The Cinema snacks con.

Imagine the situation, hell has frozen over, there is a blue moon and yes there is a film out at the cinema that all three of my kids want to see.....We've all been there, all you want is a nice family trip to the cinema to see a film. Except having chosen the film and found a convenient time for everyone to go you are now faced with how much it's going to cost you.

These days an adult ticket to a bog basic film is £8.50 which isn't that horrific except how often do you get a bog standard film... (They are now so rare the cinema has to list them as 2D so you know there's no extra bits) if you want an adult 3D film it's £11.50 +80p for glasses (thats the film where you all sit in the dark wearing silly looking glasses in the hope things will become so realistic it'll feel like they're really going to smack you in the face, when in fact you just sit there for over 90 minuets squinting and getting a head ache eventually taking them off to watch the last half an hour as a fuzzy blurry version) then you have the adult IMAX ticket costing £13.90 +80p for glasses if its 3D ( this is the one with the massive screen...huge!) and finally I think you have the D-BOX ticket costing £14.90 +80p for your glasses again should it be 3d as well.

So lets say for the sake of argument you've got two adults and three kids and you all want to go and see a 3D film and being the unorganised twit you are, you've left the glasses you bought last time at home on the table-which annoyingly is where you put them so you wouldn't forget them and so have had to purchase five new pairs. That bit alone has just cost you £70.10!!!

Now the cinema rules state that no outside food or drinks are to be bought into or consumed inside the premises... Now I don't know a mother going who abides by this rule but again for the sake of argument we will pretend we do (or that the prepared sweets bought in readiness for the trip are at home next to the sodding 3d glasses because you thought he was picking them up and he thought you had them in your handbag which in his eyes is like bloody Mary Poppin's carpet bag and can fit just about anything in it) so giving the kids the chat about sharing you queue for snacks so we go for 3 drinks between 5 of us, two bags of pop corn, one bag of minstrels, some pick'n'mix and some natcho's for me ( if I'm going to pay over £70 to see a film I haven't chosen I want some sodding natcho's..... plus I hate pop corn and pick'n'mix) this little lot came to just over £29 bringing our total to £99!!! For a film that only lasts 90 frigging minuets!! We didn't even get a drink or snack each we're sharing them! People complain about the adverts and trailers.... No I want trailers I want as much as physically possible because I just spent almost £100 to go and see a film with my family!

When did charging that much become acceptable? When did family treats and days out require a mortgage? I love the cinema I was bought up by father to enjoy and savour the experience, it's a place I can go with my children for a giggle and adventure. Somewhere I can meet my best mate and sob uncontrollably through a film that captures the human sole so much you are as wound up in the story as the actors are. It is still the perfect first date, 10th date ... We've been dating for 4 years but still like night alone at the cinema date. It is the perfect place to go when you're alone and want to a few hours of escapism uninterrupted with no one who wants to share your drink, eat your expensively purchased snack or decides right at the good bit they really need the toilet.

I support the cinema's but when you are faced with these sort of charges you can see why down loading is so rife and why people try and sneak their own snacks in. I mean for gods sake McDonald's is next door, now I know we are all responsible parents who only give our kids fast food, snacks and sugary drinks as a treat very occasionally blah blah blah, but why when I can buy an ice cold coke for 99p next door do I have to pay £3.80 for the same size in the cinema?

I remember the days when a little purple ticket used to pop out of the brass counter and it cost me £4.50 which meant with the remaining £5.50 (£10 was all I ever needed on a cinema night out) I could have a coke and some sweets and possibly even some chips on the way home... Ok yes it was 1994 but still the coke is the same... The sweets are the same, the length of the film etc is still the same so why does it cost that much more??

Why can't reasonably priced food be available? Or forget the stupid rule about bringing our own food in and let us walk openly through with our sweets and drinks. Food be it snacks or proper meals can enhance a good day-out without it people can get tetchy and grumpy when hungry (I'm talking about me here not the kids) and cutting the cost of food means we're much more likely to come back on a much more regular basis.

Until then I have invested in a monthly cinema pass so I can see as many movies as I like for £17.99 a month which is really only two 2D films a month and its paid for its self.... Unless you want 3D or IMAX or D-BOX they all cost extra naturally.