The Return of the Drive-In Theater
- Thread starter Bill Mattocks
- Start date
LuckyKBoxer
Master Black Belt
We have a great drive-in located in Santee down here in San Diego.
If you go on the weekend get there early it has four screens and is almost always packed on the weekends. We don't go often, but I think I might check out going in the next week or two and bringing the kids to see the new UP movie.... thanks for the reminder.
If you go on the weekend get there early it has four screens and is almost always packed on the weekends. We don't go often, but I think I might check out going in the next week or two and bringing the kids to see the new UP movie.... thanks for the reminder.
OP
OP
My memories of drive-in movie theaters don't focus on popcorn, or movies for that matter.
Drive-in theaters were on the way out by the time I was driving, so I only have a couple fond memories of steamed-up windows with me on the inside instead of walking by with my dad asking "Daddy, why is that car shaking?"
Most of my memories of them were when my parents took us kids to see 2nd run movies (what would be 'straight to video' these days) for a buck a carload. Back when saying the phrase 'station wagon' didn't get you a strange look.
Ah yes, memories of back in the day watching "The Apple Dumpling Gang" on the huge screen with the family sitting on hood of Dad's car and no worries about the hood buckling underneath us.
Interesting overhead shot of the theater at this website.
http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/mitgett
Interesting overhead shot of the theater at this website.
http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/mitgett
Omar B
Senior Master
I love the drive in, I saw Star Trek twice opening weekend at the drive in. There's something special about sitting in your own can with your own snacks ... and the freedom to light up if you see fit.
I don't know of any in NY but when I'm here in FL at my family's place I go every weekend.
I don't know of any in NY but when I'm here in FL at my family's place I go every weekend.
Loved the drive in as a kid and a teen! Hopefully they make a comeback!
Steve
Mostly Harmless
One of the long running ones is about 10 minutes from my house, down in Auburn. They have first run movies, too. Very cool.
ArmorOfGod
Senior Master
We have one that is about a 45 minute drive from here. Everyone I know goes every other weekend and it is packed from what I have heard. It is $7 for each adult, but you get two movies for that price. Also, there is a playground below the screens.
OMG Fun! I can't wait. I remember seeing lots of different movies at Drive-ins as a child. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.
Drive ins were hard to do in MN because it's so cold in the winter time. Most of them were only open during the summer. Hard to turn a profit.
Drive ins were hard to do in MN because it's so cold in the winter time. Most of them were only open during the summer. Hard to turn a profit.
Omar B
Senior Master
Here's the website for the one close to my parents house. It's pretty huge and is used as a flea market/farmers market/mini amusement park/classic car museum in the day then starting at 8:00 when the vendors clear out it's a drive in. Great shopping and 14 screens! My mother's friends with the owner and he's one of the most well off people I know.
http://www.floridaswapshop.com/swap.html
http://www.floridaswapshop.com/swap.html
OP
OP
I know what you mean! My mom would pop popcorn - a lot of it - and put it in a big paper grocery sack. It quickly became soaked with the butter from the popcorn. Us kids would get into our PJ's (OK, when I got a little older, I quit that) and we'd jump into the station wagon and head to the grocery store, where we'd each be able to pick out a bottle of Nehi soda in the flavor we wanted. Dad would put the resulting six-pack in the ice chest and then we'd go to the drive-in, long before it got dark.
Us kids would go play on the swingsets and play tag and stuff on the playground under the screen, and my dad would get lots of beer from the snack bar and some hot dogs for all of us.
It would slowly get dark and people would start shining their car lights on the screen and honking, but the movie wouldn't start until it was dark enough to see the previews, and the back rows would fill up with guys in their pickup trucks and the high school kids who wanted to watch submarine races instead of the movie.
Dad would put that scratchy silver speaker in the window and we'd settle down to eat greasy, buttery, popcorn and nurse our bottle of Nehi and my little sisters would always fall asleep long before the first movie ended. I'd always have to help my dad and mom bring everyone in.
It was a summertime Friday night treat. We didn't have much money, but that was a big night out for us. Lots of fun.
Remember the sounds of the crickets and the katydids in the nearby fields? There was one year when the cicadas came out, and MAN they made a lot of noise.
Man drive-ins were fun. I saw Enter the Dragon at a drive-in. There used to be one in Waipahu, Hi. and it seemed like we would go all the time. Can't tell you how many times I felt my mom and dad put their hands on my head and pushed it behind the seat till the bad parts were over.
Good times....
Good times....
The drive-in near my home would stay open until the snow stayed on the ground. I remember loading up in my snow suit with my four brothers, "one was a baby, so he doesn't remember". The four of us would sit in the back of my dad's pickup and eat the various treats my mom prepared, including a huge thermos of hot cocoa. Since I was the oldest, I always took my divvying tax.
The movie would get started and it would get later and later. By the time the credits were flowing, the aurora would be rippling green and purple across the sky. We'd drive home, (gasp) laying down the bed of the pick-up staring at the sky.
teekin
3rd Black Belt
Man, did you get aurora too? Insane when the ripples rip across the sky changing color. It always seems that if I go out riding in early fall I can catch a few light shows. It's nice to be away from the city because you can see all the little waves that dance along the sides of the big ripples that change color. The really intense light shows have lots of shooting and falling stars flaming across the sky too, just a brilliant hard flash, then gone.
lori
lori
punisher73
Senior Master
I love the drive in, I remember seeing 101 Dalmations and Herbie the Love Bug at the drive in when I was a kid.
Now, we have one in Coldwater, MI that has 2 screens, but they are double features of first run movies. They have their own radio station and you tune your car radio to it for the sound.
Now, we have one in Coldwater, MI that has 2 screens, but they are double features of first run movies. They have their own radio station and you tune your car radio to it for the sound.
