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Author Topic: Stadium seating in danger? Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 12-02-2002 02:57 AM                     Maybe, if we remove handicapped access at voter booths, then these fanatics would not have so much power with politicians and judges. Seriously, I am all in favor of reasonable accomodations, but when you consider the money it costs to make these guys happy, the goverment is better of shutting up these people by giving them tax subsidies on home theater equipment. I have seen handicapped seating at the back of non stadium seating auditoriums and in the back of the non stadium section of stadium seating adutortiums. I see nothing unreasonable about that. If we start going into optimal seating, then do we have to waste too much space making the middle rows handicapped access.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-02-2002 11:26 PM                        The Carmike dollar house in Billings, MT has a cashier who is blind. He has a reader device which "speaks" the denominations of the bills handed to him.  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-30-2002 09:16 PM                        My comments are going to come off wrong, so bear with me... There has been some rather heavy handed comments, probably made in jest, towards the disabled in general, made in this thread. One in particular, "I'm glad that the disabled have so few problems that they consider their line of sight at the movies to be a major issue." really spoke serious words to me. Anyone in the theater industry that doesn't consider "line of sight" to be a major issue for anyone really should just get out of the business. I am not talking just about the disabled, but presenting movies in general. If you aren't concerned about line of sight, you probably don't give a rats ass about presentation either. So in that case, why the hell do you want to work for a theater for anyway? I am sure the comment was pretty much a joke, and haha, I can take one as much as the next guy, but it really speaks mountains about how people feel regarding this issue. There are some noisy apples out there, but they do not speak for ALL the disabled. I for one may have been the jokester as early as last year, even having been on the opposing side, against the disabled. I always felt used by the few opportunists. Hey that isn't limited to the disabled, but to any group of people. Just because the aryan nation is out there making noise, doesn't mean that the rest of us white people are all nazi racist bastards. Not bieng a white guy (italian), I really can't speak for the rest of you white guys, so tell me, are you all nazi's, because there are SOME nazi's? Now however I find myself "wheeling" in to a theater instead of walking, as I permantly lost the use of my left foot seven months ago. With an additional arthritic condition in my wrists, I can only crutch my way about 200 feet. So i get to use the good ol wheelchair instead. Remember that most people in wheelchairs did not "opt" for this lifestyle. And also remember that not all of us are out there making a stink of it either. You don't have to look at me and think to yourself that I am trying to ruin your life or anything by continuing to breath. I used to be harsh too. But to walk, or in this case wheel, a mile in a mans shoes, is to understand the man. With that said, I do not advocate these lawsuits. I have found the wheelchair seating to be more than adequate. And if I feel the need, I will leave my chair folded up and out of the way so I can hop my way to a good seat, however not all wheeled people may have that choice. If there is a theater that doesn't accomodate you, then go to another theater! REALLY DAMN EASY!!!! There are some theaters I cannot go to, but most I can. If there were none that met my needs, hey, should I make everyone suffer for me? Of course not. Most people accomodate the greater need, and only the spoken few make all this silly noise. So take heart that I am not angry with anything said, hell, I agree with it! Just remember that if you put on a good show, MOST people will make thier OWN accomodations to get there and seated. If you put on a crappy show, well then may whatever god you believe in be with you, because no one else will. Dave  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 12-31-2002 02:05 AM                     My theater has stadium seating where you walk into it from the top. This makes many of our handicap customers happy because they are not forced to sit right in front of the screen. I know many of them actually prefer our theater because it makes it easier for them. Then again, the bad side is many senior citizens have a hard time walking down the stairs and because they can't see well enough from the back they very often try to make it down the stairs, far too many times this has caused accidents. There are plus's and minus's to any situation.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 12-31-2002 11:00 AM                        As I get older (I am a card-carrying member of the AARP: http://www.aarp.org/ ), I sometimes find stadium seating difficult, mostly because of having to negotiate steps in the dark. IMHO, a well designed conventional sloped floor theatre can offer almost all the "advantages" of stadium seating. Comfortable modern seats with cupholders, lots of legroom, and good sightlines, are not exclusive to stadium seating designs.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-31-2002 11:07 AM                        Regal should pull some of the seats out of their largest house here (currently 480 seats), maybe about 20% of them, and reconfigure the remaining seats with more room between the rows and also with the seats staggered so they aren't directly behind each other. I know a lot of people here who refuse to go there because of the tight seating and the possibility of having to look over someome else's head. What sucks is their presentation is usually the best in the area but everyone prefers stadium seating so they go to Cinemark.