Movie Theater and Bowling Alley

Where is the closest kid-friendly movie theater and the closest bowling alley?

 

There is a bowling alley off Rt 7, I believe its on Dranesville Rd.

 

The closest and our favorite movie theater is Regal Countryside, across Rt 7 from the Dulles Town Center mall.

 

I believe that there is also a bowling alley in Leesburg, on Catoctin Circle...

 

Gotta be honest here - hate that movie theater and cannot wait for an alternative to open. I went to Anne Arundel Mills Mall awhile back and the have a great movie theater and a daycare so adults can do see a movie and the kids see a video or play.

 

One thing that gets me about most theaters is that most mooks stand in line for tickets when they can just go to the kiosk and get their tickets in about 20 seconds with no waiting!

 

What we need around here is one of those upscale, 21-and-up, first run movie theatres that serve beer and real food. Also have soft recliners for seats. I'd gladly pay extra to go to a movie on a weekend and be guaranteed I wouldn't be distracted by teenagers in the back.

On a positive note, the ticket-takers at Countryside have been adults lately so they've been checking ID's for R rated movies to keep the kids out...but I guess it really doesn't stop them from switching theatres once they're past the front lines.

 

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!@#!@?

 

I agree on Regal Cinema...you can keep them. It's better lately, but up to about a year ago it was dirty, smelly and very poor service. They're doing better, but I like Phoenix Worldgate better. Cleaner, slightly cheaper for matinee and evenings, cushy rocking seats, and much nicer staff, it seems. Also, parking there, with the multilevel garage, is much easier.

Keep in mind if you're a AAA member, you can buy discount tickets for most theatres - to use after inital 10-14 day exclusion period.

I think we COULD use another decent theatre in our area...doesn't need to be 57 screens..... just 5 or 6....?

Dawne

 

Where is Phoenix Worldgate located? Is that in Herndo? We are looking to take our 5 yr old to a matinee for Shrek when it comes out and would like a place that understands little kids. Also, have to be ready for when Spongebob comes out in

 

Worldgate is in Herndon.

There is the Cinema and Drafthouse in Sterling:
Sterling Cinema Drafthouse
21800 Towncenter Plz Ste 260
Sterling, VA 20164-1887 Phone: (703) 404-8400

It is a long drive, but our favorite theater is The Uptown in DC. Great place to see Star Wars!

 

The Drafthouse doesn't have first run movies.

Also, why can't we get some all-digital DLP screens around here? The closest one I know of is in Merrifield. The Regal has a digital projector for it's before-the-movie advertising, then they switch over to the reel for the trailers/feature. You'd think as booming as Loudoun County/Ashburn are and with as much money as there is here, some developer would see the potential and put in a state of the art theater here.

 

There's the brand new Cinema du Luxe in Fairfax Corners off Monument Drive, close to Fair Oaks mall. Its got a few screens, but all stadium seating, and two of the theatres are called Director's Halls, with leather seating and seat reservations (costs extra).

Very nice place, has a Sbarros and Nathan's Hot Dogs on site.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

I would love to see DLP projection in our area as well, but unfortunately the economics are not quite "there" yet. Done properly with a state-of-the-art 2K DLP projector and a native 1080P video source, the results are stunning. See:

http://www.christiedigital.com/portfolios/ci-port.asp

Each theater-grade DLP projector is in the 150K-200K range installed with lens, pedestal, lamp housing, exhaust manifold, installation, etc. Per screen.

This does not take into account the needed HD video server or high speed satellite link, add approx another 10K-25K per screen.

The theater owners want the studios to pay for this and there is a battle going on right now over this issue. Current limited installations of DLP projection are subsidized by TI and hardware manufacturers as a technology showcase to gain consumer awareness. They would not be economically self supporting otherwise.

 

Correct.

The digital projector you refer to is not a cinema-grade unit and is not intended for main feature projection. It is a relatively low-cost LCD-based projector commonly used in conference rooms for business presentations.

Regal Cinemas has a nation-wide, automated and server-based advertising system for pre and post-show advertising projection. It is a very cool system for what it is designed to do and replaced the use of local advertising and manually controlled 35MM slide projectors. With this system Regal Cinemas can easily sell and manage national advertising from a central control point. Content is delivered via IP to each theater and the projectors are remotely controlled, maintained and administered. The previous system required local projectionists to manually insert and change slide trays.[:I]

 

A colleague once told me that the Herndon Worldgate movie plaza had free admissions for kids on select weekday afternoons..

 

The Countryside Regal Cinemas used to show two kids’ movies every Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 10am (one rated G and the other PG) all summer, free for kids and parents. I haven't heard anything about this year's schedule yet...

 

I've heard from a friend who lives near the new Giant just off Rt 7 in Leesburg, that a new movie theater is scheduled to be built there.

Frankly, I've not seen or heard anything about it in the local papers, but considering the location, it would be able to draw from Ashburn, Leesburg and points west and north. I believe it would also be closer than the Regal, which (as my wife points out) has some of the worst ladies restrooms she's seen.

On another note, the new Cinema du Luxe in Fairfax Corners has a mother and baby show (or shows) every other week. They call it Baby Pictues, and the theater has dim lighting, lover volume, baby changing stations, and an in-theater food cart so that mom can grab a snack without having to bundle up baby. More more info check out: http://www.nationalamusements.com/babyfairfax.asp



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999