West Wind Sacramento 6 Drive-In — Local services in Rancho Cordova

Bring your own food or you'll miss the movie. The gates opened at 6:30, and we were through the line of cars and parked around 7:00. That should have been plenty of time to get food before the movie started at 8:30.

The concession line was ridiculously long though. We had drinks and popcorn that were no longer fresh by the time we got to the register.

Then we had to wait forever on the rest of our food. I got a large pizza which came out pretty quickly. But my family had burgers and other things from the bar. My brother's burger came out first, and at that point it was after 9:00.

We went out to the car, having missed a bunch of the movie already. I stayed for just a few minutes to eat some cold pizza and drink flat soda.

My mom was supposed to get a phone call when the rest of the order was ready, but that never happened. So I went back inside to get it since the movie was ruined for me.

First I was given some loaded fries that had been sitting out for who knows how long, because even though the order had been completed earlier, they didn't call my mom. I then had to wait several minutes before I could get an employee's attention again and tell them I was still waiting on a burger and fries.

The burger had also been sitting there awhile, but I had to wait while they made fresh fries. I finally took the food to my family and my mom had cold, soggy fries, while my youngest brother had a cold burger.

There was such a small portion of the movie left that I didn't even wanna bother, so I went inside to use the bathroom, and the movie was over when I came out.

It shouldn't take over two hours to get food. We spent almost $100 and it wasn't worth it. Nothing was fresh by the time we got to eat, and the employees had poor communication with us. Thank goodness the movie was free because we didn't even get to see it properly.

The gates should be open sooner if it's gonna be this busy. The movie was less than an hour and a half, and we spent longer than that inside to get subpar food.

It's a shame because I used to come here as a kid. I was looking forward to doing a drive-in again for the first time in about 20 years, but the whole...

If you're a movie buff and are particularly snobby when it comes to immersive cinematic experience, then you want to stay away from drive-in at all costs. This isn't an indictment against West Wind theater because in all accounts, I had a positive experience.

However, I enjoy an immersive cinematic experience, and unfortunately, under the covid circumstances we're in, this was the only way to watch a new release. Overall, the picture quality from the projectors was surprisingly on par with the regular cinemas; I'm willing to bet they were even using digital projectors. But, the audio, just as I was suspecting, was worse than I thought. I was hoping that my car having premium surround speakers would mitigate the stereo sound, but unfortunately it did not.

It was my first time in 30 plus years of my life that I got to finally experience a drive in movie. The process is relatively simple and uncomplicated. You get in line by car to purchase tickets, not unlike going through a toll. Once you pay, you're told what station to tune in to sync your vehicle's audio with the picture, and then provided the number of the corresponding parking lot for your movie.

Similar to a regular in house theater, if you want to get the best seats, or in this case, the best vantage point from your car, you want to get there early if it's for a blockbuster flick.

We got there literally 3 minutes before the movie started so the lot was pretty packed and, and we didn't have time to find the best available spot left, so we settled for the first one in the very back. I wish I could say this was similar to sitting in the very back of the theater, which is certainly the least preferred spot, but one where the viewing distance is still tolerable. Unfortunately, this position at a drive in, or at least at West Wind, turned out to be worse. The viewing distance felt like I was watching the movie through my smartphone sitting about 6 inches away from my face.

My advice, get there early to get...

Update Dec 2022: The only major change is the concession center. After the fire, it has been renovated to look more modern and offers more varied drink/food items.

Update Nov 2019: Since the dirt lots have been paved over the summer, there's only a couple of new changes. I've updated the review with these. Drive-in movie theaters are few and far, but this one in the Sacramento area is still going. If you've never been to one, I recommend it especially during cool, dark nights. If you do plan on going here, arrive at least 45 minutes in advance especially during the busy weekends. Some people may not know this, but the audio is through specific radio channels so make sure that you have a working radio.

Cons: -Because there are only 6 screens, movie selections are limited to recent popular ones with two or three time slots every night. -The projectors are not bright enough. Dark/night scenes in movies will be hard to see for some. -There will be people who are too stupid to turn off their headlights. They'll blind you and shine on the screens. -Security isn't good. Sometimes they check the lots, but mostly they don't. Nothing bad has happened, but you get people who are there only to make out.

Pros: -Tickets are per person, but they're much cheaper than regular movies. -There is plenty of parking spaces in each paved lot. There are parking designations too, so get there early to get the prime spot! -Lots have gradual bumps to angle your car for the right view. If your car has low clearance, you might scrape it though. -Sit in the privacy of your own car. Or go camping style by bringing your own seats. There will be bugs so you're warned. :) -They sell traditional movie foods and drinks, but you can just bring your own. -Pets are usually not allowed, but as long as you leave them in the car and they're not a nuisance then it's fine.

All in all, you'll have a good time. Just...