« Lots of Cecilia Stories | Home | Picky Eaters »
April 9, 2007
The Movie Theater, the Right Way
Reserved seats. No lines. No guessing on what seat I'd end up with. No need to show up super early to get the seat you want. No theater had allowed me to do this previously. No wonder I thought it was one of the best experiences at a movie theater in a long time.
When we went to buy the tickets, the worker turned his little touch-screen monitor towards me and asked me where I wanted to sit. Seeing the available seats, I made my selection, then killed time for the next 30 minutes before the movie was scheduled to begin. With the spare time, I actually spent money on snacks (something I almost never do). In addition to spending more money, I was thrilled to be able to walk into the theater and just sit down in my seat. There were additional workers there to help people find their seats, and they probably were able to sit more people in the theater than usual, since they could plan their audience ahead of time.
This could be a bad thing though, since with my not-quite-underwear-model-physique I unknowingly got seated next to a person who wasn't arm rest conscious. If I had things my way I would have empty seats all around me… except Maria right next to me of course.
Did they give me discounted tickets? No. Did they throw in some free food? Nope. Did they eliminate some of my pet peeves by allowing me to reserve a seat and not have to stand around waiting to get into a movie (early) then listening to some lame trivia that the fathead behind me feels obligated to answer out loud, mostly because he's been to every movie that is currently offered at that theater and has seen all the trivia and likes to show off that he knows it all, yet all the rest of us can think is, "Would that guy just shut UP?!" Yes, they did that, and I had a positive customer experience.
My applause go to that specific theater and any others that have taken a moment to think about those of use that would prefer a reserved seat. Well done.
Glad this was a positive experience for you. I too have experienced assigned seating at the movies. My outcome was a little different, or should I say completely opposite. I was literally assigned a seat. I went with some friends and we bought our tickets on the ticket ATM type kiosks that were side-by-side. I purchased my tickets on one while my friends made their transaction from the other as both were free. When we got in the theater we realized we had been assigned seats on opposite sides of the theater. Luckily only two rows of the theater were purchased and the people who were assigned to sit by my friends didn't like the seats they were assigned either and moved to a different part of the theater. This feature needs a little work in my opinion. Maybe I'll try it again sometime. Until then I'll gladly answer those trivia questions out loud! :)
Assigned seating isn't a panacea, and it can have its problems, as Jen's message indicates. It also does not eliminate the chance that you'll be seated near the dunderhead that shouts the trivia answers (better yet: the guy that disputes the trivia answers, saying that the answer on screen is, in fact, wrong "because Tarantino never intended for such and such..."). Spare me.
In traditional movie theaters, I think the best improvement to the experience was the introduction of stadium style seating, where you are no longer at the mercy of "the lady with the big hat" in front of you.
My least favorite part of the traditional movie experience has been the concessions. Of course, this is where most places make their money, since the distributors latch onto up to 90% of the ticket price. I just was never a fan of the "laundry tub o' popcorn with the five gallon bucket of Sprite" idea. There has been some positive movement in this area, but gourmet coffees don't do it for me, and even if they had decent fajitas, you still have to eat them in that damned seat that's barely wide enough for the average American fanny...
Which brings me to my favorite theater experience... the theater-restaurant chain. Up here in New England, that means Chunky's (http://www.chunkys.com), where you can arrive up to an hour before the movie begins and have a decent meal. It also offers...
- Comfortable seats converted from Lincoln Town Car front seats, installed on custom rollers
- Space to stretch out your feet
- Food, both before and during the movie
- Beverages, including alcohol
- Table service--now you don't have to leave the movie to get a drink
Chunky's doesn't prevent that loud-mouth from bothering you, but most likely, he'll be at a different table a bit further away rather than right behind you.
I can certainly see the potential for a bad movie experience if I'm assigned a seat, especially when I'm under the impression that I got a different seat.
Part of my debate to have a better movie experience, lar3ry, is undoubtedly the cost of the ticket. Being rather uh… frugal, it's rare enough for me to go to the theater, let alone a non-matinée. I will agree with you though, that stadium seating was a fabulous move, in addition to adjustable arm-rests. It's too bad that, like you said, the seats are generally so skinny No matter what they want to offer to me, I'd like the cost of three tickets to cost less than the price of the DVD… which might be asking a lot. Oh well.
Next time I'm in the vicinity of a Chunky's, I'll have to give it a shot. It all sounds like it's right up my alley.
This is the first I've heard of assigned/pre-selected seats at the movies. What company was it (Harkins? AMC?)?
It's a local chain. The same guy owns the local basketball team and a number of additional businesses around town. I'm not sure how widely done it might be by other chains, like AMC or Cinemark, but maybe you could propose it to them locally and see if they'll buy your idea from you… not that it'll happen, but it's fun to dream.
Love the reserved seating thing at the movies.
Have not yet seen this reserved seating thing but given my proximity to the theatre you are talking about, I will have to give it a try. Love your blog Petrie.