# Bringing food into cinemas



## Christy (6 Jan 2006)

On a recent trip to my local cinema I noticed a sign saying something along the lines of 'Only food purchased on these premises can be consumed on these premises'. 

I mentioned that as far as I was aware that there was legislation introduced against exactly that. I was informed that this was no longer the case and because they sell food on the premises they have the right to stop people bringing food in, something like a pub or cafe.

Has the legislation changed, if so does anyone know when, or if not does anyone know the piece of legislation that allows you to bring in food?  I would like to be able to have all the facts if I am to raise the issue again.

Thanks

Christy


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## snatch (6 Jan 2006)

I don't have the facts that you requested but what strikes me is the thought of cinema employees lining everyone up to have pockets and handbags searched on the way in to take your seat...never going to happen so how can they enforce a rule like that?


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

Yeah - no way they can search people so there's no way they can realistically enforce such a rule.


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## DrMoriarty (6 Jan 2006)

I don't know about the legislation, but as long as cinemas continue to charge €2.90 (why not €2.99?  ) for a drink of coke/carton of popcorn/packet of sweets, my kids will be going there 'pre-packed'..!


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## colc1 (6 Jan 2006)

Too right DrMoriarty the prices charged in cinemas for food and drink are scandalous!!


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## legend99 (6 Jan 2006)

DrMoriarty said:
			
		

> I don't know about the legislation, but as long as cinemas continue to charge €2.90 (why not €2.99?  ) for a drink of coke/carton of popcorn/packet of sweets, my kids will be going there 'pre-packed'..!



2.90 is good value compared to many cinemas!!! Mahon Point in Cork the small popcorn and drink meal(i.e. the kids meal) is I think around 6 or 7 euro.

There was also a very interesting article a while back in either the Tribune or Sunday Indo I think about the dangers of cinema food, mostly based around the amount of calories and salt in the coke/popcorn. The large popcorn is something like 30 times bigger than the correct kids serving size in terms of salt I think.
They mentioned that the a 15-20g serving...which is the size of those Tayto Honest popcorn bags is the way to go for a kids serving of popcorn. I reckon that would fill up about 5-10% of even the medium sized popcorn in most cinemas....


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## DrMoriarty (6 Jan 2006)

legend99 said:
			
		

> 2.90 is good value compared to many cinemas!!!


I meant €2.90-ish for any _one_ of those items, not the three!

I think my local charges about €6 or €7 for their kiddie 'meal', too, but can't be sure as I never buy it. If I can at all help it, each of my kids goes in with a mini-carton of fruit juice, a bag of homemade popcorn and their choice of one normal-sized choccy bar/packet of sweets bought outside the cinema.

Looking forward to a confrontation with a manager, one of these days...


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

Mind you - perhaps a blanket ban on munching/slurping in the cinema would not be such a bad idea? Or else personal (surround sound!?) headphones (like on long haul flights) to drown out the surrounding din from ill mannered patrons?


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## Vanilla (6 Jan 2006)

I'm with you on that, ClubMan, I havent been to a cinema since, I think, Evita for that very reason. However no doubt as V Jnr gets older I suppose I may have to start going again, unless Mr.V can be bribed to stand in.


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## DrMoriarty (6 Jan 2006)

Agreed also. Practically the only time I go to the cinema nowadays is to bring the kids to something.

Admittedly, _King Kong_ in 'Sensurround' would drown out most munching/slurping noises...!


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## Thirsty (6 Jan 2006)

I'd be happy to ban food altogether; I was at a ballet in the Point Theatre (not the nicest of places at best) before Christmas and the endless chomping, sweet wrappers, spilling of drinks not to mention the muck left behind was just disgusting...


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## Cahir (6 Jan 2006)

I saw someone being kicked out of the cinema in Blanchardstown for having a burger king meal - I was glad as the stink was disgusting!

