Kids in Movie...Vent

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Well when the going rate for a babysitter is $10 an hour (or more) a tickets is cheaper than paying a sitter for 2-3 hours Also, as I mentioend it can be very hard to find someone you trust with the kids (especialy when the kids are too young to tell you if things aren't going well when you aren't around). We moved to 5 different states in my DDs first 7 years of life. There was neevr any family around. We found good sitters in the places we stayed at longer--but often we had to either not go anywhere or teach the kids to behave and go knowing we might have to leave erarly if they did not (happened very rarely--because they knew we would).
We were lucky for 3 years when are kids were small we lived near a still functioning drive in theatre. We could take the kids in their jammies and they slept in the backseat. The drive-in allowed kids under 10 for free

That sounds really neat! I wish drive in theatres had not gone by the wayside. There used to be one in the town just south of where I attended college. It was very popular with the students- until it was destroyed by a tornado a couple of years ago.

 

[NHdisneylover]

That sounds really neat! I wish drive in theatres had not gone by the wayside. There used to be one in the town just south of where I attended college. It was very popular with the students- until it was destroyed by a tornado a couple of years ago.

They are a lot of fun. There was also one near where we lived in New Hampshire. They alwasy ran a double feature. First would be a kids' or family movie. Then a half hour break and then an adult movie (all current releases). Since they can't start until dark by the time the kids' movie is over the kids are totally ready to sleep We would go in our Explorer and after the first movie the kids would lay the rear seats down flat and crawl in sleeping bags. Then DH and I still got to enjoy another (yes, we did wake them breifly to get them back into seats and seat belts before the drive home--they were old enough to do so easily and fall right back to sleep). They charged about what regular theaters did for one show (a little less actually) and you got two shows and the fun of a drive in

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I think there should be movie theaters designed after Sc-Fi in DHS. The last two times we've gone it's been DEATHLY quiet. If you look around every single kid is either:

a) asleep
b) staring intently at the movie screen
c) absorbed in their food/milkshake/glowing ice cube

I've even seen sleeping adults!

 

[happygirl]

My take is if you go to a kids movie they will talk through it that is a given no biggie. What I hate is going to a "adult" movie and kids are talking and what not.

I'm really lucky we are very close to a drive in and we go as much as we can. Much cheaper the a regular movie and here they always do double features.

 

[donald&daisy]

We saw Up at a drive in as well, but mainly b/c it was cheaper and at the actual theater it was only showing in 3d (another $3, no thanks). We make it a habit to go to the movies at the first showing of the day if possible. This elminates a lot of problems, like seat kicking, general rudeness, etc. I cut kids a lot of slack too, I don't mind overhearing "what's going on", "why did he do that" "who is he" questions (my grandma asks the questions when we take her to movie, if she doesn't fall asleep first, lol). I don't tolerate general conversations. I tell an employee. I would rather miss 5 mins of the movie than to sit there and stew the rest of the time. I will also get up and move if necessary. If I request that someone behind me plese stop kicking my seat and they proceed to be incosiderate, then I move. Should I have to? Absolutely not. But we don't live in fair world, it sucks.

 

[Nik's Mom]

You can't expect total silence at a kids movie. That's just not going to happen. But as a parent of 2 young boys, I do expect my boys to be quiet in the theater. I remind them about the no talking rule before the movie starts. Sure, they may forget, but it's my job to remind them. They are pretty good and I rarely have to quiet them down. But there has been the rare occation when we've had to exit the theater because the kids kept tryint to talk.

 

[DizBelle]

FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!!!! Up is NOT a "kids" movie. It is a movie that appeals to everyone regardless of age.

Why is it that EVERYONE thinks that every Disney or Pixar or animated movie is a "kids" movie? What is so horrible about people of every age enjoying these movies?

Until kids are prohibited from attending particular show times (like 9pm or later), then I EXPECT to be able to attend any show time and be able to enjoy it without disturbance.

 

[Scurvy]

You can't expect total silence at a kids movie. That's just not going to happen. But as a parent of 2 young boys, I do expect my boys to be quiet in the theater. I remind them about the no talking rule before the movie starts. Sure, they may forget, but it's my job to remind them. They are pretty good and I rarely have to quiet them down. But there has been the rare occation when we've had to exit the theater because the kids kept tryint to talk.

It drives me crazy when people say it's okay for children to talk in a kids' movie. It is not okay. Of course it isn't reasonable to expect perfect silence - they are children, their impulse control isn't perfect yet, they are going to forget occasionally that they are not supposed to talk. And that's fine, as long as the parents are making the effort to keep them quiet and are willing to take them outside if they continue to talk. I really wish all parents had your attitude. Too often these days people seem to think that being young is a license to be rude to all the other theater goers. And I have to wonder how those parents think their child will learn to be quiet when they aren't kids any longer if they are growing up believing it is okay to talk in the theater. Do the parents think one day they can magically flip a switch in the kids' brains to make them quiet in all movies from then on? Or do they just not care?

They make wonderful TVs and home theater systems now. If a child -or adult- isn't able to be (mostly) quiet in a theater, then the child- or adult- doesn't belong in the theater. Wait and watch the movie at home and everyone will be happier.

When my son was younger, we had two big rules for movie theaters.
1.) You do not talk in the theater.
2.)If you have a problem or question that can not wait until after the movie, you whisper it in one of our ears. If the other parent can hear it, you are too loud. If you are repeatedly too loud, we will leave.
I wish all parents were willing to enforce similar rules.

 

[Jennasis]

We saw UP last weekend and everyone was quiet for the most part. The DAD behind me kicked my seat a lot and cried loudly during a few parts. There was some question asking from random kids throughout the theatre and an occassional shout out to the screen. DH and I generally avoid going to see animated films in the theatre because of the unruly kids, but I really wanted to see this one.

