Cineworld

Cineworld Introduction

You may not believe it but Cineworld has been around since 1995. Cineworld's first multiplex cinema was opened in Stevenage in July 1996. Between 1996 and October 2004, Cineworld opened 34 multiplex cinemas, which is more than any other exhibitor in the UK.

In December 2004, Cineworld bought out UGC cinemas. At the time, UGC was the second largest cinema operator in the UK and so when Cineworld ...
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To date, Cineworld operates 73 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, 70 of these are Multiplex, and has a total of 758 screens! If you want to find out where your nearest cinema is there is a handy map on the Cineworld website (www.cineworld.co.uk)

Ticket Prices (At the time of me writing the review, please note they may change or vary at your local Cineworld)

• Adults £6.60 (From 6pm)
• Discount ... more

Cineworld Introduction

You may not believe it but Cineworld has been around since 1995. Cineworld's first multiplex cinema was opened in Stevenage in July 1996. Between 1996 and October 2004, Cineworld opened 34 multiplex cinemas, which is more than any other exhibitor in the UK.

In December 2004, Cineworld bought out UGC cinemas. At the time, UGC was the second largest cinema operator in the UK and so when Cineworld took them over it also took this title. Cineworld is still the second largest cinema operator, second only to Odeon.

To date, Cineworld operates 73 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, 70 of these are Multiplex, and has a total of 758 screens! If you want to find out where your nearest cinema is there is a handy map on the Cineworld website (www.cineworld.co.uk)

Ticket Prices (At the time of me writing the review, please note they may change or vary at your local Cineworld)

• Adults £6.60 (From 6pm)
• Discount Adults £5.40 (Mon-Fri before 6pm)
• Child (14 & under) £3.90
• NUS £3.90
• OAP/UB40 £4.20
• Family (min. 2 children) £17.00 (from 6pm Mon-Fri/All day Sat-Sun/Bank Hols)
• Discount Family (min. 2 children) £16.00 (before 6pm Mon-Fri)
• Movies for Juniors (Sat am) £1.50
• Early Bird (Before 12pm) £3.70

It may be worth ordering tickets on the Cineworld website as you can get them a little cheaper online. You can then pick your tickets up from a machine at the entrance of the cinema. The 'Movies for Juniors' are shown every Saturday morning and are usually cartoon films that have been out within the last couple of years. There are also classic films which are being shown some week nights, such as the 'Sound of Music'. Bollywood films are also shown at Cineworld on a regular basis.

Birmingham Cineworld - 12 screens

I have been a regular visitor to Cineworld Broad Street Birmingham for over a year now, at the moment I visit once or twice a week. I go with my boyfriend to watch a film after work, we both work near the cinema so it is very handy for us and it makes a nice little evening out!

It is located at the top of a busy road, and within walking distance of the city centre. There are a lot of buses that go up and down the road and there is a train station a short walking distance away.

The first time I visited I was struck by how well designed and decorated the cinema was. The decor is very modern and the colour scheme is blue and silver. It makes a nice change from the huge but dreary looking Odeon a few streets down! There are interesting banners and posters up everywhere of upcoming films, when The Simpson movie came out they even had 'human size' plastic models of the family which you could sit with and have your photo taken.

The cinema has two floors of screens, there is a lift which you can use to get upstairs or there is an escalator you can take. There is also a bar upstairs and a seating area you can use to wait in.

As I said, I usually attend this cinema after work and watch films that start between 5 - 6.30, and at this time there are not many people about. There never seem to be long queues for the tickets or the food counter so we are able to get through pretty quickly.

A good thing about this Cineworld is the fact that they give you free parking for 3 hours in their car park which is just round the corner from the main entrance. To get the free parking you simply pay for it and get the receipt, then when you purchase your cinema ticket you present it to the cashier and they refund your money (£1.80). This has saved us a lot of money!

Another good feature which I quite like is that on the back of the movie ticket you get there is often a 2 for 1 offer for a meal at a local restaurant called 'Old Orleans'. This is the only restaurant I've seen offers for so far, the restaurant is not one I particularly like that much but I do visit from time to time.

The toilets aren't particularly nice, there are a lot of small cubicles which are set out in long rows opposite each other. I've found that they are generally not very clean or tidy, I heard that this was put down to the fact that when people need to go to the toilet in the middle of the film they do it in a rush and are more likely to make a mess! The toilets are very cramped and when you open the cubicle door to get out afterwards you have to back right onto the toilet just to get out, not very practical really. It would have been better if they'd installed less cubicles but made them bigger as there are always lots of empty ones.

