Port Drive-in Theatre ...you'll go for the food...

Hello! My name is crazybob. I'm a brand new NEWBEE!

My wife & I just bought the Port Drive-in Theatre near Williamsport, PA. It took us two months to clean, & fix the place up enough to get it open.

I recently retired from the US Postal Service as a Rural Letter Carrier, however, I started working at the concession stand at a drive-in theatre in 1969, near Atlantic City, NJ. ...In 1970, I became a projectionist, & worked in Trenton, NJ, & Atlantic City also. ...In 1972, I got drafted.

My dream was to own my own drive-in, & after 39 years, it came true!

I try to run my theatre like a resteurant that happens to show movies. I'm trying to sell the whole drive-in experience more than what movie is playing. My wife runs the conc. & does the paperwork. I'm the projectionist, & everything else.

I love this forum & have been reading it for a long time! I hope to learn things to help make my theatre better. ...Our budget is small.

If this is allowed, here's a link to my homemade web site: portdrivein.com Thanks again for a great & educational forum! -crazybob.

Look up the Holiday drive-in in Hamiltion oh. The food is one of the biggest draws. They started serving angus beef over 10 years ago. The policy is no outside food/beverage is allowed. The had spotters to check the cars and a sherrif there to escort offenders out. The option is pay 5 bux a head extra to bring even a drink in! I thought it extremely wrong because as kids the wagon would be loaded w/ ice tea, pop and snacks!


http://www.holidayautotheatre.com/snack.php

britt

Best of luck to you Bob.
LOVE the funky website - like the rules section alot (if only the world followed those simple rules!).

My first thought was WOW what a great idea. But my worry is the darn movies are so expensive what with the high percentages that you have to pay today to show anything current or even 2nd runs.

I ran a theater years ago in fact started out as a 35 MM carbon arch projectionist, but then we switched to 16 MM. I left shortly after we featured Debby Does Dallis. LOL True.

Anyway I still like the idea and I hope you are very successful in your new venture.

This may sound like a crazy idea but can you serve beer? Or beer and wine? How current are your movies? Do you have to spend a ton with your local paper for your advertising?

What if you did a tie in with a local cruisers group and once a month featured 3 or 4 sixty's car flicks. Or Beach Boy Movies along with some car movies? Just a thought.

I'd like to do a big BBQ at our local drive in but I know the only thing keeping them open is the concession income.

Again good luck and watch for the kids smuggleing in their friends in the trunk of their cars. LOL
Jack

crazybob, Best of luck to ya. Looks like something the community will appreciate and rally around.

My opinion, drive-ins are perfect for families. It's just a great atmosphere for kids. We always went to the Garden Drive-In in Hunlock Creek, Pa. Everyone came early to eat. The food was good and reasonable. We enjoyed many a Disney movie under the stars.

BTW, Your menu looks great with very good prices.

Nice web site, like the vintage novelty. Here is another site for you to check into, http://66drivein.com/ This is a great Family type place to go too; they allow food to be brought in but it’s not really worth the hassle as their concession stands is well worth it. But why anger a potential customer until they discover it on their own. They have been very successful over the past few years since opening, I would contribute it to keeping things simple, clean and Family oriented. They charge reasonable prices and make a killing on volume. I can’t tell how many times they have filled the lot and had to close gates with a long line of disappointed patrons having to make a u-turn and head back to the hi-way.

If you could get this guy to talk with you I would put credence in his words.

Best of luck, drive-ins were always one of my favorites as a kid, the one I listed above is in Carthage, Mo. Unfortunately the one here in Joplin/Webb City can’t be reopened; it is now a Wal-Mart Super center.

Wow, You are a bunch of nice people here! Thanks for the great replies.

We drove back to South Jersey, last night for a couple of days. The drive-in is only open on weekends.

We visited the Holiday in Hamilton, & the late Fred Baum in 2005. We had met him the year previous at a drive-in convention. His drive-in was wonderful, but the rules & outside food permit were TOO strict for me.

I believe that if you sell the best food for the lowest possible price, then people won't bring thier own McDonald's or Pappa John's. So far, I know that it's working because I clean the field.

