I live in Kansas City, Mo. and we have several theaters metro-wide. About 4-5 years ago, I have decided that going to the movies was no longer an option due to the pricey tickets and the luxury of watching movies online. However, in the last few years, our theaters have really made some drastic improvements. They have added plush comfortable leather recliners, better food, & bars. We can actually take drinks inside the theater from the bar. These recent improvements have really made the movie going a much better experience here in KC.
There are some theaters within about an hour or so driving distance from me that offer this, but it also comes at a higher price for the tickets - not including the cocktails and food they offer. One of them is in an area near Pittsburgh known as Waterfront. About 15 years ago they put a whole bunch of upscale shopping, restaurants and other small businesses there along with a really nice movie theater. In addition to much better food offerings, they also have bulk food bins so you can grab a bag of stuff like peanuts or M&Ms in bulk, instead of paying like $6 for a little box. They have regular seating, then up above there is deluxe seating, which is the roomy comfy recliner seats that are more or less like couches. And not only do you have your own arm rests, but there are side tables in between each seat for you to set your food and drinks on. There is a bar the upper level too. And the sound system up where you are sitting is better as well - I believe it's designed to drown out any noise from the audience below you, so if there are noisy teenagers causing problems it won't disturb you. The tickets cost about twice as much though, but they are still reasonable for a night out. I would definitely go there again if I was in the area. We have another local theater here in Cleveland, which is a much smaller place and they mainly show independent films and not the mainstream movies. But they were wise enough to rip out the old cramped seating and replace it with much more spacious and comfortable seating. I guess they figure they know they are rarely ever going to sell out any given movie showing, so they may as well treat the small number of people who do come there regularly really good. Which makes total sense. They offer some more home-made type treats than what you normally get at a movie theater. In addition to your usual popcorn (which I believe they use real butter on, and not that processed crap), they sell toasted candied nuts and some other fun stuff. They also have a nice selection of imported bottled beers and a respectable selection of wine to choose from.
There is an MX theatre near my home. It takes me about 5 minutes to get there. I must say the seats are far more comfortable and the tickets are actually cheap, especially if you go doing the first showing in the afternoon. I was able to get in for $4.50 and I almost fainted from the shock at the price. As for the food, there are more choices but the price is still too hiiiiiiiiigh. LOL! So, I make sure I am full before going to the movies because I am not spending more then I have to at the show.
Well not really fancy. It's just your basic very comfy seats and some nice ambient light. The great though is you can bring anything you want, I think you can bring along a whole keg of beer if you want to.
In my town they are not fancy at all, rather older actually. I would say they are still nice, kept quite clean and the staff are pretty friendly, but they have not been remodeled or anything. I don't go all that often so it's not a big deal to me.
There are probably 30 movie theaters within an hour drive of me right now, including drive-ins and a special outdoor theater. They range from low-end theaters to ones that feature luxury seating and table-side dinner service. I don't need anything special, so I'm fine with decent seats and air conditioning that actually works. A movie's 10 bucks, and that's not that much money.
Wow, we don't have that kind of movie theaters in my hometown. Our movie houses are very standard. They only have standard seats. That's it. For food, we just have some pop corn and hot dogs and other junk food being sold at the entrance. Also, only one movie house in my hometown has 3D. All the others are only in 2D. Still, I love going to the movie theater especially with my girl. We still have a great time despite the lack of fancy stuff of our movie theaters. Do I wish that they would add something fancy too? Yep. But I hope that if they do that, they won't increase the price of tickets too.
The theaters in the vicinity are pretty standard. The only real difference is that one of the local theaters has stadium styled seating, and the other has flat seating. The size is just about the same for the both of them.
We have different ones around us varying in degrees of quality. Most are just low cost generic theaters but there are one or two that are a bit more expensive but very worth it. One of them even offers waiting service wherein you can order anything you'd like by just pressing a button and waiting for a server to take your order. The food isn't really all that good though.
We have both the standard theaters and the IMAX ones. But I don't go to the cinema anymore, because I think it's more convenient to just watch movies at home.
