Chalk off another few list items if you will, because I killed two birds with one stone yesterday. To start with, I had my first Kirby catch-up, and am proud to announce to the internet that I didn't get lost ONCE. I made it all the way to her place, without heading in the wrong direction and in record time. I'm proud of myself. You should be too.
(I probably needed to add 'stop being so bloody useless when driving to unfamiliar places' as an item on my list, although I was trying to be realistic with my expectations, wasn't I?)
Stupid Aly idea of the day: Ordering a caramel macchiato from Starbucks. In grande size. With extra sugar. I don't drink coffee, ever, especially not 'gourmet' coffee, so I was hyper before even beginning our movie adventure. Just ask Kirby.
Yep, a good month after everyone else, we finally watched Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. In Gold Class. What is that exactly? Basically, it's a really overpriced option of seeing a movie at any old theatre. You pay double the price, but get cushy seats and the option of being catered to while you enjoy the movie. I had a rough idea of what to expect, but yesterday's movie experience turned out to be much more extravagant than I predicted.
Firstly, we were told to bypass the candy bar and head towards the sign on the wall saying, yep, Gold Class. Once there, we stared around blankly, wondering where to go next and if we had to walk through the fire exit, when a sliding door magically opened in front of us. Once we shuffled awkwardly inside, we were greeted by a huge bar with one hell of a lot of wine bottles on it, and dozens of funky lounges with giant cushions. The lounge also had faces on the walls, roof and lamps, which was a little creepy and warranted me taking a photo.
(Unfortunately for you though, until I figure out how to get the images OFF my phone and onto the computer, you'll just have to imagine seeing Audrey Hepburn's face made out of dots on the ceiling. And random babies in lamps. Was weird.)
Feeling completely overwhelmed, we wandered up to the bar and asked what to do next. Here, we were given a menu (!) by the usher and asked to check it out and decide whether we'd like to order anything. As fascinated as I was by the $12 meat pies & $18 gourmet pizzas, all I wanted was my standard movie fare of popcorn and a drink. Which weren't on the menu. I was dismayed. And too embarrassed to ask for it. Especially since I was at this stage giggling like a schoolgirl because it was all so darned fancy. And because of caffeine. Lots of caffeine.
We eventually decided to be brave and ask the usher if we could have our popcorn, after which he proceeded to ask us at what time in the movie would we like our food? I was like, er, whenever? To which he sort of raised an eyebrow and probably thought about how I was a big stupid moron. We sat back down on the comfy lounge suite, singing along to Kylie Minogue on the speakers, and were soon showed into the theatre.
I thought we'd just be in a special section of the normal theatre, but I was way off on that one. We had our own private movie theatre! Well, not just Kirby and I. But there were only about 32 seats in the entire place. And boy, were they seats. Full reclining lounge chairs, with a table in front of them for food. It was just crazy. Sitting there in the big chairs playing with the recliner button, I felt like a little kid who was being naughty, I don't think I've laughed so much in a long time. (Kirby's fantastic company is to be commended.)
Despite a few minutes of mild panic when everyone else was delivered their gourmet food and cocktails (!) and our popcorn hadn't arrived, we did finally get our food. And it wasn't just in your standard cardboard packaging, either. Oh no. We got our popcorn in a big serving bowl, and our frozen cokes in tall drinking glasses. How's that for service?
All up, the movie itself was fantastic, the lounges were so comfortable and the whole experience was such a good day, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to watching movies in 'economy class' anymore. But with a $36 price tag (plus food) I don't think I'll be able to afford the movies very much, either. I think Gold Class is excellent for longer movies, but definitely not a weekly thing. It's a shame though. One could get used to the luxury!
Posts
19 comments:
Sounds like you had an extremely (caffeinated) FUN time!! You should try the cinemas at Fox Studios on cheap-arse Tuesday.... I think theyre less than $20!! Not quite as fancy, but still get the lounges and can order 'gourmet' food!!
dood, that sounds so cool! we don't have stuff like that here, but if we did, i would totally do it at least once, just to be decadent for no good reason. :-P
How fun! I wonder why we don't have anything like that where I live. We totally should.
Perhaps I should look into opening one. Wanna come on over to make sure I'm getting it right?
Sounds like fun! I'd settle for reserved seating. R saw the first Lord of the Rings movie while he was in London and found the whole procedure (calling in a couple of weeks in advance and booking specific seats) quite civilized.
oh my goodness that kicks so much ass. Is it sad that if I find myself traveling overseas that the first thing I will do is to watch some horrible chick flick in gold class? hehe.
Best Fun Ever!
Thanks for the day out. m'dear!
I still haven't seen it! Gosh!
And Gold Class is awesome - one of the cinemas we go to has Gold Class for about $30 I think but it includes popcorn and soft drinks ... UNLIMITED! You just help yourself! And you can also get one free alcoholic drink or tea/coffee, plus either a cake or cookie for free. Then anything else you'd like, you pay for. Pretty good deal.
That sounds so fun! We have a couple cinemas here that have big reclining seats and dinner service, but they don't sound nearly as luxurious as "Gold Class"!
OMG, why do we not have Gold Class in NYC???? Faaaannncy. Of course, a regular movie ticket costs like US$12, so I think it would probably be out of my paltry budget.
NPW seems to think such a thing exist in les etats-unis. Must research!
This sounds like wicked fun! I'm fairly jealous!
Ok that sounds like such a good time. I still haven't gone to see the movie. If we had gold class I would have opted for that but we don't so I'm still not going yet. I might even force myself to wait until it comes out on dvd. How bad am I!
So was it a good movie? I've heard both sides on it so far. What do you think?
that's awesome! i wish we had those theaters here! i would totally take advantage of them :)
Sounds pretty high class. After seeing a movie in such style, won't it be hard to go back to the sticky-floored noisy theater?
And I wish we had those here!
I am impressed. I would think that sort of thing would go over well here in the states. Why do we not have it? Dammit! Here in my little town, the local movie theater charges only $6.50 for an adult ticket. Nearby in the city, it's $9.50. Still cheaper than most places. We do have one good theater that has reclining bucket seats that are very comfy, but still nothing like Gold Class!
For some reason I was imagining that the food and cocktails would be included in the ticket price. So it's pretty lame that they cost extra. But, still. That sounds like a great way to splurge!
I had a similar experience a while ago - a friend from university visited me for a week, and we decided to take a look at what was showing at the local tiny cinema that is always empty. The only thing that was playing at the time was "Bean's Holiday" being played in the "cafe theatre." We thought we'd give it a try. We had the entire theatre to ourselves and sat in large, comfy business chairs that you could wheel around all over the theatre. We ordered food that was served to us over the course of the film, and the prices were fairly cheap. The movie was rather wretched, but somehow that made the experience all the more enjoyable.
- Gary Webber
http://www.badcreditremortgage.net/
I think I would like to see a movie at my personal computer instead of cinema halls. It seems a wastage of time to go to cinema. You can get the best sound quality if you have a good company home threature. Only a big screen is missing.
For some reason I was imagining that the food and cocktails would be included in the ticket price. So it’s pretty lame that they cost extra. But, still. That sounds like a great way to splurge
oh my goodness that kicks so much ass. Is it sad that if I find myself traveling overseas that the first thing I will do is to watch some horrible chick flick in gold class?
Post a Comment