AMC Rockaway 16 — Attraction in Rockaway Township

We have been going to this theatre for almost 10 years and have always loved it. It was always well managed and clean. I haven't come here in roughly a year or so, but between my previous visits and my visit recently, this theatres quality has drastically dropped.

We arrived about 45 minutes prior to our movies showing. It was a Saturday night and I couldn't believe how slow the theatre business was. While purchasing our tickets at the kiosk, we noticed about 4 or 5 staff members shooting the breeze behind the desk. We decided to hit up that bathrooms first and were surprised to find them not well maintained, filthy even. Water all over the sink counters, almost every stall had dirty toilets, paper products all over the floor, multiple stalls had no toilet paper. When I left the restroom, I looked around and noticed popcorn all down the hall and garages were overthrowing. Again, literally a very slow night and we did notice multiple staff members just hanging out talking and joking. If you have time for that, you have time to clean. When we said something to a worker, he laughed and said "uh I guess I'll send someone to clean that."

We went to the concession stand next. The counters were sticky with soda, a complete mess. Got our orders, went to the coke machines where you fill your own soda and the first two machines were nearly out of every product, the last machine had more of a selection so I used that one. But the floors around the machines were very dirty and disgusting.

We sat and waited outside our theatre for the previous showing to end, which it did about 30 minutes prior to our movies start. Once it did, patrons left, we didn't see anyone go in to clean so we waited, then about 10 minutes later, people started going in so we followed. Upon entering, it was noticeable that no one had been in to clean. We sat anyway because the pre coming attractions had started. I left to get more napkins and I got back about 5 minutes later to find out the staff were asking everyone to leave the theatre so they could clean NOW, less than 15 minutes before our movie starts. Another movie goer asked why this wasn't done sooner and his response was "well we have a new guy and we are behind". Again, if there's time for people to be standing around yakking, they can be helping clean sooner. We went back in 5 minutes before the movie starts and they were still cleaning but let us sit. When I actually sat, the seat was so squeaky, I ended up having to change seats.

To top it all off, not even 40 minutes into the movie, some teenage jerk screams into the theatre what the ending is and runs out laughing. Our theatre was literally 10 feet from where a security guard was stationed and he said he had no idea that happened. Really? A guy is yelling from the door at the top of his voice and you don't notice? Good security. Glad I paid a ridiculous amount of money to find out the ending not even an hour into this movie.

Due to the cleanliness of the theatre, the lack of staffs work quality and concern and the disorderly patrons that frequent this theatre, we will never be returning to...

I usually watch movies with my kids on the weekends and try to catch the matinee and then go to lunch immediately after. If you go in the evenings, your experience may be different. This theater is big and clean and with 16 theaters, chances are they will be playing all/most recent releases and in multiple formats (3D, Digital, Imax). I like that the theaters and bathrooms are always clean and since it is in a mall (Rockaway), you can find parking pretty reasonably. They also seem to do a good job with controlling crowds during a popular release so that people watching other movies aren't inconvenienced. Concession food tastes as fresh as movie concessions can get. I dislike that the lines to get tickets take so long. They have separate lines for Stubs members for both movie tickets and concessions but they usually go slower than the regular line because there is only one register for the Stubs line vs 2 or more for regular line. So the status doesn't net you anything in wait time. 75% of the time, it has been faster or the same to wait on the regular line. On one occassion, the cashier actually asked me to wait and took someone from the regular line because they were waiting longer. This doesn't matter if you use one of the terminals for tickets but you miss out on any promo giveaway items (see below). I don't know if this happens in all AMC theaters but one of the benefits of Stubs is free popcorn size upgrade. But if you order the large, they charge you for the large. I think they should charge me for the medium and give me the free upgrade without having to ask for it. So if you are a member, make sure you tell them you want medium with the free upgrade. I have also never received any Stubs promo giveaways without explicitly asking for them. There are occassionally mini posters, pins, or mini figurines that Stubs members get for free but they don't automatically give them out. I'm on the Stubs member line, I show my Stubs member number and I am buying tickets for the movie with the promo tie-in so why don't I get these Stubs perks automatically? When I ask (I only know when I see giveaway items on the counter), they give them to me begrudgingly but without any question but I don't feel I should ask. I am with my kids so if they don't give these things to families, I am not sure who they are giving these to. These aren't amazing toys or anything of immense value (pins for Frozen, mini-poster, mini Spiderman figure, Spider-Verse "trading" cards) but the kids like them so its annoying that I have to ask for them all the time. At another AMC theater, I didn't bother with AMC Stubs membership but they still gave me pins for a group of 7 kids (Big Hero Six) without having to ask. Overall, I like the movie theater. It's close, clean and convenient. However, their execution of the Stubs benefits is lacking. This is a benefit I pay for but I have to always ask for the benefits, despite showing that I'm a member. I'll keep the theater but pass on the...

Saw F1 on 7/13. Movie was great! Sound was impeccable! NO air conditioning in screen 13! Oh and my ticket numbered seats didn't even match the numbered seats on the diagram I selected or the location of the physical seats. Popcorn butter/salt station LOOKED clean, but someone just schmeared the butter everywhere in an attempt to clean it at the right lighting angle. Bathrooms (both gender) in the wing to the right upon entering/higher numbered screens were blocked off with the cardboard cutout posters of upcoming movies. Upon using the ladies room in the left wing, I encountered: a stall whose door swung the opposite direction of the lock/stopper so that it rendered the stall useless unless you had someone else to hold it closed for you, cracks in the floor tile grout and the caulking where the floor and the wall meet that we're waterlogged, water all over the counters which got splashed everywhere when you used the hand dryers that were installed ABOVE the counter next to the sinks as the air had nowhere else to go, and the faucets didn't seem to have the airators where the water comes out so the water flow was irregular, thus forcing me to squash my hands to the backside of the sink under said faucet just to clean them properly. Overall throughout, there was a faint odor of something I can only describe either as bad BO or damp furniture. I haven't been to this theater since Barbenheimmer, but I can certainly say it will be much longer than that for my next visit; a sad thing to say as a Stubs Insider member...Only giving this place two stars for the actual movie experience of the...