Sneaking treats into the movie theater

[irish dancer]

What theatre was that? (So I know which one to avoid.) I'm assuming somewhere in the western 'burbs.

LOL, it was the Classic Cinema in Elmhurst. Now mind you, I've been known to bring in the $1 candy from Walgreens and they've never come near me so I don't know that they police it too much.

 

[wmharley]

I haven't been to the movies in eons (refuse to pay that much to get in now).. but when I do and did go, we always bring candy in. Oh, Up was the last movie we saw.

I get my Mike and Ikes, DW gets her M&Ms and I forgot what we got the DD.

I DO get a medium drink, but that is it. We sit in the middle, so if an usher were to try and wave at us, I'd wave back and dare his pimply self to crawl over 10 people to get to me as I would then ignore him after the initial wave.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I bring outside food in. We always buy the large popcorn and drink combo. I divide the popcorn iin freezer bags I bring. (no grease on pants). I pack some capri suns or water for the kids. We stop at Walgreens for candy. That gets dumped into the freezer bag as well.

I collect the trash and stow it in my purse. I'm trying to avoid spills and messes mroe than anything else.

We recently went to a matinee of a Christmas Carol and spent $73 just for the movie tickets. Adding our combo put us at almost $100.

Not cheap.

 

[charming23]

The only thing I "sneak" in is bottled water. I love movie popcorn and if I am hungry I will get a small which usually lasts the entire movie.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We buy the large, refillable popcorn. I bring in my own Milk Duds to add in. (my local theater just started carrying them recently) I'll usually bring in a can of Diet Coke for me and another drink (or water with flavor tube) for DD10. If my DM goes as well, she brings in a bottle water.

Works for me!

 

[buzz5985]

We rarely go to the movies. I couldn't imagine paying $30 to see a movie that in 3-6 months is $1 at RedBox.

But we do go to the Drive In. $20 for 2 first run movies. They don't stop you from bringing your own food or drinks. So they are paying the same "commission" as the theatres. This past summer we saw Star Trek and Transformers for $20 - there was 4 of us. We brought pizza, soda and snacks.

Janis

 

[DawnM]

I can't afford the 5 of us to even get into the movie theater for $50, so we don't even go. Well, that, and my oldest has some sensory issues and hates the movie theater.

Dawn

 

[DISdreamin']

When we go to the movies as a family (rare!) we do buy one popcorn for all of us to share, and one soda for DH and I to share. For the kids, I bring juice boxes - they don't drink soda, and the theater doesn't sell juice, so that is their drink for the movie. I know this is breaking the rules, but if they don't sell something my kids will drink (other than water, of course), what am I supposed to do? I would play by the rules and buy their beverages but they don't sell the ones I want.

Anyways, we go to the movies so rarely that the expense - and unhealthiness - of the snacks isn't something I worry about. We go about 1 time a year on average with the kids, and maybe one additional time per year, just me and DH for date night.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I almost always bring in my own bottle of water. That's more of the issue of being eco-conscious then anything else. I'm the one who always has a reusable bottle with me. Plus I get thirsty, I'm not spending $10 on 2 bottles of water--that's just asking too much.

I do buy the popcorn, so it's not like I'm sneaking in a full meal. There's just something about the concept of movie theater popcorn.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Not a treat sneaker. We are usually coming from somewhere else before the movie - like dinner, or a museum, or a party.

No way am I carrying all that stuff with me for hours.

 

[torinsmom]

Yes, I sneak snacks in, when we go to the movies maybe 4 times a year. I am a very moral person, but I see this "law breaking" along the same lines as going over the speed limit on the highway(yes, I do this too) I almost always buy a medium or large buttered popcorn at their outrageous prices, but I bring in canned sodas and capri-suns for me and DS. If he wants candy, he just sticks it in his cargo pockets.

We always sit in the middle of a row, and we don't take out drinks/snacks until the lights go out. I really don't know how the concession police could figure it out, unless someone is obvious.

If movie theaters want to make money off concessions, they should lower their prices to at least WDW prices. I mean, really, $6 for a soda? I would pay WDW prices, but I refuse to pay $20 for 2 drinks and a bag of popcorn!