I run films "off the break", meaning that they have been out for 2-3 weeks already. I pay the film companies about 30% of the ticket sales, instead of the other way around.

We're not trying to get rich, we just want to pay the bills, & take a vacation.

We don't use carbon arc lamps, we use 4000 watt xenon. We do run 35mm film. The Diamond state DI in Delaware still uses carbons.

I'm not sure about the licquor laws in PA. I know that a few drive-ins do sell beer.

I put an ad in The Williamsport Sun Gazette, The Lock Haven Express, & The Centre Daily Times in State College, PA. I do it on Saturday only. It costs about 50.00 for each ad.

Business could be a lot better, but I'm fighting a bad reputation (the place was a dump), & high gas prices. Still we're doing about double what I thought we'd do.

The Garden Drive-in is one of the nicest in the country (when it isn't under the Susquehanna River.) They have a very sucessful flea market on Sundays.

We hope to do a car cruise next month. I've been giving out 2.00 discount coupons at the local car cruises Next year, I'd like to do a "Woodstock-fest".

I hope that you all come visit us sometime, We'd love to have you...bring your RV! Thanks again, ...crazybob.

I got a lot of my menu ideas from reading this forum. I'll will always be tying to make improvements, & I'm always open to suggestions.

I sent an email to the Food Network's DDD show, & asked if they could do a Pennsylvania drive-theatre tour sometime. There are still around 30 drive-in's in PA., the most of any state.

I'm new here, & after reading the other posts, I apoligize if I'm posting in the wrong catagory.

In 2004, I helped a local doctor reopen the Delsea Drive-In Theatre, in South Jersey. I showed the last movie there in 1987, & the first in 2004. It'sw just 45 min. from Phila. It's NJ's only drive-in.

We had no electric or water that summer, we used gernerators. We had no concession stand (it was burnt down) so we used a hot dog cart. We always grossed around 5K a week! The popcorn machine was on the table next to the cart. We had to get ice daily to cool down the sodas. We had port-a-potty's

CB... The healath dept must have different laws reguarding zdrive-Inns. I cant believe you could open with no plumbing at all.
britt

Wow, your venture looks like a riot... Munchies and Movies.. Does it get any better?

Looks like fun. I caught the tail end of the NJ drive-in experience. No more left, in this part of NJ. I remember my Mom, my sister, and I went to see Grease. My Mom told me I had to get in the trunk, before we got there (she was kidding). Scared the hell out of me (I was 10).

One of my dreams has been to have a little operation like this....Im jealous bob

Hi, Spud! In a nutshell, here's how I did it. You start with a dream.

In 1969, I worked for 1.50 an hour at the Atlantic Drive-In, near Atlantic City. It was owned by the Frank familily, & they still own it, however it's now a 16 screen megaplex indoor theatre, & outback steakhouse. I said "someday...."

You need a dream, a goal, & a plan of action. NEVER QUIT! ."..Lose your dreams, & you will lose your mind" -Mick Jagger.

In the late '70s, I was an AMWAY distributor. They got me to read every positive thinking book know to man!

If there's one thing that I learned, you cannot have fear & faith in your mind at the same time...I replaced fear with FAITH!

Ted Nuggent said "Life is point A to point B. In between you have to kick some serious (_!_)"

All the best to you, Spud!


BTW, I'm probably going to change the name of my drive-in next season. This place had the worst reputation & a plethera of other reasons.

Bob,

My first job was in movie theaters $1 hour and I WAS IN LOVE! I would have done it for free! 14 yr old schmo that I was. Spent many years and learned it all including the old carbon-arc and some amazing italian made 70mm/35mm projectors that were more precise than your watch.

Fell into the food business from there went to culinary school and here I am today, doing very well selling good food from my truck and having a ball.

But seeing this made all that old feelings come back up. Besides, there just arent hardly any drive-ins left around here.....and to build one would just be toooo big of a chance to take.

My hat is off to you, enjoy.

Im still jealous....

Thanks for your kind words, Spud. I use to run the Italian projectors, Cinemacanica Victoria 35/70's at the Virginia Theatre, across from the Steel pier in Atlantic City. The Steel Pier had Simplex E-7's in the Music Hall, & XL's in the Casino Theatre.It was all carbon arc & 20 minute reels. Now I splice the whole double feature on to a 5' platter, & use a 4000 watt xenon bulb. ...I'll post some pics, when I get a chance. I'm still in my RV, parked next to the concession stand.

