Go Retro With Florida’s Drive-In Movie Scene

May 15, 2015

By Natashia Ford

(original post link: http://www.state27.com/blog/2015/5/15/go-retro-with-floridas-drive-in-movie-scene)

This past weekend on a day trip to Lakeland (which is a great city – stay tuned for a future post about it), I did something outside of the box and a bit old school. I took my kids to a drive-in movie! Yes, you can still find a drive-in movie theatre in Florida!

We went to the Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre. It has two movie screens that show popular new releases like “Avengers Age of Ultron”, which is what we decided to watch.

Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre opened on April 14, 1948 and was the first drive-in theatre in Lakeland, Florida.

Photo credit: Lauren Mitchell Flickr CC

Low Cost Fun

Silver Moon charges $5 for ages 10+ and $1 for children ages 4-9. On “Bargain Thursdays” ages 10+ pay $4. All in all, these ticket prices are a steal compared to big box movie theaters.

Parking

I'd recommend you get there early for a good spot as the parking lot does fill up. If you have a truck, hatchback or SUV and you plan to sit in the back of your vehicle for the movie, the back row is your best bet. This helps to not block the view of others. That's where we decided to park.

How to Handle Mosquitoes

Our repellent power in action! We put the wristbands on super early!

I love being outdoors, and the night air was perfect. Of course, living in Florida, we had to contend with mosquitoes, but we were prepared. Not only did we bring spray repellent, but I found these neat bug repellent wrist/ankle bands that come in a 3-pack of fun colors! (They're called Bugables® and you can find them at Target.)

Photo Credit: Visit Florida Editor Flickr CC Copyright 2014

Low Cost Food

Once we were mosquito proof, I ran to the concessions to get our snacks. Drive-ins make all of their money from their concessions. So to keep the drive-in open, it’s always best to support them through food purchases. I was pleasantly surprised by the insanely affordable prices. A large popcorn (that includes refills) is $4.75, cotton candy that they make right there is $2.00, bottle of water $1.50 — how can you not get excited about that?

As the movie started we tuned into the drive-in’s radio station to hear the audio. If you really want to go old school, Silver Moon does have a limited supply of the speakers that attach to your car.

This was my kids' first time at a drive-in, so they weren’t quite sure what to expect. In their opinion it was like a movie in the park, but better because you get to watch a new movie, and the food at the concession stand was great!