Movie theater question

[1lilspark]

We boarded the Wonder last April the Thursday before Born in China came out... in our navigators it said it was showing at midnight at the WD theater... I was excited to go to an on board premiere as I've read allot about them... really underwhelmed maybe cause it was a Disney Nature film and not an actually movie but still

 

[Mama_MeBow]

I was on the Fantasy when Rogue One had its debut at midnight (12:01? Maybe 12:30? It was late) on the Thursday night/Friday morning of release day. The cruise director came out dressed as Leia, R2D2 made an appearance... the theatre was being patrolled by Storm Troopers who posed for guests taking selfies. It was one of my favourite cruise experiences EVER.

It's good to note, though, that this only happened during the premiere. The rest of the showings didn't have any of the glamour or glitz (that I'm aware of), so I'm super happy that I took the time to head to the premiere. It wasn't that crowded, either. It was busy, but there were lots of seats available.

well as if we needed MORE reason to see it on board!! That is EPIC! Thank you for sharing your experience Oh, also - did you experience the same? The PreimEAR wasn't really broadcasted until 1-2 days prior once on board?

 

[Dug720]

well as if we needed MORE reason to see it on board!! That is EPIC! Thank you for sharing your experience Oh, also - did you experience the same? The PreimEAR wasn't really broadcasted until 1-2 days prior once on board?

They NEVER broadcast it until a couple of days before.

 

[BruinEd03]

How does the movie theater work? Do you reserve tickets online? Is it first come first Serve? The Last Jedi will probably be showing and I’d like to see it.

The crowd will probably depend on what part of your cruise you want to see it.

If your cruise disembarks on December 15, they will show it at midnight. In that case they will show it on both the Walt Disney Theater and also the Buena Vista Theater. On the one where that happened, they made the Buena Vista Theater an adults only showing. We went to the adults only showing for a premier, and it was not crowded at all. My guess is that the WD theater would be packed (especially for the Last Jedi).

If your cruise disembarks after December 15, they will also show it at midnight. BUT, they will also play the movie throughout the cruise, so while it would be crowded at the midnight showing, my guess is that it would be less crowded throughout the cruise.

If your cruise embarks on December, they will make it that night's show. It will still be pretty full, but since we had the 2nd seating for dinner (thus the 1st showing for the night) it probably was less crowded than the second show (with more kids). Of course they will also show it a bunch of times during the cruise. Those are significantly less crowded.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

well as if we needed MORE reason to see it on board!! That is EPIC! Thank you for sharing your experience Oh, also - did you experience the same? The PreimEAR wasn't really broadcasted until 1-2 days prior once on board?

We are booked on the Fantasy 12/9/17-12/16/17. This is the third December in a row I have gone on a DCL cruise in December specifically to see a SW release. The best was Star Wars 7. They played it the last night of the cruise. Everyone was so excited, and when that SW theme started everyone went wild!! I actually think they started earlier (8pm for first seating dinner) but we were second seating. We saw it at around 10pm. We had to get tickets a day or 2 before, and we saw the first time in the Buena Vista theater in 3d (this was on the Magic). Then we saw it again at midnight in 2d in the WD theater and it was pretty much empty but for me and my sons and the crew members (mostly the actors --"Flynn Rider" sat right behind us). We ended up going to bed at 3am and getting up around 7am to disembark.

Rogue One was on night 5 of our 7 night Magic Cruise. I think they still showed it the night before the release -- I know we ended up watching it like 5 times on board!! They also sold lots of SW merchandise on board, including special popcorn and drink cups (for both times). I can't remember if they gave us tix for that, I remember getting there very early and there was a long line and we were back by the shops.

I am nervous about the crowds on the Fantasy. Also, I didn't think about it and booked 2nd seating, but now I wish I had done first to see it first.

Now that they have moved the release date of SW 9 back to Dec. 2019 I am hoping to book on board for that, but I will need to just do a 3 day Dream for that one as my oldest son is starting HS and we can't do it for the week preceding, and I am scared to see how expensive it will be the weekend before Xmas!

I wanted to see the Han Solo film, but that weekend the prices were super high and my kids would have to miss school and they have their end of year tests that month, I am afraid to commit.

