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Author Topic: Recliner Seats Terry Monohan Master Film Handler Posts: 379 From: San Francisco CA USA Registered: May 2014 posted 11-06-2015 11:20 AM                     Just returned from the Regal 9 in Santa Cruz CA. This was a big theatre 3 months ago now Regal has put in huge recliners that take the space of 3 rows of former seats. So a cinema here had 220 seats in one of there larger cinemas now they can only sell 65 tickets with only 8 rows of seats that are now reserved. Most of the other smaller rooms at the Regal 9 in Santa Cruz CA only can hold 50 people now. The projector bulb light on the screen was so low and extra light was coming from the new LED lights on the aisles that hit the corners of the screen. This was not even a 3-D showing. I don't understand why circuits like Regal and AMC are doing this recliner thing. They are loosing money by lowering the seating on popular movies. The seats are way to large and long. Do they think that the public will feel like they are at home? I guess they try to make up the lost seat sales with extra charges for popcorn and drinks. I am not going to pay $6 for a very small bag of popcorn. Fox wanted them to play Star Wars in 5 of the auditoriums at the R9 but they declined and will be showing It at the dumpy two plex they own down the street (UA/Regal Riverside) that can hold more people but does not have the nice wide screens and sound that the Reagal 9 does. I think after these circuits find out all the money they are loosing they will put in the nice regular seats again withoiut a leg extender. I caught 3 people out of 15 sleeping during the movie (Martian) and one snoring away with the new recliners. They could have saved money and stayed home and rested on their own home recliners. I gave up trying to buy tickets at the AMC Theatre on the 3rd St mall in Santa Monica last week. They had one girl in the box office selling these new reserved recliner seats and most people were trying to book advance seats for Star Wars, I just wanted to see a current film, after waiting 13 minutes I left. They need to have a window open in the box office for advance films like Star Wars as It takes way extra time for people to pick out their reserved seats.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-06-2015 01:25 PM                     I have mixed feelings about the concept of replacing regular theater seats with huge barcaloungers. It seems alright in a more premium setting, like the $22 per ticket "Director's Suite" screening rooms Warren Theaters has at some of its locations. I don't think it's very practical for regular auditoriums and even some giant screen rooms either. Big recliners will reduce an auditorium's seat count quite a lot. And that usually (but not always) leads to a price hike on tickets to make up for the lack of seating capacity. If all the theaters in a multiplex are filled with those kinds of seats it's going to give customers very little option for regular ticket prices. They're going to think every movie ticket has a surcharge of some kind tacked onto it. Maintenance is another issue. How much more do these recliners cost over the average movie theater seat? Customers can be very abusive and destructive to seats. It might be easier for staffers to keep tabs on a couple dozen customers in a high priced luxury screening room. It's a different matter in a much bigger room with a lot more seats and people. I think theaters just need to arrive at a happy medium. Just get comfortable theater seats that are big enough to seem big and space the rows apart enough so it's not easy for some piggish slob to plant his feet on seats in the next row.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-06-2015 01:34 PM                        I think reclining seats are dumb in a movie theater. You want people to stay awake for the movie. I think when you recline your body automatically goes into "let's fall asleep" mode.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-06-2015 02:00 PM                     Try it...you'll like it! I do see your point, Mike but there is nothing wrong with having a comfortable viewing experience. I know a theatre that even has couches (charges a premium for those "seats."  |  IP: Logged Jason McMillan Film Handler Posts: 68 From: Houston, TX, USA Registered: Dec 2009 posted 11-06-2015 02:03 PM                     My biggest complaint about the recliners is that I see people reclining and then taking their shoes off... as if it's their own living room. People are gross.  |  IP: Logged Bill Brandenstein Master Film Handler Posts: 413 From: Santa Clarita, CA Registered: Jul 2013 posted 11-06-2015 02:15 PM                     The hygiene of what's been there before me has been a concern of mine, too. But I've only done one of these once, and it was quite enjoyable. Back to Terry's points - forget the recliners, to see Force Awakens at a Regal/Edwards/UA cinema is to throw away a portion of the experience, in my opinion. Here in SoCal, every one of their theaters I've visited (I can think of at least 4 off the top of my head) is inferior in brightness (and often in sound quality and/or other respects too) to just about everyone else. Drives me nuts. We have discount cinemas that do a better job. It's the only game within at least 20 miles, so for the moment we're stuck with it unless willing to drive.  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-06-2015 07:48 PM                        Terry: The numbers simply do not correlate to your theory. Replacing the seating with recliners is, on average, increasing admissions 80% or more.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-06-2015 09:03 PM                        quote: Try it...you'll like it! I have tried it...in my own house. If I recline in my recliner watching a movie, I WILL fall asleep. If I sit upright, I don't. I can see why they're popular though. People like "cushy." I just think they don't need to recline. What happens to your view if you recline but the chair in front of you doesn't? Or are these stadium theaters with really deep steps?  