Drive-ins?

United States
August 1, 2007 9:05am CST
I've been seeing all my movies at a drive-in theater lately. while the sound quality is no better than your car's radio, I think it's a much better movie-going experience. You don't have to worry about bothering other people, you can talk as loud as you want during the movie, you can take the whole family and let the kids play in the playground, and best of all, the local drive in offers a 5 dollar double feature. (Transformers and Harry Potter last night). My question is this: With only 500 working drive-ins in America, is this an untapped market? Would you go to one if it were marketed right?
2 people like this
9 responses
@magikrose (5429)
• United States
1 Aug 07
Back in the 50's Drive-ins were the only way to see a newly released movie. They were all over the place. When the movie theater came out people prefered to go there. we have a drive-in about 20min away and we prefer to go to the drive-in to see movies. Like you said it is a double feature and not as expensive as going to the theater. The consession stand is almost as expensive as the theater tho, so we bring our own snacks.
2 people like this
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
1 Aug 07
WOw, your drive-in has a playground...cool! We go to the drive-in. We have 2 in our area. I think they could be a great summer place with some planning. Okay..you can bring your own food..is healthier and cheaper. You are right...you can talk without disturbing the people around you. You don't get disturbed by people climbing over you. You can bring in chairs and blankets and make yourself comfortable. The picture quality is not as good as the movies..but it is ok. You can bring the little ones and they can just go to sleep when they are tired. They can even come in their jammiers. Let's see what could we do to bring them back...put in a picnic area, with some music. Could grill hot dogs, burgers, corn on the cob etc to sell at a reasonable price a few hours before the movie. Could even have a flea market/craft fair/farmers market - imagine being able to do a little shopping before the movie. When I was a kid they had fireworks on weekends. Maybe bring in the radio stations to do some promotions. The 50's were a time of innocence in this country and drive-ins were big then...let's bring back the 50's - drive-ins, sock hops and pink flamingos
2 people like this
@venshida (4836)
• United States
2 Aug 07
In my area there is drive in. It's about 30 mins away so I usually don't go there to often. I don't think a lot of people know it exist. I think if it is marketed right it might get more people. The times I have gone there the place was practically empty.
• United States
8 Aug 07
Once I get some money, I'm considering opening one myself. Market them as family oriented, HD radio to offer a fighting chance against DTS or whatever new sound stuff they've got in theaters now, (plain ol' radio for those of us with older cars), have two frequencies, even, for english version and spanish dub, to attract a wider audience, as it were. The only things is location and capital. I don't want to steal business from the existing ones, and I'm broke and have bad credit at the moment. But one day, expect to see a national chain of Drive-ins, all owned by Yours Truly.
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I used to love going to the drive-in but unfortunately there are none left in our area. We were lucky enough to be able to take our kids before the last one closed down and they thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. I can't understand why there isn't a bigger market for it.
2 people like this
@myfanwy65 (1030)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I love going to the drive-in. But the closest one is an hour drive. So, I don't go often.
2 people like this
• Canada
7 Aug 07
I use to love going to drive in as a kid. My mom and her friend use to go and I would sleep in the back seat. I always thought it was so cool to watch a moive from your car. I just wish they still had them around. I should look online and see where they are still located and next time try and plan my vacation around that! lol. I think it would be kewl to take my kids there now. With all the new technology they have now a days, kids could use a little blast from the pat.
1 person likes this
@brimia (6581)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I used to love going to drive-ins. They don't have any nearby anymore. They're a lot of fun and a good deal. The only things that could be unpleasant were the mosquitoes and/or heat.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
2 Aug 07
here in the Philippines, there really isn't any drive in movie places.. it becomes a big deal whenever there is one that's sponsored, usually by a radio station, and it's held in one of the open fields in the metro.. i've joined contests and won and got to watch with my girlfriend, and i agree, it does feel better than being in the movie house. . .
@gapeach65 (805)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I really wish we had one close by, I remember going to the drive -in when I was little, mom would always pack a dinner and snacks, my sisters and I would get into our PJ's and we were set. I don't remember the movie, just the family time, but after all that was the most important thing about those nights. I went to a couple when I was in high school, too. They were so cool, I'd love to be able to share the experience with my kids.
1 person likes this