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There are many theaters in this area that let you bring in anything you want. Their only requirement is that you pick it up and toss it out yourself.
Huh? Lucky.
I've heard that if a lady walks in w/ a purse of a considerably large size, that the theatre reps can inspect for food items that people have brought in. Well.. maybe, if they didn't charge as much as they do, people wouldn't have to. My husband and I rarely go nowadays since we put in a theatre system in the basement. It's not huge and/or elaborate as some but it's comfortable. Very comfortable. Nice cushy chairs that recline. We can snack and drink ANYTHING [my husband sometimes a beer] and that our dogs can also be a part of it. They're very quiet during the movies which is more than I can say for our previous experiences at the Regal Cinemas in town. People talking all thru a movie, making funny noises, children whining or crying.
Yes, what he said. I don't believe it's an issue of 'legal' or 'illegal' but those are their rules. I get a chuckle when I see families sneak in juice or snacks for the kids but I've never witnessed anyone get thrown out of a theater because of it. Personally, I think you should be allowed to bring your own food but I also understand it's an issue of safety and liability. Any establishment that serves food will not allow you to bring your own food. The same rules apply at a restaurant. You couldn't bring a bag lunch to Carrabba's, for example. If you get sick, they wouldn't know if it was caused by your food or theirs! But I'm pretty sure we all know who's going to get sued...
As far as the price of theater food- it doesn't make sense and it doesn't add up. I had a brilliant economics professor (years ago), demonstrate the mark up on the price of popcorn and soda. He gave several examples of how the industry defends the prices of the items but then he refuted each one of them. I don't remember it all but, for example, he said they would argue that popcorn is extremely perishable and since there is so much waste, they have to recoup the cost and pass that on to customers. But our professor actually calculated the cost of popcorn, how much it takes to produce it, etc and it turned out to be incredibly inexpensive. I see no real reason for overpriced theater food- it's been this way for so long and they can continue to get away with it.
It's only a waste if the popcorn is yucky, stale, burnt, - whatever. I've gone back before to tell them. They made more but it still tasted bad. If it's good, well, it's going to be gone in 30 secs.. ok. maybe a coupla minutes. But, yes, I agree, prices are too inflated.
I was told I was not allowed in with a cup of dunkin donuts one time. Literally just bought it since I wanted coffee and did not know if the movie theater actually sold it. (Not that theirs would be good anyway). Long story short, I walked in with the coffee cup up my sleeve through another entrance.
Wow, Samrai you deserve an award for not spilling it all over you as I know I probably would. Especially due to the act of sneaking it in.
Wonder how long its gonna be now before movie theaters start searching purses and pockets for smuggled snacks??? They do it now at some theme parks, but of course are looking for weapons.
Ours does. There's a sign posted too regarding checking people's bags that they bring in - if deemed to be of a considerably large size.
On a slightly different note, my spouse and I stopped at this antique place. Cool, this should be fun to look around until I walked in and saw that they expected woman who were carrying purses to put them up in these OPEN cubby holes. No Doors to close and no locks, just out in the open. Say, how do I know that someone that puts my purse up in that cubby hole doesn't have some kind of ulterior motive???? And, what about guys that have those cargo pants and huge pockets???? Who's to say that they might not slip something off the table into their pocket? Not only did it seem like a double standard to me, but it just didn't seem right, period.
I told my spouse that if he wanted to look around it was ok with me but I didn't want anything to do with that place, I turned around and went back to the car and waited. My husband came out shortly thereafter. Said it wouldn't be fun to look without me being there too.
So, if it's only 2 hours tops why would you be running to the bathroom? You got a small bladder or something?
Ha,ha,ha,.. I know how Ceece feels. I'm like a filtration system when it comes to drinking a 20oz soda. I don't go for the theatre drinks anymore because the fountain types just taste too watered down.
[quote=harry chickpea;10040711]....................
What people forget is the other costs involved. Tell me, what MATERIAL costs does a doctor have when he examines you? Maybe a tissue, a spritz of soap, and a paper towel. Now that records are computerized he doesn't even have the material cost of pen and paper.
I'm sure somewhere's in this forum there's a discussion of the high prices paid at the doctor's and hospitals.
Now, here were MY main reasons for not allowing in outside cr*p. Ever had to deal with empty beer bottles rolling down a concrete floor or breaking while trying to have a good and safe viewing environment? Ever had drunks call out in a movie and have to remove them, sometimes with police assistance? Ever had someone flip a pizza on your $300 upholstered chair and grind it in, just to be spiteful? Ever have to deal with the crinkle of potato chip bags and other noisy candy wrappers that are otherwise banned from theatres? Ever have a room filled with the odor of onions or garlic or worse? Ever try to PICK UP all those dam macadamia nut shells? People who bring in outside food inevitably come to think that since there is other trash from products sold in the theatre lying about, that the theatre is their personal trash can. There are some customers that it PAYS to lose.[/quote]
Ok.. you sell candy in bags and popcorn and sodas. It's not like I've never seen any of that spilled on the seats and the floor [carpeted or not]. Melted blobs of chocolate from the M&M bags that you sell on the theatre chairs. Maybe you should go to the metallic chairs ? Although you'd be risking the loss of more customers if you did that.
I'm not one of those types that doesn't eat without picking up after myself but after reading your response, I couldn't resist letting you know that maybe that stuff you see spilled and smeared, is also some of the stuff you sell, Hmm?
Relax Cat. I can see where he is coming from, and quite honestly I do not blame the theaters themselves for the problems that are out there. I blame mostly the inconsiderate individuals hat treat the theater like trash (sadly, maybe only marginally worse than their own property) and the movie industry. I KNOW they need certain stars to get things going, but you do not need to pay whats-his-face and whats-her-name $40m apiece to make a sequel of a previously popular movie (Transformers 2 comes to mind).
