Twilite Drive-in enjoys busy opening weekend with restrictions in place

The Twilite Drive-in Theatre gave film buffs a chance to get out and see a movie somewhere other than on their home entertainment systems.

Don Zaba, the owner of the theatre in Wolseley, said he and his staff were pretty busy on May 18 as people drove out to enjoy a movie on the outdoor screen.

“We had numerous people come and congratulate us. (They said,) ‘We’re glad you’re open. We’re tired of being home. It was time to get the heck out of Dodge,’ and they were quite excited about the whole drive-in opening, that’s for sure,” Zaba said Friday. “May long is usually our best weekend.”

But due to social-distancing rules, the term “packed” no longer means the same as it used to.

The theatre used to be able to fit around 150 vehicles. But since there must be at least five metres between the vehicles now due to COVID-19 restrictions, the theatre can only fit around 50 to 60 vehicles.

“Our concession was about half of the product being sold due to the lineups outside,” Zaba said. “We had to do takeout only. We were down to popcorn, drinks and candy. The two-metre distance rule took effect. As for the washrooms, it was the same thing – we only allowed one person into each washroom and the two-metre ruling was in effect as well.”

Zaba said the theatre did get some financial relief from its movie distributor. Normally a movie would cost about $300 to $1,000 to get; the distributor marked down prices to about $150 per film.

“We make a profit but not like we did,” Zaba said. “Our concessions are down to about half because we weren’t selling all the things we would usually sell. Deep-fried foods are a huge money-maker there but with COVID-19 we decided not to sell that until it clears up a little bit.”

With Phase 3 set to begin on June 8, Zaba said the drive-in will look into the possibility of opening up the rest of its concessions.

Zaba said the theatre held a show on Thursday and it was still fairly busy.

“We got most of the kinks out of it,” he said, “and we’re looking forward to a good weekend here.”