Twin Drive-In Theater

Love going here with our family during the summers! It’s great that there are still drive-​ins around!!!

Sweet summer memories begin here.
I have came here for years and years and it’s such a great time. I have came here to see movies but heck who comes to watch the movies?! You go for the experience and a great time outdoors.
Going here with a group of people makes it so much fun. I can’t lie and say that I haven’t brought alcohol but hey it’s a good time!
The concession stands and restrooms are old so they are a little scary looking. I make sure to grab my snacks and go to the little girls room before. Ha.
It’s super cheap though! Double feature and it’s like $ 10. How awesome is that?! Beats other movie prices. I will continue to go to this place every summer. I love it and hope it doesn’t close any time soon!

I’ve been living in Kansas City for 5 years.
I can’t believe we didn’t go to the Twin earlier!
First, it’s totally retro, and not retro in a modern retro hipster way. It’s just totally retro. And I love it. All of the posts are still there from when you had to use the speakers, and if you look really hard, there are still a few speakers left. These days, you just tune your FM radio to the station they tell you at the front gate and boom, you’re ready. Be sure to turn your key on «accessory» though so you don’t run your battery down (turn it backwards!). Otherwise, just make sure you start your car once or twice during the movies.
Second, you can take your own refreshments. What you say? You mean I don’t have to dig my duffle bag out of my closet, fill it full of dollar store goodies and try and pass it off as my purse? Nope, none of that! Just pack your cooler, your Wal-​Mart bag of snacks (you know you do it, too) and find your parking spot! As for what type of «refreshments» you bring, the radio reminds you that alcohol is not allowed, but there are no signs posted and no one is checking coolers at the front gate ifyouknowwhatImean. Don’t have time to pack your own cooler? Fine! There’s a totally cool concession stand there. We didn’t partake in the concession stand fare, but we did venture inside and it seemed clean. Standard concession fare was offered: popcorn, hot dogs, nachos, candy, soda, etc. The prices were about ²⁄₃ what you would pay at a regular theater. If I remember correctly, a large popcorn was $ 5.50 and a large drink was $ 3.50. Certainly not Quik Trip value, but also not AMC rape-​of-​the-​wallet, either.
Movies! Yay! The best part! You get a double feature every time. And for only $ 10 per person (11 and under are free!) that’s quite a deal. Our first movie was on the left side of the drive-​in. The sound quality was great. The picture quality was great, just as good if not better than a regular theater. Not sure why, but I figured with it being outside quality would be diminished some, but it wasn’t — at least on the left side, but more on that later. There were lots of kids running around, so it is great for families. We went there for a date night and were very impressed at the way everyone quieted down and took their seats for the movie. No more running kids, no more talky talky. The only complaint I had was that someone was smoking really cheap stinky cigarettes next to us, but we were outdoors, so fine. When our first movie was over, we moved to the other side. This is allowed, but is also quite tricky because everyone starts moving around at this time, either to leave, walk to the restroom or whatever. They ask that you only turn your parking lights on, but that’s tricky too because you can’t really see much, but worse than that would be blinding your neighbors with your headlights. You make the choice.
For the second movie, there were far fewer people. The movie was on the right side of the drive-​in and the sound quality wasn’t quite as good as the other side. Could have been the actual movie, the place we were parked (we were closer to the front and could hear some sound from the speakers at the front), or it could have just been coincidence. I have no idea. I’ll update if we go back to that side and have the same or different result.
Overall, the place was really awesome. I can’t believe I waited so long to come here. This would have been a summer staple for us and will be from now on for sure. I heard some grumblings about the drive ins around town maybe closing because of being forced to digital format and it’s too expensive. This would really be a great loss for the KC area if that happened. The drive-​in is so fun, a complete unique experience, and I can’t wait to take my kids there! Support local!

Always have SO much fun at this drive-​in with my boyfriend. It’s huge — they always offer good movies, and it’s a great date night idea, perfect for a girls night out or with family! My only complaint is that the snack food is too expensive — so bring your own like we do :)

I’ve only been to this place a couple times — once to watch Josie and the Pussycats when I was 12, and a few years ago with my boyfriend when we needed a new date idea. Both times were a lot of fun, and it’s definitely an experience I’m glad I got to have. Yeah, the place is kind of rundown and old-​fashioned, but that’s part of what makes it charming. As another Unilocaler put it, it’s like traveling back in time. I hope I can come here again soon.

If you feel like steping back in time for a double-​feature, the Twin is for you. Digital sound means the movie audio plays over your car radio, so sound quality is good. You can bring chairs, snacks (or hit the snack bar) and enjoy two first-​run movies for $ 8. With two screen, there is rarely a weekend that isn’t good for family or date night.

The last time I went to the drive-​in movies, we watched Howard The Duck. My sister and I, 12 and 7 respectively, won tickets on a radio contest where we made up a rap about the morning DJ on 107.3 KKRD (that’s in Wichita, folks). Ask me nicely sometime and I’ll tell you how it went, as it’s permanently ingrained into my brain.
Fast forward to present day.
Some friends and I were running through a list of things we were sad to not have done over the summer. We didn’t make it to Oceans of Fun. We didn’t go mini-​golfing. We hardly did enough kite-​flying, or BBQing or general pool lounging. As we sat around on a friend’s porch wallowing in self-​pity, somebody came up with the brilliant idea to head out to Twin Drive-​In for an end of summer double-​feature extravaganza.
Obviously any 2010 drive-​in experience had some pretty big shoes to fill if it was going to hold a candle to that one back in 1986. The 20+ years in-​between made the experience seem almost mythological. Fortunately, so little has changed in drive-​in culture that it definitely lived up to my expectations.
We pulled the caravan into the theater and paid our $ 7 a person. It was pretty empty, but then again it was a Sunday, on the tail end of summer. Because it was so sparsely populated, we decided to do a half-​assed «circle the wagons» type move, and turn on all of our car stereos for some ghetto surround sound. In the middle of our half-​circle we put the coolers and the blankets and the lawn chairs. The lights went dark and the show began.
The menus are still of the hilariously retro «dancing candy» vein, with a countdown of the minutes until the show began. We ran back to the concession stand to get popcorn and candy — but not any drinks, as we brought our own. We get stopped by a very drunk kid who is telling anybody who will listen that he just proposed to his girlfriend… AND SHE SAID YES! Oh young love.
We make our way back to our spot and spend the next 4 hours or so watching movies. They turned out to be VERY bad, but because nobody else was right next to us, we could loudly roast them to our hearts content.
What started out as a day full of self-​pity for the fading of Summer turned out to be one of my favorite nights of the season. I can’t say I’d do this with any regularity, but I guarantee from this point on, I’ll spend at least one night a summer watching terrible movies with my friends at Twin Drive In.

I was flabbergasted not only that this drive-​in still exists, but because it remains operational. Hooray for keeping a small piece of obsolete pop culture alive! It was novel even back when I was in high school, but we admittedly only came here to socialize with our smuggled wine coolers and 3.2% beers on summer nights. I didn’t get to witness what shenanigans today’s demographic is up to, but based on the current-​run films listed on its marquee, I think they’re actually coming to watch the movies. So cool!