As for the Point, they don't even allow you to bring in a bottle of coke to the main area now so I'm surprised that the ushers weren't all over the people at the ballet.  To make things worse, when you buy a bottle, they take off the lid so you can't reclose it and put it in your bag.


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## redbhoy (6 Jan 2006)

I questioned the price of cinema food one day to the chap working there. I think it was 1.40 for a tangle twister.
He told me thats how they make their money as they get little or nothing off ticket sales. I'd believe him if you look at the scandalous fees the stars are paid.


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## Kiddo (6 Jan 2006)

Cahir said:
			
		

> To make things worse, when you buy a bottle, they take off the lid so you can't reclose it and put it in your bag.


 
I think thats actually to prevent you using the full bottle as a weapon..to throw into the crowd.  At all outdoor gigs in the last couple of years, they have been taking the caps off bottles ...even at Oxegen on the way in. Our answer to this is to stick a spare bottle cap in our pocket/down our sock


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

Are ballet audiences that unruly these days? Do the tickets state that crowd surfing and moshing will not be tolerated as well?


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## Kiddo (6 Jan 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Are ballet audiences that unruly these days? Do the tickets state that crowd surfing and moshing will not be tolerated as well?


 
With the ballet, set one too many G&T's you just can't predict what will happen daahhhling

I would assume the crowd surfing and moshing rules apply too....afaik the back of the ticketmaster tickets are pre-printed and are not event specific......one size fits all


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## ClubMan (6 Jan 2006)

Kiddo said:
			
		

> With the ballet, set one too many G&T's you just can't predict what will happen daahhhling


The two oul' wans on _Joe Duffy_ a few months back talking about getting pissed in the gallery box on a bottle of spirits that they had sneaked into the _Pavarotti _concert were very funny...


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## WarrenBuffet (6 Jan 2006)

In Dun Laoighaire the newsagent right beside the cinema does a roaring trade before every screening...... 

I can never understand why people queue up to buy food in the cinema itself as its just as convienent to go to the shop and pay half the price


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## z107 (6 Jan 2006)

> I think thats actually to prevent you using the full bottle as a weapon..to throw into the crowd. At all outdoor gigs in the last couple of years, they have been taking the caps off bottles ...even at Oxegen on the way in. Our answer to this is to stick a spare bottle cap in our pocket/down our sock



...or just conceal a knife down your sock.


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## Ash (6 Jan 2006)

I was at an afternoon showing of Narnia last week.  The cinema was full of mothers and babysitters each with several children in tow.  No doubt there was a mixture of treats brought in and bought in the cinema.
However, what surprised me was the number of babies in pushchairs in the cinema.  To be fair, none of the babies created any noise or disturbance.  The aisle of the small cinema was cluttered with the buggies though and when a wheelchair user tried to pass, there was a bit of difficulty involved.  I wondered if there were some safety issues about the situation.
Is it usual for babies in buggies to be brought to the cinema?  To me it is a bit odd.  Not as odd though as being at Bugsy Malone in the Olympia and seeing two parents share the minding of a baby in a buggy.  This child didn't create any disturbance either but the parents stepping in and out of their seats to push the buggy repeatedly in the aisle did as they were right in our eyeline.  
Is this the new way of doing things?  It beats the cost and problem of getting a sitter but what about the other patrons who paid equally good money to watch the show?


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## IsleOfMan (7 Jan 2006)

Back in the 1970's I remember buying chicken and chips and smuggling them in to the Ormonde Cinema in Stillorgan. It was a real military exercise with one person buying the tickets and the other concealing the greasy bag under their jacket. Ever get hit with a half eaten chicken leg on the back of the head?


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## DrMoriarty (7 Jan 2006)

IsleOfMan said:
			
		

> Ever get hit with a half eaten chicken leg on the back of the head?


So that was *you*, y'b*stard..?!?  Bet they weren't even from Aprile's...


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## Cahir (7 Jan 2006)

I like the nachos with cheese dip and jalpeno peppers in the cinema so I guess I'm guilty of paying the high prices.  I usually use free cinema tickets from piggypoints so at least I'm saving on the high ticket price!


