to think that when I go to the cinema....

[BigBadMummy]

I will be permitted to enjoy the film considering my it cost nearly £60 for five of us to go?

Instead we had to suffer:

1. being ripped off to the tune of £6.25 for a small Pepsi and a bag of M&Ms. (haven't been to cinema in years, hadn't realised how expensive it had become, never again).

1. freezing to death because the cinema decided to crank up the A/C. I don't feel the cold normally, but my fingers were blue. I know it is sunny outside but it is still only 4 degrees.

1. the DCs in the row behind kicking the boxing under her seat. repeatedly. for an hour. and. forty minutes. she. did. not. stop.

1. her father rattling his noisy sweets around the inside of his "pick n mix" storage box. As he got to the bottom all you could hear was them rolling around.

1. the woman in front eating toffees and unwrapping them. noisily.

1. somebody close by eating a stinking hot dog.

1. the constant beeping of the anti-theft-device on the entrance to the screen. Everytime somebody went through it holding their 3D glasses it went off. Must have been a dozen times throughout the film and it didn't beep once as they passed it but went on for bloody ages.

And they wonder why cinema is dying on its arse and people are buying DVDs instead?

I just wanted to have an afternoon with the DCs and DH watching Alice in Wonderland.

[Kneazle]

£60 thats a huge amount which cinema is that ?

[BrahmsThirdRacket]

You're a fool to buy food at the cinema - you should go to Tesco beforehand and sneak it in. I only go to the cinema in the middle of the day when the film is near the end of its run. Other people are annoying. I will always tell a child to stop it if they kick the back of my seat, and they tend to do so.

[BigBadMummy]

It was a Vue in Camberley, £56, and that included a "family ticket" for four of us which is supposed to be cheaper than buying them individually.

[BigBadMummy]

Brahms you are quite right, will never buy food in there again. In fact I don't think I will be going to the cinema ever again.

My problem is I have parental guilt because my DS is away at school when he comes home at the weekend I have this compulsion to "do something as a family".

Sod it, we will be playing Scrabble next weekend.

[BrahmsThirdRacket]

Much better to watch a DVD at home and have pizzas etc or play a game as you say

[Kneazle]

Was it more because it was 3D ?

[ChasingSquirrels]

or go to the £1 kids club in the morning

[mumeeee]

I never buy food at the cinema. We just take drinks and sweets in with us. 3D is dearer but going to the cinema is expensive anyway.

[TheCrackFox]

YANBU

If they reduced their prices for tickets and food more people would go and their bottom line would be healthier.

I only take the DCs to the Am kids club on a Sat/Sun for 95p each - we take out own food. The films are about 6 months old but the Dcs don't seem to mind.

[rookiemater]

The food in the cinema is absolutely ridiculous. I kick myself when I forget my bottle of water and have to pay £2.25 for it.
Decided to treat myself to a small popcorn the other day and it cost £3.75. How much are popcornkernels anyway, about 90p a bag ?

Could try saving tesco vouchers, its a very good deal for cineworld tickets.

[cookielove]

I don't think the family ticket offered you any saving, me and dp went to see avatar 3d, booked online so had to pay a booking fee, only paid £22, So even if two more adults joined us it would have been less.

Agree with others, take a large handbag and take your own food in, ridculously expensive in cinemas.

[Nancy10]

We always stock up in the local Tesco on sweets and drinks. Use our Tesco club card points to buy the tickets. arrive early so we can sit at the back and not having people behind us annoying us. I would much rather go without food then pay their ridiculous prices. Especially as my kids usually drop their pop corn!

[NoahAndTheWhale]

We go to Kids Club showings (which are sometimes up to date). Saw Up when it was out generally.

We take out own snacks but a few sweets or so - you don't need much for a 90 minute film.

[MudandRoses]

I always make popcorn at home and put it in a bag and take it with me! I read somewhere that 90% of cinema profits come from the 'concessions' (popcorn and pepsi!)

[Firawla]

£60!!!! you could have got a lot of dvds for that, and with dvd you can buy it watch it and sell it on again on amazon or ebay and nearly make your money back anyway.. so works out quite cheap
i've not been to cinema in ages (few years..), i feel really shocked to realise it costs 60 quid now for a family to go. omg! such a rip off, even if you got to watch in peace that is an extreme rip off for watching just one film

[Meanwoman]

I was planning to take my three sons to see Clash of the Titans today, but it's going to cost us just under £40 to sit in just the standard seats, so it's DVDs for us! Surely the film-makers should be footing the bill for these 3D effects, not the cinema-goers?

[fartblossom]

It is true that most of the profits come from the food. The price of the tickets most of the time do not cover the cost the cinema has to lay out in order to show the film. They only cover the costs if its a big screen that sells out a lot more than average.

I agree that going to the cinema is not a cheap entertainment venue and we only go every once in a while as it is so expensive.

I think that a cinema experience should be an enjoyable experience as it does cost so much. So yanbu.

[mustrunmore]

We do what alot of other posters have said....
1.only see the kids AM 95p viewings, or if really desperate to see something up to date, I take ds1 on orange Wednesday
2.Pop own corn at home. Healthier too; sweeten with honey

1. We take entire picnic for kids; butties (not noisy to eat), popcorn, drink, sweets, banana.
2. Get there before it fills up so you get a good seat.

3d is £2something more per tickets, omg, and the 'luxury seats' are about that too. Its a complete rip off for kids to see full price films; its hardly anytime before they're on 95p/out on dvd anyway!

[Greenshadow]

Why does everyone feel it necessary to eat when at the cinema at all?
It's only a couple of hours.

[benotafraid]

Tricks to a cheap(ish) cinema experience = Orange wednesdays, sneak in own food, only see 3D films if it's absolutley unmissable.

[mustrunmore]

Because its a good way to keep ds2 seated if its something more suited to ds1.

[deaddei]

I NEVER go to the cinema as the smell of popcorn and hotdogs makes me want to vomit.
Also, I like to pause a film if I need the loo......
Dcs take own sweets from Wilkinson's if they go- 75p worth of pick and mix and a bottle of water.