That and focusing so much on expensive effects and CGI.... Some of the best movies out there did not require THAT much money to make. But I guess they required too much patience, too much time, and a willingness to risk on something that is not filled with Womens ....., explosions, or both.
Oh, and that isn't even tuoching on the chick flick, which concentrates more on fantasy than the Lord of the Rings FCS......
Anyway, back to OT. I think it is fine when you bring in things, you just have to be courteous and bring it out when you are done. I sympathize for the theater owners, but no matter how sorry I feel, I am not paying $5 for a box of Jr. Mints!
"I couldn't resist letting you know that maybe that stuff you see spilled and smeared, is also some of the stuff you sell, Hmm? "
The cost of picking it up is built into the cost it sells for, and packaging is less likely to "spill and smear". Since most theatres now try to do auditorium clean-ups between shows, the bulk of what theatres sell is packaged so that it can be cleaned up fairly fast. For instance, one of THE major reasons for the switch to popcorn in the coated bags was that the audience was much more likely to fold the top of the bag and take the remainder of the purchase with them. Initially, the savings between bags and cups was minimal, since they were a custom product with start-up costs. The lids on the drinks were primarily instituted to prevent spills when the cups tip over. Even the design of where the straw hole in the cups was engineered to the center of the lid, to minimize leakage of a spilled cup, and make it easier to find the straw hole in the dark. Nacho cheese portioning was designed to minimize the excess cheese problem. Theatre pack candy is missing a lot of excess wrapping that used to be there. The "mess" has been minimized an containerized as much as possible. That is how important the issue is.
When the film distributors demand a two hour schedule on a film program that runs 1.75 hours and the audience has to exit, the auditorium get cleaned, and the new audience seated, those little added "gifts" left on the floor and seats from outside food just slow things down and make life a bit more miserable.
Not sure why you used the mad icon, but if you are mad at the theatre for selling concessions, that sounds like a personal problem. I no longer much care if stuff is brought in or not. What I do care about is the false reasoning and whinging of the folks uneducated to the economics of the situation. Go to any major stadium or sports arena and see what ticket prices and food prices are. Try asking at a mall what the cost of renting space is by the square foot, then estimate the footprint of a movie theatre.
Maybe if I keep repeating it, someone will eventually listen. Movie theatres do not make huge amounts of money and have become increasingly UNprofitable. Prices can be high and costs can be even higher. Since over half the ticket revenue goes to film distributors and taxes, you see high concession prices, ads on the screens, and any other method that the owners can think of to pay the bills.
I miss the inexpensive concessions. I miss the lower ticket prices. I miss the showmanship of a show that starts with a logo, two previews, a short feature, and then a curtain opening onto the main feature. I miss the mighty wurlitzers. I didn't change the economy, and I know that theatres didn't, and I don't blame business owners for trying to stay in business.
Enjoy 'em (if you can) while they last. The way the industry is shrinking and changing, they'll eventually go the way of vaudeville.
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea
"I couldn't resist letting you know that maybe that stuff you see spilled and smeared, is also some of the stuff you sell, Hmm? "
The cost of picking it up is built into the cost it sells for, and packaging is less likely to "spill and smear". Since most theatres now try to do auditorium clean-ups between shows, the bulk of what theatres sell is packaged so that it can be cleaned up fairly fast. For instance, one of THE major reasons for the switch to popcorn in the coated bags was that the audience was much more likely to fold the top of the bag and take the remainder of the purchase with them. Initially, the savings between bags and cups was minimal, since they were a custom product with start-up costs. The lids on the drinks were primarily instituted to prevent spills when the cups tip over. Even the design of where the straw hole in the cups was engineered to the center of the lid, to minimize leakage of a spilled cup, and make it easier to find the straw hole in the dark. Nacho cheese portioning was designed to minimize the excess cheese problem. Theatre pack candy is missing a lot of excess wrapping that used to be there. The "mess" has been minimized an containerized as much as possible. That is how important the issue is.
When the film distributors demand a two hour schedule on a film program that runs 1.75 hours and the audience has to exit, the auditorium get cleaned, and the new audience seated, those little added "gifts" left on the floor and seats from outside food just slow things down and make life a bit more miserable.
Not sure why you used the mad icon, but if you are mad at the theatre for selling concessions, that sounds like a personal problem. I no longer much care if stuff is brought in or not. What I do care about is the false reasoning and whinging of the folks uneducated to the economics of the situation. Go to any major stadium or sports arena and see what ticket prices and food prices are. Try asking at a mall what the cost of renting space is by the square foot, then estimate the footprint of a movie theatre.
Maybe if I keep repeating it, someone will eventually listen. Movie theatres do not make huge amounts of money and have become increasingly UNprofitable. Prices can be high and costs can be even higher. Since over half the ticket revenue goes to film distributors and taxes, you see high concession prices, ads on the screens, and any other method that the owners can think of to pay the bills.
I miss the inexpensive concessions. I miss the lower ticket prices. I miss the showmanship of a show that starts with a logo, two previews, a short feature, and then a curtain opening onto the main feature. I miss the mighty wurlitzers. I didn't change the economy, and I know that theatres didn't, and I don't blame business owners for trying to stay in business.
Enjoy 'em (if you can) while they last. The way the industry is shrinking and changing, they'll eventually go the way of vaudeville.
Harry,
And I miss the cartoons.
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But, yes, I agree, prices are too inflated.
Especially due to the act of sneaking it in.
You got a small bladder or something? 
