Review of Cascade Outdoor Theater in West Chicago, Illinois

Some of my fondest summer memories as a child growing up in the Chicago suburbs involved a trip to Cascade outdoor theater located on route 64 in West Chicago, Illinois. The first movie I saw was Disney's The Apple Dumpling Gang. There was a second feature afterwards but I fell asleep after the first movie. The theatre opened in 1965 and has been one of the few drive in theatres in Illinois that has stood the test of time.

Viewing

The quality of movies shown at Cascade are usually first rate with the theatre usually carrying new releases all the time. As this is an outdoor movie screen, I will refrain from critiquing the picture quality given the nuisance of daylight affecting the first ten to fifteen minutes of the first show. For optimal viewing experience, back your vehicle into the space and open the hatch or pack a few lawn chairs and crank up the outdoor speaker. Just make sure you bring plenty of mosquitos repellant as the lot becomes loaded with the little bloodsuckers at sunset.

Sound

The theatre provides the customer the option of listening to the movies via the car radio. That option is nice until you run the risk of draining the car battery when trying to leave for home at 1 am. It is usually a nightly occurrence to see staffers going from row to row jump starting cars. The theatre parking lot still maintains detachable sound receivers that you can attach to your car. These speakers have surprisingly decent sound quality and will preserve your car battery.

Concessions

The theatre concessions are so-so. The popcorn and nachos are first rate and are worthy of a purchase. The rest of the food is average at best. The concession stand does not quite hold the allure as advertised in the intermission retro cartoons of the dancing ice cream bars and colas. The concession does have a decent one dollar food special that occurs during the showing of the second movie. I suppose this is the vendor's opportunity to sell off those heat lamp castaways of dogs and burgers. If you have the late night munchies in round two, this is a good deal.

The theatre has no policy against bringing in your own food, so I highly recommend bringing in your grub. If time is short, there is always a Portillos west of the theatre and White Castle just to the east on route 64. Just make sure you do not bring in neighboring Scooby's food. For some reason the Cascade owner has a long standing feud with this fast food neighbor.

Price

The admission for adults into Cascade theater is nine bucks. Children the ages five and over are only $5.00. The cashier only accepts cash so bring plenty for the carload and the concessions. The price is overall a steal considering you get two features for the price of one.

Overall Quality

Those customers that are coming in with SUVs and minivans are required to park towards the back rows of the lot. I am okay with this request as my top heavy van is more than likely to block the view of smaller cars. If you come out to Cascade in a large family vehicle, be advised the theatre ushers will enforce this rule.

I would rate this theatre as a recommended date night or family night. If you go to Cascade with the attitude of truly capturing the audio and visual moment or passion of the movie scenes then you better stick to the indoor cinema. Cascade outdoor theater is so much more than that. It is the perfect venue to remember days gone by, gather with good friends, people watch, and even be a hopeless romantic with the significant other. More importantly, go visit the Cascade theater to embrace this dying breed of American entertainment before it is too late.