I hope you stop by here sometime. The season ends in Septemeber.

The Frank family owns the megaplex in Bayonne NJ.

Gone are the days when there is beauty and charm in a movie theater. There is a project to restore the old Lowes in Jersey City, but is mainly used for events, other than movies. I remember going to it, as a kid and it was a beautiful place to enjoy a movie.

Same thing as far as Drive ins. They were very popular in NJ, up until the 70's. They all disappeared in this area. Glad to hear that the kids of today can experience such a fun and unique venue, while watching a movie, at your place.

Best of luck!!!

CB.. How do you run the projectors for the dual screens? Are both cameras in the same booth facing opposite?
britt

Hi Britt. The original projecton booth is all the way to the left. You can see the 2 port holes. The second set of port holes are covered up by the sliding door.

At one time, there were 2 projectors , & the projectionist made a change-over ever 15-20 minutes. Each movie came on 5-7 reels, & they still do. Now I splice all of the reels together on a platter system. We use 35mm film, & a single projector. We have a second booth in the old managers office in about the middle of the picture. The light beam shoots out the port hole just below the Pepsi "pizza wings" sign, at a 45 degree angle.

I need to put more pics on my server, & I shound resize them. Sorry for the big pics.

looks great bob!

being down the road from you a piece, i can understand the toughness of rebuilding the rep of a business. our little cafe had a terrible rep. we are still feeling those vibes. its very costly to come out from under a bad rep. we flood the ad markets with coupons and screaming our new name. people crall back in slowly, and usually they reply... 'WOW, WHAT A NICE PLACE!' follwed by.... "i will be back" but they dont come back, until we run another coupon, which takes all our profit for the week!. man, what a circle. somewhere in there, arent we supposed to be able to take a little cash for ourselves???? frustrating. and just when you think you cant take it any more... you get a slew of awesome compliments, and it builds you up again.
the nature of the beast. ( or, our brand of hell)
anyway, welcome to our hell, and we wish yo uall the luck in the world. in case you havent noticed, yea, i had too much coffee this morning..lol


my friend in florida had a drive in and he had flea markets, and farmer's markets and charity events and such during the day.
he also had $5.00 carload specials on thursdays, that went well.

mike

Thanks for your nice comments, Mike!

The main thing to do next is notify the phone company, before the new books come out. My best advertising tools have been the www, & my roadside marquee.

My competition, 15 miles away, is the Pike drive-in. We both run ads in the Williamsport Sun Gazette. People get the 2 drive-ins confused. Our original name was Harvest Moon, back in the '50s. Everything around here is Harvest Moon. The locals call this place the Moon, not the Port. The "T" in port fell off the marquee years ago, & the previous owners never fixed it (or anything else). Yes it was know as the "POR" drive-in! I took this pic. in 2006, while I was nosing around.

The health inspector said that this place used to be a "sh** hole". ...Yes it had a bad rep.

I'd love to hear the members of the forum pros, & cons of changing the name of a business.

I figured out how to resize my photos. I saw these deer the other day.



I recently met this local guy "Little Elvis" on the CB radio. I got him to sing on my FM radio xmiter. I mmight hire him for my car criuse!



Since this is a food forum, Here's a photo of a deep-fried Snickers bar that we sell for $1.99. I just got the new "boomerang" counter tops in July!


Welcome To The Moon!

Bob, have you thought about running a flea market on Sundays?
Easy to do and you have everything in place.
It will generate extra cash. Good Luck, Chow Jim

Hi, Jim. We did a benefit flea market on Aug. 9th. We chared each vendor 5.00. All proceeds went to the Williamsport High School Marching Band. The turn out was small, but I know that it takes awhile to build things up.

After running the drive-in theatre, We don't get to bed until 3-4 AM. The flea market started at 7 AM. We did sell about 90.00 worth of food in are concession stand. We do want to have another flea market in the future, but I'll have to hire more staff, & advertize more.

http://moondrive.com