Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cinema prices

74 replies

LittleMissRayofHope · 14/02/2015 08:32

Wondering what to do with the toddler today, thought 'oh yes! Props pig movie just came out!'
So go to check prices, nearest cinema is Cineworld.
£10.40 for me, £7.10 for her!!

Maybe it's been that long since I've been to the cinema but I'm gobsmacked at how expensive it is!!
And doubly gobsmacked that they would actually charge full adult rate for this type of film. It's not as if I actually want to see it, I'm just the guardian basically!
Sad as I simply can't afford that much for a film!!

OP posts:
Chips1999 · 14/02/2015 10:01

It is very expensive! We have taken DS (3 years old) a few times, our local cinema (Vue) has a kids showing at 10:00am on weekends which is £1.50 per person which I think is great value.

aprilshowers2016 · 14/02/2015 11:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KitKat1985 · 14/02/2015 12:00

YANBU. I think they're very expensive now. Plus snacks and drinks at the cinema are extortionate. And I agree with a PP, you would think that after all that you would at least be allowed to skip adverts, but no, our local cineworld still shows about 10 mins of adverts before each film, and then at least another 10 mins of previews. I don't go anymore.

Sorrybutilikekatie · 14/02/2015 12:19

Argh it cost £46.50 to see Shaun the sheep last week that included a bottle of water and a coke. So expensive

YourMaNoBraBackOfMyCar · 14/02/2015 13:22

It is very expensive. However if we go with the kids (once every two years or so) we avoid the odeon at the Trafford centre which is over £10 for a child and go to vue at the Lowry. We book vip family seats which include free sweets, drinks and popcorn. It costs around £35. Still dear but not as bad as it could be. I remember when going to the cinema was a regular and cheap event. It was something to do when skint. Not any more. Hmm

MrsMook · 14/02/2015 13:52

I very rarely go now. Pre DCs about 5 years ago, £5 each for two of us was sensible, and we went frequently. Two years ago I took a two year old and my new baby, and did a double take at £15 and checked that I wasn't being charged for the baby as I wasn't expecting it to cost so much. It seems crazy when you can spend less on the DVD three months later. It is purely the pricing that deters me.

FourEyesGood · 14/02/2015 14:04

We only ever take the DCs to the cinema for Movies for Juniors screenings - £1.50 per person (less if we book online beforehand), and we take in a £1 bag of Haribo to share (decanted into little pots so there's no rustling). So the whole trip costs £7 at most. We just have to wait a few months to see films rather than see them when they're first released.

I don't resent paying £9ish to see a proper grown-up film. I saw Kingsman and Whiplash recently and both films were well worth the ticket price. (Didn't buy any snacks, though!)

AlfieandAnnieRose · 14/02/2015 14:20

Wow £46.50 Shock I agree prices are so extortionate now and they only seem to be increasing, I dread to think how much it will cost in a couple of years time.
As an avid cinema goer I signed up for a Cineworld unlimited card which was great and I would go every week. I don't have the time now but definitely worth it if you like going to the cinema frequently, think it's about £14 a month now, annual membership.

RJnomore · 14/02/2015 14:24

Unfortunately it's not a rip off - the fees that the film companies charge to be able to show their films are extortionate, thus the high price for a seat.

I am sure I read somewhere the cinemas barely cover their costs with the ticket prices, they make any profit from their snacks.

Doe not help with with shock of it being nearly £40 for a family to go see a film though!

FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/02/2015 14:29

Took DS to the cinema last night, was £5.60 total including the booking fee, it is a great independent cinema which charges £2.50 Monday to Friday and £3.50 at weekends. For that I don't mind adding on popcorn and a drink.

mrsminiverscharlady · 14/02/2015 14:29

We use our tesco Clubcard vouchers almost exclusively for cinema tickets. We take our own snacks (except the time I had a stonking hangover and needed salty popcorn and sugary coke to revive me!) and it makes it a regular, affordable treat.

mrsminiverscharlady · 14/02/2015 14:30

Also Groupon sometimes have odeon cinema tickets may 2 for about a tenner.

