Regal Northwoods — Attraction in San Antonio

I’ve been a loyal paying member at Regal NorthWoods for quite some time, as my fiancé and I love going to the movies for double features on Fridays. Unfortunately, our most recent visit turned into a deeply disappointing and uncomfortable experience that left us questioning whether this theater is a safe and welcoming space for everyone, especially minorities like myself.

After our first movie I went outside for some fresh air, and was approached by a white woman outside who asked me for cigarettes. I politely told her I didn’t have any and continued walking into the building. As we were entering, the same woman and her son suddenly yelled for security. To my disbelief, theater staff then began focusing their attention entirely on me, even though I had done nothing wrong.

I am Hispanic, and while I don’t like to jump to conclusions, the way this situation played out felt racially charged. It’s hard to ignore that the staff seemed to automatically take her side, despite her erratic behavior and lack of any real justification for involving security. They didn’t ask me or my fiancé for our side of the story—they simply zeroed in on us, creating an atmosphere that felt judgmental and discriminatory.

Feeling humiliated and targeted, we decided to leave instead of escalating the situation further. This meant we had to miss out on the double feature we had planned and paid for, which was incredibly frustrating. What should have been a relaxing and enjoyable night turned into a stressful and upsetting ordeal.

As paying members, we expect to be treated with respect and fairness. Instead, we felt like we were being harassed for no reason. The woman who caused this entire scene faced no apparent consequences, while we were made to feel unwelcome in a place we’ve been supporting with our hard-earned money.

I’ve reached out to the theater’s management to address this situation, as it’s unacceptable for customers to be treated this way, especially over false accusations. I hope the theater takes this matter seriously, implements repercussions for individuals who disrupt others' experiences, and ensures their staff is trained to handle situations like this fairly and professionally.

I also believe there needs to be some form of compensation for what we went through. We not only lost out on our planned evening, but we also left feeling disrespected and alienated. A credit to our account or complimentary tickets would go a long way in showing that this theater values its members and doesn’t tolerate this kind of behavior.

I sincerely hope this was an isolated incident, but it has left us questioning whether this theater is truly a safe space for everyone, regardless of race or background. I’d urge the management to reflect on how their staff responds in situations like this and to take steps to ensure all customers are treated with the respect they deserve. Until then, I’m hesitant to return, and I would caution others—especially people of color—about the potential for unfair treatment at...

I would give this theater 5 stars for the seating etc., but I'm a big fan of 3D, and their policy here seems to be to convince people that "3D doesn't work for some people" (a response I got from a former manager when I told him what was wrong with the 3D in theater 1, and he didn't realize that I'd already seen a good 3D version of the same movie in another theater). If there is somebody who knows what 3D is supposed to look like (completely natural with no eye-confusing, warbling effects!), they should have that person doing quality control on the 3D showings, using 3D glasses to check the image (I've actually had employees go in to look at whether the 3D was working, but they went in WITHOUT 3D glasses! They said "that's how it's supposed to look" [as if I was complaining that there was a double image, or as if I didn't know I was supposed to wear my glasses to see 3D]).

IDK what the problem in auditorium 1 is, but I think it's a timing issue. If you look at the screen without 3D glasses on a part that's messing up,* you can see that the double image cuts in and out, as if -with 3D glasses- the image is switching between 3D and 2D continuously, creating a horrible warbling effect that I think many people -new to 3D- don't notice, but they may walk away with a headache and probably thinking that 3D doesn't work for them... *The far away 3D scenes work okay in auditorium 1, but scenes with closeup movement do NOT.

In auditorium 14, you have to flip your 3D glasses over for the 3D to work as it should be seen. They need to flip the polarization on that projector, as one knowledgeable employee/manager once observed, but the problem keeps happening because nobody's doing quality control. (UPDATE 4/7/2023- the last 3D movie I saw in auditorium 14 actually worked! They flipped the polarization!!! Yay! But unfortunately I see that Super Mario 3D is in theater 1, so I'll check that today)

In auditoriums 7 and 10, the 3D works just fine!

One other reason that I gave this theater less stars - which seems to be a problem at all theaters - is that they should have 1 line that feeds into the various registers, because I seem to always get in the line that moves the slowest! While all the lines move very slow, it would be more fair to the customer to have the best chance of reaching a register in the order that they arrive in the lobby, especially when waiting for everyone to get their concessions will -at the very least- make you miss some previews, if not the beginning of the movie, if you don't show up at least 20 minutes ahead of...

Alright, so here’s a little PSA for anyone planning to visit this theater: be on the lookout for a manager named Katherine. I don’t remember her last name, but I promise you, you won’t need it. You’ll know exactly who I’m talking about the moment you hear that nasally gremlin voice echoing through the halls like a banshee in a customer service horror story.

Now I’m not one to usually leave reviews unless I see something truly next-level ridiculous, but Katherine operates on a whole different plane of unprofessionalism. I’ve been coming to this theater for a while—seen a lot of employees come and go—but never in my life have I seen a manager this objectively awful. It’s like someone took the concept of a bad boss, put it in a blender, and poured the result into a pair of shoes named Katherine.

I’ve overheard more workplace trauma from employees here than I’ve seen in most HR training videos. Employees and other managers constantly talk about how unbearable she is. We're talking full-on hushed hallway venting sessions, like they’re planning an underground escape from her reign of terror. One time the kitchen doors were open, and I heard someone say the owner has literally gone out of his way to try to get rid of her—but somehow, she’s still here. Like some kind of cursed artifact that just respawns every time someone tries to throw it away.

She throws tantrums. Actual tantrums. I’m talking slamming doors, yelling in the kitchen, chucking stuff across the room like she’s speedrunning a meltdown. And that’s just when she thinks nobody’s watching. I’ve watched her chew out employees over the most insignificant things like they committed war crimes because the popcorn wasn’t fluffed enough. It’s insane. These employees work hard, and watching them get verbally steamrolled by Katherine is just depressing.

And look, I’ve never even spoken to her directly—don’t plan on it, either—but the vibe is so toxic you could bottle it and use it to strip paint. She walks around like she hates being here and wants everyone else to hate it too. Mission accomplished, honestly.

This place would be a whole lot better if management actually addressed this disaster. So if you’re coming here—just a heads-up. And if you’re working...