To think the cinema is a day to day event

[Soboystake]

Not an experience or day out

I love these threads. They show a whole range of experiences, attitudes and perspectives. The.OP doesn't need to come back or explain herself or anything.

The ways different people experience the cost is totally understandable. We all have different incomes and budgets.

The things that surprise me about this thread are the number of people who buy snacks in advance to take in with them. Not because cinema snacks aren't expensive, but because I've never got into the habit of eating in the cinema.

Also, the number of people who think travelling half an hour turns the experience into a day out or a treat. I live in a city. I can walk to the nearest cinema. Takes me around half an hour and it feels "near".

It’s definitely an experience or day out for most people.

Most people I know go once a month or less.

Unless you have one of these monthly vouchers which means you go once a week or more, then it wouldn’t be.

Is it as expensive as people think? Of course it depends what cinemas you have near you but both Odeon and Vue do tickets for around £5. If you have 20 kids I have see how it would add up but £20 for a family of four isn’t ridiculous surely?

I think a lot of them now are cheaper than they used to be because they do need to compete with Disney Plus etc.

Edited to add I do not buy snacks but it’s easy enough to walk past them.

£15 for an adult and £9 for a child at my local cinema, so nearly £60 for a family of 5. Cineworld.

I can get cheaper if I drive 35 minutes away to the Vue.

Plus many cinemas are on retail/leisure parks so parking is free, our nearest one is like this, and it's also in walking distance. We don't go to the cinema but if we did, we could walk there and buy snacks if we wanted some from the M&S Simply Food or The Range/Iceland.

It's another modern day definition of 'more money than sense'. You can make the cinema into a hugely expensive expedition by paying the full price at the most expensive cinema available, paying for parking and buying popcorn, drinks and snacks while there and then complain that it's poor value for money/too expensive.

Or you can apply a few simple tweaks to do it for about a quarter of the cost and think it's quite good value and affordable.

I don't go every day, but I agree with you that it is not an 'event', it's just a nice thing to do. Tickets aren't all that expensive, and popcorn isn't mandatory (I don't have kids) Where are you all living that the cinema is ruinously expensive?

It used to be, when I was younger. Now it is a treat. We use vouchers to pay which allows us to splurge and get popcorn as well.

When I was a teenager, friends and I would go all the time as it was cheap. Now I can't afford to do that with my kids so it's a treat.

I guess it comes down to what is affordable, which will always be different for different people.

Our cinema is about £30 for 2 adults and 2 kids which would be a treat day out for us but my kids are small and have the attention span of a gnat. Also we have no one to baby sit 😞

I recently paid £35 for 2 people at our local cinema. Definitely not a daily thing, but I wouldn't call it 'an experience' either.

Yes I just looked at Cineworld here and it would be £25 for a family of four versus £20 at Vue and Odeon.

It’s expensive here-we have an Odeon and that’s often £9 a ticket-more for adults.

We try to do Meerkat deals but it not always possible to go on a school night. We never buy food or drinks there, but it’s still pricey to take all of us.

Id say it used to be a reasonably
priced everyday thing and is still ok if you’re going for a night out with friends (ie paying for one ticket) but taking a family of 4/5 can get v expensive.

It’s not an ‘experience’ but it is a treat, because it’s expensive to take our family of 5 and we don’t have any childcare to go just the 2 of us. Why does it matter how other people view it though? If you go a lot it’s ’day to day’, if you go rarely it’s probably more of a treat.

Our nearest cinema is a small independent local chain. Costs about £30 for a whole family, plus have to pay for parking and food/drink.
It's not something we ever do. If we went as a couple to watch a 'grown up' film, we'd need babysitters etc. on top.
They do a cheap offer for kids films, but never the newest or popular ones. £4 per person inc. a small drink and small popcorn. We do this sometimes but the films are older or not very good animated ones!

Aren’t YOU the cat’s pjs? 🤣

£12.95 for an adult and £8.95 for a child (I have 3) at the only one within 10 miles of us.

it is a fair point though 🤷

This ^

But if you’re going as a treat, it’s nice to get the kids a tub of popcorn. We don’t go very often so we do make more of the ‘thing’ of it. If you were going every week I can see that you wouldn’t bother with snacks etc, but as there’s rarely anything we want to bother watching and we have busy lives with work/hobbies/kids’ hobbies/therapies for disabled child etc we only go probably twice a year. I don’t think that’s going to give us diabetes.

£12.99 here so not a cheap outing. Glad I hate the cinema.

of course it’s nice
but that adds to the cost
so if you’re not going to the cinema because the cost of the ticket and snacks is too much for you but the cost of just the ticket is fine…. then that’s the point i suppose 🤷

But if you want popcorn, it's no more special or treaty if it costs £5 from the cinema than if it costs £1 from the supermarket and it's a good lesson to DC on sensible use of money. Few people will be wealthy enough to just throw away money like that without thought.

As a one off, it's only a few quid, but it's more about the attitude. Make those sorts of choices as a matter or routine and it makes a huge difference to how far your money goes.

Yes I guess you’re right. I just don’t like films that much I don’t think. If there’s something the kids really want to see then we’ll go and make a ‘treat’ of it, otherwise we don’t bother. I’d maybe go slightly more often if we had any childcare. I prefer to watch films in my own home generally though, as I’m not a big fan of other people 🤣.

I think of it as a cheap outing, not really a treat aside from getting to see a film you're looking forward to. Vue and Odeon are £5 per ticket here and we always take our own snacks and drinks. At Vue this is actually allowed so no need to hide them.

I don't go anymore. Firstly it is too expensive and in the last few years I have not enjoyed the experience.

Last time, I went I had sat next to me a woman who as well buying the usual cinema snacks Popcorn & large Coke with ice, came in with a carrier bag full of food. So for the 2 and a half hours duration of the film, she routinely rummaged in it pulling out a tray of sausage rolls in noisy cellophane, a big bag of Doritos that she also ate really noisily, A scotch egg, M&Ms, more crisps, etc. She chomped, rustled packaging and slurped on a big bottle of Evian once the large Coke was finished throughout. (The amazing thing, is that she was as skinny as a rake!). It was a huge distraction and I felt like I was in a Catherine Tate sketch as the food just kept coming out the bag, even when I thought 'She'll stop after that...'

At other times, I've had the person sat next to that have been totally absorbed in their WhatsApp conversation, texting like a maniac and with the annoying ping!

I do wonder why some people actually go to the cinema. Is it for some people a comfortable place to sit for a few hours when killing time?

Its s cheap afternoon out here £7.99 per ticket but i dont have kids