Open Fri, Sat, Box Opens 6:15 Ticket Prices $10.00 adult
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Head Lights, tail lights, parking lights, interior & back hatch lights must be off. No exceptions.
Ask for help if needed.
HOW TO BE THE IDEAL DRIVE-IN MOVIE PATRON
Drive-in movie theaters may seem like a relic of the past, but there are actually still around 300 scattered throughout the country. Whether you want to relive your childhood of cramming into the way-back of your parents’ station wagon, or are going to one for the first time, there are a few th
HOW TO BE THE IDEAL DRIVE-IN MOVIE PATRON
Drive-in movie theaters may seem like a relic of the past, but there are actually still around 300 scattered throughout the country. Whether you want to relive your childhood of cramming into the way-back of your parents’ station wagon, or are going to one for the first time, there are a few things you should know to prepare you for the experience.
Light ruins the movie experience for everyone, just like at indoor theaters. Dim your headlights before entering the car lot (especially if you’re arriving late or leaving early), and turn them off completely once you’ve found a parking spot.
Also, be sure to turn off your car’s dome lights, as they can be distracting to others as well. If you need light inside your car, bring a flashlight or use your phone. And avoid putting your foot on the brake pedal so those bright red tail lights don’t blind people behind you.
If you can help it, turn off your car completely during the movie, especially if it has daytime running headlights. The sound of your engine is distracting and so is your car’s exhaust. That means you need to dress according to the weather and plan ahead. Wear light, comfortable clothing if it’s hot out so you don’t have to run the car and crank the A/C. If it’s cold, dress warmly and bring some blankets. You can always run the A/C or heater during intermission.
A lot of drive-ins use FM radio to deliver the movie sound, but you don’t want to drain your car’s battery using the stereo. So bring a battery-powered portable radio or boombox instead. You’ll be able to hear the movie no matter how you situate yourself.
Since drive-ins are outdoors and filled with various vehicle types, the theater has a lot less control over how well everyone can see the screen. That’s why it’s imperative you take other people’s views into consideration. Bringing massive vehicles like vans and lifted trucks is the equivalent of wearing a hilariously over-sized top hat to a normal movie theater.
If you want to back into your space and open up the rear hatch of your SUV or hatchback car, use something to tie down the hatch door so it doesn’t open up past the top of your vehicle. And as tempting as it may be, don’t climb onto the roof of your car to watch the flick.
Many people don’t even sit in their cars at the drive-in. You can park further back in your space and bring camping chairs or folding lawn chairs to set up in your parking space just in front of your car. Just be sure to keep the space between cars clear so your neighbors and other passersby have room to walk through.
Whether they’re your kids or somebody else’s, kids will probably be running around everywhere. Drive slowly and carefully through the lot while you look for a space. If you’ve brought your kids along, try to keep them from wandering around. It can be dangerous to run through the cars and aisles of the lot.
But keep in mind that drive-ins, and most movie theaters really, survive because of their concession sales. If you want to sneak in a few beverages, fine, but at least get something at the snack bar. If you want to keep enjoying the drive-in, don’t be the reason it goes out of business.
That said, the snack bar and the bathrooms will be crazy busy before the movie, during intermissions, and after it’s all over. So go take care of that stuff once the movie gets started. Chances are you’ve seen the movie they’re playing already anyway.
It’s also worth nothing that the drive-ins are by no means the best way to watch movies. The picture being displayed on an old screen by an old projector will not be high-definition, the sound will probably be pretty bad, and sitting in a car seat or outside on lawn chairs while being eaten by mosquitoes is not exactly the pinnacle of comfort. You go to a drive-in for the experience, the atmosphere, hanging out with friends or family, cuddling up with your honey bunny, and maybe making out a little. If you’re not down with that, don’t go.
DON'T BE THAT PERSON
If ever there was a universal truism, it would be “Strange things happen at the drive-in movies.” A friend reminded me of this fact when she recounted her own recent drive-in disaster. It was one I hadn’t heard before.
She attended a Toronto International Film Festival drive-in screening (thanks to COVID-19, in-theatre
DON'T BE THAT PERSON
If ever there was a universal truism, it would be “Strange things happen at the drive-in movies.” A friend reminded me of this fact when she recounted her own recent drive-in disaster. It was one I hadn’t heard before.
She attended a Toronto International Film Festival drive-in screening (thanks to COVID-19, in-theatre shows were not possible). She drove her recently purchased Audi. Everything went fine until it was time for the film to begin. Like many new cars, this one had headlights that worked automatically, turning on when darkness fell.
I’m not exactly sure what happened. Perhaps her daytime running lights (DRL) would not dim even if the engine was turned off? Perhaps her main headlights would not turn off if she had her battery running the radio? Regardless, try as she might, she could not make her headlights go out. They blazed stubbornly, illuminating the cars before her and ruining the experience for all present. She had no idea how to turn them off. She was hit with a barrage of honking horns. The situation reached peak embarrassment when a man approached the car, asked her to roll down her window and said, “I want you to know that everyone here hates you.”
Eventually, she deduced how to extinguish the offending headlights but not before the psychic mortification was complete. “You should do a column on drive-in etiquette,” she suggested.
I could, I thought, or I could do one on the fact that I also have no idea how to turn my headlights off. They just come on and off automatically.
A list of drive-in etiquette would be pretty short:
A list of the reasons I don’t know how to turn off my headlights would be shorter:
Not knowing how to turn off your lights is not as rare an occurrence as one might think. In fact, all sorts of lights – dashboard, parking, interior – go on and off automatically when someone opens a door. If you have the hatchback open, they’ll stay on all night. It’s so prevalent that in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rick Cohen, owner of the five-screen, 1,500-car Transit Drive-In in Buffalo, “bought four Segways at $6,000 each so employees can help customers with lights, radios and hatches faster. If there are 1,000 to 1,200 cars at a busy Saturday showing, he estimates a third will need help turning off their lights.”
It’s frequent enough that many drive-in theatres flag it as a problem. The website driveinmovie.com offers this advice: “Know how your lights work and how to turn them off before you get to the drive-in. Most new cars have lights that stay on for certain periods of time after the vehicle is stopped. Others have interior lights that remain on while there is a door or hatch that is open. Make sure to read your vehicle’s manual and know how to turn all of these off once the movie starts.”
Which leads us back to me and the fact that, after 18 months in my Mini Cooper Countryman, I have yet to thoroughly read its manual. I can get away with this ignorance because modern cars are what used to be called, in less enlightened times, “idiot-proof.” They are fully automatic and computerized. You don’t even have to insert a key to start the ignition anymore. They respond to voice commands and do things like adjust your windshield wipers according to the force of precipitation.
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You see, like many people who don’t know how to turn off their car’s lights, when it comes to technology, I am an early adopter. For about a day, I “adopt” the new technology and learn just enough to get by. Then I quit – early.
So, inspired (perhaps embarrassed is the better word) by my friend’s headlight mishap, I pulled out the 337-page Owner’s Manual and looked up the instructions. It wasn’t too complicated. The driver uses the Mini’s Central Information Device to select “Vehicle Settings,” then selects Lighting, Exterior Lights and, finally, Deactivate.
What did I learn from the whole experience? Simple.
My car is completely “idiot-proof,” except for when I get into it.
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Below are the steps that might turn off the daytime running lights while keeping the vehicle running.
And that's it! After those 3 simple steps the vehicle will be running but the daytime running lights will be off.
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