View Full Version : The Drive-In... Do you still go?
flippyshark
07-30-2005, 06:31 PM
Out here in Central Florida, there is only one drive-in movie theater left, the Silver Moon in Lakeland. I've been there two or three times in the last year, and it is a fun, nostalgic place to go. Three bucks and seventy-five cents gets you two features in the privacy of your own swank-mobile. Plus, the pizza is home-made, and they serve popcorn with real honest to goodness butter. The large bag can be refilled endlessly throughout the night. It's all very reasonably priced to boot.
I presume that you folks out west have access to a few drive-in theaters. Do any of you still go to them? Are there any particularly swanky ones? Do naughty things still happen in the back seat? OK, you don't have to answer that last one.
One thing I really enjoy at the Silver Moon is that they play some classic Intermission clips between features. I could watch those things for hours.
Boingonut
07-30-2005, 07:04 PM
Well I have a huge intersest in Drive-ins although I have not been to one since I moved to California. Back in Utah though I went to a really nice one kind of like yours in Florida about once a month. I have a convertable and it was nice to put the top down and enjoy the film. Before I moved I found a old abadoned drive-in not far from my home. I own a digital projector to at about 2 in the morning me and a freind braved the freezing cold and hooked the projector up to the car battery AC converter and poped in Star Wars. It was really interesting to have a 40 foot screen all to yourself even if the projector was not all that great. I later went back and video taped the drive in and used the fotage I took for one of my student films. This summer when I was back in Utah visiting my Family I took my 16mm camera out there for some better shoots. I don't know what I am going to do with the film but I am sure I will find something. I wish there were more drive-ins since it really is such a good idea, but I don't see that changing soon. :(
Not Afraid
07-30-2005, 07:06 PM
I used to LOVE the drive-in. Never saw many movies there, thoughhttp://www.xenarchy.com/LoT/images/smilies/wink2.gif I think the last time I was at the Drive-in must've been 1984. We took the Dad's Station Wagon and pilled a bunch of people in it, brought along some beer, god popcorn and cardboard pizza, and had fun. I smashed my fingers in the door of the car that night. I don't rememeber who else was there, except Chris and I and our friend Craig (now the music director at West Point). Boss Radio......were you there that night?
My local Drive-in was the Hi-Way 39 Drive-in Theater (http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwest/california/socal/socaldrivein/index.htm), on, Beach Blvd (duh) just North of the 405.
I think I caught the tail end of Drive-in culture in So Cal because they started to "go bad" soon after '84 and, now, there aren't many left. The ones left in CA that are members of the Drive-in Association (http://www.uditoa.org/driveins.html) are these:
California:
HI-WAY (Santa Maria)
MADERA (Madera)
MARYSVILLE (Marysville) (http://www.marysvilledrivein.com (http://www.marysvilledrivein.com/))
MOTOR VU (Imperial)
SKYVIEW (Santa Cruz)
I'm not sure if there are any others that are actually showing films these days (most have become swap meets) and, if they are, are they showing any that we'd want to see??
Here's a very nice information about your Drive-in (http://www.silvermoondrivein.com/home.html), Flippyshark. I wanna go!
One other Drive-in memory: I went to see Ryan's Daughter (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066319/) with my parents in 1970 (Hi-Way 39 again). The film was terribly boring for an 8 year old, but I remember being SHOCKED.....SHOCKED! when, during a make-out session Sarah Miles' nipple was exposed! THEY CAN'T DO THAT! I asked my Mom if someone was going to get arrested for that.
Ahhh, it's hard to believe that was me.
I guess my lack of Drive-in availability is why I like seeing films in a cemetery so much. It's sort of the same, right?
Ghoulish Delight
07-30-2005, 07:16 PM
Sigh. It's been about 9 years since we last went. CP and I heard they were closing the last one in our area to make way for a multiscreen megaplex type thing. So we went to see a double feature of The Rock and Phenomenon.
It became quickly apparant why they were shutting it down. It cost $5 for the double feature. In the end, we made $5 each off of them. If I remember the seuqence of events correctly, the first time, it got about half way through The Rock when we see the film melting. So they refunded our money and gave us a free ticket to come back again. We came back again the next week. This time, we saw The Rock in full, but between the movies, they announced that the projector broke down. So they again gave us a refund of our $5 (remember, we got in on a free ticket this time) and a free ticket to come back. The third time was the charm and we saw both films, but in the end, we were up $10. Not a particularly profitable state of affairs for them.
