B&B Theatres Mesa Gateway 12 IMAX

Sunday, 31 January 2016: Overall, we rate the whole experience a solid 4.
Generally speaking, when rating the theater AS A WHOLE, I think anything over 4 or below 3 would be disingenuous. Obviously, if someone received unusually superior or bad service, then naturally one might rate it 1 or 5 based solely on that or similar unusual things, which is fine as long as it is stated as such. Rating everything has terrible or horrible based on 1 or 2 issues seems disingenuous.
SERVICE:
We watched The 5^th Wave this evening in Cinema 9. Attendance was very light and so we cannot give you any idea what a more normal night might be like. There was only 1 person each selling tickets and concessions, but that was all that was needed.
I was not given the option of a Military Discount online and so we had to exchange our tickets upon arrival for a partial refund. I called the theater as soon as I purchased the 4 tickets. I was referred to the «manager», Justin, who was polite, friendly and accommodating. Justin said it would be no problem.
We arrived 30 minutes early because we wanted to get good seats and had no idea what traffic might be like. The young lady selling tickets did not know how to exchange the tickets and referred me to the manager behind the concessions. She seemed genuinely cheery and friendly with a natural warmth. I have worked in customer service most of my life. In my experience, maybe 1 out of 20 people in customer service have this gift, not including me.
When we got up to concessions and asked for Justin, a young man with a tie and vest said Justin had just left. I explained what happened to him and he quickly and efficiently assisted me without further questioning on the matter. He didn’t even ask me for my military ID. He was also friendly and accommodating.
CONCESSIONS:
My sister and hubby, who were visiting us, bought a Combo #1, very large popcorn and very large soda (at least 44oz), for $ 12.75 and I bought a large soda for $ 7.?? Both were a bit expensive in my opinion. Nonetheless, 3 out of 4 of us stuffed ourselves with the very large bag of popcorn and half of the refill. I wished we hadn’t gotten the refill because I can’t stop eating good popcorn until I am stuffed. The popcorn quality was on par with Harkins, which I really like. The young man working concessions was friendly with a helpful attitude.
CLEANLINESS/​CONDITION:
The theater was very clean and appeared in very good condition from the outside and in the main concessions area and behind the concessions counter.
Cinema #9 was not clean. Apparently, they do not clean between each movie, though it wasn’t too bad at this point. The seating, however, was very poor in appearance. Some of the upholstery did not appear to match. A few armrests had torn material and some seats were cracked or ripped. Very substandard. We all agreed that the seating had to be older than the theater. We are assuming that the most recent owners took out what my wife and I thought we remember as premium seating and replaced it with some very sub par seating. It was reasonably comfortable at least.
My brother-​in-​law says the men’s room he used, just before the exit, was average in cleanliness for theaters and my sister said the women’s room she used was above average in cleanliness. Neither I nor my wife used the restrooms.
Sound and screen quality were both great. None of us noticed any issues. However, in one scene when there was almost complete silence for most of about 30 seconds or more, we could barely hear the sound from one of the other theaters. That was annoying.
My brother-​in-​law says he noticed a slight off-​smell in the theater, but he was not sure what it was. Neither my wife, who has a very sensitive nose, nor myself or my sister noticed any smells.
VALUE:
They need to do a little better on pricing in our opinion. In order to do that, they probably need to do better on marketing. Catch-​22. If it wasn’t for the Military Discount, we would not likely return very often unless we thought Harkins would be too crowded. We certainly loved no waiting and that there were only about 15 – 20 people at our showing.

This is by far the nastiest theater I’ve ever been to. Almost every seat is torn, broken, dirty, or missing. There is trash on the floor, all over. And the heat was out on the theater were in. Customer service was fine, but this is disgusting. I really didn’t even want to put the one star, but the app doesn’t let you leave it at nothing.

This is a great theater. My husband and/​or friends go to this theater whenever we want to see a movie. It has most of the current films. The theaters and restrooms have always been very clean whenever we have visited. The employees are friendly, well groomed and courteous. So happy that we have a nice neighborhood movie theater!

How can a movie theater be out of basic concession items like butter during the busiest time of year? The place is ratty in places, restroom fixtures are often non-​operational and they frequently have only one or two concession stations open. They are in a prime location and we enjoy the IMAX option, but they can do much better.

Bought tickets online and got charged a $ 5 «convenience fee.» BUT, even if you buy tickets online you still have to wait in the box office line to pick up your tickets. There is no convenience. Total complete theft of $ 5. In the auditorium the vinyl armrests were torn and ripped up. One seat in our row was completely broken and just covered with a black plastic trash bag. Laughable. TOTAL. LACK. OF. PRIDE.

Smallest IMAX I have ever been to. Seats were torn and somewhat reclined, somewhat fell back. Theater was clean and staff was friendly and there was plenty of people to make sure we had a good time. Popcorn was stale and nachos were not that great. I won’t be going back unless they do some serious remodeling and get better food.

I love this theater! I prefer this theater over any others that I have been too. I always get great service! There are hardly ever long lines to wait in and you don’t have to show up 1hr early to get a good seat. It is getting really run down which I would like to see it get fixed back up. Since B&B took over it has really gotten run down. But the quality of the movies and the service I have received has always been good.

