Dad’s movie morning with Duke of York Cinema

An article by Chelle    Comments Off

As a (still fairly new) parent and avid film fan, few things have had as big an impact on me by their disappearance as trips to the cinema. Having a two and a half year old daughter effectively means Mum and Dad’s social life rarely allows trips anywhere without the expense of child minders and a fair amount of pre-planning. The idea of kid-friendly screenings may be one to solve part of the problem, but as a movie-goer and parent is hardly one I’d immediately jump at - my average experience so far having essentially been a case of ‘here’s your ticket, here’s the screen, try to hear what’s going on and please stop your child running about too much”.

But then the Dukes is NOT your average cinema. It’s a place staffed with people who have a genuine love and enthusiasm for what they’re doing, matched by the level of respect and care they give to their customers. Saturday morning Kids Club is no exception. As with any screening, on buying your ticket you are greeted by friendly, chatty and informative people and a trip to the kiosk allows you to buy treats for toddler at a bargain price (£1.70 buys you a small popcorn and fruit juice).

On entering the auditorium, it’s immediately clear there’s a huge amount of love for the task in hand. The little’un is presented with a small bag of sweets, a raffle ticket and a cheery hello. The stage below the screen is full of colouring books, children and staff there to happily assist them – buggies parked to the side. There’s a genuine feeling of excitement and fun before the film gets going and this continues even as the credits roll – with the winner of the raffle, or colouring competition being announced and the children being made very much part of the experience.

And as a parent? Well it does help that the cinema still displays its’ usual impeccable quality control over the film choices. As for the screenings themselves - they are easily loud enough to hear above the occasionally chatty toddler but not too loud, trailers are missing so there’s no time for boredom to set in among the kids (and happily for film geek parents, any accompanying short features are left intact) and ultimately, at £1 entry per person when accompanied by a Kids Club member (membership is only £4 for your child and includes one free ticket) this is one of the most affordable ways to treat parents and kids alike.

In short, the Duke of York’s does for Kids’ Club screenings what it does best in general – it makes going to cinema an exciting and magical experience. The perfect way to introduce your children to the cinema and to movies in general.

Review based on screenings of “Toy Story 3” and “The Muppets”. We paid for our own membership and tickets.