Great Cinema (UGC Cinema Didsbury)

Member Name: blonde_girl774

Product:	UGC Cinema Didsbury
Date:	20/02/07 (4689 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good student rates, range of drinks / foods available, modern and clean.

Disadvantages: None!

In an attempt to save money but at the same time avoid going insane by staying in every night I’ve started going to the cinema a lot more over the past year. Most of the cinemas in Manchester are located in the city centre and therefore involve extortionate parking charges so my flatmates and I tend to visit the one in Didsbury the most. The cinema is part of the Cineworld group which is quite a large group although not as widespread as the leading Odeon group.

The Didsbury cinema is located in the Parrs Wood complex in East Didsbury which also houses a Holmes Place gym, a 2 for 1 pub, a bowling complex, a Pizza Hut and several other restaurants and eateries. There’s also a large parking area with over 500 spaces, the main bonus of this is that it’s actually free to park there for users of one of the outlets at the complex. The complex itself is relatively new having only been there for a few years now meaning the layout and general visual appeal of it is fairly modern. It’s easily accessible from central Manchester and there’s a bus route which runs from the centre of Manchester, through Rusholme and Withington to the complex approximately every 10-15 minutes.

The cinema itself is housed in the very centre of the complex and when you walk in your enter a large lobby, much bigger than the majority of other entrances in cinemas. The whole of the ground floor comprises this lobby with five ticket desks being situated to the right hand side of it, a lift in the centre of it and escalators towards the back. The entrance area itself is always really clean with poster boards advertising up and coming films decorating the walls. I’ve never encountered much of a queue at the cinema although I’m sure at weekends the queue can build up especially in the evening. There’s the option to buy tickets online and then simply collect them from one of the machines in the entrance area which of course would save time.

Once you’ve bought your tickets the actual screens and main part of the cinema are accessed by escalators towards the back of the entrance area, much preferable than climbing stairs especially when you’re coming out of a film! The upstairs area is circular in shape with the front area housing a café and seating area while the back area contains your usual cinema type shop for popcorn and drinks. There’s also a small pick n mix area as well as a children’s area which is normally reserved for parties held at the complex.

I’ve visited the café a couple of times while waiting for my film to start and have always had a pleasant experience. They typically serve all your normal beverages and snack food items including jacket potatoes, sandwiches and cakes. The items themselves are priced much as you’d expect with a simple coffee costing £1.00 while a cappuccino is priced at £1.70. Soft drinks are available in two sizes and are priced accordingly at £1.10 and £1.70. On the opposite side of the cinema area is the snack shop and prices here are fairly extortionate in my opinion, much like those found in most cinemas. Popcorn ranges from £2.20 up to £3.90 and so I do tend to try to sneak my own food and drink into the cinema, again in an effort to save money!

The cinema screens themselves are accessed through double doors on the left and right hand of the cinema with the complex itself housing approximately 12 screens in total. The screens themselves vary in size, some of them are very large with about 250 seats while some of the other ones on the opposite side of the cinema are smaller with only about 150 seats. The cinema screens themselves are suitably large and the seats are really comfy with large arm rests and plenty of leg room as well.

Prices for this cinema seem quite reasonable compared to some others with a student price being only £4.30. Children’s tickets are priced the same and adults are £6.50 which does seem quite expensive. An alternative is the family ticket option for either 4 or 8 people where tickets are priced at only £4.50 so it’s an ideal option for those of you with children or in a larger group. If you do decide to book online then there is an additional charge of 55p per ticket.

I’d definitely recommend this cinema, the main criteria for me are that the cinema seats are large and with plenty of leg room and this cinema certainly meets both of them! Another bonus for this cinema is that it is wheelchair friendly with wide aisles among the seats and a lift to enable access between floors. They always have the newest releases showing right from their day of release and there's normally about 12 films being shown each week here. The staff are always pleasant enough, well the one’s that I’ve encountered anyway and all in all I’ve had nothing but good experiences here!

Thanks for reading.

Summary: The relatively new cinema complex located in Didsbury, Manchester.