Jazzman
07-30-2005, 07:34 PM
We have a great drive-in (http://http://www.99w.com/) up here. It’s down in Newberg, OR, which is about a 45 minute drive from where I live, but well worth it and we go often. It's in pretty good condition, and it's obvious that the owners are drive-in buffs.The best time I've had there (that I can mention in public, anyway ;) ) was watching Pirates of the Caribbean. That was a great drive-in movie.
Cadaverous Pallor
07-30-2005, 09:28 PM
As a kid I saw Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Batman at that same now-gone drive in that GD is talking about.
It was a lot of fun, definitely a cool experience. But as soon as they finished the brand new 20 screen multiplex on the same plot of land, it was apparent that they could never make that much money with a drive in.
At current SoCal land prices, I wonder what they'd charge you to get into a brand new drive in? Not that they'd ever build one.
Boss Radio
07-30-2005, 11:17 PM
I think the last time I was at the Drive-in must've been 1984. We took the Dad's Station Wagon and pilled a bunch of people in it, brought along some beer, god popcorn and cardboard pizza, and had fun. I smashed my fingers in the door of the car that night. I don't rememeber who else was there, except Chris and I and our friend Craig (now the music director at West Point). Boss Radio......were you there that night?
Probably. We used to go a lot. A LOT. We used to sneak in by riding in the trunk of whoever had the biggest car. Gina Bloxham had a big, black Lincoln, and they used to love to put me and Ron and whoever else was dumb enough. Once safely parked in front of the giant screen, we would emerge, join the party and watch the movie. Or just annoy everyone. Or both.
I remember MANY nights staging elaborate picnic scenes with coolers, beach chairs and food stolen from refrigerators that belonged to the parents of our friends.
Some standout G-rated memories:
Back to the Future - I'm pretty sure you and Chris were there. Liz was. Jon Pang catered the food that night.
The time that Pat and Alisa joined us, and to to save the $5, Pat rode stowaway in his own car. Sadly, Alisa didn't have a drivers license, so she drove in at an angle with the lights on and put the car in park. When everyone at the drive-in started honking, she panicked and ran out of the car, leaving Pat locked in the trunk. It was a truly Kodak moment. Oh, how I love this story.... I finally let him out and parked his car.
The time Ron and I watched Re-Animater and Evil Dead in the rain, drunk off our asses, and were totally afraid to leave the car. I mean, really afraid. The drive-in was empty that night. Creepy. Horror movies are scary in the rain. I think we cried.
Sunni, Raini, Gina (Remember them?) and the gang at what was probably the last screening of Song of the South. I distinctly remember how everyone loved the concept of finding one's Laughing Place, and the girls gave us a practical demonstration of just how one might go about it.
There are many more, but...I'll spare you the details.
sleepyjeff
07-31-2005, 12:03 AM
We have a great drive-in (http://http://www.99w.com/) up here. It’s down in Newberg, OR, which is about a 45 minute drive from where I live, but well worth it and we go often. It's in pretty good condition, and it's obvious that the owners are drive-in buffs.The best time I've had there (that I can mention in public, anyway ;) ) was watching Pirates of the Caribbean. That was a great drive-in movie.
This is a great Drive In(.http://www.driveintheatre.com/99widx.htm) I have seen soooo many movies there over the past 5 years or so..... Including Lilo and Stitch, Finding Nemo, and Spiderman II.
Always go to the KFC just down the highway from there for a dinner special and then set up camp :D
Sadly, this may be their last year as a strip mall is going in next door and the theater owners fear the extra LIGHT will kill the viewability of the screen :(
I am thinking about going next weekend(Sat night) to see whatever is playing. just fyi :D
Jazzman
07-31-2005, 12:29 AM
Sadly, this may be their last year as a strip mall is going in next door and the theater owners fear the extra LIGHT will kill the viewability of the screen :(
Noooooo!!!!!!
