Whether you are someone who grew up with car shows, drive ins, and swap meets, or if you're someone looking to tap into the nostalgia of such American classic culture, or hell, even just looking for a fun family/friends/date hang... you gotta check this out!
Highly recommend checking out the documentary "Back to the Drive-in" or"Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the American Drive-in Movie" or just check out this article for a quick read: https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2023/03/18/new-documentary-spotlights-the-plight-of-americas-iconic-drive-ins/?sh=1550c8925db4
This made me appreciate how HARD the folks that keep any form of a drive-in alive work, and realize it is 100% a labor of love, and not about the money. It also is a great introduction into what Drive-ins are all about.
This venue is DOG FRIENDLY! Yes, thats right! As a dog parent this is huge, am I right?! Our two corgi boys enjoy watching movies with us (yes, they actually watch and react to movies... its hilarious) there were other dogs there as well, and to those of you who may not be down with dogs, people kept their dogs at their cars, on leashes, weren't walking them around like it was a dog park, and there wasn't barking or anything. No people leaving dog poop bags around. If you didn't bring a dog, you probably wouldn't even know there were any there.
Great mix of all types of people, families, couples, young n old, and everyone was polite, friendly, happy to be there.
It felt 100% safe to walk around and send your kid to the bathroom or concession stand without worrying about their safety.
The concession stand is totally reasonably priced, they aren't gouging you like other places. 1$ refills on popcorn is all i have to say about THAT.
Bathrooms (porta johns) were kept clean the entire time, were well lit without being obnoxious and distracting to the movie. Ample toilet paper, hand washing stations, and garbage cans.
The staff are super polite, and happy. Let them know if you want to tailgate toward the screen, and they are down to accommodate. They make sure everyone has a great view!
We brought a radio since we were tailgating, but if you don't have one, they have ones you can rent for the movie. The great part of a drive in vs a regular theater, is that It makes it like surround sound in your car, or on your truck bed/trunk. You don't hear anything over the movie, no annoying guy behind you making comments the whole time like in the theater.
To get tickets, go online, they have their movies listed for the month, and you can get early bird discounts by buying through event bride. Yes, eventbrite adds a fee, but so does every other online ticket site I know of. And I figure the convenience of it is worth it, at least for myself.
Don't have a car? Don't Worry! They have Astro turf set up in the front with lawn chairs and it's super rad! So bike, ride, walk or commute over with your date or family and catch a drive in! I LOVE this, as I used to be a bike commuter, and for those who live within walking distance, you can take your dog for a walk with your partner over to the drive-in for the night and save some $$$ on gas!
What to expect: This is a drive-in. No one ever went to a drive-in expecting HDTV. The picture quality at a drive-in is not going to be the same as the indoor movie theater. But one doesn't listen to vinyl expecting the same sound quality as a digitally remastered mp3 file. That being said, I thought the quality was exactly what it should be. I could see everything clearly, and dark scenes were totally visible, no problems there. In fact we were there for horror movies, so lots of dark scenes, and I never found myself squinting or trying to figure out what was going on.
Audio was great! Like I said, you have your car radio on, or you bring a radio, so you have quality speakers right there, surround sound even!
I appreciate the guy announcing at the beginning. Yes, I get it, we came for a movie, but here's the deal, there are many people who have NEVER been to a drive-in, this isn't like flying on a plane where we all know to put the oxygen mask on ourselves first... so if he DIDN'T spend the time with the announcement before each feature, those of you who complained about having to listen to him (seriously for all of 2 minutes), would be complaining MUCH more about all the people with headlights on, brake lights on, your car battery dying etc.
What to Know Before you Go:
Make sure you know how to turn your interior lights off to save your car battery.
Make sure you know how to turn off your headlights AND running lights... or put your car in economy mode if you can't turn off your running lights.
DON"T PANIC if you are at the back of the line getting in. If you have tickets, they will park you, and know that NO one had a bad seat in the house. read more