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What Happened To Drive -in Theatres????

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by SOCAL1, Aug 3, 2006.

  1. The wife and i were talking about how fun drive-in's were back in the day.Now i'm 35 yrs old and i remember them starting to disapear in the late 80's early 90's here in Los Angeles.Back then i was into my volkswagens.I had microbus at the time.They were the only things i could afford back then...Had my eye on a 49 ford coupe lowered in mint condition,But 5 grand was way to much...lol.Pops could only help me out with the $1200 to buy the 1960 micro.I was wondering if you guys out there in other states still have your local drive-in's.All the ones in my area have been turned into either a school,a bus station,and a 18 cineplex theatre.I found a large patch of land that would be perfect for a drive-in.Asking price....3 MILLION!!!!.i'm guessing that the land here in LA became so expensive that the owners sold them for big bucks.I had a vision of classic car nites on sundays.Pile a bunch of hot rods in to watch a double feature..Watch an old car flick then check out something new to theatres.Maybe every two or three months have a car show with some bands and then at dusk watch a flick.I'm a couple of bucks short of the cash.Sure would be fun and differant.
     
  2. Evel
    Joined: Jun 25, 2002
    Posts: 9,038

    Evel
    Member
    1. 60s Show Rods

    www.missiontiki.com

    Click on TIKI INVASION!!!

    This weekend is there 50 year annivesary you should go..it going to RULE.
     
  3. Gotgas
    Joined: Jul 22, 2004
    Posts: 7,175

    Gotgas
    Member
    from DFW USA

  4. Progress,,,plain and simple,,At least in the town I live in.

    We had 3 back in the 60's

    The price of the land was worth more than they could ever make in showing movies,,, HRP
     

  5. Muttley
    Joined: Nov 30, 2003
    Posts: 18,500

    Muttley
    Member

    I grew up near the Hwy. 39 drive in in Westminster Ca. It had a great mural painted on the backside of one of the screens that I used to stare at every time we drove by. Last I heard it was a torn down and is now a Walmart. :( :(
     
  6. mercury Bill
    Joined: Dec 16, 2002
    Posts: 581

    mercury Bill
    Member

    VHS-BETA-DVDs and people who dont get out of the house....

    It really sucks, I Miss them.. Theirs still one here but the people who own the property are just waiting to sell it. They dont even show movies anymore.
    I tried to get a cruise and a car show there. They would'nt even think about it.
     
  7. ol fueler
    Joined: Oct 6, 2005
    Posts: 935

    ol fueler
    Member


    You pretty much nailed it --- Land values!!!
    That said , we do have one of the few remaining drive in movioes uin the country here in Las Vegas ---- a city not really suited to sitting around in a car in the heat --even at night !!
     
  8. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,390

    Squablow
    Member

    I know there's one around here somewhere, only open for the summer, never been there. In Wisconsin, the shitty snow and cold weather pretty much kill off any chance of us getting one, and there weren't many here back in the day either. Drive-in restaurants are the same way, there are a couple around still but most are summer only. You have to drive about 500 miles south of me before you start seeing Sonic's around.
     
  9. Johnny-B-Bad
    Joined: Jun 19, 2005
    Posts: 1,019

    Johnny-B-Bad
    Member

    Well there were two up here in the area. Now theres only one. The closest one to me was turned into a Lowe's about a year ago. The screen was still there until it was dismantled by the developers about 2 or 3 years before that.

    The other one, just across the border in NY is still functional and showin plenty of movies. Wait, i think its a drive-in. It is called the Warwick Drive-in, so it must be.

    Dont know if this counts, but what about the local dirt track? Theyve got a drive in. Sit in your car or on your truck and watch the race. Pretty cool if you ask me.
     
  10. TREE
    Joined: Jul 5, 2005
    Posts: 439

    TREE
    Member
    from Piqua,OH

    We have 4 drive-ins within a 25 mile radius of us still operating!!
     
  11. Damn Tree lucky you.
     
  12. butch27
    Joined: Dec 10, 2004
    Posts: 2,847

    butch27
    Member

    I saw a blurb on CNN that in the past year there was 107 NEW Drive-Ins built. Don't know whre though.
     
  13. Blair
    Joined: Jul 28, 2005
    Posts: 361

    Blair
    Member
    from xx

    There's one right up the road from me in san luis obispo. They also have swap meets on Sundays. Best of all its only 6 bucks per person for two movies!
     
  14. revkev6
    Joined: Jun 13, 2006
    Posts: 3,352

    revkev6
    Member
    from ma

    we have a few around still. non of them are really close. there is one on cape cod that I have been too, there is one in northfield that I have been too and supposed to be one pretty close in connecticut but I haven't been to that one yet. I think they all do car show related things occasionally. last time I went was a blast. backed the truck into a spot threw a heavy blanket down in the bed.
     
  15. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,564

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    There's an operating drive in in Unadilla, New York, five miles from my house. It has never been out of business that I can remember (I just turned 46), and it stays in business now because of the sheer novelty of being a drive in, and the fact that the owners always get movies as soon as they're released. My girlfriend and I went a while back, and it was hard to find a parking spot; they tend to really pack 'em in on the weekends. When I was in high school, going there was a social event--it was like a field party with movies.
     
