We welcome several car clubs throughout the season here at the Twin. If you’re a member of a car club and want to join us we have some specials for you. Besides being able to arrive early and park together we offer discounts for groups of 30 or more. It’s a great night out and our patrons really enjoy seeing all the cars.

In July we welcome back the Sisters On The Fly and their vintage travel trailers.

Last year 20 ladies and their vintage travel trailers joined us for ... Read More »]]> We’re looking forward to welcoming the Northern Colorado Mustang Club to the Drive-in on Friday night. Personally I’ve been asking for a cherry red 1965 mustang for years now, but “he who must not be named” has yet to see my “need”.

We welcome several car clubs throughout the season here at the Twin. If you’re a member of a car club and want to join us we have some specials for you. Besides being able to arrive early and park together we offer discounts for groups of 30 or more. It’s a great night out and our patrons really enjoy seeing all the cars.

In July we welcome back the Sisters On The Fly and their vintage travel trailers.

Last year 20 ladies and their vintage travel trailers joined us for an overnight at the movies. Our patrons enjoyed touring the decked out trailers as the Sisters raised money for the Poudre Firefighters. This year they’re likely to have more participants as well as another great fundraiser for a worthy cause.

The Northern Colorado Young Professionals are considering joining us for a night out in August and we have a wedding reception in late August! All fun events and a great way to get out this summer and enjoy Colorado summer evenings and a movie or two.

Don’t forget we have awesome birthday parties here at the Twin. We cater great meals for kids parties and adults!

All of us at the Holiday Twin Drive In Theatre express our gratitude for all those who have died in service to our country this Memorial Day. “Land of the Free, because of the Brave.” Thank you.

See you at the movies!

Snackbarqueen

First Michelle Kennedy from Rocky Mountain High School stopped by to write a story and take some pictures for the high school newspaper. We have a few students from Rocky that work for us; Tony Martinez, Mac Thompson, Michael Fanning and Roman Ortiz. Michelle wrote a nice article about them and their work at the drive-in in her school newspaper. While I was giving her a tour of our building, we stepped out on the roof so she could take a few photos there. I pointed out a mom and her two little boys, dressed in their footsie jammies all ready for the movie. That made us both say “ahhh”. Seeing these ... Read More »]]> I’ve had a couple of wonderful encounters with memorable folks this week. They warmed my heart and I want to share them with you.

First Michelle Kennedy from Rocky Mountain High School stopped by to write a story and take some pictures for the high school newspaper. We have a few students from Rocky that work for us; Tony Martinez, Mac Thompson, Michael Fanning and Roman Ortiz. Michelle wrote a nice article about them and their work at the drive-in in her school newspaper. While I was giving her a tour of our building, we stepped out on the roof so she could take a few photos there. I pointed out a mom and her two little boys, dressed in their footsie jammies all ready for the movie. That made us both say “ahhh”. Seeing these young families making memories with their little ones is one of the main reasons Wes and I still operate the Twin. As we spend our winters in warm weather, we spend a lot of time reminiscing about the past season and all the families and regulars we enjoyed.

Then later in the week an older gentleman pulled up to the box office and asked Wes if he could see our new projectors, as he had heard we converted to digital. We invited him in and he told me the story of how he used to be a projectionist in the Army. His equipment was the old reel to reel style. He told me all about his years in the service and some of the great black and white films he used to show. You can imagine how he marveled at the digital technology. So much so, he brought in a friend later in the week and I invited them to stick around and watch me start the show. They were both amazed and the simplicity of the process on the projectionist end and the complexity of the process in regards to the digital projector itself. Such sweethearts and I enjoyed them both.

So the new and the old, all together in one week. Making memories and recanting memories, one of the best weeks ever!

For this weeks giveaway post your favorite movie memory and you could win a movie pass for two adults and two kids and a popcorn combo deal in our snack bar. Contest ends Tuesday, May 21st at midnight.

See you at the movies!

Snackbarqueen

Wes, the owner of the Holiday Twin, was attending a convention for theater owners with Hollywood movie executives. As he tells it, “I really wanted to see what the Holiday Twin could do up against the indoor houses in town. After dinner one evening, having drinks, (I like to imagine it was a dirty martini, but that’s just me) I challenged the Paramount executive to give us a good first run feature and see what we could do.” It ... Read More »]]> Back in 1986 the majority of drive-ins across the country were playing “second run” movies. Before the days of the mega plex theaters, most towns and cities had numerous one screen theaters all competing for the new or “first run” movies that were released. Drive-in’s were in the position of playing the left overs.

Wes, the owner of the Holiday Twin, was attending a convention for theater owners with Hollywood movie executives. As he tells it, “I really wanted to see what the Holiday Twin could do up against the indoor houses in town. After dinner one evening, having drinks, (I like to imagine it was a dirty martini, but that’s just me) I challenged the Paramount executive to give us a good first run feature and see what we could do.” It just so happened that certain executive was in a minor beef with one of the indoor operators at the time and he agreed to give the Holiday Twin “Top Gun”.

