I love a good movie, but I love a great deal even more! So, when perusing the internet looking up show times for "Frozen", I noticed a theater in downtown Delaware named "The Strand". I jumped to their website and was pleasantly surprised to see that since our movie started at 5:30, it was a matinee and tickets so tickets were a mere $4.50! Love that it is owned by Ohio Wesleyan as well. Love to support local! (star 1).
Now, I'm not intimately familiar with the downtown area in Delaware, but I do know parking in small, downtown areas is usually a block-circling nightmare! A quick jump to their website however, provided all I needed to know about where to park, when to (and when not to) feed the meters and where to park even though it's marked not to, to avoid being towed or ticketed. Most helpful!
Once at the theater, we had a small line queuing up outside the ticketing area (there are three screens here), but the wonderful attendant providing the tickets was cheerful and polite, all the while moving the line with skill and perfection. And yes; it was only $13.50 (!!) for the three of us and yes; our "business only" parking spot was safe to park in on a Saturday evening. No worries, easy peasey! (star 2)
Once inside we queued again for popcorn and drinks. There was a nice selection of the basics you would expect (although to my son's disappointment, no Icee machine). Fresh popcorn, sodas, a small selection of candies, nachos etc. We opted for the Family Pack, which supplied an XL popcorn (refills for a nominal charge)2 XL or 4 small sodas (we chose the 4 to limit the sugar-soda high for our 7 Y.O.) and choice of 2 $1.00 candies (M&M's, fruit snacks, etc) My son wasn't interested in any off these so I asked to just have her pass them out to another kiddo in line and I opted to buy him the $2.50 Dots he wanted instead. She traded the Dots out for us at no additional cost. Wow. It's rare to see that kind of customer service response when special consideration isn't requested! Oh, and did I haven't shared the best part yet; 1-XL popcorn (extra butter), 4 small sodas and the box od Dots; $16.00, yes, only $16.00!! (star 3)
The theater was just as I remember the small, downtown theater in my hometown. The seats were a bit clunky and not close to the Barcolounger-style seats in the newer theaters. I can imagine for a longer movie might get a bit uncomfortable. But the floors weren't sticky (yay!), the sound was great, and I could actually see available seats even though we arrived about 3 minutes after the lights dimmed; no LED runway lighting to stare at while trying to sneak a peek at an open seat! For our needs and the money, it was a home run! (star 4)
So, will we be headed back to downtown Delaware for a movie again, you betcha! The only 2 issues that kept that 5th star on hold for now were:
First, their website. I searched and searched for the actual street address and could not find it anywhere on the website! I had to loop out for another Google search. I could have called (they have the number there) but we were heading out the door and I didn't want to risk it)
Second, the bathrooms. Small, which I expected, but hey could have used some "primping" before the movie let out to shine them up a bit, just sayin'...
Overall though, I am in love with The Strand in downtown Delaware! Looking forward to the next time we have a day free for a movie. I'll head north and save the hassle of Polaris (and $9.00!) and enjoy a stress-free time viewing my movies on the (little) big screen! read more