07.21.08
Movie Ticket Prices - The Cost of Taking a Family of Five to See Batman
We’re all huge Batman fans in my family so Friday morning I purchased 5 tickets from moviefone.com for the evening show of the Dark Knight. It cost us $100.50 for a 2 1/2 hour movie. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was awesome. We all loved it, in fact we all would actually see it again…well, if we didn’t have to pay for it!
So here is the cost breakdown of our little family Friday night treat:
Movie tickets (2 adults, 3 children, $1 ea online surcharge): $50.50
4 Popcorns $24.00
1 Candy $ 4.50
5 Sodas $17.50
Parking $ 4.00
GRAND TOTAL $100.50
Gone are the days of the drive in movie when your parents used to pack you into the car in pajamas and make you hide under the blanket in the back seat so they wouldn’t have to pay for you. Gone are the prices too! At today’s prices you have to be really selective in the movies you choose. How does any one afford to take their family to the movies these days?
Stumble it!
Janna said,
July 22, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Here’s a hint: Don’t buy popcorn, candy and sodas at the cinema. You’ve saved nearly half of your 100 bucks right there. If you insist on snacks, bring your own.. but remember to hide them in a purse or coat pocket!
CreditMom said,
July 22, 2008 at 12:59 pm
LOL….I’ve done that before. There’s a Target right near the theatre. When we have time to pre-plan we go there, buy a few bottles of soda and their home made popcorn. The whole thing comes to less than $10. The challenge is sneaking it in though!
beth said,
July 23, 2008 at 10:46 am
And that’s not even including the gas it takes to cart the family to the theater!
Nyota said,
July 23, 2008 at 10:59 am
I agree that going to the movies these days is pretty expensive. I have found the ultimate way to save…I wait for everthing to come on Cable! If I do go, I splurge since it is a rare event.
Jessica said,
July 23, 2008 at 11:18 am
Im about an hour north of nyc and my area has two drive in movie theaters….so you can still get away with hiding under the blankets and the price per person is about $2-3 cheaper than a regular theater and thats for two different movies!
CreditMom said,
July 23, 2008 at 11:21 am
Wow…I didn’t even know there are still some drive ins. Can you tell me exactly where they are? Would love to take my kids for a treat.
Thanks for responding.
Jessica said,
July 23, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Poughkeepsie NY on route 44 and Hyde Park NY on route 9
CreditMom said,
July 23, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Thanks Jessica….we’ll check them out!
Glenniss said,
July 23, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I agree… the movies are becoming very expensive. With a Student discount a night out can still become costly. Most of the time I wait for the movie to come out on cable enless its a movie that I really would like to see.
Jessica said,
July 23, 2008 at 2:01 pm
No problem, however I made a mistake with one of the locations. The Poughkeepsie drive in theater is called the Overlook drive in and it is actually on Degarmo Rd not route 44. Sorry about that!
Barb said,
July 23, 2008 at 3:13 pm
For our family, movies at the theater are a special treat…I think we go see one every three? months or so… I do have to agree with Janna - we recently went to see WallE and planned it so that we had dinner before we went; my 7 yr old son wasn’t even hungry and we zipped right past the concessions with no questions asked. I put some skittles into a zip bag and pulled them out about half way through - I think my husband and I ate more of them than he did. Drinks have always been off limits because we don’t want to have to leave in the middle of the movie when he all of a sudden has to go! An idea that we have had success with is to ask family to buy our son “movie money” for birthday or Christmas gifts instead of giving just cash or buying him stuff he doesn’t need. Those, paired with the occasional McDonalds or Red Robin gift cards, and we have a pretty inexpensive movie night. Yikes, you have to pay to park to go see a movie?! Also, with all the mega movie complexes, we never have a problem buying the tickets at the window(saving the online charge).
CreditMom said,
July 23, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Thanks Barb…yes at this theatre we actually do have to pay to park and shop and whatever else you want to do. We live in a major metro area and I guess that’s the price you pay for it. When we have enough time to plan I must admit we do “sneak” in the candy and sodas. We try to go to theatres that don’t really check…believe it or not some of them do.
CreditMom said,
July 23, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Even pay per view is cheaper….we make our own popcorn and spend less than $10 on a movie…and you can pause it when the kids need to go to the bathroom!
Barb said,
July 23, 2008 at 3:43 pm
We live in a suburb, outside of Cleveland OH, and we have many theatres within a 10 mile radius. The libraries of today are pretty good bets too! When the movie is gone from the theatre pretty quickly, we wait just a few months and once its out on DVD a copy can usually be found at our local library, along with copies of so many other movies we never got to go see!!
Catherine said,
July 25, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I agree that the snacks and drinks really add up. You can also consider getting larger sizes for cost savings, and having more people share.
Rosie : ) said,
July 29, 2008 at 4:26 pm
A movie night with the kids has not happened to date, mostly due to the fact that the age span between the kids doesn’t permit us all enjoying the same movie. It doesnt help that I have had babies for the past 10 years
My husband takes a child on their very first movie outing around the age of 4, and it is a father-son/father-daughter bonding time. This excursion doesn’t cost too much.
The movie-time that costs us so much is the ones that are not as a couple. My husband will go with his friend, or I will go with my friend, and the concessions alone cost alot! It seems like when my hubby and I go to the movies together (about once a year, since its hard to get a reliable babysitter..or two) we tend to share our popcorn and he finishes off my ice tea. All in all, not too bad.
I think the moral of the story for you would be that this is not a monthly/weekly occurance. I also think it is an experience that your children will remember. So, maybe a 100$ night out might seem expensive, but it is a rare occasion and a memorable one at that. What more can a Mom want?
CreditMom said,
July 29, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Yup Rosie
Totally agree….you have to splurge sometimes!
Donna Freedman said,
August 25, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I save points from the My Coke Rewards program and get free movie tickets (which come with coupons for one free soda) as well as coupons good for free popcorn with the purchase of a soda.
You need a lot of points to get the tickets; the free popcorn coupon is 32 points and doesn’t expire until next January. Please note, however, that I don’t drink that much soda, bottled water or sports beverages — the majority of my points come from others.
You can read the specifics at the Smart Spending blog. The URL is http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2008/08/13/how-to-go-to-the-movies-for-free.aspx.
Start saving (and collecting from elsewhere) now and maybe you’ll be all set by the time the Christmas movie season rolls around.