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## BillK (7 Jan 2006)

Why can't people survive the length of a film show without eating?


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## brodiebabe (7 Jan 2006)

BillK said:
			
		

> Why can't people survive the length of a film show without eating?


 
Well of course people could "survive" the length of the film without eating - it is not as though they are eating because they are suffering from starvation!  They are eating because it adds to the enjoyment of the whole cinema experience.  Personally I love a Ben and Jerry's ice-cream when I watch a film in the cinema.


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## slave1 (9 Jan 2006)

M+M's from a shop smuggled in


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## fobs (9 Jan 2006)

I rarely go to the cinema since having kids as my other half doesn't want to "waste a night out" at the cinema if we do manage a babysitter. When we did go we used to always smuggle in the drinks and sweets but I HAD to have the popcorn and wouild keep eating it even after my lips had turned numb from allt he salt. It just goes together with going to the cinema. Will have to wait until the kids are a little older and can bring them with me to get a night at the cinema again I guess!!!


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## babydays (10 Jan 2006)

Apparently there's a cinema in Stillorgan, Dublin (somewhere around there I think) that has matinee viewings for people with babies. The idea is to allow the cinema-starved young parents to get to the cinema by bringing the babes with them. I haven't been to it  - sounds like bedlam and I don't feel a dark cinema with loud sound, uneven & flashing lights is the best place for a baby. But there you go!


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## ClubMan (10 Jan 2006)

My wife was just telling me the other day that the bloke she works for and his wife used to bring their baby to the cinema from time to time. Have to say that I've never noticed babies in the cinema before but I guess that most of the movies that I've seen would be rated for an older age anyway.


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## BlueSpud (10 Jan 2006)

Man, dont you just love it when yopunare surrounded by people eating thsrt smelly buttered popcorn, of all things, that stuff should be banned.  This post will be deleted if not edited immediately, people buy it by the bath load, you end up smelling worse that a smoker when you are done......


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## ajapale (10 Jan 2006)

I believe there is a cinema in South Dublin (Stillorgan?) who have mother and baby screenings in the afternoon.

aj


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## kazbah (10 Jan 2006)

I have to second that the price of food in Mahon Point Cork is scandalous.  Even Tesco in the same centre have a big ad before most screening for their "snacks and beverages".  I try to bring my own.  I've succumbed a per times but it's a total rip off.


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## Christy (11 Jan 2006)

Just got a reply from the Office of Consumer Affairs and apparently the cinema is within its rights to not allow food be brought onto their premises.

Christy


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## kazbah (11 Jan 2006)

Christy said:
			
		

> Just got a reply from the Office of Consumer Affairs and apparently the cinema is within its rights to not allow food be brought onto their premises.
> 
> Christy


 
You'll just have to start bring a rucksac or something they will never go to searching people, just stop people who are being very blatent about it.


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## ClubMan (11 Jan 2006)

You mean [broken link removed]?


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## kazbah (11 Jan 2006)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> You mean [broken link removed]?


 
Yeah with pringles dippers and a jar of sauce in his hands.


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## geri (17 Jan 2006)

Ash said:
			
		

> Is it usual for babies in buggies to be brought to the cinema? To me it is a bit odd. Not as odd though as being at Bugsy Malone in the Olympia and seeing two parents share the minding of a baby in a buggy.


Was at Blondie in the Olympia just before christmas and a couple had a very young child, probably around 5 or 6 years of age with them.  They were in the pit at the front, and it was Very Loud and a wee bit rowdy.  We thought it was a bit odd, and in fact they left about an hour into the show.  I thought they should have known that it wouldn't be the best place for a very young child.


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## dodo (17 Jan 2006)

I always bbring food much cheaper


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## jasconius (17 Jan 2006)

I remember years ago at the local fleapit when the girl selling Kia Ora got married - apparently she walked down the aisle backwards!


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