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-06-2015 09:44 PM                        The sightline issue you describe is easily fixed by raising the screen higher on the front wall.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-06-2015 10:31 PM                        Unless the ceiling is right there. I would expect this issue would be thought of when they're designing these places but given the amount of bonehead decisions that happened at the beginning of the multiplex era, nothing would surprise me too much.  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-07-2015 11:19 AM                        I'm referring mostly to retrofits.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 11-07-2015 04:38 PM                        quote: Mike Blakesley I can see why they're popular though. People like "cushy." I just think they don't need to recline. What happens to your view if you recline but the chair in front of you doesn't? Or are these stadium theaters with really deep steps? It isn't an issue because the height between rows is that much higher. There's several steps between rows. At the AMC I go to, your head height sitting down with no recline is basically at floor level with the row behind you. I personally like the recliners and might pay more for them (even though AMC doesn't charge any more...yet). And yes, I did in fact fall asleep for a good half hour of a feature once.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 11-11-2015 11:01 AM                        Well...wow. Warren 21 Theater to Cater to Adults (Wichita Eagle) - Bill Warren is opening a new Warren 21 theater in Wichita next year, but the number doesn’t stand for how many auditoriums the venue will have. “It’s for people 21 and above,” Warren says. “The whole idea is it’s something just for the adults, and it’s all reserved seats, and it’s very luxurious and very high end.” The $3 million project will convert the east eight auditoriums of the east-side Warren Theatre in the Plazzio development at 13th and Greenwich. There will be custom-made lounge chairs with trays and drink holders, motorized recliners, extra padding and heated seats on the backs and bottoms of the chairs. “We’re the only company that does it,” says Les Padzensky, Warren’s vice president of food and beverage. There will be food and a full bar at an expanded concession area. There will be no in-theater service like Warren offers in his east-side balcony and at his Old Town theater, and the food items will be more limited. “We want the service to be quick,” Padzensky says. However, he’ll have new things, such as a panini machine. Warren 21 will focus on adult-oriented movies, including independent films. “Obviously, we’re going to cater to the tastes of people who are 21 and above,” Warren says. On Jan. 4, he’ll close that wing to begin remodeling. Each of the stadium-seating auditoriums will need to be reconfigured for the recliners. “And to make sure that the sight lines are absolutely perfect when you’re sitting in these chairs,” Padzensky says. There will be extra-big walkways for moviegoers to navigate past the seats. “You’re not going to have to get up (from) your chair,” Padzensky says. The 1,000 seats in the eight auditoriums will be reduced to about 500 seats to make room for the lounge chairs, each of which will have individual armrests on both sides of the chair so every person has his own. There will still be 2,000 seats in the rest of the east-side Warren Theatre. Warren opened the theater with 12 auditoriums in 2002 and added another eight on the east end a couple of years later. Work will begin on Warren 21 on Jan. 4. “We’re going to need all the auditoriums for the Christmas holiday,” Warren says. There will be a wall with $100,000 brass and etched glass doors to separate the Warren 21 from the main theater area. The work is estimated to take about 100 days. Warren also is temporarily closing six auditoriums in his Moore, Okla., theater to convert the seating to the new lounge chairs, though they’ll be for general audience use instead of an adult-only area. Warren already has the new seats in his Broken Arrow, Okla., theater. “They’ve been very, very popular.” Warren is financing the upgrades with a combination of cash and loans. “Obviously, we think it’ll generate more revenue, so we think it’ll pay off,” he says. “But it’s definitely an investment.” Warren says it’s similar to when he built his IMAX theater in west Wichita. “We’re constantly reinventing the wheel,” he says. “You evolve.” A lot of businesses don’t, Warren says. “I understand why,” he says. “They don’t want to go back into debt again.” Warren recommends against that thinking. “The biggest mistake you can make in business is to stand still.” That’s why he’s already thinking about something new for the west side, too. “We just haven’t figured out what and where,” Warren says. “The west side will not be left out.”  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-11-2015 12:06 PM                     WOW! I mean really JUST WOW! That is amazing! The author Carrie Rengers has taken every single sentence and given it a dedicated paragraph. Oh and in regards to the content of the article, I applaud it. I'll bet this will catch on.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-11-2015 02:16 PM                        Honestly, from a broader point of view: The recliners are saving our industry. We have started installing them at some of our locations (and we opened one with recliners and reserved seating). We've taken locations that were ready to be closed because of lack of business and revived them to some of our busiest locations. It's a no-brainer from a business point of view. If it's done right, it's awesome...  |  IP: Logged

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