Emagine White Bear — Attraction in White Bear Township

I have held 'Emagine Whitebear' theater in high regard but after today I have lost that respect. When attending a showing, on a day where a very popular movie was opening, a close friend of mine who suffers from type one diabetes was approached by a manager named Selena. This friend that I was with, uses a backpack to carry around snacks to maintain his blood sugar. Selena walked towards us and in a rather rude tone said, "You cannot bring that backpack inside, you will need to put it over there," (gesturing towards the front counter). Thinking that surely an accommodation would be made for a man with diabetes my friend and I stated that he needs it as he has diabetes. She responded by saying that “Well I still need you to turn in your bag.” Selena then walked away abruptly to which we thought ‘there is no way she could possibly be demanding a person with a disability to surrender his needs.’ We and several others left to find our seats hoping that on a busy day Selena would not feel the need to hunt down a diabetic with a backpack. To our surprise, she either followed, or looked at cameras to find our theater and then confronted this friend. Selena, in a raised tone, directed at my friend stated “I need your bag or get out! I could kick you out right now but I am giving you a chance, take what you need from this bag or get out.” To which my diabetic friend complied fearing that he would lose his chance to see the movie. Witnessing this made me livid, how could a person do this to someone who clearly stated that he has a disability? Plenty of people walk into showings with large handbags, why choose this one, young adult that has stated his concern and need for this bag? This made mine and my friend's overall moviegoing experience awful and we were disgusted by the actions of manager Selena. I am developing a disdain for this theater, prices have been rising and now the service is declining. 1 star, if I could give less I would, violating state disability rights is not an issue to be...

I would recommend waiting until the theater gets completely renovated before going. I don’t know if my experience was a fluke but it was awful. Once we got the tickets, I followed the line that went to the hot foods. There was nobody there that would help me. So many of the workers walked passed me and nobody would stop. I’m a very patient person but it would’ve been nice for someone to tell me, “hey, this line is closed or I’ll be there in a minute.” I just assumed the line was closed so I went to wait in the other long line that was designated for popcorn. I get to the front and tell them what I want and the kid said I couldn’t order that food at this line and I was told to go back where I was. I told him that nobody was helping me over there so he followed me to the other end. First off, you should be able to order all the same things from each cashier. It’s confusing and it’s not efficient. Then on top of that, you have to pay at another section? Too many steps. You should be able to order what you want and pay for it all at the same spot. Then I got to the cashier and this poor girl had no idea what she was doing. She kept having to start over and ring up everything and I had two kids with me so I had a lot of stuff. The food is way overpriced for what you get too FYI, so I’d skip the concessions all together next time. Inside the theater it’s really nice. I love that the seats are comparable to Marcus. I also loved the idea that they will bring the hot food to you at your seat when it’s ready. However we never got our food. I had to go down there to ask where it was and they had to look through a bunch of tickets to prove that I wasn’t lying. I was away from the movie and my kids for at least 15 minutes trying to reorder the food. It was a disaster. I will wait until they are fully renovated and try to go back again. I really hope that they change a few things once more space is available since this theater is much closer to me...

We've enjoyed going to this theater for over a year now. The heated reclining seats are great and purchasing them in the app ahead of time is easy. It's nice to have a close theater that shows plenty of niche and event titles.

Downsides: sound definitely carries between theaters, some rather badly. Nothing like watching a quiet emotional scene and hearing the latest Marvel battle next door. Snacks and food are pricey for what they are (8$ for a monster??)

Additional feedback: Our latest trip we were told we had to print our tickets by a power tripping security guard. We asked if this was a new policy and were laughed at - "nope, been this way for a while". Well, our previous movie going experience says otherwise. We watched this same thing happen with someone else but they were then let in without printing. Either inconsistent or discriminatory. The theater has definitely been lax in the past on checking tickets and I have no problem with verifying, but every other theater will just scan your QR code. What's the point of having it if you will just make them be printed anyway? This sentiment was echoed by others as we waited at concessions. Which, by the way, have previously just scanned your QR code to know what seats to bring your food to when it's ready - so it's not even a technology thing! I hope the theater takes another look at whatever weird policy(?) changes...