If any parent asked me for advice about when to take your kids to the movie theater, this is what Id tell them...
I’m not a big fan of going to the movies. I’d rather rent or buy the DVD and watch it at home unless it is a great movie, with awesome special effects can only be fully enjoyed at the theater. I just hate paying $10 (or more) per person per ticket, walking on sticky floors, sitting behind a tall guy with a hat on, beside a couple making out, a screaming baby behind me, distracting cell phones going off, worrying about getting caught sneaking in my own drinks and candy to avoid the crazy prices at the concession stand and whatever else could possibly happen to irritate me.
If you have kids, don’t take them to PG-13 or R rated movies. Get a babysitter or put them in the theater daycare if one is provided. Crying babies in the theater are the worse. Kids kicking my seat are a close second. I hate going to comedies and everyone laughs so much you don’t even get to hear all the funny lines. I hate leaving to use the bathroom and miss part of the movie. The only way I like the movies if I get a free ticket and have the entire auditorium to myself.
I’d rather spend $1 on a Redbox rental for the whole family, watch it when I want, don’t have to worry about the guy with the hat, I can pause it and run to the restroom. Plus, DVDs have the deleted scenes, bloopers and special features.
Even though I’m not a fan of movie theaters, I do still understand why others enjoy them and try to not be one of those annoyances to them.
All that being said, and as much as I don’t like going to the movies Ive really been wanting to take Skye. I have kinda been waiting for the right age and the right movie though. Shes really never been one of those kids you can stick in front of the tv and her stay glued to it. And I like that about her. She loves reading and playing outside, and if it involves water, she’s all about that!!
She does have a few shows she seems to really enjoy though. Baby Signing Time, Thomas and his Friends, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, SuperWhy, Word Girl, Sesame Street, Dora, and lately her new fascination is Winnie the Pooh. Only two of these shows really holds her attention for the whole show. Lately Winnie the Pooh on YouTube holds her attention for more than an hour. Most of them are more of a slight form of 10 minutes worth of entertainment for her when she is stuck in the house and I’m busy with something. I just wasn’t sure if a movie would hold her attention for more than 30 minutes.
With this hot weather though lately we are finding ourselves stuck in the house more than we’d like to be. 110degrees outside is just too hot for a 2 yr old and even when it gets down to 90 degrees at 10 at night, its too late at that point.
Taking all those things into consideration I started thinking maybe I’d take Skye to her first movie. I wouldn’t mind going for her and I’ve being seeing the trailers for Winnie the Pooh and like I said, that has been her recent obsession. Plus, it looked really cute. Harry Potter opened this wknd so I knew most of America would be filing into see that movie and Winnie the Pooh I hoped would be an empty auditorium. I'm not at all a fan of Harry Potter but it really worked out perfect it opened the same wknd as Winnie the Pooh. So, thanks Harry!!
I got some advice from friends about taking a toddler to the movies and they said basically just to bring enough snacks to keep her entertained and sit in the aisle. Its been forever since I checked on movie times and prices it really turned into quite the research project. I cant imagine planning a vacation when going to the movies takes two days to plan.
I knew I wanted a matinee for the cheap prices and hopefully the weather earlier in the day wouldn’t be too hot outside (Even when I blast the A/C the car just doesn’t seem to get as cool as I’d like it too for Skye in the backseat. Even a short ride home makes her kinda sweaty.) I also didn’t want the movie to interfere with her naptime cause I wanted her to enjoy it and not be cranky. I also was taking mom’s schedule into consideration too. Man, wears me out just thinking about it again. So, once I called around and got the times and prices I decided on the Crossroads AMC theater Sunday matinee show on July 17th at 10:50am. I also remembered I had a gift card for AMC for filling out surveys online from years ago and finally was able to use it!
I was getting pretty excited at this point. Even though I’m not a fan of going to the movies I was excited for Skye to see her first movie =)
We had to skip church to go see the Sunday matinee but it was really the best time to go see Winnie. Mom helped me get her all dressed up in her Winnie the Pooh outfit we just happened to have (she looked so cute!!) and I made sure the diaper bag was stocked with diapers, wipies, snacks, filled sippie cup, change of clothes and a few little toys for her to play with if needed. We also decided to go get some breakfast before we went. Thank you Jimmy’s Egg for the perfect locations, price and the breakfast was great!! I need to go there more often. Everyone just kept saying how cute Skye was. (Given, that’s kind of a daily occurrence for us, but she did look really cute.)
We got to the theater and it was just starting to get hot but not bad at all. The A/C inside the theater was AWESOME!!! It was Sunday morning so there was no crowd at all. There was maybe 10 other people in the movie with us with their children also. Its so precious to me to watch Skye experience something for the first time. Even if she wont remember it, I will. She was relatively well behaved. She didn’t sit still at all. Up and down the stairs, walking a lot but this was to be expected. It was the beginning of the day and shes a toddler so asking her to sit still is kinda out of the question. That’s why I picked a showtime hoping for no one else in the auditorium so she'd have plenty of romping room. I offered her her snacks a few times but she seemed to prefer the left over pancakes from Jimmy's Egg we brought with us.
We got there a little early so we could take pictures of her but it was kinda too early and a little difficult to entertain her in a dark room but she was fine. Once the previews started she kept thinking it would be the movie starting so I think the previews kinda annoyed her. Although some of the trailers looked pretty good. I might have to catch DolphinTale when it comes out. Finally the movie started and Skye sat in my lap for about 10 minutes. Mom is sitting behind us taking pictures with her flash going off (I’m sure the other movie goers loved that!!) But we got some cute pictures. Skye pretty much stood/walked/hopped through the entire movie but I think she still watched it. Only once or twice did she get a little too loud and other people looked in our direction. Most of them had their own kids and seemed pretty understanding though. I think she enjoyed herself.
It was really a cute little movie. Mom and I haven’t been in years and we kept thinking how funny it was that the first movie we go see is this little kiddie movie. But that’s ok. It wasn’t about us. We wanted Skye to have a good time. All in all I think she did. The movie was cute and I really like how they made it seem like you were reading a book. I think it was their way of still encouraging reading.
I don’t know if I’ll be taking Skye back anytime soon. It really depends on the movie. Pooh was just perfect since shes been on this little Pooh Bear kick lately. When she sings the theme song, it is so cute!! She just seems perfectly content watching him on youtube. I’m glad I took her though. She had a good time but she just enjoys outside activities so much more.
We stopped by McD’s drive thru on our way home to get some any size $1 drinks before we went home. Skye fell asleep on our way home and ended up taking her nap once we got back home.
The whole movie going experience really kinda reminded me of that scene in Annie where Mr. Warbucks took her to the movies. It was so sweet. I just love doing things like this with her and get giddy thinking about what other firsts there will be for us as she gets older. Overall, I’d give the movie going experience 4 out of 5 stars. =)
