do you guys like the idea of reserving seats in theaters? (1 Viewer)

[MikeF]

I don't recall specifically what options were offered, but every large multiplex I visited in Lisbon had reserved seating.

 

[Yee-Ming]

here in Singapore it's all reserved seating. always has been for as long as I can remember.
and movie tickets are often bought in advance, e.g. on Friday evening if we're seeing a Saturday evening movie, in order to get favoured seats.
doesn't seem much of an issue here, everyone's used to it. of course, if the theatre's practically empty, you just plonk yourself down wherever you feel like

 

[Mitty]

For instance, what if your reserved seats are right beside, or worse, directly in front of a group of rowdy moviegoers?

That was the first thought I had too.
Of course, our IMAX theatre here in town IS reserved seating and when I saw Fantasia 2000 there, we were placed right next to a family with two small children and an infant.
Luckily the sheer aural assault of an IMAX theatre can pretty much drown out any wee 'un.
But yeah, a group of slack jaws, a case of lethal body odor, or a group of little old ladies who are hard of hearing would be deadly to be stuck next to in the theatre.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Earlier this year, I had an opportunity to watch a film at the Arclight theater in Hollywood. They had reserved seating in all of their auditoriums, DLP screening where available, plush seats with individual armrests, THX certified sound and clean theaters. An usher came in and introduced the film before it was shown. After the introduction, he asked that all cell phones be turned of. Everyone in the theater applauded.
He then stayed for another 5 minutes to make sure that the picture was projected perfectly onto the screen and that there were no technical problems.
He would then come back inside the theater every 20 minutes or so to check the room temperature, to make sure that everything was fine and that there were no problems including unruly patrons. All of this for a price of $14 per ticket.
At this price and this nice of a theater, yes, it would weed out the undesirables.
~Edwin

 

[Rasmus_L]

In most theaters in Denmark there is reserved seating. When ordering your ticket you state where in the theater you woulod prefer to sit and they would try to find the seats that best suit your preferences. Normally they also say that you can get seat X and row Y, and ask if this is ok. The prices are normally the same for the whole theater, a few theater do have differentiated prices. Everybody is used to the system, so their is rarely an usher. I fail to see how the use of reserved seats should be a problem. as mentioned earlier people are used to the concept from so many other aspects of their lives.

 

[MichaelAW]

In Sweden, at least in Stockholm, all seats at all theatres are reserved. When purchasing the tickets, you can choose your seats (Row X and Seat Y). I think it's a great system, especially when pre-ordering tickets.
What's funny is that Swedes generally will not move from their "assigned" seats when there's copious room to do so. I guess they're all expecting the theatre to fill up during the trailers.

 

[KDHM]

About half the theaters here in Berlin have the center section as reserved seating, I tend to choose a theater that I can reserve my seat over open seating when both theaters have about equal screen size and sound systems then I can come 1/2 hour late and miss all the cigarette commercials . I don't know how many times I gone to sit in my favorite seat with open seating and have someOne who came earlier then his/her 12 friends and said that the seats are saved.
kd

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Box office is determined from how many tickets are actually sold for that film. A well-run theater would NEVER allow patrons to stay and see another film (or even a second show of the same film).

Well the 2 theaters I go to, it would be very easy to go from one movie to another. I haven't done it as I usually only have time for one moive anyway. But one would only have to go into the bathroom after the first movie. Then come out a couple of minutes later and go to the different screen. They almost never recheck tickets upon entering the auditorium. Of course, ti would take some pre-planning and coordinating the schedule so as to be able to go from the end of one to the beginning of another and not miss anything.

 

[David Rogers]

If generic movie theater (tm) slapped number plates on their chairs and started selling reserved seating, I wouldn't go there anymore. I can think of all sorts of problems with this:

* Stuck in a seat when fools/loud/disruptive people are near/front/back/next to you.

* Have to go fetch a theater employee if someone's in your seat, or have the argument with someone who clearly doesn't care about making a scene.

* Longer in the line because people will whine and beg about which seat they're getting while at the counter.

* If seating is reserved but in a certain section, with no specific seat selection, you risk being stuck in the "front" but at the end of an aisle, or something else unoptimal.

Now, if a theater upgraded its seats to be more comfortable and reserved, spaced them a bit, and GUARANTEED their audio/visual quality, I might pay up to US$9-10 for a ticket, vs the US$7-8 I pay now. With reserved seating, I really feel an usher needs to be assigned to each theater to avoid people problems and things like kids or rude customers who just plop down into seats and dare you to ask them to move (similar, if you've ever experienced it, to rush hour mass transit where the same types sit in a two-seat on the bus/train and stack their backpack/bags in the second seat, while others are standing). The usher would HAVE to be someone over 25 to work, as there's no freaking way immature low-wage workers (like theaters exclusively use now) could fill the usher role properly.