Sound was terrible, seats are ripped. Saw Mocking Jay II, could not hear a lot of the dialogue! Sound from theater next door could be heard in our movie!

Just got home from seeing Star Wars at the Gateway IMAX.
It was great! REALLY liked the theater. Great, comfortable seats, popcorn was fresh and tasty, picture and sound were first rate.
Gotta say we were surprised after reading the other reviews here. Place seemed as clean and well run as any of the Harkins theaters. Only caution is that they are a bit lightly staffed. I would be sure to arrive early.

well. broken seats. broken toilets, stale chips. they said the hot dog would take 15 minutes to cook. seats are uncomfortable. find another Imax. movie was good that was about it.

We were super excited to see Everest at an IMAX in 3-​D however our experience at this theatre was not good. First off it cost 77 dollars for 2 adults/​3kids to get in which I would have been totally fine with had the following not been noticed
— the rugs throughout were extremely dirty and gross
— the bathrooms were atrocious! There was what appeared to be pee on the floor and the smell was ripe
— the chairs were ripped and in need of repair
— something made my husbands allergies go out of control the moment we took our seats until we left.
This place should be closed down! We will not be returning EVER and I strongly encourage anyone reading this to go elsewhere as well !!!

Our first experience at B & B theater. Came to see Everest in IMAX — GREAT GREAT GREAT movie!
Everything was really pretty good, just completely understaffed! No ticket kiosk but line to get tickets not too bad.
Line for snacks made people late for movie! ONE poor cashier doing a great job taking care of everyone!
Hope this gets fixed!

Since the new change in ownership I vowed not to go back. Price raised, no refills on popcorn or drinks, theater was hot and according to other reviews I’m not alone. Really sad because I really liked going there before.

Well, I feel the same way and wrote to them. This is the response I received. Very cold, formal, and matter of fact… Maybe some of you should write also. I plan on sending some pic to Dan in hopes that his team decides to reevaluate the theater.
«We added 16 properties to our circuit between October of 2014 and January of this year.»
«We have been evaluating the properties and making immediate improvements to the basic bones of the buildings.»
«We have remodeling projects for a number of locations starting in September. At this time we don’t have the remodel schedule for this location, but we do have a company doing a professional cleaning job every day, we’ve installed new plumbing and lighting and have started the Backstage Pass loyalty program. Much more is to come.»
Dan
Daniel VanOrden
Executive Director of Operations
B&B Theatres
521 Commons Drive
PO Box 825
Fulton, MO 65 251

It is with a heavy heart that i write this review… The wife and I have been coming here for years. Now that B&B has bought out this Dickenson Theatre it has really just gone downhill. From trash bags over broken seats in the theater, to trash bags over broken urinals in the restroom. The theater was sweltering hot until the movie started and then the A/​C kicked on. Unless you are going to see an IMAX feature my advice is to go to a Harkins or AMC.

Theater is tired and dated. Squeeky and cracked leather seats. Auditorium had some strange unpleasant odor, smelled like they hadn’t cleaned the carpets since who knows when. Has the feel it was built at the turn of the millenium and has gone down hill ever since. Bathrooms were dirty and stank. Mens room had dried up urine on the floor. Do they mop? Went here for my first time to see San Andreas and now see what everyone else is talking about. Theatre badly needs a renovation. Likely won’t return.

$ 17.50 for an Imax seat for Jurassic World. $ 20 for popcorn and soda. Typical price. For that you get:
Seats that are broken and ripped.
The main concourse has a nice layer of filth on every surface. Free popcorn toppings!!! Except that’s empty. And destroyed in layers of old popcorn and filth.
Nachos? Sold out.
Hot Dogs? Ditto.
The men’s room has two broken urinal’s so there’s a lovely stench of 10 day old pee.
Elevators out of order (not that I needed it, but a general representation.)
At least the movie didn’t suck.

Way to hot in the theater! Very uncomfortable in summer time

For those having hearing problems, this may not be the theatre to cater to. In two occasions (the last being May 5, 2015), when I requested an audio amplification device such as «TV Ears» for my mother, I was informed that their devices were all broken and thus not available. This was the same response we got when we went there maybe six months ago. I would advice other hearing impaired movie goers to be aware that this theatre may not be the best choice and perhaps call ahead to make sure they have working equipment.
The Americans with Disabilities Act title III (ADA) regulation as it pertains to Movie Theaters requires these devices. I hope that our experience was just a bad coincidence.
In the Phoenix metro area, we have not have had any problems obtaining the headsets at Harkins, AMC or even the Pollack Tempe Theaters ($ 3 Movie Home) and thus these may be better choices.
The first time we chose to watch the movie anyway — though my mother missed a lot of the movie due to her hearing loss. She enjoyed the movie much more when we again saw it via DVD. On this recent occasion, we chose not to do that and just obtained a refund without a problem.

I went recently to see Avengers Age of Ultron. The staff was nice, the seats were comfortable, screen and sound were good. However, one of my favorite things about experiencing a movie is the popcorn and the popcorn was really inedible. It didn’t taste good and it was all broken up into teeny tiny pieces. In addition, they didn’t turn the AC on until midway through the movie, so up until that point it was hot, humid and uncomfortably stuffy. In the future, I will be making the longer drive to a Harkins theater.