Sneaking treats into the movie theater

[WeLoveLilo05]

It has been awhile since we had a thread on this, but I am feeling sassy, and in light of AMC theater's new policy to ban outside food in their theaters, I thought it was time to renew our discussion of this budget-related topic. Movie theaters are losing revenue and more are joining the ranks of banning outside food. So, the question is will a ban keep you from bringing food from home? Is a $15 popcorn/pop combo in your budget or will it keep you from realizing your WDW trip dreams? Do you care? (Note: if not, simply exit this thread now).

Let the discussion begin. Eating popcorn and Dots from home while reading and responding to this thread is totally encouraged and NOT banned.

One more tid bit to get the creative juices flowing...The below was posted at MSN Money today. Do not consider my posting the below to mean I am in agreement with the contents contained herein, however I will admit to them making me smile.

"In light of the new (banning) policy, Fat City wanted to offer guidance for novices considering sneaking food into the movies.

Do sneak in anything sealed (candy up the sleeves of your shirt is one possibility), a wrapped sandwich (in the front pocket of a hoodie sweatshirt), or contained in a ziploc bag (popcorn is a good filler).

Do not sneak in anything that could leak (open containers), makes your pockets or purse suspiciously lumpy (20 oz. sodas don't fit inside of anything), has a strong odor (tuna fish), makes excessive noise (crinkly bag, aluminum wrapper, potato chips), is patently obvious (a sack from Burger King), or could leave you sitting with a lap full of cheese and hot sauce (Taco Bell).

It is not for Fat City to decide whether you should actually sneak anything inside of the theater. Ultimately, that is a question for your conscience and jacket to decide."

LoL, well the last movie we saw was Up, we rarely go to the movies. Usually just once a year to see the Disney/Pixar flick. We may be going in January to see Princess and the Frog though, I don't think I could wait til that comes out on DVD lol.

I always sneak stuff in, and the reason being is DD is allergic to peanuts. So if I can't read the label as to what is in the product, then DD doesn't get it. I can't read the $10 popcorn label so we usually bring in goldfish. Many chocolate type of treats DD can't eat b/c they are processed on the same machine. So, whatever is safe from home, we put in my purse and snack on

 

[TifffanyD]

Just wanted to say I was at the movies one morning and saw a guy with a big ziploc of his own popcorn pouring the movie theatre's butter on top. Now that's just wrong!

 

[Swimalie]

We have only gone to the free movies over the summer. Since they are providing free movies, I buy a small popcorn (with little butter) and water for my son and I to share. I figure that is my way of giving back to them since they are giving us a free movie. I don't like seeing people sneak food in to the free movie (unless it's an allergy issue).

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Twizzlers is my favorite snack to sneak into movie theatres. I always buy a drink though since one won't fit in my purse.

 

[happygirl]

I think park of the reason that snack are so high at them movies is that people do sneek food in. I think if people bought more food at the movies it might make the prices go down

 

[holden]

For DD6's (soon to be DD7) birthday party, we are going to see The Princess and the Frog. I will buy popcorn to split among the guests, but I am bringing juice boxes for them to drink. We are going out for ice cream after the movie.

If it was just our family going, I would sneak in all of our snacks. I can't stand movie theatre popcorn and the butter is yuck. When we make popcorn at home, we do it the old fashioned way - in a pot. No chemical filled popcorn for us.

 

[Kay1]

I do the exact opposite. I go into theaters just to buy popcorn and eat it at home or in my car. When we actually go to a movie, we buy popcorn and soda, but smuggle in a bottle of water for my son, as well as leftover Halloween or Christmas candy.

 

[ksumn1]

I think park of the reason that snack are so high at them movies is that people do sneek food in. I think if people bought more food at the movies it might make the prices go down

I have to very respectfully disagree. I used to work at a Subway and the cost of a Coke product was something like .10 per large 44 ounce cup, .10 for the cup, .01 for the water, and even if you add .04 per cup for maintanence of the machine etc, it still only costs .25 per cup. So a clear $1.00 for a .25 drink!!

Now, I don't know about popcornbut I assume that it doesn't cost $14 to make a large popcorn, becasue to justify $15 for a large popcorn/drink combo it's have be a very expensive bag of popcorn!!

I do understand that the movie theatre has to make its money to pay for employees, lights, equipment etc. I have no problem with a reasonable profit margin. But what movie theatres do is essentially take cunsumers who have already paid for a ticket and then try to take those "captive" moviegoers and induce them to buy outrageously priced concession by enforcing a no outside food rule.

That I DON'T agree with, hence I sneak in snacks but I DO still buy the popcorn.

So I guess that I'm outwardly complying, but inwardly protesting. Pro popcorn, anti candy!!

