I was going to start by saying we aren’t a screen-heavy/movie-heavy family, but who am I kidding? It is currently March Madness and we are tuned in (even if our dear Hoos are no longer a part of the tourney). But while we didn’t regularly attend movies prior to pandemic shut downs, we are definitely big fans of supporting local businesses and doing fun things with good friends.
So when we learned of the option to actually go IN a movie theater again for the first time in over a year, we were intrigued.
We paired up with another family, likewise intrigued, and we all found ourselves having a private movie screening at the Violet Crown on the Downtown Mall.
There is no eloquent way to say this, so I am going to give you my kids’ assessment: this was way cool! And it is definitely a good way to remember just a smidge of what life was like pre-pandemic.
In an effort to find a way to stay open and relevant when social distancing is required, Violet Crown has gotten creative. They are allowing groups to rent an entire theater: just for themselves and their “bubble” (although when we rented, still no more than 10 people allowed).
There are a couple of different options to rent your own theater, depending on your movie tastes. Our group of theater-goers ended up an age range of 9 years-old up to, well, not pointing out the oldest person in room, but definitely closer to the 45 year-old general area. We had a variety of different opinions in what movies were suggested.
With an age range that vast, what would you choose? (Keep in mind we had to take advantage of the big screen! So anything epic rose to the top of the list.)
The first step for this adventure is easy: reserve a theater show time online. After that, Violet Crown allows you to either pick a new release, pick something from the “jukebox” (a repertoire of older movies) or to bring your own Blu-ray.
For our group? Star Wars saved the day. Obviously. My friend found a Blu-Ray copy of a newer Star Wars release and we were all in.
If you bring your own disc, there is no limit to movie-length. In fact, you don’t even have to tell the theater what movie you are bringing. (But do check it before you arrive to make sure it works!)
It was pretty fun to hole up in the vast, dark room and get completely lost in a galaxy far, far away for almost three hours.
Because the thing about this experience is not about the actual movie. It is about being back in an actual theater. The seats were big, the screen huge and perfectly suited to showing off the cinematic excellence of the Star Wars franchise, and the sound truly surrounded us. I don’t know about you guys, but our home viewing experience isn’t nearly so immersive and overwhelming. Or special.
At first blush, this is seems to be a pretty expensive outing. To rent the theater in the morning is $50; a matinee is $75; an evening is $100. Plus, you must buy tickets (not sure why?) for each person attending. And since movie theater popcorn is part of the fun, we also purchased concessions.
But when we split the rental with another family, this made the adventure much more in the range of doable (albeit still not something we’re going to do on a regular basis). Plus, I have a distinct memory of taking my two kids to see a movie pre-pandemic and spending over $80 on a matinee. (I remember because I texted my outrage and disbelief to my family members, who were much more familiar with modern day pricing and less shocked than I.)
The Violet Crown has made this so enjoyable. And even though the menu is drastically reduced for theater-goers compared to what they used to offer, we still really loved doing this on a wintry Sunday night.
We were back in a movie theater. One inch closer to finding our way back to the luxuries of pre-pandemic living. It was a pretty spectacular feeling.
Learn more about renting a movie theater for your family at Violet Crown:
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