If It's Free It Might Mean That It Costs Time

My older son is almost 5 years old. During every summer since his birth, I have heard about the free movies that Regal Cinemas offers for kids. Basically they're offered twice a week at 10 am (at least out here) and the movies rotate. Sometimes the movies have been released within the year, and sometimes they're older movies like Clifford the Big Red Dog or Veggie Tales.

I've been interested in going, but I honestly didn't understand exactly how it worked. I also wasn't sure if my kids were even old enough to enjoy going. Some people told me that the kids had to fulfill obligations such as writing a book report to be able to see the free movie. My guess is that the requirements depend on the movie theater.

Yesterday morning a friend of mine called me up and asked if the boys and I would like to join her and her sons at the showing of The Bee Movie. It was hot and humid, and the thought of central AC was quite appealing. We met my friend at the theater right after my older son's swim lesson. Fortunately she had gotten there ahead of time, because she got us the last tickets. The theater was so crowded that there weren't enough seats in the movie theater. Apparently 4 vans worth of campers from a particular camp got tickets ahead of time which I honestly think is a good idea for a camp. However, it was not so helpful to those of us who are not part of the camp. I'm thinking that there was a miscount of tickets because we had to sit on the steps of the theater. I believe that this is against the fire code. I would have turned around and gone home, but we had already bought popcorn for the kids to share and told them that they were going to see the movie.

Fortunately for us, something drove people to begin leaving the theater early. I suspect it was either the length of the movie or the fact that the crowd overtaxed the AC. Regardless, my friend and I were able to snatch nearby seats and enjoy the second half of the movie. For the record, the kids all really enjoyed the whole movie.

My advice is to go early. That way you'll not only get tickets, but hopefully a seat as well.