Movies on Base vs. Out in Town Military Families.com

Many families will be hitting up the movies theaters this holiday season. For two reasons, one the kids will be out of school for next three weeks and have nothing else to do. Two, families tend to watch at least one movie in a theater during the holiday season. Maybe it’s to become a family once again since throughout the year you’ve been busy with work and school. Either way it works for everyone, kids enjoy watching movies and getting the snacks and the parents family.

This brings one question for those military families. Will you watch the movie at the base theater or out in town?

Our base currently has prices for movies at $2 for adults and $1 for children 6-11, under 5 is free. Talk about a great price for watching a movie that would normally be about $8 for an adult. I’m a family of five, three kids and two adults. Which do you think I’m going to choose? You guessed it, I’m headed straight to the base theater to watch my movie.

Now for the pros and cons list for both on base vs. out in town.

The Pros of watching a movie out in town: You’ve got more of a selection and if you miss one movie time you can come back later and watch it at a different hour.

The Cons: The tickets and snacks are expensive, not to mention you must drive out in town and fight traffic.

Tip: If you know you are going to watch a movie off base, call up ahead of time and order your tickets by phone or go online. This way they aren’t sold out and you don’t have to stand in some crazy line.

The Pros of watching a movie on the base: It’s cheap and everyone likes saving a couple of bucks. Plus, it’s right there…you don’t even have to drive far.

The cons: You may not catch this movie when it first opens because sometimes it takes the base a little longer to get it. The movie may only play 3-5 times on the base before it starts popping up on DVD.

Tip: Get to the theater at least 30 minutes before the movie. You’ll get to be one of the first through the door, get your snacks and seated before everyone starts coming in.

Did you know the military base is the only place you’ll ever catch everyone standing at attention during the National Anthem? That’s right, when the base plays this at the beginning of every movie not a single person will be sitting in a seat.

Today, I saw that “Santa Clause 3” will be playing on the base. This is a movie I thought I’d only get to watch on DVD but since it is so cheap I know how I’m going to spend my Saturday. “Kids get dressed we are going to the movies!”