Thanks for the heads up about AAA discount movie tickets! I had no idea and will definitely do that next time I go to an evening movie.
Funny that you posted this, comma, because we just went to one of our local theaters and they had covered it as well. No bar but you can buy beer and wine to take into the theater. Recliner seats which I didn’t think were any more comfortable than the fairly plush, stadium seats they already had. They raised the prices about 75 cents. They have also gone to reserved seating where you get a ticket for a particular seat which I don’t really get or like. If you are going to something popular and are picky about your seat location, it means buying in advance instead of showing up early to get a good seat. So that means making a separate trip to the theater or buying online for an additional $2 charge per ticket. 
I love the trend. They don’t get to fill all the seats. With popular shows they have more than one showing to take overflow. Smart move!
The closest theater to us is an AMC. We like the recliners. No problem with glaring cell phones. All good.
I wish one of our local theatres would put in the recliners. We went to a movie in a theatre like that near Chicago a while back, and we loved it. (We go to at least two movies a month.) The best part is that people can get past you without you having to get up; makes a bathroom trip less distracting for everyone.
Marcus Theaters in our area have been converted to the reserved stadium seating with reclining chairs. I love it and go to more movies now. But we only go when it is $5 which is all day Tuesday and before 11 a.m. on the weekends (it’s also $5 all day Thursday for teachers and students). I drive over (less than a mile) and buy the tickets in advance, (picking out the best seats) then stroll in right at showtime.
@Madison85 Jealous of those $5 deals and the mile drive! My drive is 20 minutes minimum.
We’ve had the recliners for a couple of years too. I would never go back to the old rickety seats that are too close to your neighbor! Tickets are from $9 (matinee) to $17 (3D/4D/IMAX). I love them. The best thing to do for popular movies is to buy your tickets ahead online. We don’t go as often but we do enjoy it more.
We love watching movies at home (where we have reclining leather seats) and at theaters. I like my feet up, and, if we don’t go to a theater with recliners, I try to sit in the seats that have a railing in front of them.
Four years ago, the AMC near us converted to the reclining seats. We were so excited that we went to 3 movies that week!
Tickets at these theaters around us (there are 2 1/2 now) are $8-10, with 3D extra. At stadium seating theaters, they are $5-8, again with 3D extra. Although I still prefer the reclining seats, the stadium theater is just a couple minutes from our house, so we go there a bit more than AMC, which is 10 minutes away. I like to save a few dollars when we go, too, since we see so many movies. But, if the one closer to us had recliners and more expensive tickets, we’d still go to it more, and I’d like it more!
I like the dining option, but we don’t go out of our way to use it. If that’s the only time a movie is playing that we want to see, fine, but if not, that’s fine, too. Since alcohol is served, the kids can’t go into these theaters without us.
We have a large cheap ($2) theater about 30 minutes away that we used to go to sometimes when we lived on that side of town, but we don’t anymore.
I went to an AMC recently and it was clear that I hadn’t been to that type of theater in a long, long time. We bought our tickets at a machine, we had to pick our assigned seats, and it was very expensive. $18 per ticket.
Usually, if we go out to see a movie (not often), we go to what I call “The Art House”. It’s a place we can catch Animated Shorts, foreign films, independent films, etc.
We also have a budget theater a few miles away with tickets for $2.50 or $3.00. But I find the seats uncomfortable now after the luxurious recliners with reserved seating.
I used to go exclusively to Cinemagic theaters which featured stadium seating. At 5’ 4", I’ve always hated sitting behind someone tall. Then, a few years ago, we had a company outing to an AMC. With recliners. O.M.G. I love AMC now. I don’t go out to the movies any more often than I used to, but when I do, it’s AMC.
I clicked on this thread because of a strange change I had noticed approximately a year ago at our local AMC theatre. About a year ago, the price of a regular ticket to a movie, meaning evening or weekend tickets, dropped to $5.99. There is no enhanced seating. But the reduced prices have resulted in my husband and I seeing movies much more often. The Tuesday afternoon price is $3.99. The previous price for a regular ticket was $8.75. At first, I thought it was some short term promotion; now I’m wondering if there is a planned renovation to enhanced seating which will bring a price increase with it. Darn, I don’t mind the regular seats and I love the lower prices.
I prefer the lower prices to any changes in seats. The seats are just fine but if they keep raising the prices we will stop going to movies.
If the movie is any good it doesn’t matter what the seats are like. I do appreciate being able to reserve specific seats for a specific show, which eliminates the whole “what time should we leave the house to make sure we get good seats” negotiation. I don’t really care about the price of a movie ticket because the amount of money I spend on going to the movies over the course of a year doesn’t amount to very much.
If all things are equal, I’m taking the more comfortable seat. It’s not a deal killer, but I will go for more comfy and close to my house even if it’s a few dollars more.
I really don’t know how a family of four can go to the movies often. Tickets (especially for the one with the glasses) are $12to 18 per person. The popcorn is expensive…even if you have the card and/or share. Dinner, even for pizza is expensive. We go to movies often…(once a week on average) but it isn’t cheap.
I’m with @Nrdsb4 - I’ll take the comfy seats any day. I also like some of the more upscale snacks (warm edamame beats salty overpriced popcorn anytime) and I’ve also had an opportunity to taste some great local craft beers along the way.
The same thing happened to the Cinemark movie theater in the little mall here in our town. It became more difficult to go to the movies because you have to plan ahead, hope you can find enough good seats together, etc. I would have thought that our theater gets a lot of business from people who spontaneously decide take in a movie after shopping, but the new system is a real disincentive for just wandering in from the mall.
Well, we got the new seats but definitely no warm edamame in my neck of the woods. haha.