The summer is a great time to go to the dollar movies, and yes, they still exist in many cities. The tickets usually cost $3.50 instead of $1, but that’s still good when you have a family of six. The movies have been out of the real theaters by the time you see them at a dollar theater, which is about two months behind.
In Spokane, the dollar movies are at the Garland Theater, which is huge and quite beautiful for an old movie theater. Yes, the floors are sticky, but who is going to complain? Oh, and every summer they show a free movie certain mornings, to help people get out of the heat. (Or to get them hooked on going to that theater so that they can stay in business throughout the year.)
We’ve watched several movies at this theater over the years, including “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and “Tangled.” It made us want to build boats out of sandwiches and float lanterns up into the sky. My kids love seeing movies on the big screen.
If you have a zero budget, another way to watch fun movies during the summer with your family is to get some entertaining DVD’s from your library. Not all the videos are educational. Some of them are just for fun, and many are recent releases. Check them out, go home, pop yourself some popcorn, and declare a movie night!
Related article: The Aftermath of a Movie
Tags: dollar movies, family time, living on a budget, movies, saving money, summer
Jeez, thanks very much for posting this! It’s gonna help me when I am thinking about going to Magic Lantern Theatre in Spokane! I am from Buffalo so I am not familiar with Spokane. Next time I see my family will be so much better! Super Wonderful!
I had never heard of Magic Lantern Theater in Spokane, but I looked it up online, and it seems to be a place that shows independent films and documentaries. What I like about the Garland Theater is the fact that it shows popular movies, just delayed by a few months.