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Topic: Edwards Ocean Ranch 7 - Laguna Niguel
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Christopher Crouch
Member
Posts: 292
From: Anaheim, CA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted July 28, 2011 11:32 AM
I thought the following statement from a Cinepolis rep was interesting:
quote:
Some people will complain about the prices. Others will come for just a special occasion, while others won't think twice.
You don't go to Disneyland every day, right? You go for a special occasion or maybe once a year. But some people go as much as they want.
I could see this being an "in" spot for a while. However, I'm not sure it will maintain that audience, longterm. The Laguna Niguel/Dana Point/Ladera Ranch area looks ideal for a high end theatre option, from a demographic standpoint, but that area's affluent "hipster" scene also tends to jump from fad to fad rather quickly (more so than your average "hipsters"). The area's core movie going base, affluent families, likely won't support the theatre to a great extent.
If they play their cards right, this could be a big opportunity for Regency's Rancho Niguel 8 to pick up some customers. Regency has been experimenting with expanding Rancho's bookings beyond art, over the past year, and further moves in that direction might pull in some alienated Ocean Ranch movie goers.
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Danny Baldwin
Member
Posts: 130
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Aug 2009
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posted July 30, 2011 09:06 PM
I've been to the Del Mar 8 location twice now, and the facilities upgrade is great, although it REALLY needed upgrading because it had fixed aspect-ratio screens and poor UltraStar maintenance in its previous life.
The service was atrocious -- we never got our food and it took half an hour to get refunded (you pay in advance, unlike at the Alamo Drafthouse), but I talked two free passes out of the manager, which at $19.50 a piece are like gold.
Here's basically my take: If you know something is going to be sold out and you don't want to have to sit right next to people and/or don't want to get there early (there are reserved seats), it's definitely worth the $7/extra a ticket. This is only $4 more expensive than ArcLight at peak, and ArcLight has no problem getting Average Joes to pony up. If I want to go to the Friday night opening of a blockbuster or a popular Midnight show, I'll definitely be there. But otherwise, while it's more comfortable than the average multiplex, I can't see shelling out the premium. (The seats ARE extremely comfortable, though -- old people with back problems will be in heaven here.)
What I was really surprised about, however, was that there were still plenty of kids and teens going despite the hefty price-tag. I don't know if it's just to try it out and/or they don't know the price before going, but they are definitely out in full force right now.
The presentation quality is excellent; the Christie 2k was a little pixely for my tastes (sitting in second row both times, because the shows were nearly sold out), but it's nice and bright and I'm sure looks great from the back... The sound is an enormous improvement, with the best LFE channels I've heard in a non-IMAX in San Diego.
I do think that they will eventually need to discount the first show of the day on weekends, like AMC, Reading, and UltraStar all do locally. $19.50 in the morning on a weekend is just downright ridiculous when, five miles away, you can go for $5.75 or $6. They are doing $13.50 first show on the weekdays, which is what the MAXIMUM should be on weekends as well. I think once the novelty wears off for people, they will learn this.
One last note: the opening has been handled abysmally. The job posting they put on Craigslist was fraught with misspellings and bad punctuation; even in this economy, I wouldn't be surprised if serious applicants passed them over based on its lack of professionalism. Their social networking/PR girl, instead of providing showtimes and pricing information, only a few days before opening, was posting YouTube trailers of BURLESQUE and asking people if they liked it. They never answer their phone, according to posters. Their MovieTickets.com reserved seating selection is backwards, so undoubtedly people think they are buying back row when they click front row. Still, no pricing or menu information is available online. Both times I have gone, at non-peak times, there have been huge lines at their "concierge desk" box office, with only one or two people selling tickets. Even though the facilities are great, they need to get their act together.
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Danny Baldwin
Member
Posts: 130
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Aug 2009
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posted August 11, 2011 04:58 PM
Went back to Cinepolis Del Mar today, and oyyy it's only getting worse as it goes. They still don't have the online ticketing fixed. The movie was in the wrong aspect ratio and, when the guy I notified tried to fix it, he ended up turning the sound off for several minutes. (How these non-booth projectors work, I don't know, but clearly such a mix-up can actually happen!) They never fixed the aspect ratio, at least in the first 20 minutes of the movie (I left after that). Then, after another 20 minutes of a manager disappearing and reappearing on me, I gave up trying to get a pass (the box office couldn't refund because I 'paid' with another re-ad). Publishing an angry piece on them soon... it's atrocious...
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