I had hoped that this blog would be filled of glowing remarks about the new Disney movie Cindrella or at least gushed over the special effects of the live action remake, but instead, because I was not allowed in the theatre, I will give you the story the unfolded before the movie even began.
In full disclosure, it was my ultimate decision not to go into the theatre, but it was based on principle. This is my story:
*BUM BUM*
On February 28th, my fiance received an invitation from Fandango to attend a pre-screening of the new movie Cinderella at a yet to be disclosed movie theater in NYC. Always the fan, he quickly responded and shortly after received confirmation for the March 10th showing at the AMC Lowes Village 7 theater south of Union Square. Tommy and I were no stranger to special screenings as we have been to no less than 5 between the two of us over the last few years through Time Out, Fandango, and other promotional opportunities. One of those movies was The Proposal, also distributed by Walt Disney Studios, which will be important later in this story.
After coming back from a week long Walt Disney World vacation in the fall, to say our love for Disney was at an all-time high would have been an understatement. We even spent part of Christmas Day seeing Into The Woods, along with half the US population.
*BUM BUM*
Since this was not my first time at the rodeo (literally I’ve been to many rodeos – as a clown – a story for a different day) I know that you don’t get anything for free. In NYC, if something is going to be free, you need to get there early and wait in line and pay with your time. This was no different. Despite the pouring rain, I arrived outside of the theater at 5:15pm to guarantee us seats. Free showings, like TV show tapings, do not have enough seats for the number of confirmations they give out to guarantee that it will be a full house, so its important to get their early to make sure you even get in. I was about the 15th person in line when I arrived. A family with two adults and four children arrived behind me and I overheard the mother say that they would be letting people in at 6pm. Wow, lucky break! The show was not scheduled to start until 7pm, and normally theaters do not let you in until about a half hour before. So I stood there in the rain patiently, waiting for my fiance to arrive and to enter the theater, reading my book, The Happiness Project. I quickly mastered the art of turning pages while holding a book and an umbrella at the same time.
*BUM BUM*
At 5:45pm, my knight in shining armor arrived with sandwiches in hand, our dinner on the go, while we waited in line. I informed him of the rumor that they may let us in at 6pm, and since the rain had only started to fall harder, we hoped the rumor to be true. The sandwiches were delicious! I mean, my man can make one amazing sandwich, just one of the qualities on his long list. Since we would rather eat the garbage than throw it on the ground, Tommy walked to the corner and disposed of our trash. Fed, only slightly soggy, and excited, all we had left to do was wait.
*BUM BUM*
We realized that 6pm had come and gone and now it was 6:27pm. I said to Tommy “Time flies when you’re having fun!” referring to the fact that the past half hour had seemed to go by quickly even though we had hopes of getting out of the rain at 6pm. It was then that we saw a man walking down the line making some sort of announcement to the crowd.
“AS YOU ENTER THE THEATER YOU WILL HAVE TO HAND OVER YOUR CELL PHONE TO SECURITY. PLEASE HAVE IT OUT AND READY”
Tommy and I looked at each other and almost instantaneously and at the same time said “No way.” I followed up with the statement that there was no way in hell I was going to hand over my iPhone6 to a stranger. This thing is by far one of the most stolen items in NYC and not to mention, costs $750. With a speed of light, we both whipped out the confirmation page that we had both printed out, because we are just that overly prepared. Re-reading though it, there was no mention as to confiscating cell phones. Of course you can’t go in and film the movie, but the page stated that if you were caught recording with your cellphone, you would be booted (obviously).
Now to say that Tommy and I are audience experts would be an severe understatement. I am an Equity Stage Manager and know all too well the dangers of cell phones in a crowd. In addition to the many pre-release showings we have been to, we have also attending 10 different live show tapings from The View to The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, and have gone to no less (and no joke) than 50 Broadway shows. In fact I already had my cell phone off in my pocket in preparation for the movie (gold star for me).
This phone was not leaving my person. I considered all the options of where to hide it. In my sock? Down my pants? Then I realized, why should I have to hide it and why should I cheat the system when I am not doing anything wrong? We stayed in line, if nothing else, but to honor the 1 hour and 12 minutes that I had been standing in line.
*BUM BUM*
We walked into the theater quickly as the line started to move (we were near the front after all) and approached the table where two friendly Fandango shirted staff members sat checking people in. Alphabetically lucky, Tommy was at the top of the list and quickly after we were headed towards the security table.
Now, I’ve been in this city for over 6 years and have worked enough special events to know that this “security” was hired from an outside agency and had little to no training or certification in anything except showing up. You can’t just throw a sport jacket and a clip on tie on someone and call them security. I mean, you can, and they did, but I wouldn’t trust them to keep me or my belongings secure any more than I would leave a child (or MY child, my iPhone) sitting on a subway tracks. Looking ahead, I saw that each phone was being put into a ziplock plastic bag and placed in a box. That’s it. THAT was the security guaranteed for my most expensive possession. I’m not even convinced that it was a box, but yet a child’s booster seat that had been flipped upside down. Side note: Parents were already asking for booster seats for their kids to which they were told “We only had a limited amount and those are gone”. Welp, I can point you in the direction of an extra, but it’s full of cell phones. Sadly (for them) customer service at this event was not my job.
I walked up to the table and simply explained that I would not be handing them my cell but that they were welcome to check and make sure that it was off, memorize my face, have me do a “promise dance”, whatever they needed to do to let me in without handing over my valuables. He simply stated “Unless you give me your phone you are not going in.”
