Regal Regency - Panama City — Local services in Panama City

I hate to even take one star off but I like for my reviews to be completely honest, so here we are. PROS: Brand new theater is very beautiful. Nice clean modern bathrooms (which was a huge upgrade from the old Regal Theater that was knocked down by Hurricane Michael, the old bathrooms were gross, nasty and just plain ugly).

CONS: They have their theater seating set up the opposite of every other theater I have ever been to. Normally the handicapped seating is in the front, but here the handicapped seating is at the furthest back, up a huge flight of stairs. The way you would get to it is by going up the elevator, but the first day we went to this theater, the elevator was broken. We chose like 3 rows behind the handicapped seating that very first time, and when we got to the theater, we discovered our mistake and my sister and I both have leg issues, she uses a walker and it was really hard climbing up all those stairs. Now, we don't ever choose the handicapped for fear that with our bad luck, we might end up doing that on a day when the elevator is broken again. They also do not have the walk ups without stairs to get into the theater like all the other theaters have. It is extremely difficult for us older people with bad legs and walking issues to have to climb these stairs all the time and there's a lot of stairs just to get up to the front of the theater in every single theater we have been in and we go at least twice a month since it's opened. These are things that are not an issue to young people or people without certain health issues, but for those of us that do, it was extremely negligent to have the theater seating laid out like it is. The concessions as everything these days is very expensive. I ordered a cheeseburger one time and the bread had clearly been microwaved too long because the bread was hard as a rock in places. It was certainly not worth the very large price I paid for it. Last month I decided to try their fries, I did not realize that they did not have just regular plain fries, they all have something on them. While I was waiting for them to bring my fries to me, I noticed on my receipt it said they were bacon and cheese fries with no bacon and no cheese. But paying the full price. I asked about it and was told they do not have just plain regular fries, so I said if I am having to pay for bacon and cheese, then go ahead and put bacon and cheese on them. These fries are like $8-9 dollars folks.

Overall, it's a beautiful new theater and we have enjoyed going, and if you don't have walking or health issues, then the majority of my complaints do not apply to you and do not affect you, that's the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 2 stars because the issues do not impact the majority of people.

Please hire some people who are a bit faster too please. Most of them are so slow that you wait in line for like 30+ minutes sometimes on Mystery Movie night which is on Monday. Then the people who are doing the cooking if you get something besides popcorn or nachos are really slow as well as not seeming to be very experienced in cooking. Even when there is no one in front of me waiting on something to be cooked, I still am waiting a good 15 minutes most of the time and that is in addition to the time I waited in line to place my order...

I'm so glad that we finally have a proper theater in town. It's a brand new theater so everything is clean and organized. The A/C is ice cold (I love it) so you might need a sweater. There are kiosks for buying your movie tickets (if you didn't buy online) but if you're not confident in selecting your own tickets you can go to the concession stand to buy them as well. That isn't publicly advertised. Once you have your tickets, there are people there to scan them in. Don't forget to have someone scan them or you might run into problems later. They might release them thinking you're not there and then resell them. So, someone might come in because they also have those seats and you'll have a problem.

I've only seen standard movies so I can't comment on the fancy theaters with the wide screen or the seats that move but my family members have been in those theaters. In regards to the wide screens, they equated it to an IMAX experience. It was fun but (they saw the new Mission Impossible) they said their eyes were constantly moving so it was tiring after awhile. Maybe a shorter movie wouldn't have been so bad. As far as the theater with the seats that move, they said that it was a lot of fun. The only issue was the size of the seats. They were more snug feeling compared to the other seats. So, before you buy those tickets, you might want to check out the theater and see if you'll be comfortable. Who wants to sit in a tight seat that's moving around for 2hrs+?

The theater is handicap accessible. There is an elevator to the second floor where the handicap seats are at the top of the theater. I often go with someone that uses a cane to walk so we're often in the top row and use the elevator so we can avoid having to climb steps. Be cautious though, if you are needing the use of the elevator make sure it works. On one of our visits, the elevator was out of order but it was just that one time and we've been there nearly 10 times now. It's nice having the handicapped seats at the top because 9 times out of 10 they are first row and they always have to lean their head back the entire movie.

Plenty of bathrooms on both levels.

My only issue is the concessions. There is a huge variety of items to get and they don't skimp on the sizes. A large drink is humongous. I got a large Pepsi when I went to see Oppenheimer and I wasn't halfway through it when the movie was over (3hrs!). With that being said, should that large soda cost me nearly $10? In my opinion, no. 4 drinks and 3 popcorns cost over $70. That's just silly. I understand that theaters have to make money somewhere but that's just grossly overpriced.

Oh they also have a bar. I haven't gotten anything there yet but it's nice looking. They have fun...

This is borrowed from a social media post i made about my experience, but was good enough to include in a rant like critique.

This is my first time experiencing 4DX, and I'm seeing Godzilla x Kong. This is looking pretty cool. The seats are ridiculously cool. Trade off is no lounging, but I guess the rumble feature is its own intense ride.

Update post movie and to abbreviate my critique: This is like being on a slow moving Rollercoaster that has intense jostling throughout.

Now for the deep dive.

The upsides: the film was awesome. And 4DX was a great choice for me as a first time seeing this and also experiencing the tech of 4DX.

The technicals: the mapping of the 4DX program has been obviously fine tuned from technology borrowed from attractions like those found in Wonderworks in orlando, and places like the "motion ride movie theater" in Gatlinburg TN, this technology is refined and redesigned for a stadium theater setting; while this tech is not new, it is packaged in a new way and refined. The experiences within include smells (I think soft smells like cologne or baby powder, but honestly that could have been just people in the room with too much on,) air burst cannons, water mist, water vapor cannons, bubbles/artificial falling particulates presumably made of soap bubbles, quick dispersal fog cannons, high intensity fans and 4 pack seats with in seat actuators, air bursts, rumble, and motion pistons that can make you feel weightless and "floaty." You also get Dolby like sound quality, some films are 3d, and you get a IMax quality screen with Laser projection.

The downsides: This is not for people who get motion sickness, there are times it almost feels too intense. I also do not recommend a fizzy drink, my soda went flat 20 min into the movie. Personally I loved it, but at times it felt gimmicky, while at other times, it felt amazing and very much like it properly immersed you into the films world.

Lounging/reclining would be difficult to achieve, but would absolutely win as a future inclusion to this

I want to see...