 

[Minnie's Pal]

Rules are rules...so I couldn't knowingly break them. (But I'll admit the temptation to would definitely be there.) Instead, we'd just have to make sure we eat before we go & just don't buy any food there.

We have a drive-in movie theater in our town so it really isn't an issue for us. We normally pack a cooler, pick up a few pizzas and load up the truck.

 

[rflorek]

I don't go to theaters often, but I've never had to "sneak" water & snacks in with me. In fact, most times I"ve walked in with my CVS plastic bag with 2 waters and a candy for my DBF, and nobody has ever said anything to us (many different ocassions, and different theater chains as well)

I refuse to pay more for a drink & snack than my actual movie ticket cost.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

Yes I am a proud snack sneaker in-ner. There are 6 of us
I do buy a drink and a popcorna nd just sneak in the milk duds and something for the kids. BUT ours theature dosen't post a sign
I remember when we lived in Guam they actually checked bags big purses. BUT my kids were young then so they didn't want snacks and stuff.

 

[Belle2667]

I do the exact opposite. I go into theaters just to buy popcorn and eat it at home or in my car. When we actually go to a movie, we buy popcorn and soda, but smuggle in a bottle of water for my son, as well as leftover Halloween or Christmas candy.

Ha! Ha! I'm not the only one who has done this!

While the price is outrageous, sometimes the craving for that popcorn is too much and I have to get a bag!

(I know, I eat healthy all the time, except for this small chemical indulgence. Thank goodness it only happens once or twice a year!)

 

[blanq]

OP here. When I began this thread, I did not disclose my views on my own question. So, here is my opinion.

If a movie theater has a clear posted policy against bringing in food/drink from the outside, I would honor that. The movie theater that my family frequents currently does not have such a sign, so I feel that I am within my rights to bring food in.

That said, I rarely do. I am a movie popcorn junkie (yes I know all about the bazzilion calories and the horrific fat content...don't care), so I plunk down my 15 bucks for the popcorn/drink combo and live with it. Sometimes DS wants candy, and in that case, I pick up the movie-size candy at Target and smuggle that in to the theater in my purse. If for some reason I want water, I also have been know to bring in a bottle of that. The theater we go to does offer free refills on large popcorn and large pop. If all of us go, we sometimes will share one popcorn and may (if we are feeling truly piggie) get a free refill. We usually buy individual sodas.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

I have to preface this by saying I have never had a "rules are rules" mentality. My parents just didn't raise us like that. We always had rollicking, animated conversations at the dinner table, in the car, etc where the status quo of ANYTHING was up for debate - politics, laws, prejudices, social mores, school policies, the media, their policies at home(! ). As a result, my sisters and I are "question authority" people. I don't mind following rules. I do not mindlessly follow rules. I follow laws, because I have to, but that does not stop me from writing to my congressional representative or blogging in support of changing things. (ETA: before anyone goes off on my parents, my mom was a elementary school teacher and my dad was a geologist, both college degreed liberals, LOL!)

Now this brouhaha about popcorn? Why is this "new" news? It's always been this way. That said, I have and will continue to bring in my own Cokes and infrequently candy, while buying the $9 refillable bucket of large popcorn. Why? They offer a better product (hot, movie butter popcorn) than I can bring in. Yes, it's $9 but it's wonderful so I buy it. Cokes and candy, on the other hand, are easy to find, interchangeable commodities and are obscenely overpriced at movie theaters.

I say if the movie theaters want to restrict people to buying their concessions only, they need to offer specialty food items that would compel people to buy them - - hot Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, hot pretzels, etc. Their "stick" policy is not going to work, but a "carrot" mentality might. Lower prices, offer more compelling food choices, or start enforcing a 'no shoulder bags' policy at the door.

Flame away, but that's my $0.02 worth. That rule just doesn't fly with me, and I don't mind skirting it with outside Cokes.

 

[blanq]

Yes I am a proud snack sneaker in-ner. There are 6 of us...

It would cost a paycheck to feed 6 people at the movie theater!!!?

 

[Chicago526]

It is a goal in my life to get a home entertainment center set up to the point that I will no longer have to go to the movies, even for the huge special effects blockbusters. I hate going to the movies. Other people are just so damn rude now. A riot nearly broke out when my friends and I saw LOTR:Two Towers a few years ago (long story), and more recently I had to sit through tween and teen giggles at screams and general talking-through-the-whole movie when my friend dragged me to see New Moon.

I'm not spending $10 on a ticket and another $20 on snacks just to have to sit in a sticky seat next to people who don't know how to stop talking for two hours straight. I want to get a big screen tv, good quality surround sound, and turn my basement into my own private screening room. I can eat what I want, see what I want, when I want to see it, and pause the movie to use the bathroom or get more snacks. Seriously, stick a fork in me, I'm done with movie theaters!