One time we were at the theatre at a 9-something show. It was Something loud...terminator/transformerish. A couple brought in their sleeping infant, who promptly woke up during the loud explosions and cried for about 10 minutes. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. At one point, the manager walked in, looked up into the stands, and walked back out. A few minutes later, during a quiet moment on screen, with Junior still wailing, I'd had enough and yelled :

Take...the baby...OUT!!!

The audience applauded me wildly and the family got up and left.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I think there should be movie theaters designed after Sc-Fi in DHS. The last two times we've gone it's been DEATHLY quiet. If you look around every single kid is either:

a) asleep
b) staring intently at the movie screen
c) absorbed in their food/milkshake/glowing ice cube

I've even seen sleeping adults!

Funny you should say that, the other theatre we had in New Hampshire was a restraurant in the movie theatre (you did not have to order food--no one ever gave you a ahrd time if you did not). The screens and sound system were not even close to state of the art, but it was nearby and fun to have dinner during the movie and tended to have many fewer distracting guests than a typical theater (also the seats were arranged around tables in such a way that you never had someone behind you who could kick your seatback).

It drives me crazy when people say it's okay for children to talk in a kids' movie. It is not okay. Of course it isn't reasonable to expect perfect silence - they are children, their impulse control isn't perfect yet, they are going to forget occasionally that they are not supposed to talk. And that's fine, as long as the parents are making the effort to keep them quiet and are willing to take them outside if they continue to talk. I really wish all parents had your attitude. Too often these days people seem to think that being young is a license to be rude to all the other theater goers. And I have to wonder how those parents think their child will learn to be quiet when they aren't kids any longer if they are growing up believing it is okay to talk in the theater. Do the parents think one day they can magically flip a switch in the kids' brains to make them quiet in all movies from then on? Or do they just not care?

They make wonderful TVs and home theater systems now. If a child -or adult- isn't able to be (mostly) quiet in a theater, then the child- or adult- doesn't belong in the theater. Wait and watch the movie at home and everyone will be happier.

When my son was younger, we had two big rules for movie theaters.
1.) You do not talk in the theater.
2.)If you have a problem or question that can not wait until after the movie, you whisper it one of our ears. If the other parent can hear it, you are too loud. If you are repeatedly too loud, we will leave.
I wish all parents were willing to enforce similar rules.

ITA We also had a rule number 3.) If you wiggle enough to be felt in other seats (either conncected seats being jostled or by kicking those in front, etc) we will place a hand on your knee to remind you to be still. If it keeps up we leave.

We only had to leave the theatre once for behavoural issues (all the kids needed was to KNOW the rules and KNOW there would be follow through--that is all most kids need I believe). We did leave a couple of times when films turned out to be more violent than I had expected but that was an entirely seperate issue

 

[JenM]

My friends attended Terminator the other night. She said that there was a man with a 2(!) year old behind them. The child cried and wimpered the entire movie. The dad kept telling him to "shut the f... up".

I saw Wolverine on opening night and someone brought a 2-year-old who did the same thing, although the parents didn't yell at her. We all wanted to yell at the parents, though.

When I saw Angels & Demons a guy walked in with two small kids. I think he may have been sneaking in from another film that had just ended. The daughter saw the title of the movie in the doorway and started crying "I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!" as the dad told them to keep quiet and made them go into the theater. They settled down once the movie started, but she was howling as they went to their seats.

The best parents I saw was at a morning showing of Star Trek a few weeks ago - they had a boy who was maybe 3, and what looked like a newborn. It was about 10:30am, when the theater wasn't crowded at all. The kids slept in the stroller for most of the movie, but they sat near the door so they could make a quick exit if the kids got restless. The 3-year-old did get up and start wandering around some of the empty rows in the front towards the end of the movie, but the dad followed him around and kept him quiet, so they didn't bother anyone.

We all kind of groaned when we first saw them coming in with the double-stroller, but they were so considerate and in the end we hardly noticed they were there. Better than some of the adults who show up at these movies.

 

[Nik's Mom]

DH and I saw Angels and Demons at an AMC near our home that did not admit people under 21 into that particular theater. It was great. They even had waiters who brought food and drinks to your seat. If you want to guarantee that you will not have children in the theater, see if your areas offer this type of thing.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

DH and I saw Angels and Demons at an AMC near our home that did not admit people under 21 into that particular theater. It was great. They even had waiters who brought food and drinks to your seat. If you want to guarantee that you will not have children in the theater, see if your areas offer this type of thing.

I'm still up in the town where I went to school. It's a really small town. Our only movie theatre is the 8 screen we were at last night. I'm not holding out hope of adults only showings as they don't even take credit or debit cards. Maybe there will be a theatre like that in the town I am moving to.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I'm still up in the town where I went to school. It's a really small town. Our only movie theatre is the 8 screen we were at last night. I'm not holding out hope of adults only showings as they don't even take credit or debit cards. Maybe there will be a theatre like that in the town I am moving to.

In that case, you are better off just going to the very first showing of the day. We never go later in the day because I know there will be more people making noise in the theater. I feel your pain. We've been in some noisy theaters. I stopped going to any movie with Robert De Niro in it because it never failed that I had a really loud person sitting near by. I will never forget during Heat, the person kept repeating everything that Robert De Niro said. I was so ticked off!

By the way, how far are you from Olathe, Ks? That's the theater we went to.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm in Northeastern Missouri right now, so pretty far away.

 

[happygirl]

By the way, how far are you from Olathe, Ks? That's the theater we went to.

A little off topic I was born in Olathe and still have lots of family there

 

[TwinsinCA]

Before I had kids I made sure I saw any "kid movies" at the last possible showing of the day. Going at 9 or 10 at night cut down on the amount of kids considerably.