 

[kiford]

If it's a PremEAR, it's usually full even at one minute after midnight - there will still be lots of young ones with pillows (although I didn't see any of the even really young kids sleeping at the opening for the first Narnia movie PremEAR and it didn't end until about 2 am!). If you aren't going to a first showing on the last night, it will be playing several times during the cruise. We've been to several recently released movies during the day and some were busy but not packed and in some there were only 10-20 people. We saw Moana on our last cruise just a few days after release and, while the theatre was busy, there were still seats available.

You can bring food into the theater but please remember to take out the trash with you if you do.

Not always. They wouldn't let anyone into the theatre with food beyond popcorn when we saw Moana. I suspect when the theatre is less busy, they are a bit more flexible about that but if it's busy, assume you can't bring anything other than popcorn and candy in.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

@Mama_MeBow There is a good chance they will play it at midnight on the 15th. It will make debarkation morning stink and make for very tired travelers, but they have done it before.

They did this for us when Disney's A Christmas Carol debuted. They showed it at midnight on Thursday. And yes, it made for an uncomfortable disembarking morning. But that morning always stinks anyway.

 

[cmwade77]

Usually the big premiers will be in the main theater AND shown in the smaller movie theater as well, so there are usually plenty of seats between them.

 

[cmwade77]

Not always. They wouldn't let anyone into the theatre with food beyond popcorn when we saw Moana. I suspect when the theatre is less busy, they are a bit more flexible about that but if it's busy, assume you can't bring anything other than popcorn and candy in.

We had this on the Fantasy at every show, but on the Wonder and Magic there was never any problems with bringing in any food.

 

[Donathius]

Are new movies usually available on board right after release? Avengers: Infinity War comes out 2 days before we board the Wonder in May and we'd love to wait until we've boarded to see it.

 

[Mama_MeBow]

Are new movies usually available on board right after release? Avengers: Infinity War comes out 2 days before we board the Wonder in May and we'd love to wait until we've boarded to see it.

They are! It's another super special/exciting thing about Disney cruises - the latest releases are always showing on your in-room tv throughout the cruise! Since it will be a pretty new new release - it will likely be playing in one of the movie theaters on board.

 

[Dug720]

They are! It's another super special/exciting thing about Disney cruises - the latest releases are always showing on your in-room tv throughout the cruise! Since it will be a pretty new new release - it will likely be playing in one of the movie theaters on board.

Just to note the Classics do not have On Demand but rather channels that just run the movies back to back (like a Pixar channel, a classic animation channel, etc.) - usually the same movie on each channel.

 

[oakleycat]

We went to the Premear of the second Avengers movie at midnight on our last night. It made it tough to get up in the morning but was an awesome experience!

 

[Mama_MeBow]

Just to note the Classics do not have On Demand but rather channels that just run the movies back to back (like a Pixar channel, a classic animation channel, etc.) - usually the same movie on each channel.

oh yes yes - good point. Thank you!

 

[cyclenut]

Not always. They wouldn't let anyone into the theatre with food beyond popcorn when we saw Moana. I suspect when the theatre is less busy, they are a bit more flexible about that but if it's busy, assume you can't bring anything other than popcorn and candy in.

That's good to know. I've never had them tell me no, but I'm not bringing in a huge plate of something either. Usually just some ice cream or a few chicken fingers.

 

[mmouse37]

I have seen them deny people with "food" other than popcorn/candy in the WD Theatre and seen it allowed in the Buena Vista Theatre.

MJ

 

[shoes99]

We have found it hit or miss. We went to Moana earlier this year and the movie had been out for two months but when we got to the movie around showing start time, there was not one seat available. People standing in the back and sitting on the stairs due to no more seating.

This happened to us also on a rainy day showing of Big Hero Six in the afternoon. Theater was packed.

 

[ciniminis]

Has anyone been told by a CM that they can't bring food to the early morning "Family Movie Fun Time" showings in the Buena Vista Theater? That would be a bummer as we really enjoyed having our breakfast while watching movie on a big screen (the house lights were kept on during the entire movie, which also made things easier being able to see what you and our kid are eating). The times we've been there for the morning movie, the theater had been mostly empty with only a couple of other families.

 

[lindaso]

They don't allow you in with plates of food. We have been known to stuff food into cups with lids, mostly fries but sometimes chicken fingers. My son and I once spent 30 minutes at the lunch buffet peeling shrimp for our afternoon movie. Stuffed them into some cups and it's now one of our favorite family memories!!

 

[janiebubble]

I took ice cream in a cup in in May on the Magic