 

[Scurvy]

I personally don't see a problem with people bringing in their own food, as long as it's done in a respectful manner. (nothing too stinky, loud, messy, etc.) They just want all the $$$ they can get...

I don't see how you can break the rules of an establishment in a respectful manner. It seems to me that the respectful thing is to follow whatever rules they have set. As for the $$$. . . well, yeah. Of course they do. They are businesses. That's why they exist.

Walgreens sells thousands of items. The movie theater sells a couple of dozen candies, tops.

The theater is physically larger and costs more to operate - heat/air-conditioning, lights, energy... It very likely employs more people than any single Walgreens. They have more personnel assigned just to clean the restrooms than Walgreens. The theater has a larger parking lot to maintain.

They pay a LOT for the right to show each movie; I'm relatively certain (but too sleepy to search) they have to pay the studio or distributor per ticket sold, in addition to the "commission". That's the wrong word, I know.

Anyway - when did it become mandatory to eat/drink during the two hours or so the movie is playing? If the theater has a "no outside food or drink" rule, don't bring your own stuff or don't patronize that theater.

I agree with every word of this.

I thinnk it is rude (and tacky) to sneak food into a theater.

Bottom line, I feel that if you have to sneak to do something you shouldn't be doing it. Can't afford the theater food? Eat before or after the movie. Don't want the stuff they sell? Don't eat while you're there. Can't watch a movie without eating? Don't go to a theater that doesn't allow outside food. Buy or rent the DVD and enjoy your own food and beverages at home, or find a theater that does allow outside food and go there.

You don't have to go to a theater. If you choose to go, you need to be willing to follow the rules that they set. To the people who feel it's acceptable to sneak in your own food because you object to the prices, do you also think it's acceptable to sneak in a person without paying for their ticket because the ticket prices are so high? Would you record the movie while you watch it so you don't have to pay for another ticket to see it again? If not, what's the difference? Why do you think it's okay to pick and choose which of their rules to follow?

As for the "not mindlessly following rules" thing, I feel that if you are sneaking things in, that's really just an attempt to justify your behavior. If you really think you are doing the right thing by sneaking in food, you should be willing to openly carry the food in. If you truly object to the rule about outside food and drink, vote with your dollars. Don't spend any money at the theater and tell them why. Just boycott them completely. If enough people did that they would have to change their policies or risk going out of business.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

As for the "not mindlessly following rules" thing, I feel that if you are sneaking things in, that's really just an attempt to justify your behavior. If you really think you are doing the right thing by sneaking in food, you should be willing to openly carry the food in. If you truly object to the rule about outside food and drink, vote with your dollars. Don't spend any money at the theater and tell them why. Just boycott them completely. If enough people did that they would have to change their policies or risk going out of business.

Now this I agree with and really like! I'm envisioning a blog site where people could get fired up and download little graphic print outs to give to the manager expressing their disgust with the prices of concessions... Just a small 3" slip of paper or circle (all the same) circulating throughout theaters across the US, at a grass roots level by folks fed up with price gouging. "I'm not buying concessions today. Lower your prices". Hmmm... definitely food for thought. I wonder how many people would actually participate, even to drop them in their suggestion boxes anonymously.

 

[JamesMom]

I walked into the midnight screening of New Moon a couple of weeks ago with a 24oz Cappucino in one hand and the ticket in the other and no one batted an eye. Of course, the hundreds of people waiting in the concession lines probably tempered the theatres policy.

Anyways, hubby takes DS7 go to the Harkins Theatre about 1x a month and we go as a couple about 4-5 times a year. We get the large popcorn which is promptly split amongst ourselves with gallon sized ziplock bags and we get the free refill on the way out the door so Hubby has a snack to munch on for a few days at home (ziplock bags are our friend and Hubby LOVES movie popcorn with no butter stuff). They sell a plastic cup (~32 oz for about $5) that is good for $1 refills for the whole year. Hubby buys water for the kid. Occassionally we'll buy a box of Dots.

We always go to the earliest morning show so that keeps our costs down.

I do admit that when I took the kids to the Toy Story double feature, I snuck in halloween candy to go with the purchased popcorn and smuggled in water bottles.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

For those who are so against breaking the rules about bringing food into the theater....Do you drive the speed limit 100% of the time? Or do you "keep up with traffic?" Really, if you are doing something you know is not right, but everyone else is doing, isn't that the same thing?

I usually bring in a light snack for the kids. I have never hidden it, as our theater never had a problem with it. I do sometimes buy popcorn for the kids when I can. I think their food is overpriced and they charge what they charge because they can. Just like Disney and any other place where you are locked in and have to buy their food.