CHILD-FRIENDLY CINEMA WITH PLAYGROUND AND SLIDES|戲院設兒童遊樂場 盼開拓親子客源

One of world's largest cinema operators recently introduced the idea of kid-oriented theaters, where instead of sitting through a two-hour movie, kids get to play through their cenimatic experience. Mexico's multiplex operator Cinepolis has opened its first child-friendly auditorium in the United States, with a view to encouraging more families back to the movie theater. Designed for ages 3 to 12, children can climb inside a net-enclosed playground, 55 feet long and 25 feet high, running along one of the theater walls containing slides, hanging bags, poles for climbing and a clear plastic bubble overlooking the seats far below. ==MARTIN PEREZ== To play in the playground, watch movies, eat, play in the playground again, in the other one, it's fun. ==MARCUS VILLAREAL== It's awesome. ==MIKAELA ARROYO== There's, like, really fun slides and it's really high. ==CESAR HERNANDEZ== You can play there, play there and watch a movie. Cinepolis is hoping the move can get children into the habit of movie-going, amid fears that the fast growth of online streaming services such as Netflix will put a permanent dent into ticket sales at theaters. ==APRIL MENDOZA, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cinepolis== Our ideal goal is to start the kids little and so they understand what the movie-going experience is and they carry that with them through their adult life and continue to watch movies all the way through. ==ALNA ARROYO, mother of Mikaela Arroyo== They're running up and down the stairs and on these things and so, when it comes time for the movie, they'll be able to sit down because they're tired, so that's good. The playground is opened 20 minutes before the start of the movie and children must be back in their seats by the time the feature begins. ==APRIL MENDOZA, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cinepolis== We want to make sure that we keep the integrity of the movie-going experience, so when the movie is on, we expect the children to be captivated and excited about what they're seeing, so we don't want to take away from that. So the play time is just before the movie. There are currently two child-friendly auditoriums in the U.S., one in Pico Rivera in Los Angeles County, with 133 seats, and another in San Diego, with 134 seats. Cinepolis introduced the concept in Mexico in January 2014 and expanded it to theater complexes in Spain, Costa Rica and Guatemala, making a total of 32 worldwide. TRANSLATED BY：JESSICA OY