Marsha

 

[WDWAtLast]

When we go to the movies as a family (rare!) we do buy one popcorn for all of us to share, and one soda for DH and I to share. For the kids, I bring juice boxes - they don't drink soda, and the theater doesn't sell juice, so that is their drink for the movie. I know this is breaking the rules, but if they don't sell something my kids will drink (other than water, of course), what am I supposed to do? I would play by the rules and buy their beverages but they don't sell the ones I want.
Anyways, we go to the movies so rarely that the expense - and unhealthiness - of the snacks isn't something I worry about. We go about 1 time a year on average with the kids, and maybe one additional time per year, just me and DH for date night.

This is my answer, too. I buy my soda, our popcorn and occassionally candy at the concession stand. My kids prefer juice boxes and since the theater doesn't sell them, I bring them. I also bring brown lunch sacks to put the popcorn in so each girl has their "own" bag!

 

[gillenkl]

We rarely go to the movies because it's just too expensive - we can buy the DVD later for cheaper and have movie night at home. However, we decided to treat the kids to the new Disney "Christmas Carol" movie last week. Almost $50 for tickets - 2 adult/2 kids. I thought let's treat ourselves to snacks - it would have been $15 for a soda and a small popcorn. WHAT? Somthing that should be maybe $5 or less is $15? We didn't get snacks. That's just crazy. Sorry, but I'm going back to bringing our own snacks - usually a box of candy from Dollartree.

 

[kaytieeldr]

But we do go to the Drive In. $20 for 2 first run movies. They don't stop you from bringing your own food or drinks. So they are paying the same "commission" as the theatres.

Actually, they're not. As the movie gets older, the distributor's price per attendee goes down. How do you think the drive-in can afford to charge five bucks for a carload of viewers?

 

[RachaelA]

We rarely go to the movies. I couldn't imagine paying $30 to see a movie that in 3-6 months is $1 at RedBox.

But we do go to the Drive In. $20 for 2 first run movies. They don't stop you from bringing your own food or drinks. So they are paying the same "commission" as the theatres. This past summer we saw Star Trek and Transformers for $20 - there was 4 of us. We brought pizza, soda and snacks.

Janis

Our drive ins (we have 2 within a half hour) charge $5 per car for an outside food permit. So they still want some money if people are bringing outside food.

 

[christa112]

We have Showcase Cinemas where I am and for as long as I can remember you couldn't bring outside food and drink into the theater. Does it stop me? Absolutely not. We stop at CVS before we go to the cinemas and I bring a can of soda for me and juice boxes for the kids. I also use a huge bag when I go and I have never been stopped. I am sorry but I refuse to spend $100 between watching the movie and buying candy. It is not going to happen here.

Flame on!!!!

 

[Hidden_Mickey]

I thought it was always against the rules to bring food in. My opinion is that I'm there for the movie, not the food. Sometimes I stop at CVS and let the kids pick out a candy to bring in, and I'll bring in a bottle of water or two to share. Once in a great while I might get popcorn but we have Netflix and usually have a Saturday movie night with popcorn so we rarely go to the movies, unless it's a new Disney movie or an action film that will look good on the screen. Comedies and "girl movies" always wait for Netflix.

 

[eliza61]

We regularly bring in Candy. We usually start at target and get a box for $1.00
We always purchase movie popcorn, you just can't get that synthetic high fat butter any where else. LOL.

We still enjoy going to the movies, even with netflixs it's a nice treat for the family.

 

[minnie1928]

Inquiring minds want to know...does this mean you would consider smuggling in 3 Big Macs, considering the important nutritional value issue you raise?

No I would not...for a variety of reasons:
1. No McD's meal is complete without french fries and the smell of them would get me busted.
2. If I drip special sauce on me, I wouldn't see it and it would probably land in an embarrassing place and stain my clothes.

But, here's the article I read about the nutritional value of movie theater popcorn. It's pretty gross: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-sci-movie-popcorn19-2009nov19,0,4003634.story

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I used to bring in juice boxes for the kids. I am pretty cheap errr frugal and I thought the $21 for the 6 of us to get into a matinee was a lot. Then I went to another theater and not only was the price of a matinee twice our $3.50 but the concessions were outrageous. I could not believe it (yeas I live a sheltered life at times). Then I realized our theater has not raised it's prices since I was in college and let's just say it has been over 15 years since I graduated. I live in the same area as the college I graduated from. After that sudden realization, I don't bring items in. They make their money from concessions and I would hate to ever see this local theater go under. Now, I will admit to having us share sodas and popcorn mostly because we can never finish individual sizes well DH can b ut the rest of us can't so we share.

ETA non Matinee prices are $5