Hygellig · 14/02/2015 14:37

I agree the prices are expensive. I live in the Midlands and it is £5.50 for adults or children at my local cinema, and only £1 cheaper on a weekday in term-time. When we went to see Shaun the Sheep there were only about seven people in the cinema, so I can't imagine it is very profitable for them - they'd get more bums on seats if they had some special offers aimed at parents of preschoolers (there is a kids club on Saturday morning which may be cheaper).

Paddington was the first time I'd been to the cinema since 2010 as normally we just watch DVDs or wait for the films to come out on TV.

TidyDancer · 14/02/2015 15:08

I just checked - my local Cineworld is £10.30 and Odeon is over £11. I don't go to the cinema often and now I know why!

Cliffdiver · 14/02/2015 15:24

YANBU, the cinema is a total rip off, and the snacks and drinks are ridiculously expensive too which is why I smuggle my own in, I think I heard once that the mark up on popcorn is something like 2000%!

thegreylady · 14/02/2015 15:28

We have 'flicks in the sticks' at the town hall. We are taking two dgc to see the Penguins of Madagascar movie on Monday. It is £19 for two adults and two children. It would be £20 but I get £1 off. So 2x£4 , 1x£6 and 1x £5. It's not bad at all, comfy seats, good coffee, popcorn etc and a two minute walk from home.

getdownshep · 14/02/2015 15:52

My dd and her bf were going to go to the cinema last night,£17 each as it was 3DShock They didn't bother!

mommy2ash · 14/02/2015 16:05

i take my dd to the cinema whenever there is something she wants to watch in. its usually about once a month.

i try to go to the early showing in the morning they used to be 4.50 per person but have put it up now to 5.30.

i never buy food in the cinema way too overpriced. we go the shop beforehand. if they sold their food at regular prices they would make so much more profit as people would buy there for the convenience.

searook · 14/02/2015 16:30

We've only been able to take DS (autistic) to the cinema since he was awarded DLA - this has meant we can get a card which enables me to get in free, so we just pay the cost of his child ticket for both of us. It would be far too expensive otherwise especially as I can't always be sure he'll cope with it and sometimes wants to leave early. Luckily he is very fussy about food and never wants any of the overpriced snacks they sell there.

Isithappening · 14/02/2015 18:25

Searook are you aware of the autism friendly screenings? Cineworld, odeon, vue and showcase all offer an autism friendly screening once a month. You can use the CEA carer card and you can take your own food in too. There are no trailers and the seating is not allocated.

SvenandSven · 14/02/2015 18:29

We have an empire in one town near us family ticket for 4 is £25 with free parking. Or town in other direction from us is an odeon and family ticket for 4 is £12 but we have to pay for parking there £1 an hour and is a smaller cinema. I never buy sweets and drinks in the cinema as you can easily pay more for those than your cinema ticket.

clockingoff · 14/02/2015 18:47

The cinema used to be a cheap night out or a handy way of entertaining the children on a wet afternoon.

Nowadays, with all the small slightly scruffy local cinemas being replaced with large, shiny multiplexes it costs an absolute fortune. It's not just the tickets. It's the car parking and the rip off prices for pop corns and sweets. Most of the new cinemas don't even sell normal size packets of crisps and sweets. They're all big huge bags that cost an arm and a leg, with rules about not being allowed bring in anything bought outside.

I would love to see the old small cinemas being brought back and the horrible multiplexes being demolished.

BeaLola · 14/02/2015 18:49

We go to movies for juniors with DS and take our own drinks and snacks -very big handbag !
We go to cheap Tuesday's for other films and occasionally splash out for full price eg last one was with girlfriends to see Into the Woods, and I'm hoping once schools back to see Marigold Hotel 2 before afternoon pickup.

Stevie77 · 14/02/2015 19:20

Only big multiplexes around here, I've never seen anywhere that offers kids tix for £1.50! I clearly live near the previous poster because our nearest is Odeon @ Trafford Centre and it's a rip off. Would love to go more because I love the cinema, but it's so expensive! The other two nearest are both Vue but I don't know of any others, the local independent one closed many years ago.

FuzzyWizard · 14/02/2015 19:29

I live less than 10min walk from a cineworld and have their unlimited membership which costs me £15.60 per month. We now go to the cinema about 5 times per month and think that works out good value. The regular prices are eye-watering though. We rarely buy popcorn there because of the prices, although sometimes buy a coffee or something from their Starbucks which feels less of a rip-off.

Swipe left for the next trending thread