Watching a movie at the theaters doesn’t have to be expensive. Sacramento has a few local movie theaters that offer decent ticket prices and good promotions for students and the community.

At the West Wind Sacramento Drive-in 6, a regular adult ticket costs $6.75, while children ages five to 11 are charged $1, and children younger than five are free.

Michael Villanueva, a student at Cosumnes River College, said he likes the prices at the West Wind.

“The drive-in is a lot cheaper than what regular theaters are charging, and that’s good for my budget,” Villanueva said.

West Wind has Tuesday family nights when tickets cost $4.75 per person. The drive-in also has customer appreciation days every year when movie showings are free for everyone.

“We do two or three of these (customer appreciations days) a year for the community. It’s a lot of fun for kids because we have things like a jump house, blow-up obstacle course, and a live band,” said Sean Choyce, a West Wind employee. “Last time we had one about 3,000 people show(ed) up.”

Along with cheap tickets, the West Wind offers a variety of snacks – from soft-serve ice cream to a $5.50 extra-large bucket of popcorn. Each person is allowed one free refill of popcorn.

“It’s better to watch a movie over here because you can pay like $10.50 for one movie, a popcorn, and a soda unlike the sit-in movie theaters where you have to pay $8 or more,” Choyce said. “The sound quality is not quite up to the sit-in theater standards, but it’s comfortable and you can sit in your own car and not have to worry about sitting next to strangers or being disturbed by people talking.”

The Tower Theatre also provides students with a discount.

The Tower Theatre charges students $6.50 a ticket. On Mondays nights, the theater gives away free popcorn to college students.

“On Mondays we just let students eat as much popcorn as they want because popcorn is cheap to make and it’s usually slow on Mondays anyway,” said C.J. Schwab, Tower Theatre manager.

Although the Crest Theatre charges $9.50 for a regular adult ticket, it still offers students a discount.

The Crest has made a deal with Sacramento State’s OneCard. Students who show their OneCard will be able to purchase a ticket for $5.50.

“Our general manager was talking to someone who worked at Sac State, and suggested it (incorporating the OneCard),” said Laura Coulter, Crest office manager. “We decided to do it because we’ve always been a supporter of students and thought it would be a great promotion.”

The Crest also has a general student discount where they can buy tickets for $6.

The Crest offers discount cards for $25 which include five movie admissions and five small popcorns or drinks at the concession stands.

The discount cards may also be used for up to two admissions per show and can save people up to $30.

The Crest shows art house movies from independent film companies, as well as foreign films and documentaries.

“I think (college students) appreciate the more independent feel of what we play,” Coulter said. “There’s so many things I like about the theater, so it’s hard to narrow it down to one thing. It’s just such a beautiful independent theater that’s connected to the history of Sacramento and I appreciate that.”

Marie Warga, freshman child development major, has been going to theaters such as United Artists because she did not know about the discounts at the smaller theaters.

“I pay like $8 or $9 bucks which is a lot, or too much actually,” Warga said. “After hearing about these movie theaters, I am so going there.”

Map of Affordable Movie Theaters

Jennifer Siopongco can be reached at [email protected]