Going Retro at the Drive-In

I’m most certainly revealing my age with this post. One of my fond, family memories that always makes me smile are the nights we spent at the local Drive-In theatre. As a little girl with my parents and my younger brother, we would make a night of it. We had a family van, which was perfect for this kind of entertainment: we would comfortably pile into the back, open the doors, and enjoy the movie experience under a blanket, in the open night air with the wired movie speaker hooked to our window.

There was no radio wave or WiFi, and at intermission we would race to the cafeteria at the back of the drive-in to purchase a milk shake, chips and popcorn. The drive-ins didn’t last too long and most were shut by my teens, as multi-cinema complexes offered several movie choices, surround sound and comfortable chairs. On top of this, I guess the temperamental weather conditions could make or break your in car experience at the local drive-in.

Well today I went back in time.

I took my son to his first ever drive-in, albeit the performance was scheduled for 11.00am so there were no stars. Nonetheless, it was really enjoyable all the same. We went to see Dinosaur World Live at The Drive Inn, London. At first he wasn’t sure about this movie experience from a car. But as we tuned in the audio to our digital car radio, he was suddenly mesmerized by the live action, the big screen and the child-like interaction the performance held (including having us beep our horns several times to scare off the dinosaurs)!

What I also loved, was that with the joys of modern connectivity, we could order our snacks from the comfort of our car on their online ordering system. Within five minutes of clicking the order now button, I had someone deliver us fries, drinks and popcorn to our car window!

Another bonus to the drive-in during the current pandemic and with Covid cases on the rise again, we could sit in our car, mask free, with no concerns about social distancing. My son was able to sit in the front seat next to me for the performance, and we happily enjoyed our snacks and the performance in our own car bubble.

It was a little bit of a drive from our house, but definitely worth the experience, and I’d love to do this again, relive my youth, with a night time movie, hopefully with stars included!

It does make me wonder what else will come back in fashion as we look at different entertainment options throughout the pandemic. Dust off your roller-skates people, I’m taking mine to the street!