S Beauregard
SerpAPI
This legendary theater opened in 1926, and premiered "Citizen Kane" in 1941. It is a historic and gorgeous Hollywood landmark done in an ornate Spanish colonial "revival" style. It's a must see, but the customer service leaves a lot to be desired I was literally face palmed (hand with palm out, in my face) by an employee of this theater tonight, when I was about to walk in 5 minutes before the 7pm showing of "Avatar: The Way of Water". It was at the ticket booth by the woman with long dark brown braided hair who works inside the booth. I had just approached the window at the classic style outside ticket booth, smiled and was going to show her my phone with online ticket but before I said a word she glanced at me, looked away and then put her hand out, palm in my face to block my face from behind the booth's glass. And she kept her hand there until another employee saw me standing there slightly aghast so I walked over to him. Why did the woman in the ticket booth do this? This a Disney theater. It's horribly rude. I hadn't even asked a question yet. I could have been asking to buy a ticket. Luckily I had already prepaid my $24 ticket online. I can't imagine what it would have been like buying a ticket from her. The theater was almost empty on a Tuesday night; there were about 10 people in the auditorium. I told the security guard that let me in to the left of the ticket booth about the face palm as he scanned the QR code on my phone but he just shrugged. The woman in the ticket booth stared at me sideways as I walked in. Maybe she was in a bad mood but it's no way to treat customers. They have a lot of security and a very sensitive metal detector (I even had to remove my wallet which doesn't happen frequently). Maybe there have been security problems since it's on Hollywood Blvd? The security I can understand, but the rudeness I can't.
It's a magnificent theater, but you can't have a ticket booth treating customers like that at a Disney property. It's impolite and potentially bad for business. Especially sad as it's a family orientated theater. It's not cheap either, but it's a real experience to see a movie here. A small bottle of plain water is $6, but that's pretty standard these days at the movies, so be prepared for that too.
Besides that one hiccup with the ticket booth which kind of ruined tonight's experience, I highly recommend that when you book your seat to try out the top balcony front row for seats. It's the best view, fairly unique as most movie theaters don't have balconies, and perfect distance from the screen and you can really see the entire theater with its beautiful interior. Films have custom themed light shows before they start.
