Secrets of the City

I wondered WTF they were thinking.

This is a california-style theater in the smack-dab middle of Minnesota. I assumed this the second I saw this theater and I guess I am correct. AMC took the lazy route.

Sucks too, I just got a couple free passes for xmas for this theater- maybe I should wait until the summertime?

I saw this exact same setup at an AMC out in Los Angeles the last time I was there and thought it was great, but only because the weather there is much more conducive to having that type of setup, but when I drove over to Rosedale and saw what they did, I couldn’t believe that someone at AMC was dumb enough to think that an outdoor box office would work here in MN during the winter months, cause it won’t! I’ll stick with driving over to Southdale to go catch a movie!

AMC tried this at an umpteen-plex theatre in KC, too. They ended up enclosing the box office area after just one winter.

I was there a couple weeks ago with my wife. We started laughing when we approached the outdoor box office. I give it a couple months before they enclose the boxoffice.

I also laughed when I saw the box office, but my reaction wasn’t extreme enough not to go back. I think their decision was stupid, but I grew up in the upper Midwest. I can handle standing outside (under heat lamps, no less) for the 5 to 10 minutes it takes to buy a movie ticket.

Picture this: your standing in front of the box office outside in the middle of the worst cold snaps in the history of state, with temperatures around -twenty degrees below zero. And that’s just the average high for mid-winter up here. Also, now try imagine yourself, waiting for a movie at the outdoor box office in Roseville in the middle of a heat wave where the high temp is about 107 degrees and the night time current conditions is about 90 like it was last late July and early Augest, last year. Can you dream the number of people going crazy as they stand in line for a movie release in those weather conditions?

The design of that theater is amazingly poor, even apart from the outdoor box office. We went to a 5:00 matinee at the theater, and the people working the concession stand were literally blinded by the sunlight blazing through the all-glass wall that faces west. Someone should contact OSHA before those poor kids suffer permanent retinal damage.

I visited AMC Rosedale a few days before Xmas, and asked the ticket taker about the odd booth placement. The young man stated that the theatre wanted to reflect the new “Outdoor Lifestyle Center” trend that has recently emerged at Rosedale.

Lame.

You’d think that they would understand the whole “mall” concept — you know, since they are attached to a “mall.”

“Outdoor Lifestyle Center” is the weirdest name for a discontinuous strip mall I’ve ever heard.

“Pain in the ass lifestyle center”

Its not only the theatre but all but one of the new stores can only be reached by walking outside. The only new store you can reach from within the mall is Borders. I have no idea what the architects were thinking when they designed the addition but its quite clear that they aren’t from around here. One would think the Chicago based owners would be a bit more clueful.

Never understood the outdoor lifestyle whateverthefucks. Who wants to carry shit outside, especially here?

Bring back the HAR MAR!!!!

The heat lamps are only for the lucky people close to the ticket booth. Two nights in a row there were lines all the way to the curb. And who cares about heat lamps from above when there is blowing sleet, below zero wind, or snow?

No one mentioned the only way to access the theater from one side is up two long flights of stairs and then around half the building to get to the ticket booth.

It seems to me that some idiot in a boardroom thought they could force people to accept this cheap design no matter what the weather. The businesses that only have outside access are going to lose business from foot traffic from those in the mall.

For me, it’s all about Block E. $3 to park and I can leave my coat in the heated parking garage. I can buy my tickets, shop, eat, and go to Borders without even feeling a draft.

I have no idea what the architects were thinking when they designed the addition but its quite clear that they aren’t from around here.

Afterall, we invented the bleeping concept for good reason. It’s cold here duh.

Jeez, what a bunch of weenies. Some people actually live here because of the weather. Maybe you folks should stick to Netflix and you’ll never have to come in contact with the real world at all.

Some people actually live here because of the weather.

Ha. Name one.

lol@the suburbs

This is what you end up bypassing market research. Some dumbass executive that thinks their design is revolutionary enough for all the masses to appreciate, regardless of anything else. Duh!

This movie theater is a great argument against our Capitalism–it warms my heart.

“Jeez, what a bunch of weenies. Some people actually live here because of the weather.”

You moved all the way to MN so you could drive in the snow to see a movie? One would think you would actually want to be outdoors instead of standing outside to get movie tickets.

Maybe one day they will create a theater where you could actually sit outside while you watch the movie. No drive in, just an open air theater.

a friend (who apparentlydoes not know us very well) gave us a gift certificate to the Maple Grove AMC MegaPlex. We went out there Saturday night…that whole town is one big parking lot strip-mall full of SUV driving zombies…it’s like 2nd downtown for scared white people. who knew?

