SM City Pampanga opens cinema drive-In on July 31
SM Cinema re-opens with the newest out-ofhome entertainment experience for movie lovers – The SM Cinema Drive-In, which premieres at the Amphitheater of SM City Pampanga on July 31, 2020. This brings back the attraction of watching movies under the stars, this time as # SafeAndFunMovieWatching from the comfort of their own cars in the new normal.
This classic movie experience began on June 6, 1933 when Richard Hollingshead – who had earlier patented the concept – opened the first drive-in theater in Camden, New Jersey. According to Robin T. Rei d in a smithsonianmag.com article, people paid 25 cents per car as well as per person to see the British comedy Wives Beware under the stars.
The success of Hollingshead’s drive-in caused more and more theaters to appear in the US, and spread internationally as well. Driveins peaked in the 1950s and 1960s, and by 1958, there were 4,063 theaters. They were popular both as a space for families to spend time with each other, as well as an affordable date-night option.
While the popularity of drive-ins declined over the years with less available land, smaller cars, and the advent of home entertainment systems, some 300 theaters remain in the US. And today, the drive-in concept is being transformed into a safe and fun way of movie watchi ng.
The SM Cinema Drivein will be open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays starting July 31, 2020 at the SM City Pampanga Amphitheater with the most anticipated horror movie from South Korea, Train 2
Busan: Peninsula. Other films to be screened are Sea Monsters on July 31 (8:20 PM) and My Spy on August 1 (5:30PM).
Entry to the SM Cinema Drive-in will start at 4:30 PM. There will be two movie screenings per day. The first screening will start at 5:30 PM and the second screening will be at 8:20 PM. All tickets must be purchased online in advance. Each ticket costs P400 per person, and this already includes a Snack Time bundle consisting of bottled water, regularsized popcorn, and beef fr anks.
Food concessions will be available on-site. A separate menu will be provided upon entering the SM Cinema Drive-in. For additional orders, simply raise your flags and a server will approach your vehicle to take your orders.
For the best movieviewing experience, 2
customers, but we have to implement stricter safety protocols to ensure that they will have a safer dine-in experience,” he added.
Right now, Marasigan said, tables at the S&R outlet at the Harbor Point Ayala Mall here have X markings to tell customers where not to sit. And while customers can enjoy eating in groups, they still can’t be seated face-to-face.
Elsewhere in the Freeport, Rali’s Restaurant and Magic Lagoon Bistro also have to observe health protocols, even when al fresco dining areas like them do not have the “3 C’s” where Covid-19 is said to spread more easily: confined space, crowded place, and close-contact setting.
At Rali’s, registration for contact-tracing, which is required in all dine-in establishments in Subic, is also done digitally to further ensure customer protection, said owner-chef Rubelh Peralta. Placing orders, as well as paying, can also be done online here.
However, while restaurants, retail shops, and hotels are coming back on track, Subic’s iconic tourism attraction Zoobic Safari theme park is still awaiting advisory to open up.
Zoobic chief operating officer May Gamir said that the popular animal theme park here had recently introduced a buy-one, take-one promo for admission tickets with no expiry in order to raise funds needed in feeding the animals and maintaining the park.
Each ticket will admit two people for the price of one and valid for any day in the future when the theme park re-opens beyond the quarantine and under the “new normal”. (Ric Sapnu)