The seats are very comfy, there is even a space to put your drink on the arm rest so that you don't have to put it on the floor and risk kicking it over! The seats and aisles are always very clean, we've never had a problem with dirty food left on the floor or chewing gum stuck to the seats.

Solihull Cineworld - 9 screens

The Solihull Cineworld is another Cineworld which we visit about once a month. This cinema entrance is located on the first floor of a shopping mall called the Touchwood Centre, which is right in the city centre. The cinema seems a lot smaller as there is less open space. The cinema always seems to be busy no matter what time of day we go, we generally tend to visit on weekends and evenings from 7. Seats often sell out fast so it is advised you get there early, especially if it is for a popular film or one that has just been released. The ticket booths are right opposite where you buy food meaning that if it is really busy the two queues cram into each other not leaving anyone with much room to move about! The screens are all upstairs and there is an escalator and lift to get up there.

The toilets are almost identical to the one's in Birmingham, in fact the whole area upstairs looks very similar. Again, the toilets are never very clean!

Cineworld Staff

The staff are always very polite at Cineworld, although not overly friendly but it is the same at most places these days. I find them to be really well organised too, if there a big film is showing and they expect the screens to be full, such as the Harry Potter films, they will put up cordoned areas so that you are able to queue in an orderly fashion, I find that most other cinemas don't really do this and it can lead to chaos.

Food and Drink

There is quite a variety of snacks available at Cineworld. There is an ice cream counter, drinks, pick and mix boxes, popcorn, tubs of chocolate sweets and also the same sweets but in large re-sealable packets. Prices change all the time but at the moment a small drink will cost you about £2.20 and a large drink £2.90! You'd be right in thinking this is a rip-off but unfortunately it's the same in all cinemas. They tell you not to bring in your own food and drink but they don't really check your bags when you go in so unless you are holding it in your hand or something they're not gonna know! There are 3 different sized bags of popcorn, the smallest is £2.30. I personally can't eat more than this anyway so the small one is more than enough for me! The packets of chocolate sweets are about £1.70 and you can buy Malteasers, Revels, M&Ms amongst a couple of other similar sweets.

Cineworld Unlimited Card

I am a member of Cineworld Unlimited. This means that I pay £10.99 a month (rumoured to be increasing by a couple of pounds soon but no one has notified me yet) which is direct debited from my bank account each month, and for that I am able to see as many films as I like! You are given a card which looks like a credit card with your photo on it and you just present this to the cashier when you go to get your tickets.

There are a couple of conditions to this card. Firstly you have to sign up for a minimum of 12 months when you apply for this card. You also have to give 2 months notice if you wish to cancel the card!

The only problems I've had with the card is when I first applied for it. The Cineworld staff take your photo for your card, one is kept for your permanent card and the other is put onto a cardboard 'temporary' card which is valid for a month before your permanent card arrives. My temporary card ran out before my permanent card had been sent to me. I tried ringing the helpline twice to ask where my card was but I couldn't get through to anyone after holding for half an hour. My boyfriend rang up for me and was able to get through straight away, they told him the card were sent from France and that they could email me a letter to authorise me to see films. This was emailed to me straight away and my card finally arrived 2 weeks later.

There is an email newsletter you can sign up for as a Cineworld card hold but they send it out very rarely. It usually offers you the chance to go to an advance screening of a show and has a competition revolving around the film. They also email you the showtimes of all films showing once a week. Another benefit I've received of being an Unlimited card holder is that occasionally you receive a money off food and drinks flyer when you buy your ticket.

There are a couple of restrictions on the card.

Firstly, you have to wait till the film on the ticket you get has finished before you can get another ticket. This means that if you find yourself sitting watching a film that is awful you can't go and get a ticket for another film (though you could sneak into another screen as it doesn't really matter and there are not usually staff outside keeping an eye out for this sort of thing) You are not able to get tickets too far in advance either, this is to stop people using their Cineworld card to get multiple tickets for their friends or to sell.

Secondly, you can't use this card to see films at the following locations:

London West End Cinemas: Shaftesbury Avenue , Haymarket, Fulham and Chelsea.

Although you can buy an Unlimited card for £13.99 a month which includes use in these cinemas and in all Irish cinemas.

Overall Impression

I find Cineworld to be a very nice place and I enjoy going to watch films there. I can't really think of any way it could be improved, apart from maybe improving the toilets. If they were to give more special offers to Unlimited card holders then that would be better. Also, if they just kept Unlimited card holders more aware of changes and give us more competitions as you could argue we're their most regular customers! 

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