from Metroblogging Los Angeles: Carping On The El Crapitan

Will Campbell at blogging.la posts about his recent experience seeing Narnia for $22/seat at the El Capitan.

Looking for a Christmas Day tour through the magical land of Narnia, I ended up settling on the El Cap because it was the nearest theater in the area that offered online ticketing and reserved seating -- but that "VIP" option comes at a hefty premium. When the price came up on screen I mistakenly thought the $22 pricetag was for both seats. Hell no. At checkout I was about to be dinged for $44 plus a $2 per seat "service fee." That shit scared me so bad, I not only closed the browser window, but ran away from the computer like a litle girl... I ended up rationalizing it: Jesus' birthday does only come but once a year, and the price did include popcorn and a drink... But the drink was a 20-ounce screwtop and that free popcorn? Weak. Sure it came in a souvineer Narnia bucket, but it contained a super-stale kidsized portion to go with the kidsized seats we were forced to endure...

Read the whole piece here.

In short: the El Capitan blows.

I had the same exact experience seeing Finding Nemo a few years ago, although I didn't pay for the VIP seats. More of my experience in their comments section. Alas, I've kept to my vow of never returning.

Which is a shame - aestheticaly (sp?), the El Capitan is a beautiful theatre, and on occasion even features a live organist before the show. But until they correct the $22 ticket price (a little less than half the cost of a full days admission to Disneyland) I'll continue to blacklist the theatre.