I am not one to argue with someone who had simply been given orders to follow, so I walked away from the table and up to the nearest Fandango shirted employee. I explained my concerns and she agreed, but also looked like a deer in headlights. I knew that I would need to speak to someone even higher than her. She said “I can try and see if I can find the Disney rep if you’d like.” “Absolutely,” I responded. “I would appreciate that.” I wished I had gotten her name, but not a single person was wearing a name tag, not even, surprisingly, those part of “security.” Off she disappeared into the theater.
*BUM BUM*
We saw this young lady walk from the theater to the lobby and back and forth at least 6 different times, only once stopping to say “I haven’t forgotten about you, I just can’t seem to find him”. While we waited we watched a man with a hand held metal detector barely wave it over people as they entered. THIS was the security that I was to trust? It was clear I could have been dishonest and hid the phone and been fine, you know, except for my morality.
After 10 minutes we realized that the entire line and crowd had entered the theater leading us to believe that the theater was now going to be full and we would get last pick of seats, even though I had been one of the earliest to arrive. I should also mention that there were many Fandago shirted people around (the young woman previously mentioned included) that were taking photos…with their cell phones. I looked over and spotted the young lady speaking to a Fandango shirted colleague of hers, a tall curly haired gentleman in the lobby area. She seemed to have given up the search, but yet had left us standing there. Looking doubtful that we would get seats by this point, I walked up to her and asked “Is it a lost cause?” “Oh I am so sorry, I couldn’t find him anywhere” she responded. The curly haired man quickly said “The Disney Rep? He’s been everywhere. I’ll go get him for you.” Not 30 seconds later, the Disney rep walked into the lobby with the curly haired man and the young lady disappeared, never to be seen again (In this story I mean. She wasn’t kidnapped or anything, although with the “security” in this place, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had been).
Our converstaion with the Disney Representative went exactly like this:
Me: Hello, My name is Matt and this is my fiance Tommy.
(*hand shake*)
Max: I’m Max
Me: Hi Max. We have a bit of an issue. We simply cannot hand over our cell phones because they are much to valuable and it cannot be guaranteed that they will be safe.
(Max begins shaking his head in agreement)
Me: If it had been listed on the email confirmation that they would not be allowed, we would have made other arrangements, but I stood in line for nearly an hour and a half in the rain, and only 10 minutes before you let us in was there any mention of confiscating cell phones. There weren’t even signs posted anywhere.
Max: I completely understand. But this is Disney policy and it has been this way for 10 years (Cue Proposal pre-showing flashback)
Me: We should have been informed that before we stood in the rain waiting to enter. Its absolutely ridiculous.
Max: None of the other people have a problem giving over their cell phones.
Matt: Well I suspect that it is because if they didn’t they would have screaming kids on their hands, but you’re about to have a screaming 30-year-old on your hands. (He continues to shake his head… never missing a beat, nodding.) And please stop patronizing me by standing there shaking your head in agreement when you are not willing to do anything.
Max: I’m not. I’m sorry. Right after this event I will be creating a report and I will be sure to include your concern.
Me: Well, how does that help resolve this situation right now? We were completely misinformed.
Max: I don’t know. There is no way you are getting into a Disney movie with a cell phone. I’m sorry there is nothing I can do.
Me: Of course there is! You can allow us into the theater!
Max: And what if the movie gets posted online?
Me: Listen, this moving comes out next week (I was wrong it comes out on Friday….even worse), I could go down to Chinatown and buy it tonight if I wanted to. I have no intention of filming this or any other movie. With ten years of putting on these events, I hardly doubt this is the first time that someone has had a problem with turning over their cell phone. If this has always been the policy, why isn’t it stated in the confirmation?
Max: Most of the families here have come to all of the Disney events so they know the policy already.
Matt: So I’m being punished for being new?
Max: You’re not being punished…..
Matt: Yes, I am. I followed all the rules. I arrived early as suggested. I stood in the rain for an hour and a half to guarantee entry. You threw a new rule at us last minute and because you are offering no other options but to hand over our cell phones and we are declining, we are not allowed to enter.
Max: You are welcome to enter but you have to turn in your phone.
Matt: How about this? You give me your credit card and I will give you my phone. At the end of the movie we can switch back. That way, I have something of value of yours, and you have something of value of mine. Would you agree to that?
Max: No.
Matt: Interesting. So you are not willing to give something of value of yours to a stranger, but you expect me to just hand over something of mine. See how that doesn’t seem fair?
Max: (Silence)
Matt: Are you going to be able to help us or not? We just want to see the movie.
Max: No.
Matt: Well I want to thank you for your time.
(*Handshake*)
Matt: What’s your last name?
Max: Dxxxxxxk.
Matt: Thank you for your help Max. Actually, I take that back because you were absolutely no help.
(END SCENE)
So Tommy and I left. Back into the rain and off to the subway to head home. Cell phones in our possession where we could guarantee their safety.
So where does that leave us? Well, mostly just disappointed, to say the least. I may forgive, but I will never forget, and I know that the only power I have to fight back with is with my hard earned dollars. Now, Disney is a huge company and I highly doubt they will care if I no longer attend their movies, Broadway shows or theme parks, but as a company that has built its reputation on bring happiness to people across the world, they absolutely should.
It turns out that Max does not even work for Disney. He did, as an intern, but now works for an outside agency.
Seeing this poster on my way home summed it all up for me:
Life for Fun, Spread Joy, Stand Up for What You Believe!
Matt About It 