How to Sneak Food into a Movie Theater
The next time we planned an outing to the cinema, we decided to take a different approach to film-time munchies. We would bring our own.
Movie theaters, who make a large percentage of their income off concession sales, do not like people to bring outside food or drink into the cinema. It is outright prohibited on large signs in the lobby. Some theaters go so far as to banning bags, even women's purses.
How can you sneak food into movie theaters when you refuse to pay the exorbitant prices at the snack counter?
In places that do not ban bags, that method is your best bet. Woman can easily shove a few bags of candy or ziplock bags of buttered popcorn into a large purse. Both sexes can get away with 'fanny packs' under their jacket. After the wallet and keys go inside, there is still room for a fun-size bag of chocolates or box of dots. If you have a very young child with you, a diaper bag can double as a snack canteen.
If bags are banned at your local theater, you could probably still wear a fanny pack around your waist. The next way of sneaking food into movie theaters is in your pockets.
Normal pants and skirts may have side pockets, but they really aren't large enough to carry in any decent snacks. The popularity of cargo-style pants can provide not only ample room for wallet and car keys, but also candy, chips and even a bottle of soda. Even in the summertime, cargo shorts can provide room for ample snacks at the movie theater.
The last way to sneak food into movie theaters is the most extreme, and I have only seen one person in my life attempt it. Adopting methods used by drug-runners in thriller action movies, you could attach the snacks directly to your body.
Fill a plastic newspaper bag or other skinny bag with popcorn and wrap it around your middle. Cleverly disguised as an overweight stomach with love handles, the popcorn can be removed in the dark of the theater and munched at will. Small packs of candy can be tucked in waistbands and taped to the inside of loose shirts. Walk in to the theater with a bag of skittles tucked under a stylish baseball cap.
Sneaking food into movie theaters may be frowned upon by the management of theaters, but it is a common occurrence. The fervent desire to save money and a dose of creativity can help you snack in secret as you watch the latest blockbuster film.
Published by Melanie L. Marten
Melanie Marten is self-taught and self-employed. Besides freelance writing, she dabbles in website design and owns dozens of websites and blogs. Work is squeezed in between parenting two boys, homeschoolin... View profile
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22 Comments
Post a CommentMy ex-boyfriend and I once snuck a 12 pack of beer into the movies- in his PANTS!!! It can be done :)
Melanie, I love this article and I agree completely. The concession stands are way too high. I, for one cannot stand popcorn, so I do not cry when I do not get it at the movies. And I hate to drink while watching a movie for I do not want to go to the ladies room and miss any of the $12.50 ticket priced movie. My purse holds my Sour Patch Kids and small bottle of water, just in case I get thirsty. Lol!
Let's see, sneak food into theatres, theatres close, Disney makes less money, actors get paid less, narssism takes a beating! Brilliant!
What a creative story!
After finding out about the calories and fat in movie theater popcorn, I think I'm going to have to start to sneak in my own. :-)
Our small town community-owned theater is operating on a tight budget and I can't justify smuggling in snacks. Besides the hot popcorn make the movie.
I'm so sorry some readers had a problem with extreme analogies for a touch of movie-themed humor. Half the article was tongue in cheek. I suppose my writing wasn't sufficient enough to get that across clearly to some. For those who think carrying a bag of M&Ms into a theater in their pocket is causing the downfall of society, perhaps they should volunteer to frisk people at the cinemas in their spare time.
Yeah, sneaking candy into the movie theater. That is exactly what I think I'm going to teach my kids....to become "sneaks." I especially like the line "Adopting methods used by drug-runners in thriller action movies, you could attach the snacks directly to your body." Sure let's adopt drug-runner methods...what a good idea Melanie Marten! People wonder what is wrong with our society. It seems pretty obvious with this article that the kids aren't the problem the parents are.
I've never understood this issue. Seriously? Sneaking food into a movie theater??? The operative word into the sentence is SNEAKING. I don't think people realize that an average movie theater survives on the concession stand. The majority of the box office goes to the companies like Disney, Warner Bros, Sony, etc. Not to mention an average movie rental from the company is anywhere from $400-$1,200 and could easily go higher. Do the math on the markup of a Big Mac vs. homemade burgers sometimes and see what you get. And don't forget all the maintenance; 1 projector bulb costs an easy $1,500. And what about shipping costs of the movie and posters? Round trip ship is ABOUT $100 per movie and each poster the theater has to buy is $20. There are many more costs included but if the movie companies would go down on the rental of the pictures and take less of a box office percentage then the theaters would come down on concession prices. Not everyone who has a theater is a big business h
Its is crazy how much food costs at theaters. I always go to dollar tree before hand and get the exact same candy. What i do is put it in my pants, leaving half below my belt and the rest covered with my shirt