Penn Cinema Huntingdon Valley — Attraction in Upper Moreland Township

Just about 30 minutes ago, I had a very upsetting encounter with the manager of the Penn Cinema Huntingdon Valley Theater. My dad, who is 88 years old and does not own a smart phone, asked me to reserve him a ticket for the 2:00 showing of the new Top Gun movie today, Friday, June 3rd. I did so yesterday using Fandango and gave my dad the confirmation number to give to the box office as instructed online. When he arrived at the theater today and provided the confirmation number he was asked to show his phone and provide the code. He explained that I had placed the order for him. He was turned away from the theater – even though he could provide the seat number and a confirmation. He was distressed and left the theater. Fortunately, I was home early and when he stopped by my house on the way home to his, I was able to accompany him back to the theater. I showed the young woman working at the ticket counter my phone and she printed out the ticket and my dad entered the movie. I stayed behind to speak to the manager and ask her why she would turn away my dad just because he didn’t have a confirmation on the smart phone (which he doesn’t own). I told her that according to the website he didn’t need a printed ticket or smartphone, only a confirmation number. She insisted that I show her the website statement and confirmation number. When I did she changed her story to “that is not the confirmation number he gave me.” Very untrue – I wrote out the confirmation number. Clearly discriminating against people without smartphones.. As I see it there are two main issues – the first being the lack of empathy for my dad’s situation by the manager and second – the condescending tone used while she insisted that a paper ticket should have been printed. Rather than working with my dad and then me, the cinema management displayed a clear lack of care for the customer. It’s as though his single ticket sale didn’t matter. The ironic thing is that there wasn’t a soul in the theater. When I selected his ticket for him yesterday, not a single other ticket was sold for that showing. Waiting to hear from management about the situation. I have emailed corporate. I'll revise my review if they...

I've been to many chain, smaller, and indie theaters across the US, and this is by far the worst one my family and I have ever been to. After reviewing other people's reviews, this seems to be a common experience. Why open a movie theater with a bar and nice seats when you can't deliver tablestakes features, like ensuring good guest behavior, logical seating arrangements that don't disturb other guests, non grainy projectors, and clean bathrooms? Why invest in a random podcast that nobody will listen to in a crowded market when you should ensure a good audience experience instead? Go to Regal instead. I've never had a bad experience there for over 1 decade.

I wonder if this theater has a reputation for bad behavior because these are the most disrespectful guests.

No theater monitoring leads to disrespectful guests: No employees coming in to check at all, really? I had to tell off a teen who was talking on a video call and Tik Tok to get off her phone to stop bothering others during Wicked, and after stopping for a while, she got back on it again. Her little sisters/cousins came in and loudly rustled about, discussing what to do. Guests were also running around inside the theater during the movie.

Most seats are close to the screen, and there are no aisles, so people have to walk across the entire aisle to leave.

Grainy projection

Disgusting, smelly, uncleaned bathroom

Crowded hallways, small theaters

Seating arrangement is strange: for the 4 center seats, 2 people can easily book the 2 seats in the middle, preventing 2 other people from sitting together. Why aren't there seat separations or 6 seats to discourage this behavior?

Then to pay $16 for tickets for this...

Good afternoon,

My friends and I come to Penn Cinema regularly. I wanted to express my surprise and gratitude with a recent visit to your theater. My friends and I came to Penn Cinema a few weeks ago. During the movie, my Air Pods had fallen out of my pocket. I actually did not notice until dropping my friends off after the show.

I did go back up there quickly but the theater had already closed and the staff had gone home. I honestly wrote them off as it would be easy for someone cleaning the theater to pocket them. I would have had no recourse and would have to accept that they were gone for good. It is shame that I feel this way but it is the world we live in today.

I was encouraged to call the next day to see if anyone had turned them in but I really thought they were gone. I did call and spoke to Chelsea. To my absolute amazement, she immediately told me that one of the staff cleaning the theater had turned them in later after the movie. She was incredibly kind and I went up the next evening to pick them up.

I explained that I was not expecting them to turn up and expressed my gratitude and astonishment that they were actually returned! I have to say that my faith has been partially restored that there are some people in this world still willing to do the right thing. I was incredibly thankful and left something for the person who had found it. I wanted the person to know how thankful I was.

Thanks Chelsea and to the person who turned them in as I am very grateful. We will continue to patronize your theater.

It is good to know that honesty still exists today.

With kind...