“This movie theater is a great argument against our Capitalism–it warms my heart”

Addymal- in what was is it an argument against Capitalism? No proponent claims that every product put forth by the market will be perfect. Rather, creative destruction will nudge products closer to consumer preferences. Clearly, this theater is going to suffer poor ticket sales until it rectifies the mistake. Hardly an indictment of Capitalism.

If you want to see consumer preferences ignored consistently and without easy correction, check out Socialism.

i’m so glad to hear i am not the only one who thought the planners were on crack. sun and snow will make this such a joy – what happens when it rains? will they be offering waterproof tickets?

if they were going to model a movie theater plan, why not borrow from Southdale? talk about user friendly! it’s attached to the mall, a brief stroll down the hall from a variety of dining options, has an indoor ticket office with ample room for lines and they are totally cool about bringing in non-theater food! a tasty benefit considering dairy queen, ben and jerrys, gloria jeans and caribou are a hop down the hallway.

how long ’till Rosedale remodels with an INDOOR ticket booth? anyone care to wager?

obviously roseville is a second-class suburb and doesn’t deserve a first-rate shopping/movie-watching experience like the southwestern burbs do.

I heard they are going to cut off the Southdale AMC from the mall and demolish the front of the waiting area so the ticket lines will be outside.

It’s all part of the new Southdale renovation to keep up with the addition of a Crate Furniture store at the Galleria.

i’m so glad to hear i am not the only one who thought the planners were on crack. sun and snow will make this such a joy – what happens when it rains? will they be offering waterproof tickets?

Try an all out hail storm in the summer, baseball size. That, along with sudden downpours, wind downdrafts, lighting, tornado sirens and etc. Wouldn’t that be exciting like the special effects in the movie inside?

With the money they saved from having an open air ticket waiting line, AMC could have very well lowered the prices of concessions. Although I do savor a $5 cup of Coke far more than its $1.19 cousin at Arby’s.

Lightning.

Every time I’ve visited the new theater, I’ve heard someone make comments like “What a stupid design!” and “Is it cold in there?”, so this discussion was already old by about 1 PM the day it opened. I suppose it won’t prevent me from making more comments, though

I was most disappointed to see that the price of a movie ticket went up considerably with the move (I think it was $7 or $7.50 at Har Mar, it’s now $9). I haven’t gotten any concessions there yet, so I can’t comment on that service. IMHO, almost anything has got to be better than the dog-slow service I would get at Block E. I personally like the theaters themselves quite a bit—nice seats, and heck, the projectors are in focus. Imagine that! I suppose it won’t take long for them to drift out of tune, though.

Anyway, the only thing I don’t like about the theaters is that it’s not obvious which side has the normal entrance/exit and which has the emergency-only exit (I hate those things—just let me out already!)

Oh, the southeast parking lot at Rosedale is definitely not designed for a big theater to be in that spot—the one-way loop around the mall makes it impossible (well, illegal) to turn right at the end of the nearest row of cars to weave farther back in the lot. That’s alright—I’ve figured out that it’s probably better to park in the northeast lot, near the new Panera…

I was dragged there on a “date night” to see Apocalypto and felt like an arse for my lack of hand warmers to endure the 15 minute wait to get into the anachronistically incorrect film directed by Hollywood’s purdiest yet prolific whack job Mel Gibson. I was questioning my own sanity or whether I should have pouted, used womanly wiles aka breast jiggling or asked for a match of Paper Rock Scissors to avoid the frickin’ movie.

To make matters worse, you cannot polish a turd. Rosedale is not a “bud” or an “american beauty” of malls.

I never thought I would say this but, I rather take my chances at Southdale amidst SUV stroller driving Aveda highlighted housewives OR < > worship on a weekend at the Mall of Gomorrah aka MOA to see a film at a megaplex…

Or better yet go to Block E where at least I am entertained by lower case G’s and street theatre….for free. Fo’shizzle.

Well done, protestors. The theater is ditching the outdoor box office.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/16441275.htm

sufrida, what about the st. anthony main theatre? it’s delightfully empty most weekdays, not really expensive as far as theatres go and located on beautiful historic main street!

also, breast jiggling what?

TMay-

I like St. Anthony however I seem to always sit next to the Stone Arch Condo septgenarian with a) asthma when they laugh, b) convulsive werewolf like popcorn eating habits c) unknown foreign matter on the seats d) the bathrooms REEK of sewer…

Womanly wiles are categorized as breast wiggling/jiggling/or shelving, demure voice pitch intonations when speaking to the pbject of your manipulation and just flat out being dumb.

Yes, it’s weak and totally sexist but, the way I see it if these 36C’s get me past a road block the “sister” have done their job.