  16. Hey Evil that what i'm talking about.I'm there.I live about 20 mins away.Learn something new everyday.
     
  17. Steel Coupes
    Joined: Jul 22, 2006
    Posts: 80

    Steel Coupes
    Member
    from Midwest

  18. HOOLIGAN350
    Joined: Jun 20, 2006
    Posts: 127

    HOOLIGAN350
    Member

    We still have one here locally in Carlsbad New Mexico. It's a three screen Drive In that uses your car srereo instead of a crackly speaker on the window. http://www.fiestadrivein.com/

    It's cool to go to the drive in to watch movies, they are not double features but in the summers they do have late shows at 11:30pm.

    There are times in the year when a bunch of old cars get together and cruze the town and finally end up at the drive in.
     
  19. 53Heavy
    Joined: Jun 19, 2006
    Posts: 308

    53Heavy
    Member

  20. bigjoe1015
    Joined: Apr 21, 2006
    Posts: 106

    bigjoe1015
    BANNED

    We have one about 40 miles away, where 10 years ago we had one just down the street. I just heard one in Centerville re-opened after a 8 or 10 year hiatus.
     
  21. Terry
    Joined: Jul 3, 2002
    Posts: 1,824

    Terry
    Member

    We have been to the Fiesta a bunch of times! We always make a night of it starting with a supper at Cortez(I think thats right), with soapapias (sp?) to go and then to the drive-in.

    Locally we have one about a hour away, and then a brand new one built a few months ago about 10 minutes away. Double features for 5.00.
     
  22. HOOLIGAN350
    Joined: Jun 20, 2006
    Posts: 127

    HOOLIGAN350
    Member

    Hey I work at the Cortez!
     
  23. LongT
    Joined: May 11, 2005
    Posts: 968

    LongT
    Member

    We still have 2 in the Allentown, PA area. 1 Shankweiler's says they are one of the oldest in the US. The other Becky's has a couple of car shows there a year. Becky's used to show 'adult' movies but is 'mainstream' now.
     
  24. Pacific Vineland Drive-In
    443 N. Vineland Avenue
    City of Industry, CA 91746
    (626) 961-9262
     
  25. skyrodder
    Joined: May 7, 2005
    Posts: 1,925

    skyrodder
    Member

    Is this the One on 45 south of Dallas? There are two being built in the Houston area
     
  26. So why does a car guy in the animation industry move from the L.A. area to a town of 1800 people just right of middle of Nebraska? your thinking, " family values," right? Nope! well,... O.K., Yes but that's not all. Drive-In.
    The Starlite Drive-in, according to the owners, is one of the oldest in the region and it's still kickin'. I designed a t-shirt for them a couple years ago.

    [​IMG]

    Under the image it reads,"Park under the stars in Neligh, Nebraska"
     
  27. Slonaker
    Joined: Jul 21, 2005
    Posts: 524

    Slonaker
    Member

    The one I went to as a kid (Judson 4) closed long ago. There is a hospital on that site now.

    There is still one here in San Antonio. There used to be one in Schertz Texas, pretty close to me called the Starlite. It is still there, but has been closed for as long as I can remember. I only remember it as a car lot, but my parents went there when they were young. The screens and the entrance are still there.

    My wife and I think it would be cool to build a house on the property and make the old entrance the driveway. :) Pics are available on drive-ins.com that steel coupes posted above.

    Slonaker
     
  28. a1930ford
    Joined: Aug 27, 2005
    Posts: 140

    a1930ford
    Member

    Paul Harvey just did a piece on them a day or two back. I believe he said the high number in the states was 4500, but now down to 450. However, he said the number is rising this year. He also mentioned that none of them showed porn anymore. That was sort of funny, as, in the early 80's, there were two drive-in theaters at 29 Palms, Ca. The Smith Ranch was one, and we dearly loved going there. I don't recall the one directly in the middle of town, but remember that there was a skating rink right next door. It was interesting to see porn movies showing on the big screen as you raced around in circles on your skates next door. I think they really only showed movies that were like "Young Doctors In Love, and some really soft porn stuff, but even those were very racy for young kids to view as they played right next door at the skating rink.

    A funny thing was that I went to the movies this past weekend with my wife and kiddo. I used to work at a drive in, and spent half my teenage years trying to sneak into them. My brother and I even walked through the front drive once, when we had seen in the papers that admission was free for kids under 12. The lady laughed, as we both hunkered down and pretended to be under 12 as we walked up to her ticket window. She knew we were not under the age of 12 when she let us go inside. However, we froze our butts off since the temp was in the low 50's that night.

    When I got the bill for the popcorn and cokes that the wife and kid had ordered at the indoor theater, I about had a heart attack. $6.00 each for a container of pop corn and $3.50 each for a small thing of Coke. Won't be anytime soon before I return to the movies. My house payment ain't as big as the price it must cost grandpa to take the grandkiddies to the movies. Wow!

    Eastland and Abilene had drive-ins a few years back. Fort Worth just took one down that had sat vacent for years. Me, I still love them and hope to return again. Just outside of Owensboro, KY, there is one up in IN. Not sure if it was Rockport, but that comes to mind.

    Anyone know if the Astro is still open in Dallas?
    Huey
     
  29. whitewallslick
    Joined: Mar 14, 2001
    Posts: 279

    whitewallslick
    Member
    1. oHIo

    My first job was in the concession stand at the Piqua 36 Drive-In! I took home so much leftover popcorn, we got tired of eating it after the first couple weeks. :D
     
  30. de-fenders
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 692

    de-fenders
    Member

    We've still got 3 in a 25 mile radius from my house.Still go every year at least once.Greg:cool:
     

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