Airbus IMAX Theater — Attraction in Chantilly

There are only a handful of 70mm capable IMAX screens in the whole of United States. This IMAX here at Udvar Hadzy in Chantilly is one of them! If you're a true movie fanatic, you already know of this place. Not all movies are shot in 70mm and so you won't find every single movie shown in this special theater. This is for the true fans to whom 70mm matters! Up until recently, you have to line up to get into the theater and get your seat. It was first come, first serve and really old school way of doing things. I used to come wait here 1 to 2 hours before the movie start just to get a good spot.

Probably for money reasons, this was changed recently so you can now reserve your seats. So for really popular movies, if you don't buy tickets on the first day they put up, expect them to be sold out. For most movies though, people don't usually come here. I don't know why. And I'm one of those guys who don't watch movies anywhere else but here.

A few tips that you may find helpful. If you have a Smithsonian membership, the tickets are only $12 (no tax) to buy them in person. $15 without membership. $17+ buying online with convenience fees. If you come after 5PM, the parking is free. So, if you watch a 4PM show that ends at 6PM, you don't have to pay for parking. If you leave before 5PM and you stayed longer than 30 minutes, you'll need to pay for parking. I usually come buy tickets during the day and leave within 30 minutes and I don't have to pay any parking fees.

The movies start on time (with a few movie trailers) so plan to be on time. Other theaters don't usually start on time and have quite too many trailers before the actual movie begin. Unfortunately, the popcorn and drinks are priced unreasonably high like any other theater. At least, you can buy and drink beer, wine, or sparking wine...

IMAX doesn't do selected seat reservations. We arrived 20min early and the only seats left were rows 1-4. This theater boasts the biggest IMAX screen in NoVa; what they don't tell you is you could end up sitting 15 feet from the base of the screen, breaking your neck for 2 hours as you essentially stare up the side of a skyscraper. At eye level here, you're looking at a black wall. The screen is at least 10 feet higher, so to see anything at all we had to tilt our heads upwards 45deg+ the entire night. All the actors had massive chins now. The car-seat type headrests don't make looking up any easier. Several strangers around us went on their phones to check for nearby AMCs and left before the start of the movie. If I wasn't so frugal I would've left with them but I already paid for my family. The movie was great, I was uncomfortable the entire time, and I was gifted neck pain for hours after that. I wanted to take a photo to illustrate the monstrosity which is the existence of rows 1-4, but I knew the employee up front would say "no photos" and I didn't want to unleash my rant on a nice guy just doing his job.

Designing a theater with seats that are located less than 15 feet away and well below the screen is absolutely disgraceful. Reminds me of United overbooking flights, and shows that IMAX has the intention of squeezing maximum dollars out of customers knowing very well that some of them will get screwed over. Not cool IMAX, not cool. You've made your last dollar from me and I'll spare my friends the inconvenience by telling everyone I know about this experience. Everyone, just stick with theaters where you can reserve seating like AMC. The risk isn't worth...

It’s asinine to not have reserved seating in late 2023 at one of the best museums in the country. The pre show lining up is a total mess and the 70+ year old volunteer was completely overwhelmed by people who were told they had tickets for the front two rows ONLY, but ignored him and just entered the line. They also only let people into the theater roughly 10 minutes before the show, like it’s a 4-D show at Busch Gardens.

I had seen Oppenheimer before so once I got into the theater and saw people saving multiple seats like they were at a middle school lunch table, I just got a refund and left. The theater itself leaves a lot to be desired as well. It’s not terribly large and the seating is mediocre at best. I say this as someone who lived in LA the past 10 years and have pretty high standards of what to expect of an IMAX. All I heard of Udvar-Hazy IMAX is how great it is. If it’s gonna have such a reputation and choose to show narrative studio films, it needs to produce a better theater experience from top to bottom. The experience was lame as hell. And this was on a Thursday night at 9:30, three weeks after Oppy’s release. I’m driving to Philly in two weeks to see it in IMAX 70MM with a reserved seat....