AMC CLASSIC Wharf 15 — Attraction in Orange Beach

First review: Convenient, friendly staff, needs a little upkeep, but usually clean. Best if you can see a film in one of the larger theaters.

We had stopped in to see a fairly new release recently and the bulb in the projector was clearly going out (couldn't see any details on faces, very dim picture, blacks were crushed, kind of a halo around the whole picture, etc), we ended up walking out before the movie really got going to notify the manager, who graciously appologized and gave us some complimentary tickets.

If equipment was checked more frequently, it would have been clear the bulb was nearly out before it got to that point...I felt bad for the folks that stuck it out.

Other than that minor inconvenience, we have had only positive experiences here. (update below*)

Yes, going to the movies has become outrageously expensive (for 2 of us, we typically pay close to $40 after evening tickets, 1 large coke and a popcorn), but for some movies we feel it's worth it to experience the big screen. We are much more choosey about which movies we attend though.

This theater is an nice option in Orange Beach/gulf shores. Update 12/18/16: just attempted again to go see a new release. Popped into 2 different theaters due to issues (both different theaters than the one referenced above). In both options the convergence was out (meaning the colors were not aligned and you could clearly see red/green haze lines around images and letters, which also makes the total image out of focus). You'd have to not care to miss it...or just not know 'why' it didn't look quite right and accept it as 'how it is' even though it looked really crappy.

Both pictures were dim/dingy looking (which could be the bulb going out, lens and/or screen needing cleaning), the second one had horizontal lines going up the screen throughout the previews...we didn't stay for the movie since the 'coming attractions' weren't showing us anything more promising in image quality. One image was worse than the other, but both were unacceptable/unenjoyable.

The manager, Nick, was very kind but unable to correct the problem right then other than to offer yet another different theater to try. We simply couldn't enjoy the movie looking like that, and it appeared that all of them were misaligned, so we left. What's fun about watching a large, fuzzy, dim, image?

What's really frustrating is there's absolutely no reason for it. This is their business. Those projectors are highly capable of producing amazing image quality if dialed in properly and maintained. I know just based on our own small home projector and the calibration done to it how incredible the viewing experience can be.

The whole point of going to the theatre (especially with the prices now) is to get a high quality, large screen image and sound that you can't get at home...this location needs someone who knows how to properly calibrate the projector in each theater and who regularly checks on it. There's just no reason for this.

Interactions with staff have always been good, but all the great customer service in the world isn't going to keep people coming with consistently poor image quality experiences--because that's point of coming. For the cost/recent experiences of going to this Carmike, we get much better viewing at home on our small projector screen without the frustration.

Please get someone to regularly calibrate your projectors!!! That would be SO great!! It's just not worth coming if you can't watch something that looks better than what you can at home. I don't care how large the screen is; if it's not a sharp and vivid picture, it's a waste of...

We purchased 4 tickets on June 4, 2018 for a movie 11 days later on June 15, 2018 which was the first day showing of Incredibles 2. We bought them in advance knowing that this would be a busy day for the box office. We also showed up to the theater with what we thought was a reasonable time to retrieve our already purchased tickets and find seats within the theater. This was not the reality that we walked into when we arrived at the theater. When we arrived at AMC Classic Wharf 15 there was no one at the box office, so we proceeded inside the building in search for a Fandango kiosk box to retrieve our tickets. Once inside, no kiosk box existed. So we were forced into the concession stand line that doubled as the ticket box line in order the retrieve our ALREADY PURCHASED TICKETS. I entered the back of this line at 1:20 pm for a 1:45 movie showing. Now for one more fact before we proceed with the rest of the story: there were only four employees working the ENTIRE 15 screen movie theater. There were 4 employees all sharing the responsibility of selling ticketing and selling concessions. There were no employees taking tickets before entering the theater, there were no employees cleaning the theaters or restrooms, and there were no employees anywhere else in the ENTIRE 15 screen theater other that the 4 that were behind the concession/ticket booth stand. So now that you have that context, lets go back to me arriving with my wife, 8 year old daughter, and 2 small children in the back of this line at 1:20 pm. Would you like to guess how long it took us to get to the front of this line? We arrived in the FRONT of this line after waiting 35 minutes at 1:50 for a movie that was advertised to start at 1:45 only to be told that the movie started at 1:35 pm. So please tell just how early I should have arrived in order to make this movie. I KNEW that the theater was going to be busy and this is why I purchased tickets 11 days in advance. The AMC manager not adequately predicting that this theater would be busy on OPENING day of an EXTREMELY POPULAR Disney movie, and then wanting to put the consumer at fault utterly blows my mind! The manager simply stated that we could have showed earlier to make it to the movie. We arrived 25 minutes early (to a movie that we had already purchased tickets for) and it took 35 minutes to get through their concessions/ticket booth stand. Interactions such as this where the business is at fault and they blindly blame the consumer show just how out of touch they are with their consumers. At this point, with this lack of customer service and continual blame being put on the consumer when it should obviously be put on you for grossly under estimating just how busy they would be on opening movie day leads me to believe that YOU DO NOT WANT...

June 2022 Thought I'd give the AMC Wharf another chance. Inside, the theater is clean and attractive, with comfortable seats and plenty of leg room. But... the movie sound level (Top Gun - Maverick) was excessively loud and annoying. Bad as it was, it didn't come close to the ear-splitting, concert-level that blasted through the preceding 25 minutes of advertising, previews, and AMC self-promotion. NOT COOL! Recommend you bring ear plugs to make your pre-movie experience less aggravating or painful. Additionally, you might prefer to leave them in during the movie as well.

March 2022 [First, sort these reviews by lowest rating to see this next complaint going back years!]

They don't have any ticket windows/kiosks. There's only one customer queue laid out in a switchback maze that funnels people to (surprise!) the concession counter.

To buy a ticket, you have to wait behind the long line of people in front of you who are buying - along with their ticket - food and drink from an insufficient number of servers. VERY SLOW throughput from a very poor customer service protocol. Even airport security lines move significantly faster.

Today would have been a 20 minute wait for a 20 second ticket transaction...