If a movie theater or other venue has a policy of "No outside food or drink" do you comply, or do you bring your own if you don't think you'll be found out?

As I said on the other Q, I tend to comply, because I eat before the movie or after, and have a proper meal.

However, I wouldn’t feel
bad at all bringing something in if I felt like it. The concession stand prices are ridiculous. Plus, most of it is clog your arteries food.

One time, years ago, we packed 4 bottles of water in our luggage, when we flew to Mexico, to not get trapped into buying water from the hotel. LOL. Can’t do that anymore. Same thing in my mind.

At a movie theater? Yes, I comply because I want that theater to stay in business.

I usually buy something. If I sneak food in it’s probably on accident. It’s the snacks not movies that keep theaters in business.

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It says the theaters make 85% profit on what they sell in the concessions. Sounds like they have room to bring the price down a little and be reasonable.

Or, they can keep doing what they do. A whole bunch of people obviously will spend the money on it. They’re spending it now.

If people don’t realize they don’t have to eat all day long I can’t help it. It’s the American way I guess.

I realize for some people the cinema experience isn’t the same without food. Also, kids are hungry more often, so I give an exception to them.

I do not drink or eat at the cinema.
I hate the crunching noise of pop corn and other snacks. It ruins the experience.
And drinking during the movie will force me to take a piss in the middle of the movie.

@JLeslie The theaters may be making an 85% profit on concession sales, but that doesn’t take into account the costs incurred in running one. The bottom line is what counts, and more importantly, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA). Otherwise, they can’t stay in business.

If the cinema has a published policy, probably not intentionally. If it doesn’t have signage up to say don’t consume food bought elsewhere, then I might bring in food from outside. In most cases, I just buy a coffee and ice cream in the cinema but as I mentioned on the other question, on occasions I’ll buy ice cream from the fabulous ice cream place near the cinema and take that in.

@Pied_Pfeffer OK. One article here

“Passman noted the firm’s adjusted EBITDA — short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — for the fourth quarter also hit a record level of $33.7 million. It was $113.4 million for the year. EBITDA is used by some firms to gauge overall profitability.”

Plus, profit is after you take all the expenses out. It is the bottom line. My link before this spoke of profit, not markup.

I don’t bring food and drink in because it’s the rule, and for me, an easy one to follow. I don’t need the empty calories and I don’t need to be spending ten bucks on a dollar’s worth bag of popcorn or box of candy. I just save my snacking for after the movie…

Unless they have peanuts, of course.

Of course. That being said, I reserve the right to take my dollars elsewhere if I don’t agree with that particular business’ policies. One of my favorite things is to curl up on a couch with a friend and watch films on a large flat screen with excellent sound equipment. Lights out. Popcorn and Coca Cola, or maybe brownies—baked by a local librarian—and milk, or Earl Grey, on an Art Deco sofa somewhere in New Jersey. It’s snowing outside. We’re watching the African Queen. You can’t get that experience in a theater.

With the home theater equipment you can get today, why even bother going to the theater?

I’ve got a big screen TV and also enjoy watching films at home, but going to the cinema is something of a ritual for my husband and I. Also, even with big screen TVs some films are just better seen on a huge screen to get the most impact from the cinematography/sound etc. It’s one of our favourite date nights. Go to the cinema, get our favourite seats, a coffee and an ice cream and follow up with dinner at a good restaurant to talk about the film.

There is a sweetie shop across the road from the local Cineworld where I sometimes buy toffees before a film. It does a roaring trade.

No I don’t. I’m too afraid I would be caught and thrown out of the theater.

But back when I was a kid and we went to the drive in movies, we would take a huge bag of popcorn, candy and pop from home. We only did that a couple times a year and was the only time we really got to eat junk food.

Mostly I eat elsewhere, but I will bring water from home. The giant multiplexes may need the concessions to stay in business, but I refuse to be held hostage by that. I often go to small theaters that don’t rely on concessions, but will have some tasty things for sale, usually to benefit a youth group or community betterment project.

I comply, by buying nothing. There’s one such kind of cinema in my city and it’s not because I’m not agree with the policy itself, but because I think they want to drain more money from us. The tickets there are ridiculously expensive, and so is the food. I’ve spent enough money on the tickets, I don’t want to waste more for their “accessory”.

If the policy is applied elsewhere, I won’t bother. That place just pisses me off by their price.

We usually go to matinee movies also. For the lower prices.

I don’t smuggle stuff in, but I also usually choose not to buy the overpriced food and drink unless the theater has good food and it was part of the plan. I tend to not need any while focusing on a film.

Most of the time I don’t bring stuff from the outside in, but that’s only because I tend to have plans to eat out at a restaurant after the movie. We usually go to matinees and eat lunch afterward.

That being said, I wouldn’t hesitate to bring food and drink inside, no matter what their sign says. That is for several reasons. First of all, I can’t afford the crap they sell at the theater. We go to the cheapy matinee movies, or use discount tickets, because the regular movie prices are way too expensive. Second of all, they only sell crap at the theaters. I don’t drink soda and I rarely eat candy, and I wouldn’t eat what passes for buttered popcorn on a dare.

