Last night I went to the movies to see “Edge of Tomorrow” starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. I really liked the movie, it had a vamped up version of “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. Lots of action, CGI integration and cute tee-hee moments in the film. The ending left you hanging, but feeling good about the direction it was headed, but I digress from what I really wanted to talk about and that is VIP in movie theatres.
I must be brutally honest about it, when I first heard about the concept I thought I sounded a little bit too much. I thought that VIP seating was a couple of seats that were prime location to watch the big screen smack dab in the middle of the auditorium. I thought why would anyone pay that kind of money to just to have a couple of seats. It sounded like the a huge rip-off to me.
Well, was I wrong. VIP is a completely different animal. At the Queensway theatre’s the VIP portion of it is a completely different entrance with it’s own contained area with many good sized theatres and valet parking. Since they do serve alcohol on the premises this is an over 19 year old facility. There are no kids movies showing in this portion of theatre for obvious reasons.
When we purchased our tickets, and by the way, if you have a Scene Card make sure you use it here to gain maximum points for your next movie outing, you actually get to pick your seats you want prior to the movie. So we picked the two seats we like, smack dab in the middle of the auditorium. BONUS.
After our ticket purchase we entered a modern contemporary lounge area where you can watch whatever sports event is on that night on numerous large flat screens around, order drinks and food prior to you movie starting. We had ordered some jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks from the appetizer portion of the menu. There was a generous beverage menu on the tables, but we were not partaking in any libations that night so we stuck to water. We talked, lounged and enjoyed the atmosphere before the movie started. We spent about half an hour there and then 5 minutes before the movie started we went to our theatre.
Now I have to be honest with you, when I entered the movie theatre and looked around, I was blown away. This is not your typical movie theatre experience. Every seat was a recliner type seat with amble room and armrests, in groups of two, with little adjustable side tables for each person. There was enough space to afford a private conversation with your friend with no worries about being overheard by your neighbour. The well padded chairs offered amble leg room with space to spare, and the seats reclined as well.
That is not the end of it. Once you sit down there is a menu located in a pocket in front of you with your same choices from the lounge area for food, drinks and the regular movie goers popcorn, drinks, candy and nachos. Once your seated, an attendant will come to you and ask if you would like anything from the menu. You order whatever you want, give them the money and they will deliver it directly to your seats. Talk about full service. Now if you wanted to enjoy a glass of wine, cocktail or ale you can. If you wanted to have a gourmet hamburger or wrap, you can do that too.
The experience was fantastic and actually quite affordable if you go on Tuesday. For 2 adult tickets we spent just under $30 for the tickets, under $15 for the appetizers and about $25 for our popcorn, drinks and candy in the theatre. It was a great Tuesday night, get out of the house experience.
Thoughts On A Whim 