Harkins Theaters in Tucson at Irvington and I-19. My cell phone picture doesn't do it justice or capture the scope.
My husband and I love going to the movies. With an 8-year-old son, it’s hard to see movies that don’t involve the coordination of thousands of animators from all over the world. When they do have real people in them, they often have a silly plot and revolve around a dog with special powers.
Don’t get me wrong, those movies are great, but as with anything you can reach an overdose point where you can’t take anymore.
So we have become regulars at Harkins Theaters, a 19-screen theater off of I-19 and Irvington, although it is quite a drive for us. This has become our theater of choice for new releases heavy on special effects and action or for 3D movies.
Many people don’t like to travel to the south side of town, so they have been missing out on a real treat.
This theater is a monstrously huge futuristic-looking structure in the desert with a bit of a retro feel. At night it’s a colorful spectacle of light against the dark night sky. There aren’t many places like this in Tucson.
The theater sits in the middle of the desert. This is the beautiful view from the parking lot.
You have the option of buying your tickets from the box office, online, or self-serve ticketing kiosks.
Husband and son purchasing tickets from the box office
Once inside, you are greeted with dark decor, low-key lighting, preview screens sprinkled throughout the building and a large snack bar with expanded food choices. In addition to the old standards, you can also order pizza, cheese sticks, popcorn chicken, churros, french fries, and White Castle burgers.
The the left side is an arcade and to the right is a play center. Both are inconspicuously tucked behind a wall of movie posters interspersed with windows so you can peek inside.
The Play Center is behind this wall. Some of these "movie posters" are actually windows so you can see what's going on inside.
The movie experience has been great for us with all -digital projection and digital sound. They also have 3D projection. Each theater is large with stadium seating and roomy ultimate rocker seats with lots of leg room. The theaters have many handicap accessible seats. I’ve never had a problem with temperature – always been comfortably cool here.
In a time where many movie theaters seem to be cutting back by turning up the thermostat, cutting back on employees and maintenance, this theater is still cool throughout and has plentiful staff. It has always been clean and well maintained.
The only complaint I’ve ever had is that the snack bar employees, while polite and helpful, have often been unusually slow. I think they should realize a good number of customers are running late, but even ordering a soda can take a while – and there is a soda machine within arm’s reach of each cash register. They seem to run and talk in slow motion. A couple times in the past, the delay has been caused by an apparent higher-up pulling the concession worker aside to ask them a work-related question or to verify something while they are in the middle of filling an order. There have been times I’ve debated adding something to my order for fear of adding minutes to my time standing at the counter. So, I usually choose to keep my order simple. I suggest you arrive early if you plan to buy anything from the concession stand – extra early if you want to order an expanded snack bar item.
Yesterday we went to see Inglourious Basterds. Athough I consider myself a mom who doesn’t shelter her son, this movie was an absolute no-no for him. So we decided to use the Play Center for the first time. It cost $6 for us to leave our son here. There were at least three employees in the Play Center area. Our child got an wrist band ID and we got a pager to take with us. In addition, they got both of our cell phone numbers. The Play Center has a window right by the southern restrooms, so it was easy to take a quick peek and see how he was doing.
View from the window by the restroom
The kid area offered popular children’s movies, video games, toys, books, craft and nap area. They also gave the kids water and popcorn.
Harkins Theaters Play Center has video games for the kids
Our son enjoyed himself so much, we had a hard time getting him to come home with us when it was time to leave.
We had a hard time tearing him away from the toys.
We paid $15 for two movie tickets, $6 for the Play Center, and $2 for two large sodas and a medium popcorn. Yes $2.
We got all this for $2. See below for how.
Our concessions only cost $2. We had two refillable cups we bought here last year. You buy a drink the first time and pay $4.00. Keep the cup and refills are $1 each for the year. I bought one of their T-shirts last year for $20 and get a free medium popcorn whenever I wear it at this theater. They have sold out of T-shirts for this year. However they will start selling T-shirts for next year in November that can be used immediately.
Another thing I love about this theater is that when you call, you not only get a recording, but you can actually speak to a live person in Guest Services.
Prices are:
Adults: $7 matinee (all shows prior to 6 pm every day), $9.50 after 6 pm.
Children: $5.50
Senior Citizens: $6.50 for 60 years and up
Students and Military: $7
There is an extra $2 charge for 3D movies.
Personally, I love the location. There is a huge shopping center next door that is sporting a brand-new Red Lobster. We can always use more Red Lobsters. We take the opportunity to get some great Mexican food on the way home. There are many great restaurant choices on 12th and 6th avenues, as well as many roadside stands on the way home. This time we stopped at a roadside stand next to Tucson Newspapers and had a couple Sonoran hot dogs and some cold sodas out of glass bottles. Yum.
All in all it was a great afternoon.