If I bring something in, it’s usually my own water, in my re-usable water bottle, and a granola bar or breakfast bar. The water is a given, the food is rare. I always bring cough drops, though.

This question reminds me of when I was in second grade and we were taken to the movies as a reward for something. Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang I think. We all sat in one row and the teacher brought a paper grocery bag of candy bars that she passed down the row for everyone to take one. I don’t think it was allowed at the time, but she had to balance no candy with paying exorbitant theater prices. We weren’t allowed a drink for obvious reasons.

I comply with the rules because it’s easier, and because going 2 hours without chewing or drinking something. I might take a tin of really strong breath mints, like Altoids, to have something to suck on.

I’m diabetic, and they sell nothing I can eat. I sneak in a few sugar free Lifesavers and I’m good…

I don’t eat or drink in the theater. I don’t live in a desert nor am I working out in the sun. I am sitting comfortably in an air conditioned building. I’m a healthy guy and do not need constant nutrition. A movie is only 2 hours tops. I can wait.
I want to watch and enjoy the movie without the distraction of sticky fingers, crunching or spilled food.

The concession prices are outrageous, so I don’t buy anything there. If I need to have food, I bring it in or eat beforehand. But lately, I don’t consume anything in the theatre.

Gosh, I hope I’m not putting them out of business by not eating.

Lol. I guess a lot of jellies are not the target market for those concession stands in movie theaters.

I have on occasion put candy in my purse or a bottle of water.

To answer my own question, there are two main theaters near my house that I attend. One is a 16 screen AMC huge one, and one is a 4 screen small indie one. I try to go to the indie one when I can, because I like that they’re the “little guy” and they tend to have a more mature, well behaved crowd.

At the 16 screen huge one, their policy is no outside food or drink, but they don’t seem to care, because I brought in a big brown paper Trader Joe’s bag and nobody said a word. I had a bag of popcorn and a few cans of diet tangerine soda. I am not willing to pay $6 for popcorn and $4 for soda or whatever the prices are. That’s crazy.

The indie theater has more reasonably priced food, and coffee too. I will buy it from them, on the rare occasions when I am hungry at the movies. Popcorn is maybe $3 which is reasonable.

In general, I try not to eat at the theater as it can be distracting and I feel like popcorn is very bad, with the salt, fat and carbs. This weekend, I did because I was with my daughter and we had a big lunch but no dinner as we weren’t yet hungry, and the movie was right at dinner time. I knew that by the time the movie ended around 9:30 or 10, she’d be hungry.

One of my friends is a movie buff and if she and I go to the movies, she’ll bring in candy from outside but she will also occasionally buy popcorn from the stand. She has something called “AMC Stubs Program” which gives you free upgrades if you buy a medium popcorn, they’ll give you a large size for free. (Stubs program is $8.50 per year).

Yesterday, when this conversation came up on the other question, I asked one friend and one co-worker and both said they will bring in their own food and drink.

I wonder what the total percentage of people who attend the theater and take in their own vs. buying from the stand is. I am guessing maybe 50% buying from the stand and 50% taking in their own?

That’s a good question, @jca, about the percentages of bring vs buy.
If the food wasn’t so bad, and the prices weren’t so high, I would be more likely to snack from in house.
All that “but that’s how they make their money” discussion holds no water for me. Maybe it is, but it doesn’t have to be, as evidenced by the survival of the little theaters that you and I like.

Who is buying all of that expensive theatre food?

I remember a friend of mine complaining to me her son bought popcorn, drinks, and candy for himself and a date at the movies. She verbally scolded him for spending so much money on it. She told me she was angry he was so stupid to spend so much money when he doesn’t have much money. I don’t know why, but I asked her, “do you buy popcorn and candy when you go to the theatre?” She said, “yes, but I can afford it.” I told her, “so for him you have raised him to think that’s what one does at the movies.” She didn’t care if it’s overpriced, why would he think about it differently. He was a very young teenager at the time.

Most of us on this Q probably can afford it, but don’t do it, because it’s a gouge. My dad rarely talked about not having the money for something, he talked about whether the item was worth the money being charged.

So, I guess people like my friend pay those prices. It’s surprising, because she is frugal in many ways.

Me, too, @JLeslie and @canidmajor. I don’t buy it because it’s a gouge and to me, it’s not right. I don’t think the theaters like the big 16 screen one I go to are hurting.

On rare occasions I go at night to the big multiplex, and the concession lines are very long, so I guess it pays, I rarely see families in the lines anymore, mostly teens to mid-twenties.

“I rarely see families in the lines anymore”

Me ether and for that I’m glad. No kids who won’t sit still and shut up. Granted, I tend to not really go to the kind of movies people would take their kids to.

I meant in the concession lines.
I am rarely bothered by kids in the movies, even the ones that are family friendly. I am more often than not annoyed by the grown-ups who find checking their texts on a bright little screen because they can’t be bothered to respect the others around them.