:

I've never been to (or even seen) one of these luxury theaters you guys speak of where you can order food and drinks and have recliner seats etc. When you say order food, are you talking ordering food like in a restaurant? You can actually order a full meal and eat it while watching the movie? Is there tables in front of your chairs? Do you just eat it off your lap? Are there waiters walking around during the movie? Wouldn't this be very disruptive to the viewing experience?

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Mine is just like a restaurant, waitress and all. You can get a couch with a table and a recliner, it usually fits 4 with this setup.

A lot of other sections are a small table and recliner, the arm of the recliner had a table that can fold up and over encase you want to recline and snack

To call the waitress the table had a very small lamp, very dim. Click it on and it sends a single outside and a waitress comes to the lighted recliner.

These lux areas don't really bother other people because my theater is stadium seating but it's a huge distance from row to row so u can see the people below you, and you can't see their light.

I don't mind it, I have done it a couple of times. My friends like to drink so we could get the lux level for the waitress to feed them beer.

My new AMC has the best seats I've ever been in, no tables. No waitresses. But they have a killer restaurant before you go into the theater and though I don't drink they have an amazing bar

AMC has really impressed me.


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Yes, they are. I go to discount days at one of my local theaters. It's every Tuesday, all movies (even new ones) are only $4. I have no problem dishing out $8 for popcorn when the ticket prices are that low. But when I have to pay $16 for a ticket, yes $16, I get a little frustrated when a small popcorn is $9.

KojiroVance said:

I did that with the Kingsman: The Secret Service. A lady friend wanted to see it, so I bought it. That was a good night. Movie, ice cream, and ….

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Well done, Eggsy!

Moviefreak said:

Then I found an old drive in theater that is about 30 minutes away, 40-45 with traffic.... and I LOVE IT!

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Did a quick search on Google and I'm afraid you are going to tell me it is in Lakeland.