10 things I LOVE about Movies at Marymoor (“10 Things I Hate About You”)

Movies at Marymoor has been a summer tradition for a number of years now (9 years according to the website).  This is the first time I’ve gone.   A beautiful, sunny, summer evening with nothing to do; I took the chance to see a movie that’s always been one of my favorites, regardless of how old it is or the corny factor. 

1)      It’s only about 5 miles from my house.
2)      Cost is $6 if you bring your own food ($1 to park in a KC Park and $5 entrance fee).
3)      Lots of room to sit or lay down.
4)      Food trucks with interesting food. 
5)      Lots of Garbage cans
6)      Pet and kid friendly
7)      Trivia, raffles and pre-show entertainment
8)      Beautiful weather
9)      Plenty of Honey Buckets
10)   Great location and set-up.

I packed up my bamboo chair, a blanket, a sweater and some entertainment for the pre-show and drove the few miles down to the park.  $1 to park – if you have a monthly or other pass you can use that too – and lots of parking available.  You could also walk the roughly 2 miles from Redmond Town Center and get your exercise in before you indulge in caloric overload from movie food.  What’s a movie without junk food?  Of course, then you have to walk back to the center in the dark after the show; so the dollar is well spent.

I arrived about 6:30 and there was a short line; people take your $5 (cash is preferred), stamp your hand for re-entry and you enter the flagged off area.  My first impression was that there were a TON of garbage cans placed all over the site – always a great idea for an outdoor venue.  The food trucks line the back of the area, as well as a few other tents (Rainbow Girls and a table for Autism awareness).  Asian, Mexican, Grilled Cheese, Whole Foods, Kettle corn and a sweet/coffee truck were available.  Average price was about $6-8 for the main course; beverages and sides (fries, chips, cookies, and snacks) were extra.  There were also sponsor tents on the other side:  Geico, First Tech, Station 106.9 Warm, Redmond Reporter, Pet Pros and a couple of others.  You could fill out a raffle ticket, get a free glow stick and enter a couple of sweepstakes if you chose. 

I spent $13 on a “Bluesy Chick” grilled cheese sandwich, a coke, a bottle of water and a bag of sweet potato chips from the Grilled Cheese truck.  The sandwich was small for $8 but very delicious.  I also bought a mocha and an ice cream from the sweet truck and was good to go.  Many people brought in coolers and bags with their own foods which I’ll definitely do next time.  I wasn’t sure of security or what was allowed or not so I packed light.

Seating is sectioned in “low back chair” area (at the front) and “high back chair” area (behind the low chair area).  Many people had inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows/pets, blankets for their set-up; there were also a lot of chairs.  Kids and dogs were allowed, no smoking in the flagged areas and lots of Honey Buckets (lit too for night time!) 

I’d say the average age was late high school to early 30’s with a fair amount of families and middle aged (myself included) viewers.  Alcohol wasn’t sold there, but there were no specific rules about alcohol.  The crowd was well-behaved and very family- and pet-friendly.  I saw everything from Surface/iPads to laptops and smart phones in the crowd, some brought board or card games to entertain before the movie and even some (like me) brought books or kindles.  Music plays over the loudspeaker from 106.9, “The Cabriri” walked through the crowd and entertained before the movie started and the event offered a trivia game with prizes to keep the crowd busy before showing.  Medical assistance is available at the projector area.

The movie started at 9:10 (just about completely dark) and the crowd was absorbed for the entire show.  The movie was over about 10:35 and after cleaning up my area (and the area of a few others) I walked back to my car.  Leaving the parking area is always busy, so I sat and played games on my phone until most of the traffic died down.  I was home by a little after 11 PM.  It’s still upsetting to me that with so many garbage cans available in the area, there was still a lot of garbage on the ground.  People are just inconsiderate and lazy.

I will say that although this is a family-friendly event; I was surprised by the number of people who brought their under-15 children to the movie.  “10 Things” is a High school movie and there is swearing, adult situations and language and I wouldn’t have recommended it for under age children.  I’d stick with one of the other movies that are more “kid” friendly if I brought my children.

What to bring:

• a blanket, sleeping bag, chair or inflatable mattress to sit on
• A blanket, sweater, sweatshirt or something to keep you warm after the sun goes down
• Cash (some places take cards, but they prefer cash)
• Your own food or beverages
• Something to entertain yourself before the showing starts
• Bug Spray (I had a few nibbles, but I know it would really bother some people)
• A flashlight for the walk to your car afterwards

The last three movies will be “Mary Poppins” (August 14^th), “Jurassic Park” (August 21^st) and “The Goonies” (August 28^th).