McMenamins Anderson School Theater — Attraction in Bothell

I saw Star Wars on opening night, at the 7 pm showing. The line started forging at 5:30. The place was crowded, as expected for a movie of this caliber, but getting to our seats was quick. Getting to the front of the line to order food took a while, however.

The food was tasty, and arrived quickly, but I was at the front of the food line. The beer was good (Kris Kringle) but was served in very small portions.

In the theater: The speakers were good, but the sound proofing was not. There were several corporate parties going on in the McMenamins complex, and we could hear them during the quieter moments of the film. In the midst of a heroic sacrifice moment, the soulful sounds of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines were clearly audible.

During the second half of the movie, it seemed like almost everyone dropped their dishes, shattering their glasses and plates.

I went here so I could watch a movie. It's nice to be able to have a beer while watching a great movie, but next time, I'm going to the Regal at Northgate. Dropped popcorn barely makes a noise, and I'm a lot less likely to hear "gonna tear your ass in two" during an emotionally...

I can't believe I've never reviewed this theater before but here we go!

We've seen a dozen movies here in the last year and it is an absolute delight. Wonderful staff, delicious food, family friendly and I can sip some wine? Sign me up!

Even disregarding all that, today's experience would make me a lifelong customer. The set: Moana 2 on Black Friday. The cast: a beleaguered mother and father + offspring. The scene: the aforementioned beleaguered mother may or may not have accidentally booked 2 sets of tickets. Result: with absolutely no requests (this was entirely my bad, I'm dumb), the woman at the check in desk (I so wish I'd gotten her name but it was the 11/29 1pm viewing of Moana 2 so management please give props where props are due) was kind enough to offer ticket vouchers for future movies. Completely unnecessary in this scenario because absolutely no one was to blame but myself, but definitely moves me into "customer for life" territory.

Thank you for making our holiday...

it's a decent theater as long as it's not packed.

The seats are only half "stadium", the other half is all flat on the floor up front, not ideal for comfortable viewing.

Nearly every seat (less those in front of a wooden bar) had a ""portable" plastic tray in the cup holder, which ends up directly above your knees/legs - * caution if you have it full of stuff, you may very likely dump everything on the floor * - it also makes the standard seating more compact.

The audio is decent, but there are two GIANT frame glass posters on the left and right off the wall, which reflect the screen and make for a slightly nauseating viewing.

Lastly, like some old(er) theaters, it does NOT have a safe exit from each side of the row (in an emergency) or to avoid having to slip in between people to get to the left side of seats. There is NO exit on the left side of...