7 June 2009

Premium seating at the Dendy review

| rosebud
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The other day, I shoved my egalitarian beliefs in a deep dark corner of my psyche and went in search of premium seating for Terminator Salvation. To accomplish this feat, I first went into the Dendy and asked to purchase tickets then and there.

“Er, no, the new timetable doesn’t come out until tomorrow…4pm,” said the young man behind the counter, trying to sound interested. It’s part of his job I suppose. “Oh, shall I pop in then?” I asked naively. “No,” he said, “book online. It gets pretty busy in here at 4 and internet bookings get first pick. Even I can’t sell a seat if someone is online booking it.”

Good tip! So at 4pm the next day at work, I did my best impersonation of someone doing real work, but who is in fact NOT doing any real work, and tried to book online. No success. Nothing was up at 4pm. So later, at home, I called and was assured it was up. I went online again, and following some simple instructions I had been given on the phone, managed to book the premium seats for a staggering $35 each (yep, each) plus a charge for booking online! “Never mind,” I consoled myself. “Terminator, yay, it will be awesome.”

Online, I also learned that there is a private lounge and bar for the premium seating, plus fancy pants reclining chairs like I imagine you get in business class on an airplane. So I got there a bit early and was ushered past the line of eager fans waiting for the cheap seats, who looked mostly about 22, male and unattached, and was whisked into the private lounge. “Sigh,” I sighed. “I’ve finally made it.” And it was very nice too. A full bar and menu – although I found the menu pretty uninspiring. It reminded me of room service food at hotels. So I stayed with brandy on the rocks, served to me as I reclined in the cinema. Very nice indeed.

The cinema itself seats about 20 patrons at a time. The seats are paired, so a couple is quite private and away from other couples. My main complaint would be that there are only two female toilets. Two! I heard a couple of ladies waiting in the inevitable line joke that only a man could have designed it that way.

So, all up, a nice treat. But probably just a treat. I mean, in a few weeks, I could probably hire the movie on video and see it for less than $7.00, or even be naughty and search for it online now for free (not that I would do that, of course).

I’d say 4 star self-indulgence treat.

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VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy8:58 pm 08 Jun 09

This has been done before. Dendy blows and we all know it.

Eyeball In A Quart Jar Of Snot1:04 pm 08 Jun 09

Do they still serve the frozen McCain pizzas?

went and saw juno in the premium seating, it was great, although very expensive. we ordered a bit of food, and they didnt take the finished plates away which was a bit annoying. ( got quite crowded) my biggest problem was that at the end of the movie i had to get up and leave, i just wanted to fall asleep right there.

Presume Dendy still have the preallocated seating for their #1 normal cinema. So if you book online, you can choose your seat I’m told (& pay the booking fee) – then you just rock up at movie time and don’t need to queue.

The flip side is that if you don’t book online, then you don’t get to choose your seat and are just get given whatever is next on the booking system. Worst case is I’ve read of someone meeting their partner there aftr work – each buying their own tickets and ending up in different parts of the cinema!

Pros and cons I guess. Good idea once people get used to it AND if they put an airline ezycheckin type machine where you can choose your seat when you purchase yourself at the cinema. Was a debacle tho when I saw a film a month or so ago when party X couldn’t sit down becuase party Y was in their seats, and Y couldn’t move because party Z were in their seats etc. Some 5 minutes later an usher eventually sorted it out.

Paying extra for a smaller screen and smaller sound-system. No thankyou.

I’ve tried it in Sydney and Melbourne pre-Dendy Canberra and the experience was always just like walking into a tiny extravagant home-cinema, not going to the movies and being enveloped into a big silver screen. Then again, horses for courses.

I find i go see a lot less movies than i used to (used to be 1 a week or so) but nearly always go premium. so probably spend about the same amount but enjoy it a lot more

Apart from going with the kiddies, I rarely get to the cinema. I did receive 2 tickets for the premium lounge at Dendy for my birthday.
This is the only way to go.
At $35 each it is a great treat.
Food, drink , coffee delivered at a pre-arranged time.
Enjoying a bottle of red watching the movie – great.
As for prices… $6.50 for a beer is fairly standard bar prices these days.
Not something I’d do every week, but a nice treat.

Bilko said :

I could not help noticing that there was no mention of the movie, any good, rubbish etc which was the only reason for going in the first place, unless this is all a subtle add for Dendy

Bilko. I didn’t want to review the film. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who do and no doubt will. There’s also plenty of online reviews already available. And if you consider my review an ad for the Dendy, then every review about anything on Riotact is also an ad – restaurants, books, theatre, art shows etc. And so be it. But just so you know, I have absolutely no affiliation with the Dendy whatsoever, apart from being an occasional patron.

Nambucco Deliria1:42 pm 07 Jun 09

The booking at Dendy is a shambles. A relative brought the lady wife two tickets for the premium lounge as a thank you for something or other. On turning up we found the session was full, which was fair enough. The pasty faced youth at the desk told us the best bet was to ‘ring up and book now for tomorrow night’s session – it’s the only way to make sure you’ll get in’. So I went down the escalator, whipped out my mobile and, after being put on hold for a small age was able to book the two seats required for the Sunday Lunchtime session, using the ticket vouchers which ensured free seating. Except I had to pay a $2.50 booking fee per ticket. Useless.

I could not help noticing that there was no mention of the movie, any good, rubbish etc which was the only reason for going in the first place, unless this is all a subtle add for Dendy

I enjoy the premium lounge.
I’m happy to pay that extra amount to ensure there’s no lines, no waiting, awesome seats and best of all everyone else there paid just as much, so they all STFU and watch the movie!

The last few times I’ve been in to the ‘normal’ cinema, there has been kids running around at the front, people next to me answering their mobiles… etc etc…

I dont buy the food/drinks there, I normally have dinner elsewhere before hand. So the price of that stuff doesn’t bother me. 🙂

5 stars! 😛

No, like everything in the Premium Lounge, they come at a premium.

Are drinks/food free??

I like the Premium for movies of epic length (e.g. Watchmen was 162 minutes) that might otherwise end with aching buttocks. And of course you are less likely to have popcorn thrown at your head by obnoxious children.

It’s only $25 before 5:00, so it’s nice on a day/afternoon off.

Pommy bastard10:04 am 07 Jun 09

So I got there a bit early and was ushered past the line of eager fans waiting for the cheap seats, who looked mostly about 22, male and unattached,

Terminator Salvation? Figures.. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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