Regal Gallery Place — Local services in Washington

Updated 2/18/20: Not long after my reviewed visit to Regal Gallery Place, the theater's Deputy General Manager, Cordero McGhie, contacted me by phone. He listened attentively, fully understood my concerns, and set about making corrections. His courteous response and effective action (a) made me sure he'd taken the steps needed to fix the four seats in question, and (b) demonstrated his and Regal's commitment to me as a 4DX fan and customer. So, the rating goes up from one star to the five stars I think the experience, and the theater, deserve.

12/30/19 I've been to Regal Gallery Place (in Washington, D.C.) a dozen or so times over the past few years, and love it. It has a great concession area, well-appointed screens, and has a diligent staff keeping things clean and moving promptly.

My grief with Regal here in D.C. is that it seems unable to properly support the audience. Wholly indifferent staff met with my problem yesterday: I spent a lot of money to bring family members from Ohio to see the 4DX experience of Star Wars. If you haven't experienced them, the seats in 4DX theaters are amazing! As the producers of these seats explain (see Wikipedia): "The 4DX is a premium movie format that introduces motion chair and special environmental equipment to theaters with motion, wind, lightning, scents, bubbles, etc. depending on the movie scene. It is a technology-intensive movie theater solution with the number of 79 registered patents and 101 applied patents." I've loved the seats, and have made a point to support Regal by buying seats whenever I can.

The problem surfaced 40 minutes into our show. We'd spent 30 minutes watching previews, while the 4DX theater filled to near capacity. Ten minutes into the Star Wars feature, however, my wife and I and the two of my guests sitting next to me realized there were no effects in our seats. 79 registered patents, and none of them worked in our seats - I assume because Regal hadn't been maintaining the seats. We can't have been the first movie customers whose experience with these four seats failed.

So if you've paid premium prices to sit in really cool seats and find the seats don't work, what do you do - 15 minutes into the feature? We could have approached a manager, and maybe - say another 15 minutes later we might have been able to reseat. Or we could have left - and sought a refund. Not going to happen with a movie as important as this one, and I doubt Regal would have considered refunding the premium cost of our four seats. I emailed Regal shortly afterwards asking for a credit for the cost of the four tickets, but thus far have been met by silence from Regal.

It is true that we found other seats on our own, without help from Regal management, where the chairs worked, and stayed through the movie. So I have no right to ask for a refund. Still, if you thought you were paying for a 4DX seat and got nothing, how would you feel?

Afterwards, I approached the ticketing agent - the only employee I found available - and asked to speak with a manager. She relayed the request over her walkie-talkie, and nothing happened - no one responded, and no one met me. I stood there while she made the same request three more times. Nothing. So I left.

My passing recommendation is: Don't book seats F16, F15, F14, or F13 at the Regal Gallery Place 4DX screen in Washington, D.C. Maybe don't go to the theater expecting your seats to work. Have a backup plan to sit in seats other than the ones you purchased.

Great effects when they work; it is a less-happy experience when they...

I watched "Midway" at the 4DX-equipped cinema and it was a terrible experience. Here is what I was expecting, as per the PR release: "Midway in 4DX will have the heroic battle sequences of World War II brought into the auditorium. A thrilling combination of warm air, airshots and fog will recreate the action heavy sequences featuring rapid gunfire and heated explosions. And as fighter jets zoom across the sky, the propulsion will be felt through 4DX motion and vibration, the chairs vibrating to the speed and intensity of the jets." (First of all - the movie takes place in 1942, and there were no U.S. or Japanese fighter jets at the time, so this should have been a sign of things to come, but I ignored it.)

The reality? There was zero fog, no scents or smoke, and there was barely any water spray (not mentioned but expected due to the water spray in the movie). There was also a machine in the ceiling that made a very loud AC-compressor-style noise a few times (maybe the fog machine?) but nothing seemed to happen afterwards. Also, the seats were extremely uncomfortable and I constantly found myself sliding off them, even when they were not moving around, and they are spaced very close to each other so if you're setting next to someone or wearing a thick coat (as I was), then prepare to be frustrated and distracted. Finally, the nail-in-the-coffin were the so-called "ticklers", which could best be described as someone sitting behind you (a small child perhaps) and poking you thru the seat when there was lots of action. I am not kidding when I write this - even the "motion" of the seat at times felt like someone just kicking the chair from behind (I know this because it's happened to me a lot over the years in cinemas).

The only things that I felt worked were the warm blasts of air and airshots, which were delivered mainly from the back, but also occasionally from the front.

So, in conclusion, paying a premium for a 4DX movie is totally NOT worth it in my book. Go IMAX or Dolby as the screens are larger and the seats are much comfier (I personally prefer AMC anyway but I wanted to try out the competition).

Also, to a lesser extent: (1) there was only one (very bored) person at ticket sales, so there was a 10-minute wait (they later added a person when the line got even longer); (2) I was not asked if I was a member when purchasing my ticket, so I had to add the points at Guest Services; (3) the "Jack & Coke Frozen" machine was broken (and has been for weeks, as I asked if it would be fixed soon) in the concessions area; and (4) there was an inoperative water faucet in the main men's bathroom. On the plus side, the two staff who worked upstairs in Guest Services and checking tickets were friendly and personable. But all-in-all this was NOT a good experience for me, so I won't...

For starters this was my 1st experience with this particular location as I've been a regal customer and/or member for the last 15 years I was very excited about going to this location because I am an original Chocolate city native and had never been to this location so I decided I would try my luck and unfortunately From the moment I walked in to the moment I walked out was absolutely terrible the individual that took my order at the concession counter had to be asked 4 to 5 × 2 assist at the register was so blank and just communicated as as little as possible to get through the transaction by the time I had managed to place an order the amount of just utterly negligent and distasteful customer service that I was met with it turned me off completely so I instantly refunded my concession purchase and found my way into my theater, the showing, the actual screen and all other sound was good I was not able to enjoy it at all due to the fact that there was a very small toddler that was allowed into the movie theater especially considering it's specifically lists that children under a certain age are not allowed into these particular 3-D style movies and I'm almost certain that this child was well under that age due to the fact that they had to be wheeled in-and-out in a stroller to which they didn't occupy a seat and That totally ruined my experience overall I initially wanted to pay for the 4DX 3-D but though the standard 3D would be just as amazing, and I definitely should have because I feel as though I would have enjoyed my avatar experience that much more i'm very sad that this was my experience with regal and just overall as I've anticipated this movie since the premiere of the 1st 1 in 2009. I can't say that I will be revisiting this location or recommending it to anyone that I know I do Hope that all others that decided to see this movie at this location have a better experience I will be seeing this movie again unfortunately I will have to at a different location very soon. Still a regal member I just know better for...