Just can't see a theater manager doing it and having it be something they make money off. Too many social problems with it here in the States.

 

[Lew Crippen]

It may well be that reserved seating is more the norm outside of the States. Sydney Film Festival has reserved seats (as do many film festivals around the world). Most theaters in Wellington have reserved seats, some differentiating types of seats (strangely the most expensive seats don’t meet my criteria of best seats). Many years ago some theaters in Japan had a smoking section (which cost more).

And so on …

and movie tickets are often bought in advance, e.g. on Friday evening if we're seeing a Saturday evening movie, in order to get favoured seats.

When I lived in Singapore, advance ordering was almost mandatory for weekend nights for the latest, popular releases. And in the separate pricing vein, many theaters there sold “double” seats—ones that allowed couples to cuddle. No bad thing, in my view.

 

[Paul_D]

All the cinemas in London I go to are reserved-seating only. All of them. And let me tell you, it's a pain in the ass. First, it's quite humiliating when your paying for the ticket asking for "Row 4, seat 26, dead centre." Especially since everyone else in the queue generally don't care where they sit. Secondly, when, you request to sit in a certain place, the moron serving 9 times out of 10 gives you the wrong spot, and then you have to spend 5-10 minutes arguing with the dope showing you to your seat. My general excuse is that "I forgot my glasses and I need to sit closer." and so on and so on. What a pain in the ass. My favourite argument I had was with a guy at the 11am show of Spiderman. It was 3 minutes before the film was about to start and he told me I had to sit in my reserved seat because the theater was likely to be jam-packed. Needless to say there was only about 5 people in there (150+ seated theater). Dumbass.

 

[Steve_Ch]

It's a bit of a cultural thing, I grow up in Asia and nobody gives a second thought to reserved sitting, as there's the way it is. Many people have offered their opinion of the draw backs of reserved sitting, but for people that are used to the system, they are also atonished to find out that you may drive 1/2 an hour to the theater, another 20 minutes to find parking, 35 minutes in line and then found out that the LAST ticket was sold to two persons in front of you.

Another problem with first come first serve system that I don't think anybody has mentioned yet, is the one person get there first and "saved" 5 prime seats for people that's going to come "later" ("Oh, they are in the popcorn line"). You don't have that problem with reserved seating.

 

[Bill Buklis]

Everybody is used to the system, so their is rarely an usher. I fail to see how the use of reserved seats should be a problem. as mentioned earlier people are used to the concept from so many other aspects of their lives.

Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public.
Besides, people are too used to being able to arrive for a movie only 30 seconds before it starts. "Oh, it's not a problem, there'll be 15 minutes of previews anyway." And then they wonder why it's hard to find a good seat.

 

[LarryDavenport]

When I was in Europe in the Summer of 1990 I went to the movies 4 times (once in Edinburgh, Scotland, once in Dublin, Ireland, and twice in London, England) and only the shows in London were reserved, which kind sucked, especially when it cost me $15 to sit in the middle to see Dick Tracy in London on opening day.

In case you're curious, I saw Kurosawa's Dreams in Edinburgh, Weekend At Bernie's in Dublin, and the other movie in London was a French film called Monsieur Hire.

 

[ace peterson]

It takes people long enough to buy tickets as it is, without adding the extra delay for seat selection.

Amen. End of story.

 

[Ryan Peter]

I'd love to see reserved seating for opening weekends of movies. I hate the mad scamble into the theater when the open the doors. An extreme case was LOTR 12:01 showing. Got there an hour early and once they open the doors it's a mad dash to get inside. I was only a single but ended up with a shitty spot on the side.

Big movies on opening weekend = Reservation System would be the best.

 

[Richard Travale]

My brother was in Jolly Ol' a few years ago and he said that they have a system where you buy your tickets for the show and you pick your seat much like a musical or Broadway show. I think this would be cool.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

St. Nick??

 

[Vlad D]

The Muvico Premier Theaters, have reserved balcony seating. It's great. Much more expensive ($15) but worth it. The seats are huge love seats, very comfortable. But the best is that there is a bar and restaurant, and you can bring it your food and drinks. Watching a movie an drinking Crown on the rocks is sweet! Unfortunately the only one in my area is about 30-45 minutes from my house, so my wife and I don't go to often.

 

[Richard Travale]

St. Nick??

D'oh!!! :b Jolly Ol' England.