The Holiday Twin played Top Gun and grossed more revenue than all the indoor houses combined in the Fort Collins area.

The rest is history, as they say. Hollywood took notice and from that point on the Holiday Twin along with many of the other drive-ins around the country were given first run movies!

These days, when we go to our drive-in theater conventions, Wes is a rock star. The old theater owners know his name and credit him with turning drive-in’s back to profitability with his bold move in 1986.

Top Gun holds a special place in our hearts! It also helps that Wes flew fighter jets in the Air National Guard in his day. For those who know, he flew the Sabre Jet. That dates him

It’s a great story, I think. Hope you’ll join us as we talk a walk down memory lane on Tuesday, May 14th.

See you at the movies!
Snackbarqueen

Hope you’re joining us on Tuesday, May 14th for our second retro night of the season. The Screen 2 line-up for that night is Risky Business and Top Gun. It’s all Tom Cruise, even in his “tidy whities”!! This will be the last retro night until August, so don’t miss out. Over on Facebook you’ll find a coupon to use toward ... Read More »]]> Starting May 10th our movie line-up will be Iron Man 3 with the co-hit Olympus Has Fallen on Screen 1 and on Screen 2: Pain & Gain with the co-hit Oblivion. We’re open 7 nights a week now so avoid the crowds and join us during the week. A couple of our “regulars” stopped by last night and said how nice it was to come when you could spread out a little bit.

Hope you’re joining us on Tuesday, May 14th for our second retro night of the season. The Screen 2 line-up for that night is Risky Business and Top Gun. It’s all Tom Cruise, even in his “tidy whities”!! This will be the last retro night until August, so don’t miss out. Over on Facebook you’ll find a coupon to use toward a combo deal in the snackbar. The coupon is valid on weeknights only. One more reason to join us during the week.

I had a very nice visit from a young couple from Louisiana last night. They came to Fort Collins to run the marathon last weekend and stayed to enjoy our beautiful corner of the world. It reminded me of our standing on tripadvisor.com. We’re ranked #3 in things to do in Fort Collins and that is fantastic! People like to hear what others are saying about a business and businesses appreciate honest reviews. For our giveaway this week write a review on tripadvisor, Yelp!, Google Places for Business, Yahoo! Local listings, CitySearch, or Insider Pages and include the link in your post. One winner will receive a Holiday Twin Hoodie ($45 value) and a coupon for 2 hot drinks in our Snackbar!

Contest ends Friday, May 10 at midnight.

See you at the movies!
Snackbarqueen

It’s melting fast today and by showtime tomorrow I’m hoping the majority of ... Read More »]]> My inside sources tell me Iron Man 3 is the best Iron Man yet! So all you hearty souls dress warm for this weekend and come enjoy the show. Does anyone remember it snowing on May 1st in the past 10 years? I can remember sleet in May but not 8″ of snow. I wish you could have seen my two white Westies! They hate snow, so going outside to “potty” was hilarious. I’d post a picture but I was laughing too hard to take one . The storm did give me a little time to catch up on a few things around the house and enjoy my favorite activity, quilting. I don’t get to do much of that during the season.

It’s melting fast today and by showtime tomorrow I’m hoping the majority of our fields will be dry. The low spots between the ramps on side 2 can be troublesome, a bit like miniature lakes, really.

Congratulations to Pamela Dickman! She won the contest this week for her post. We choose the winners randomly so reply away. Our next giveaway will be posted early next week. Subscribe to FeedBurner via the link on our website so you don’t miss out.

See you at the movies!
Snackbarqueen

We’ve waited a long time to be able to play movies other than the ones we booked that are current releases. We plan to have one more retro night in May. Tuesday, May 14th will be the second play date and we have not confirmed the movies yet, but we will announce them here as soon as we know.

There will be something for everyone come August when we go into full swing with our retro film offerings. Until then, will all the big summer movies being released we’re unable to get permission from the film companies to “cut them out” of a ... Read More »]]> We’re trilled to offer our first retro film night of the season on Tuesday, May 7th. Our screen Two will be showing; Grease, the Sing-a-long version with the co-hit American Graffiti.

We’ve waited a long time to be able to play movies other than the ones we booked that are current releases. We plan to have one more retro night in May. Tuesday, May 14th will be the second play date and we have not confirmed the movies yet, but we will announce them here as soon as we know.

There will be something for everyone come August when we go into full swing with our retro film offerings. Until then, will all the big summer movies being released we’re unable to get permission from the film companies to “cut them out” of a nights movie take. The film companies take about 80% of our box office gross for the first run movies, so we would not be given the great summer box office smashes if we told them one night a week we were not going to play their film

Here’s a short list of the summer films we’ll likely be showing.
May 3rd: Iron Man 3. May 17th: Star Trek Into Darkness. May 24th: Epic. May 31st: After Earth. June 14th: Man of Steel. June 21st: Monsters University. July 3rd: The Lone Ranger and Despicable Me 2. July 12th Turbo and Pacific Rim. July 26th: The Wolverine. August 9th: Elysium and Planes.