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 12-31-2002 12:11 PM                     While I wholeheartedly believe that theaters should be forced to provide adequate seating for the wheelchair handicapped, I agree with you Dave that there does come a point to where the theaters are taking reasonable care of the disabled, but not losing their minds over it. I have tarsal coalition in my right foot and it is very painful for me to walk on sloped floors or uneven surfaces (like a bricked sidewalk), yet even though I could, I'm not about to fire up lawsuits just because there are ramps all throughout every theater in the world. Of course many stadium seating theaters are even worse than sloped floors, as the aisle lighting on the edge of each step protrudes so high (1/2 inch or more) that going up or down those stairs becomes an issue too. I wish theaters would split the difference and install 6-8 inch "stadium seating", instead of this 12-18 inch nonsense. Properly designed, 6 inches is perfect for sightlines, acoustics and safety. (Then again, the next time I get a bad presentation somewhere perhaps I should sue...to help put that bad theater out of business. )  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 12-31-2002 12:20 PM                     quote: What sucks is their presentation is usually the best in the area but everyone prefers stadium seating so they go to Cinemark. Yes, and that's the attitude that seems prevalent in audiences today. There's a HORRIBLE stadium theatre in Bakersfield that draws the LARGEST crowds. The auditoriums do look nice, and the seating is comfortable. But more than half of their "digital" presentations play back in very bad analog (staff too lazy or uncaring to thread the digital readers), filthy booth windows are so bad that even patterns of dirt are clearly noticed (by me, at least). And constant complaints do NOTHING. I don't even get responses when writing to corporate headquarters in L.A. And yet when I voiuce these objections to co-workers, they always look at me funny, and say they don't go for those reasons. I should add the ONLY reason I'll go there is that they occasionally book films that aren't shown locally elsewhere (Frida, El Crimen Del padre Amaro).  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-31-2002 12:52 PM                     What a well desinged stadium seating theatre offers over a well-designed sloped floor theatre is the lack of real estate to purchase...the theatre can be shorter and provide good sight lines...with a well designed sloped floor...the seatback-to-seaback distance, while comfortable, would drive most exhibitors crazy with the size of the auditorium. If exhibitors and architects would follow SMPTE's EG-18 they would have good sightlines for everyone. Steve  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-31-2002 01:00 PM                        Not on-topic, but I guess I should clarify: Cinemark's presentation quality here is generally pretty good, sometimes excellent. My main complaint with them is most of their auditoriums seem poorly EQ'd. If they would do something about that, then I'd have no complaints about them in general. I'm a stickler for good, clean, "punchy" sound, and they don't have it. Regal kicks their ass in the sound dept. in this neck of the Oregon woods. "Call me Dave"  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-31-2002 01:16 PM                     My mother has very bad eyes when it comes to seeing in the dark. She had a detatched retina (in both eyes, one only partially) a few years ago and she can't stand stadium seating. When looking up the stairs of an auditorium whose lights are anything less than full-up, the aisle lighting along the steps looks to her like straight horizontal lines on a flat floor. Makes you think about aging when you have to help you mom up the stairs... Sloped-floor theaters are better for her as the lights are only along the sides. She can see where the aisle ends and the seating begins, and doesn't have to worry about all of the "surprises" with stadium seating like some steps being longer than others. She also has to sit a ways back from the screen and really dreads the trek up and down the stairs. So far, she hasn't sued anyone. It's true that there are some noisy apples out there. We get people all the time at our box office wanting half-price or free passes because they are blind/deaf/broken arm/grey hair/etc. and threaten us with the ADA. I wish for one minute I could slip out of uniform and get a hardbound copy of the ADA laws to throw at them. quote: Not bieng a white guy (italian), I really can't speak for the rest of you white guys, so tell me, are you all nazi's, because there are SOME nazi's? David has a point there. Not being a white guy myself, (Polish & Ukranian) I also can't speak for everyone, but no I am not a Nazi. Is anyone out there who's not a nationality other than "a white guy" that can clarify this? =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 01-02-2003 03:08 PM                     Rachel could be describing the Sunshine Cinemas in lower Manhattan. Halls 2 and 3 have stadium seating that you enter from the top row. If you trip and fall you can easily break your neck. It doesn't help that you have to walk up steep stairs or take an elevator to get to your hall. Whoever designed the Sunshine Cinema didn't include an escalator -- and every other stadium theater in Manhattan utilizes escalators.  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 01-03-2003 12:43 PM                     My theater fortunately has very large stairs with adequate signs to explain that it is stadium seating. Also luckily, you do not have to walk up-stairs and then back down-stairs. The lobby and hallways to the theater are all the same level; it is only the theaters that slope downwards. There are good and bad points in the design as I said in the last post, just depends on the person who is visiting the theater, everyone likes different things. Personally, I prefer a good slope-seating auditorium any day (we have those too!). It drives me crazy when people come into the theater and ask if certain movies are in the “regular” auditoriums or the “stadium auditoriums” and they base their movie decision on which movie is in the stadium theater… grrrr. Just a pet peeve I guess.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 01-03-2003 02:13 PM                        I also prefer raked floor seating to stadium seating. I really get bothered went they tilt the top of the screen toward the rear wall. I usually end up walking out of these theatres. Some of the older theatres with the raked floor about 20 to 25 rows in front of the crossover, then behind the crossover is a smaller stadium section of about 10 to 15 rows. These were ideal. Not too many of these left.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 08-14-2003 12:20 PM                     The 9th U.S. Circuit Court made a ruling on Wednesday Aug. 8th 2003. Saying wheelchair viewers need better seating. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/08/13/state2041EDT0195.DTL&type=health  |  IP: Logged

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