I am so sick and tired of losing truly unique and wonderful places like the 99W because of stupid, unneeded crap like more stripmalls. :mad:
If this happens I'm going to have fits!!!
Auuggghhhh!!!!
Prudence
07-31-2005, 12:29 AM
I keep forgetting that we have a drive in less than 5 minutes away. I only remember about it on nights like tonight, when we drive past it on the freeway off-ramp. First-runs and everything. Double-feature for $7.50/person.
Last time I went to the drive in was up in Bellingham. I'm probably the only person on the planet who thinks of home-made chicken parmigiana as an appropriate drive in food.
Drince88
07-31-2005, 06:18 AM
When one of my younger sister was in High School, she would go to the local one ALL the time - in part because she had an old 'boat' car that they could cram a lot of people in. (At least she told my parents she was going to the drive-in --- hmmm). Anyway, my oldest nephew was 2 or so, and had been to the drive in near where they lived a couple of times and called it the 'Big TV'. So when told that this particular aunt of his was at the Big TV - he'd say 'AGAIN?' Ok - it was cute coming out of a 2 year olds mouth.
Sadly, the one my sister frequented is now a Safeway parking lot. I'll have to look up about the one my nephew went to.
I'm not sure if there are any around here - I'd think they would be way too dangerous during hurricane season! (LOTS of potential flying projectiles!)
Eliza Hodgkins 1812
07-31-2005, 09:15 AM
Saw many a movie at the drive-in on Winnetka. There were large swap meets on Saturday afternoon there, as well. I bought the ugliest earrings in the world for my mother there. She kindly thanked me and then kept them in a box and never wore them. They were awful but I thought they were so, so pretty when I was a kid.
We had three or four drive in theaters in the Bay Area up until around 1985 -- and then, one by one, they slipped away into the night. I think my last drive in movie was Creepshow 2 -- not the best movie to bow out with, though truthfully, I didn't see too many quality flicks at the drive in. The list includes: The Incredible Melting Man, The Gong Show Movie, History of the World Part One, Back to the Future, Arnold, The Long Riders, Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane ... the list goes on and on. But I suppose we never really went to the drive in for the movie anyway. It always a date or just with the usual gang from school. Good times. But all gone.
Baileykat
07-31-2005, 11:10 AM
We have a great drive-in here in Tucson. Four screens that show double, first run movies. $5 per adult, kids 12 and under are free....Great picture quality and very nicely priced concession prices. We always pack our own food though...make it a big picnic with fried chicken and homemade cookies. The kids stuff the suburban with blankets and pillows and camp out on top. Our back doors open up and we turn the back seat around...it's like having your own little theater.
We go at least once a month...we just saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the weekend it came out.
Kat likes to wear her pajamas when we go...I'm guilty of that as well!
dsnylndmom
07-31-2005, 11:49 AM
I used to go to the Drive In in Union City alllll the time growing up. As kids we would wear our pj's(like Kat :) )and pile up in the pack of the staion wagon and beg for junk food. Last time I was in Fremont my dad took us to dinner and I realized we were right where the drive in used to be :( <<< that was me. I knew it had been gone forevah but it just struck me. We used to have so much fun there.
There's none around here, I know the boys would love it though
Cadaverous Pallor
07-31-2005, 01:48 PM
Saw many a movie at the drive-in on Winnetka. That was the one we went to.
they used to have one right down the street from me in Torrance. i remember i could see the screen from a family member's house. after that closed, we had to go to the Vermont. but that one was kind of ghetto. i think that one might still be open...im not sure. :confused:
Matterhorn Fan
08-01-2005, 04:03 PM
The only times I've been to a drive-in were during the day (flea market). That was up north--I've never seen a movie at a drive-in. It sounds cold. Or maybe buggy.
---Possible Dumb Question Alert---
Here's something I've never understood--how do you see the screen from inside the car? Wouldn't you need to be in a convertible to see those giant screens? Cause they'd be above you, right? When I sit in a movie theater, I'm looking kindof up, and in my car, if I look that angle, I'd see sun visor, not window. :confused:
Not Afraid
08-01-2005, 04:15 PM
The pavement of the parking lot is "wavy" so you park your car on the uphill part of the wave or hill, that way you can see the screen.
