Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Where Did Everyone Come From?

Yesterday I took my kids to the free movie at Regal Theaters. We did this frequently last summer and never had a problem. The theater was always about half full. We always got a seat even the time we were late and the movie had already started. Yesterday was different.

We arrived 10 minutes early. The parking lot was packed. I don't think I ever had to park that far away from the theater. After our 10 minute hike to the ticket counter I heard someone say that the G rated movie, "Horton Hears a Who" is pretty full. So I drag rush the kids into the theater. We walked all the way the seats and couldn't find 3 seats together anywhere, even if I asked someone to move over, it would only be 2 seats together. I didn't want to disappoint my kids. I had already told them that I was going to take them to the movies (and even if I hadn't already told them, the theater kinda gave it away). So I made a quick decision to watch the PG rated movie in the next theater (they always have one G and one PG movie). I have not let my kids watch PG rated movies in the past (except for Madagascar when we were on the plane). But I had been thinking for a while that it might be ok. I mean lots of their friends were watching PG rated movies. And since all of the other kids were doing it, that makes it ok, right? Ahem... Anyway... I had never heard of Inkheart. If you ever want to give your kids nightmares, then I highly recommend it. It didn't have any bad language and no one died, but it was scary! Even I was a little scared at times. So next time I'll have to make sure we get there more than 10 minutes early so we can watch the nice cozy G rated movie.

I started to wonder. Where did all of these people come from? I'm sure they weren't there last summer? Does it have to do with the economy? Are more people looking for free ways to entertain the kids this summer? I don't know about anyone else, but even when I do have a few extra dollars to spend, if someone is offering me a free movie or saying that I could wait and spend about $40 to go see a movie later that day, I'll probably still go see the free movie. People wouldn't really wait until money gets tight to save money, would they? Or do you think that my earlier blog post about the free movies got everyone's attention? Someone my single blog post spread the news faster than Regal Cinemas has for the last 18 years. It's really a toss-up.

8 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Just to let you know...just about everything on your blog is "crossed out"...you know, with the line through it...
I had never heard of ink heart...thanks for the warning!
Pax Christi

betty said...

before I forget, you have lines through all your words in your post; don't know what's up with that

I never heard of Inkheart but I don't have to worry too much about kids being scare since mine are 20/23 and the 20 year old actually looks for scary movies

I bet the economy is so bad people are looking for free entertainment and fun things for kids to do. I know when mine were younger I always scouted the newspaper to see what free programs/shows were going on

hope you have a nice Wednesday

betty

Maude Lynn said...

Thanks for the heads up on Ink heart. I hadn't heard of that one before.

girlytwins said...

I had the same problem with my Tuesday showing of 'Horton Hears a Who' Our summer movies are $1 though but still. The theater was packed. I think we got the last 3 seats together when we sat down.

Momisodes said...

I'm guessing it's pretty popular this year because of the economy, too.

My daughter LOVED Horton Hears a Who :) I had not heard of Inkheart. She definitely gets a fair share of wild, bad dreams. Thanks for the warning.

Heidi said...

Free movies?? I would sooo be there. I would go to just about anything that was free...maybe not. But, you get the idea. :)

Cathy said...

i agree--i think the bad economy is making all the free stuff very crowded. I took James roller skating--only $4, and it was super crowded. Anyway--thanks for the heads up about inkheart,too. Ethan wants to watch tranformers--yikes!!!

Karen said...

I think your blog post about the free movies is why the theatre was packed. You're supposed to keep that stuff quiet!
I tagged you in a photo meme.