What a HUGE missed opportunity by Cineworld.
We live in Bridlington and for years have always driven to the Cineworld cinema de luxe in Birstall, leeds. The main attraction being the amount of space you get and the amazing electric reclining seats. It's so good you can't even see the people in front of you so you can really stretch your legs and get comfortable. Then Odeon in Hull got a huge refurb and became a Luxe cinema, you don't quite get as much space but you do get the awesome electric reclining chairs and a handy pull out tray for drinks etc so the Odeon for the past year or so has become our go to cinema as it's half the distance of leeds.
We were really excited to find out Cineworld was coming to York and opening an Imax too. So this week I bought two lots of tickets, the first was for Sonic and the second was for a re-run of Avengers endgame on the Imax screen (Part of the IMAX film festival).
We won't be going back and here's why.
The seats are awful! they are cramped, I'm 17 stone and felt squished in them and have very little leg room (I'm only 5'11"). I don't know what material they are made from or what foam etc but I was sweating buckets in them, I thought maybe it was just me but everyone in my group said the same afterwards. Then there's the reclining or lack of, Why did they not give this brand new cinema the luxe seating? no electric recline? they do move back a little but it's very stiff and even my 8 year old couldn't push it back to recline.
Then there's the toilets, good luck if you're in the Imax and need the toilet. Avengers is 3hrs long and half way through my son needed the toilet and so we missed 15 mins of the movie. To get there you have to leave the Imax, walk to the other side of the foyer, then enter the section where the standard screens are, then we had to show our tickets again, then walk past every other screen to get there, a half mile round trip I don't think is an exaggeration.
Finally if you do go to the IMAX don't book the first 6 rows (A-F), you'll leave with a bad neck if you do.
Oh and why on earth is starbucks on the ground floor, why couldn't it be with all the other refreshments?
It's such a shame as the foyer is amazing and the screens are outstanding, this would have been our go to cinema, we would have even signed back up to unlimited. We'll be staying with the Odeon...
Read moreOK, so if you haven't tried Cineworld VIP then you are missing out! We were visiting York over the Easter break, and the children wanted to see the new Super Mario film so we thought we would treat them to the VIP experience. Taking a family of 4 to the cinema can work out quite expensive, especially when you factor in drinks and snacks, so the fact that the VIP price was just over £20 each was an absolute bargain! We'd pre-booked via the app so just had to have our tickets scanned on arrival. The recommendation is to arrive 45 minutes before the start of your film to make the most of the buffet. The VIP lounge is really nice. Comfy seating areas with plenty of room. A member of staff explained how everything worked on our arrival and the kids were straight over to the buffet. On the day we visited we had the option of pizzas, curry, soup, pasta, and a vegetable dish. There were also onion rings, garlic bread and naans. There was a small salad bar and a desert bar. The ice cream machine was unfortunately out of order but a server was bringing out tubs of ice-cream on request. We were able to help ourselves to soft drinks and hot drinks and everything was unlimited. There is a bar, but alcohol has to be purchased separately and isn't included in the buffet. After making light work of the buffet we chose our cinema snacks (you can help yourself to as much popcorn, nachos and hotdogs as you can carry!) and went upstairs to screen 2. The screen is smaller than standard and there is limited seating (approx 35 seats total) so we had 4 seats in the second row. The seats themselves were amazing. Super comfy, wide, and almost fully reclining. You have a cup holder and a small table to put all of your snacks on. The only downside to the seating was that I got so comfy I almost fell asleep! No issue though as I just popped downstairs and got a coffee to perk me up a bit.
This was honestly a great experience and definitely ideal as an occasional treat. Obviously you're not gonna get gourmet food, but the overall value for money is excellent. Highly...
Read moreGreat location don't know about getting a bus as my partner and I drive. When u walk through the doors u have Costa on the right the escalator straight in front of you and then passed Costa the elevators the place is also wheelchair ♿️ friendly there are no restrictions it's a big place. Once u have got upstairs to main part it's stunning the decor and lights makes it look so magical the vip area is straight ahead when u get to top of stairs make sure if u have booked vip to get there at least 45mins before the show u booked to give u time to have ya food and get all sorted in the screening with vip u go straight to a staff member who is stood by some stairs where they scan ya code from ya phone and tell u what screen ur in then u can walk up 3 steps and go straight ahead through double doors at back and staff welcome you if its ur 1st time they will give u all the information u need to know then u can go ahead and pic ya food n enjoy until ya movie starts this is a all u can eat buffet with no restrictions no limit and refillable fizzy drinks and water or coffee n tea. Alcohol has to be paid for. Then time for ur show to start grab what u want to take in with u and even if through the film u need to refill ya drink or popcorn or get some more nachos with aray of condiments u can get up and go get it. Now onto the room itself so u get seated and settle in the chairs are so comfy that u could fall asleep in them they recline all way back too and u have a table attached u can move that around as well and the screen is massive the full experience is amazing and is well worth the price u pay for vip staff are very friendly and will help out whatever they can help with like my 7yr old wanted more ice cream but the machine broke so she got him some from back most probs kitchen that cooks all food for vip. I would 10000000000000% recommend ya do it's...
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