I think SOMEONE needs to take you to your local drive-in. ;)
Matterhorn Fan
08-01-2005, 04:22 PM
But isn't there another car in front of you on the next "wave"? Or was the drive-in that I went to the flea market at a really crappy drive-in? It seemed there that most of the movie would still be above your car.
Not Afraid
08-01-2005, 04:26 PM
No, you end up looking skyward and not in front of you where the next car is. The screen is quite large and pretty high off of the ground as well.
Eliza Hodgkins 1812
08-01-2005, 04:27 PM
I thought people were supposed to neck at drive-ins? Why aren't there more naked drive in stories? What's with all this actual movie watching? I was a kid. I was with my parents. If there had been making out in my car, my family would be far more deranged and depressing than I'd have liked it to be. So we watched E.T. instead of making out. That worked for me.
innerSpaceman
08-01-2005, 04:29 PM
Until about 10 years ago, there were TWO, count 'em Two, Drive-Ins within a quarter mile of where I've lived for the past quarter century. Alas, I never went to either of them and they are both long gone. In fact, I think I've only been to one drive-in during the "modern" era of sound-thru-your-radio (as opposed to speaker propped on your partially open window).
I guess I always had better places to watch movies and better places to have sex.
Not Afraid
08-01-2005, 04:30 PM
Well, there was the one time I went to the drive-in with one of my youth ministers and we drank a lot of cheap pre-mixed daqueries (or something), and then........EWWWWW I don't even want to remember this story!
Matterhorn Fan
08-01-2005, 04:31 PM
But how does one look "skyward" when one's car roof is, well, "skyward"?
I think I'd prefer watching a movie while sitting on a comfy couch. I like to lean back. If I'm not comfortable, I'm not interested.
mousepod
08-01-2005, 04:35 PM
Hell, forget drive-ins. I find that more often than not I prefer to watch movies at home than at the theater. Noisy people chatting on their cell phones, crappy screens, dirty prints... Give me my couch any day.
(plus, someone always complains when I try to watch a movie in my underwear at the local cineplex)
Not Afraid
08-01-2005, 04:37 PM
Look. Only at Disneyland are pants optional. You must wear pants to the theater. Silly!
DisneyDaniel
08-01-2005, 04:40 PM
Reading about everyone's drive-in movie theater experiences has made me feel nostalgic as well, so I searched the Web and found two great sites:
http://www.driveinmovie.com/CA.htm lists California locations and brief historical info about past and current drive-in movie theaters.
http://www.driveinmovie.com/mainmenu.htm is the main site that lists information for drive-in movie theaters across the United States.
AllyOops!
08-01-2005, 04:41 PM
My two most popular Drive-In's were Winnetka & Hi-Way 39. I wish I could remember the names & locations of the others, but those two pop into my mind most. One, I believe, was in Van Nuys. Lotsa movies there, too!
As a little kid, I LOVED when My Mom would take my little brother & I to the Drive-In! Those were just the most fun times together. :) She would dress us in our jammies, bring lots of blankets, pop a huge ol' tub of popcorn at home, and sometimes? We would stop at Pup n' Taco ( How I miss thee!) for grape slushies. I remember we would get so excited for the Chilly Willy or Woody Woodpecker cartoons that kicked off each movie! I remember going to see Grease & Star Wars at the Drive-In.
As I got older....
I remember going to the Hi-Way 39 Drive-In! I was forever in Orange County at the time, since my boyfriend & I both worked at Disneyland- me working on Main Street, and he rowing on the Canoes. We went to the Drive-in a whole bunch, but rarely, um, saw the entire movie. :evil: I remember he once left the big metal audio box clipped to my car window, then forgot to unnattach it, drove off, and not only bent the entire pole flat, but the metal box came flying in at ME. Of course, I kept it as a souvenier of our young & super dorky love. :rolleyes:
After the Northridge Earthquakes, any Valley girl or guy can attest to the squillions of construction sites set up EVERYWHERE. My brother and his crew, which consisted of my friends, too, would head off to the Winnetka Drive-in. My brother (Smee) would hit up a construction site, grab a piece of plywood, stick it in his pick-up truck, and then lay it across the exit spikes so that the whole valley could enter the Drive-In that night for free. Nice.
