Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Awesome Things about Korea #27: Assigned seating at the movies

So this past weekend I went to see the latest Harry Potter at the IMAX theater in Gwangju.  Usually for a big movie such as this, you have to camp out hours before to get a good seat.  Otherwise you're left with the seats in the front row where you have to crane your neck to see the picture looming in front of you.  After 2 hours of that I would have a headache, so I always made sure to try and get a seat good seat further back.

Korea makes it easy for me.  Imagine my joy the first time I went to see a movie here and got to choose where I wanted to sit!  The lovely girl helping us behind the counter showed us the computer screen with our chosen movie theater's seating.  Red seats were filled; black were empty--and there were still a great amount of awesome seats left.  After picking our designated row and number, we were handed tickets printed with the movie title, theater number, and seat number.

The seats in the theater are clearly numbered--and I find them far more comfortable and in better condition than the ripped, sticky seats of theaters at home.  They have armrests that fold up or down, and cup-holders that would easily accommodate a Big Gulp (if such a thing were sold in Korea).

The best part is being able to easily purchase tickets to a big movie in advance--like Harry Potter.  The weekend before it came out, Britton and I stopped by the IMAX box office to choose our seats for a prime 8:30 pm show.  There were tons of seats available, so we had our choice of where to sit.  I chose to go for the back row, so as to not be too overwhelmed by the IMAX sound and motion.  (Occasionally it makes me a little motion-sick if I sit too close.)

Five minutes later we were paid up and on our way with our printed ticket for "Deathly Hallows, Part 1."

To translate for those reading who might not understand Korean:

2010/12/18 토 (short for 토요일, Saturday) 5회 (the 5th show that day)
8:30오후 (PM) - 11:06오후
4층 (4th floor) IMAX관 (IMAX theater) N열15번 N열 16번 (Row N, Seat Numbers 15 and 16)

IMAX일반 12,000원 (2명) (VAT: 1,059원)  (regular IMAX tickets are 12,000 won with an included value added tax of 1,059 won, about $10.39 in America) *IMAX 3D is a little more, about 14,000 won if I remember correctly*

I have a cool point card from CJ One that I can use at this theater, Coldstone, Tour Les Jours, Olive Young, The Twosome Place, and a handful of other stores in Korea for discounts and such.

1 comment:

  1. I thought this'd be a big boost for short people like me but then I realized everyone is kind of the same height in Asia...

    ReplyDelete

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