It’s a big summer line up as usual and we always look forward to providing our customers with a great summer of entertainment. So what summer “blockbuster” are you most looking forward to? Leave your comment here for a chance to win two admission tickets and a snackbar popcorn combo deal. Submissions must be posted by Midnight Tuesday, April 30th.
See you at the movies!
Snackbarqueen

I just started a Pinterest board dedicated to Drive-Ins. Replacing 35 mm film with digital has made me nostalgic, I guess. Everyone around here is looking forward to seeing the lot filled with folks who are out to enjoy a nice evening with their friends and family under the stars. You can follow me here:http://pinterest.com/cjsmom2/drive-in-theater-memories/.

We had some great press this past week in the Reporter Herald thanks to Jessica Benes. The story was picked ... Read More »]]> “Wait 15 minutes and the weather will change!” It must be spring time in the Rockies. Wintery weather one day and 60 degrees the next. We plan to open again this weekend on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27. This will be our last weekend only week until mid-August. Our employees are happy and so are we!

I just started a Pinterest board dedicated to Drive-Ins. Replacing 35 mm film with digital has made me nostalgic, I guess. Everyone around here is looking forward to seeing the lot filled with folks who are out to enjoy a nice evening with their friends and family under the stars. You can follow me here:http://pinterest.com/cjsmom2/drive-in-theater-memories/.

We had some great press this past week in the Reporter Herald thanks to Jessica Benes. The story was picked up in the Denver Post and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing with folks calling us to congratulate. We also been asked to help other independent theaters in Colorado and Utah gain knowledge about the conversion process. For our conversion we basically jumped in with very little knowledge about the whole process, and we’re so glad we did. UDITOA, United Drive-In Theater Owners Association, of which we are members, gave us some helpful information. However, experiencing it first hand is a whole other ballgame. It’s a pleasure to help other “mom and pop” operations with their transitions.

Our program will be the same: Screen 1: Oblivion with Identity Thief and Screen 2: The Croods with Scary Movie 5. Iron Man 3 starts May 3rd!
See you at the movies!
Snackbarqueen

On to the news of opening night. We’ve set the date for Friday, March 29th as the first night of 2013. Through April we will be open on Friday and Saturday nights only. While the weather is still unpredictable and we’re likely to have rain, snow and cold temperatures, that particular weekend has a good forecast and ... Read More »]]> We’re ready to open for the 2013 season! Our digital conversion is the largest and most expensive expansion we’ve ever undertaken at the Holiday Twin Drive-In. The purchase and installation of the digital projectors and required remodeling to accommodate this high tech equipment was more expensive than the purchase of the theater and property back in 1979. For those of you wondering how long the drive-in will be around, suffice it to say, we plan to be here a while.

On to the news of opening night. We’ve set the date for Friday, March 29th as the first night of 2013. Through April we will be open on Friday and Saturday nights only. While the weather is still unpredictable and we’re likely to have rain, snow and cold temperatures, that particular weekend has a good forecast and we decided we could be up and running by then. Since we don’t expect large crowds this will give us the opportunity to work some “bugs” out and train some new employees.

There have been numerous changes at the drive-in, for the most part our patrons will only notice the fantastic digital picture and the better digital sound. But inside, behind the scenes we’ve undergone a complete renovation. We are very, very grateful to Ted Hoffman Construction. Ted and his crew worked tirelessly through the off season to bring our building up to a standard that could accommodate the digital specifications necessary for this high-tech equipment. It was a sad day for me to see those old converted carbon arc projectors go, but our choice was clear, convert or close. Imagine my husband, Wes, who has been in the business for nearly 40 years, as he watched the only equipment he’s ever know sent to be recycled. WHEW! It wasn’t easy folks. But upward and onward. We’re counting on our fans support for years to come. We will not raise our prices this season. We do ask that you strongly support our snack bar as that is our major revenue source.

We will be radio sound only as all the speakers have been removed. We will have a few for sale this season if anyone is interested in a piece of nostalgia. They are $10.00 each, with no guarantee that they are working. You can pick one up in the snack bar or at the box office on your way in the theater.

Opening weekend movies will be as follows: The Great and Powerful Oz with the co-hit, Parental Guidance. On the other screen, G.I. Joe: Retaliation with the co-hit Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.

We’re planning a full summer with all the big hits and we may even go retro one night a week on one screen just because we can! We’ll keep you updated as the season moves along.

For now, we’re having a Spring snow here in Fort Collins, and it’s tough to get in the mood for a drive-in movie, but the weather will change and we’re looking forward to seeing all our fans this summer.
See you at the movies!
Snackbarqueen