And I'll never forget the time we stuck my poor girlfriend Sherri in the trunk. What the flock were we thinking?? Nobody could pony up a ticket price? And she actually INSISTED on climbing in! I believe we tried even to stop her. Double nice. :(
Aww, memories!
Drince88
08-01-2005, 05:12 PM
But how does one look "skyward" when one's car roof is, well, "skyward"?
I think I'd prefer watching a movie while sitting on a comfy couch. I like to lean back. If I'm not comfortable, I'm not interested.
Actually, I think our local drive-in was all level (though what do I know, I don't think I ever visited it when I was old enough to drive -- I could ask my sister (who supposedly went there all the time) but I'm pretty sure that detail wasn't really important to her)
ANYWAY, the screen was up high enough that the cars ahead of you weren't in the way, and you didn't park so close that you needed to look up to see - you could see through the windshield from the front-seat ok.
And who says you can't lean back in your car???
AllyOops!
08-01-2005, 05:20 PM
Well, there was the one time I went to the drive-in with one of my youth ministers and we drank a lot of cheap pre-mixed daqueries (or something), and then........EWWWWW I don't even want to remember this story!
Oh, but I do. Are you sure you don't want to share? :evil: ;)
Aww.. young Drive-In love! :D
Now, that I think about it, whomever had the pleasure of tending to the grounds of the Drive-In the following morning must have had to majorly held back the gag as he swept up, rather peeled up, scads of used condoms.
Mmm...popcorn, candy wrappers and..used romans!
*YACK*
Not Afraid
08-01-2005, 05:25 PM
Oh, but I do. Are you sure you don't want to share? :evil: ;)
I think I just wanted to see what sex with the sexually repressed was like. :evil:
Snowflake
08-19-2005, 07:13 AM
My local Drive-in was the Hi-Way 39 Drive-in Theater (http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/southwest/california/socal/socaldrivein/index.htm), on, Beach Blvd (duh) just North of the 405.
Roadsidepeek, what a FAB-U-LOUS website, now bookmarked to savour like a good olive. :snap:
Snow
Brigitte
08-19-2005, 07:35 AM
I used to go to the drive-in Prudence mentioned in Bellingham! Then we moved to Whidbey Island and there's one there too. I think it's still in operation (though honestly it's been years since I've driven by it), though they added go-karts to it. We also have been to one in Tacoma with my sister in law and family. There aren't any (that I'm aware of, Wendybeth?) open over here though so we haven't been to one in at least 12 years. It was always a lot of fun though.
Cadaverous Pallor
08-19-2005, 03:46 PM
Regarding seeing the screen and being comfy -
I went with friends a couple times as a kid, and they had an older SUV. They'd park it backwards and open up the back so we could all lay down there with blankets and watch. Parents sat in lawn chairs. We had snacks in a cooler. It was more like tailgaiting than anything.
When GD and I went, we took my 79 Buick wagon, parked it backwards and got really comfy in the back. ;)
blueerica
08-19-2005, 04:35 PM
Drive-ins...
Ah, how I do miss that experience. It really was kinda fun, wasn't it?
The navy base I was on in Spain(Rota if you need to know) has a Drive in theater. Saw a few movies there, good times drinking and bbq'ing while some movie was playing. Don't remember watching too many good movies, it was just a chance to hang out with the peeps from work in a more social setting and hang out for a bit with a brew and some food.
The navy base I was on in Spain(Rota if you need to know) has a Drive in theater. Saw a few movies there, good times drinking and bbq'ing while some movie was playing. .
You had a barbeque? Yeh, that is pretty much why I stopped going to the movies.
You had a barbeque? Yeh, that is pretty much why I stopped going to the movies.
Hell yeah, but the bbq area was towards the back of the lot to keep the distractions down. Sigh, twas good times.
Hell yeah, but the bbq area was towards the back of the lot to keep the distractions down. Sigh, twas good times.
We weren't that advanced in South City, but I do miss the Drive In. I can't see the concept working as well in this day and age, what with all the Hummers* and such. Indeed, the last time I went to the drive-in movies a giant monster truck pulled right in front of me. And worse, it was wearing a big hat.
vBulletin® v3.6.4, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.