ULTIMATE NY STAYCATION SUMMER 2021
See the Stars Under the Stars at Unadilla Drive-In BY ALLISON COLLINS
The Unadilla Drive-In, an old-timey, outdoor movie theater at 1706 state Highway 7 in Unadilla, offers visitors a uniquely pandemic-friendly movie-going experience. The theater opened its gates in May 1956 and was purchased by At the time of writing, Wilson the Wilson family, of Unadilla, in noted, the movie schedule for 2000. Spencer Wilson manages the 2021 season was still being the site. Since purchasing finalized. the drive-in, the Wilsons have renovated its screens, “With the limited amount of grounds, concessions and other new releases, we’ll get some, but equipment, including switching chances are there’ll be weekends to a digital projector in the where we’ll do older (films) and mid-2000s. themed nights,” he said. “Those Wilson extolled the site’s did really well and I think people singularity. liked some of those better than “It’s something you can’t do regular nights, so … it will be a very often,” he said. “If you mix of some new and some old. live here, you can, but it’s just And we want to do a lot more different. One of the big things (online) poll-type stuff. If we’re is the fact that it’s in Unadilla; going to show old movies, we it’s a tiny town and you wouldn’t want to know what people want expect it, it’s kind of out of noto see; we don’t want do the same where. There’s a lot more freedom things over again, but keep it involved and, even with COVID, fresh.” it’s not dangerous; it’s safe, it’s The drive-in setting, Wilson fun, you get your freedom and noted, proved especially popular better prices on everything. through the 2020 season. (Admission) is two (movies) for “Last year in particular, with one and our snack bar, if you everything being closed, there compare to other places, is way was a whole bunch of hype cheaper. I think it’s just a better because we were the only ones experience than the movies.” open,” he said. “So, we got a lot Typically, Wilson said, the of people from Binghamton and drive-in shows a double feature, even past Binghamton. It has with the first film geared toward spread quite a bit.” younger and family audiences, And customer demographics, and the second for adults. Despite the halting of movie production through the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson • Cakes said, the drive-in • Cupcakes remained open and got creative. Last • Cookies year, the drive-in hosted themed • Fresh Bread movie nights, • Pies viewings of popular throwback films 5714 S. Transit Rd. (Behind Verizon store) Lockport, NY 14094 • (716) 438-7452 Bakery Hours: Tuesday-Friday 7am-6pm; Saturday 9am-2pm and a prerecorded concert series. For our menu and examples visit our website: www.TaterCakesWNY.com
Wilson noted, run the gamut. “What I’ve mostly seen is a lot more families, but we get all kinds – older people, dates, young people, but it does depend on the movie,” he said. “And we do get some people that like to go around and check out all the drive-ins and like the nostalgia of it. It’s been around 70-plus years, so there are people now in their 60s and 70s who went here as kids, so it’s cool to see that.” Wilson said, in addition to the inexpensive fare and old-fashioned charm, customers appreciate that the drive-in is a generational business. “One thing I think that people find unique … is it is family-owned and has been for at least the last 25 years,” he said. “It went from my parents to my older brothers, to my sister, to now me, so that’s kind of cool.”
Changes introduced in 2020, Wilson said, will likely remain through this season. “It’s going to stay really similar,” he said. “We did have a lot more that we had to do, in terms of sanitation and even regulation. We had to cut the maximum attendance by 50%; we can technically hold up to 400 cars, but right now we have to keep it at 200 to keep people six feet apart … and we’re sticking to that 50% until we hear otherwise.” While the drive-in offered advance ticket sales online last year, Wilson noted, this year he plans to return to in-person admission only. For more information, including movie selection and dates, find “Unadilla Drive-In” on Facebook, visit drive-in.ws or call 607-369-2000.
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