Bluelitespecial

http://drafthouse.com/kansas_city/mainstreet
I am sad to see AMC leave the Power and Light District, but this news was just announced. I am curious about what this will mean. Theater Operations are supposed to be the same through the summer, before the changes are revealed this fall. I just wanted to hear from the Texas people on the board, about to expect with this news.

TomOpus

I mentioned this in the other thread about 10 Best Theaters. Main changes are the other 3 screens will have food service, menu will change and the bar area will change somewhat. I would expect some nice classic movie presentations.

I am sad to see the AMC Mainstreet go too. It was my fiancée's and mine first date on my first visit to KC.

Mordred

No ads. No talking/texting during the show. Probably some cool showings and special features (depending on what type of theater you have). Your theater going experience is going to drastically improve.

Osiris3657

An excellent movie-going experience. Because of their famously strict no talk/text policy you will never have to worry about being frustrated by some inconsiderate asshole.
The food is good enough.
Because of all the special showings (sometimes they'll have a marathon for a certain actor, or screenings of classic children's movies, or a particular theme ie horror movies from the 50's) it'll feel like you're at a place run by true film geeks like yourself rather than a corporate entity.

majorjoe23

I love that there's now one in the midwest. I hope that the expansion continues.

Mabuse

I asked this in another thread but no body answered:

starman9000

Yeah, I'm annoyed by texters, but they are hardly more annoying that the seemingly acceptable behavior of making as much noise as possible eating popcorn and fumbling with candy packages. I can't imagine a dinning experience helps much.

Osiris3657

You'd be surprised. They wear dark clothing and are always bent at the knees so they aren't blocking anyone's view. They get close to you so you can speak quietly and vice versa. It can't be a coincidence that all waiters who have served me at an Alamo have done this. I'm sure they are trained to be as courteous as possible to other guests.

coyoteblue

I won't say that the waiters/diners can't be annoying sometimes, but for the most part I just tune it out. It may just be a case of picking your poison. The atmosphere is congenial, though and there's nothing like sitting through a 12 hour Alamo movie marathon. Plus there's cool stuff like the Doctor Who showings (another one at the end of this month).

JumpCutz

Exactly.

Okay so waiters are in black, bent at the knees and miming... audience members are still going to be chomping their food, crinkling packages, rustling about, fiddling with their food and slurping beverages.

The concept of eating a meal while watching a movie seems a bit odd, I'd much rather focus on what's on the screen than what's on my plate.

I can eat before or after the movie.

starman9000

Don't get me wrong, I like the format of dinner and a movie sometimes. We used to have a "cinema grill" here that I thought was a blast...it's just a bit lame that that type of theater is gaining popularity for being such hard-asses about one type of distraction while promoting another.

TomOpus

Not everyone orders food. Not sure how Alamo will change things but, for example, popcorn came in a bowl so no rustling of a bag. Most people in this type of environment will be quieter and more respectful of others. Plus the stadium seating means you're not all on the same level so sounds get. muffled.

resinrats

Nothing says movie list listening to someone smacking their lips while eating. Also, eating dinner prompts burps that popcorn doesn't.

No wonder Harry Knowles loves this place, His favorite activity of eating has the added bonus of a film being shown at the same time.

Osiris3657

You guys hating on it should really try it first before making all these assumptions.
They don't use ceramic/porcelain/metal plates and bowls so you don't hear them klinking together with silverware. They don't sell bags of candy so you won't hear the crinkling of plastic (unless they sneak it in).

I am a very picky theater goer. I try to go to matinee showings as often as possible to avoid all the douchebags that show up on Friday/Saturday night. I don't have any hesitation of going to a Friday or Saturday night showing if I'm going to the Alamo because the audience is respectful and they will throw your ass out if you're disturbing others.

RobLutter

Seriously? Where do you people live that you can hear others eating? That's disgusting.

I love the Alamo for its' great beer selection, myself. The South Lamar location has 40+ beers on draft including hard-to-find and locals. Me and melady will usually split a pizza or popcorn and order drinks. I few of the locations do cocktails as well in town (Ritz and Slaughter Ln).

If they do the tabling anything like they have in the Slaughter Lane (their newest theater), you're in for a treat. You really never see the waiters.

Also, it's not cool to make fun of wheelchair bound people for their weight. Sigh.

starman9000

Are you joking?

You have to be like one of the texters that's convinced he's doing it discretely.

ultimaton

People eat during the movies regardless of whether it's the Alamo Drafthouse or a regular Cinemark/Regal/whatever. The difference is, at regular theaters, you have a fucking moron sitting next to you that has to get up, cross in front of you, step on your feet, kinda whispers "sorry, outta coke" then five minutes later they're back, stepping on your feet, crossing in front of you... then they start sucking that fucking coke like it's the last drops of water in death valley, and savaging their bag of popcorn looking for that last half popped kernel of corn to stuff down their face -- only to repeat the process probably 3 or more times in the span of 90 minutes. Times probably 20 depending on how crowded the theater is on any given day.

At the Drafthouse, the waiters stay pretty much out of your way, and if you're not ordering anything, there's a good chance you won't even notice them. If someone does have to get up, because of the layout, there's generally enough room for them to quickly go do whatever they got to do with minimum distraction to everyone else. And if you got someone that' is being a distraction, whether it's because they're talking, using their phone, or just eating loudly, you can discreetly inform your waiter and have them deal with it.

Where in the world are you that people just start uncontrollably burping and farting after eating? Jesus.

bluetoast

So some of the Alamos have stadium seating? That's a plus. At my local Drafthouse, I mainly go for the dollar movie nights. The print sucks, the sound sucks, most of the seating arrangements are terrible. I mean it's stadium in the sense that each "row" is like a step below the previous, but that doesn't do much.

Some of the non-table seats are so bad it's like that Bugs Bunny cartoon where a guy is in the baseball stadium and his seat is behind a pillar.

But since they offer acceptable food and good prices on certain days of the week, it's not a bad excursion during the work week.

TomOpus

Not sure of others but the one that this thread is about is moving into an already existing theater with stadium seating. Currently, 3 of the 6 screens have food service. I have not been in one of the non-food-service rooms so not sure how much work will be needed to convert the other 3.

One thing the theater did as the AMC Mainstreet 6 was you could reserve your seats online. I really liked that and hope Alamo continues that feature. I can't wait to see what it'll be like after the conversion is finished.

Bluelitespecial

I have only been to the mainstreet once, I saw Project X in one of the non food theaters. They are going to have to gut each one of those theaters quite a bit. They are just normal stadium seating theatres. I don't how they will do the rennovations while still being open. Maybe one theater at a time.

TomOpus

Yeah I would think one at a time too. Should be cool, though.

TomOpus

Bump!

Got a tweet today that they are closing down the theater tomorrow for the whole month while they go through the renovation that will transform it into a fully-functional Alamo Drafthouse.

Can't wait to see what they do to the place and the new menu for all the theaters. Ticket prices will be $6 before 6 and $10 afterwards.

Bluelitespecial

Iwas only able to see Ted there since the change, reopen date is november 15th. Some of the movies this month sounded pretty cool, Robocop, and the horror movies lined every friday night. Oh well there wiill always be next halloween.