Create the perfect schedule and timeline for your Movie Theater Party. The event will run efficiently, and your job will be easier than imagined.
The best way to plan your Movie Theater Party is to work from a scheduled timeline. As you learned on my blog, the most effective party duration for a pre-teen is 2 - 2.5 hours. So, once you've selected your feature presentation, just work backwards to fill in the schedule.
In the following example, we'll assume that we've selected one of my favorite kids movies (which coincidentally features a VERY young and handsome Sean Connery!), Darby O'Gill and the Little People, with a runtime of 90 minutes.
2:30 pm Guests arrive
2:35 pmUshers rip tickets and guests enter
2:40 pmGuests purchase food at concession stand; take seats in theater
2:50 pmFilm short begins (Three Stooges, "A Plumbing We Will Go")
3:05 pmFeature film begins (Darby O'Gill); concession stand remains open, as needed.
4:00 pmMake sure that table area is ready -- placesettings and decorations are in place. No chairs needed, yet.
4:35 pm Guests move to table area for birthday cake. Guests leave their plastic food trays in cinema area, and bring their chairs over to the table. They can continue to use their lidded cups, and just refill them at the table
4:40 pm Sing "Happy Birthday," cut cake and distribute to guests
4:45 pm Parents arrive to pick up guests. Ushers meet them, and have them wait at the door.
4:50 pm Guests gather their belongings and any "goody bags," and head to the door.
4:55 pm Guests and parents depart
5:00 pm Tear-Down and Clean Up
One last thing to discuss -- believe it or not, you don't have to break the bank to create a neat theme birthday cake. You can pick up a ready-made sheet cake (as minimally decorated as possible) at your local grocery store, and have the cake decorator write the birthday greetings in black frosting on a white background. Open a roll of film and uncurl it around the perimeter of the cake. Just make sure that the candles are not too close to the film, as you don't want it to melt.
Good luck and have fun with this great kids party idea. If you need further information on any aspect of this party, please use the discussion format below.
To review all the details of this party, check out my other movie theater articles.
The copyright of the article Movie Theater Party Timeline in Entertaining is owned by Janice Benoit. Permission to republish Movie Theater Party Timeline must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Jun 7, 2006 5:36 AM
Janice Benoit
:
Do you have a question that wasn't answered in my series on Movie Theater Parties? Use this space to ask for additional information.
~Janice
Aug 4, 2006 3:47 AM
madison
:
Any ideas on what to put in goody bags??? Thanks
Aug 8, 2006 7:07 PM
Janice Benoit
:
Use empty popcorn containers for the goody bags. You can include theater style candy, a mini flashlight, and an inexpensive dvd (Walmart sells DVDs of old cartoons and Hollywood black and white films for about $1). You could also include black notepaper and gel pens. Use your imagination and whatever your dollar store has on sale. Just think Old Hollywood! ~Janice
Aug 27, 2006 12:40 PM
Kaelyn Hardy
:
You had great ideas. I am having a sweet 16 party. I was just wondering since you had ideas for younger kids if you had any for me. My family has rented a local movie theater and we will be showing movies from 6-6. There will be other activities too. So kids don't have to watch the whole time. I was just wondering if you had any ideas for invitations? Cost is not an issue. Thank you.
Aug 28, 2006 8:46 AM
Janice Benoit
:
Kaelyn:
What a lucky young lady you are to have such a fantastic opportunity for your 16th birthday party! The first question is: which movies will you be showing? That would determine a lot of spin-off activities that could occur before/during and after the movie(s). Have you thought about giving the movie theater theme a twist ---- for example, you could give the party a feeling of the golden era of Hollywood (the 1950s), and include thematic elements from that time period. You could have hula hoop contests, sock hop dances, etc. in between movie showings.
For a different twist, you could create a "Cinema through the Years" theme where you change eras with each new film. You could start with a classic 1950s movie and have appropriate activities and food that went along with that time frame. As you progressed through the 60s (think Elvis or Beach Party film), the 70s (think Rocky or Saturday Night Fever -- with parental approval!), the 80s (think FlashDance, Top Gun, or 16 Candles), the 90s (think Pretty Woman, Ghost or Jurassic Park), the food and activities would change.
Finally, NO teen movie theater party would be complete without a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This cult classic from 1975 defines what is fun about being a teenager in a movie theater filled with friends. Just remember to provide raincoats, squirt guns, etc. for your guests!
