Newberg Drive in:
Are you looking for a great Newberg Drive in night with your family? Even the human! There is a good old fashion trip to the drive-in. There is a drive in in the Portland Metro area. That’s right, Newberg is worth the drive.
History 99W Newberg Drive in:
The first features to be played at the 99W Drive-in theatre were “Sea Devils” and “under the Sahara”. The theatre was built by my Grandfather, J.T. (Ted) Francis, who died in 1999 at the age of 98.
The Cameo was built in 1937 and is located in Newberg. Open every day of the week.
The 99W drive-in was a single screen drive-in until 1983, when we built an indoor TWIN CINEMA to allow it to stay open year round. The drive-in can hold up to 300 cars and the indoors can hold up to 225 seats.
The 99W drive-in is showing on three screens. The first was lost when the Columbus Day Storm of 1962 blew our marquee letters half a mile away and also destroyed the screen at the Corral Drive-in, which was run by three parties of which we were one. Right next to a Walmart is a Wilco Farm Supply store on it’s site.
The screen was knocked down by another gust in 1990. We got the idea to move a screen from a closed drive-in in Portland, the 104th Street, to solve our problem of not having a screen since business had slowed down.
Every year, we have had larger car counts. Business was bad in the 80’s and 90’s, but was better in the 50’s to 70’s. When other drive-in’s started closing down and we started getting prints a lot sooner due to the enormous print counts now required to cover all the new indoor screens at the mega plexes it shot up way up. We can book any title within a few weeks of it’s release, where it took a long time ago. Portland doesn’t have a drive-in so we get a lot of out of town business. There are regulars who drive down from Washington.
We retired the in car speakers and added AM in 1983 and have had radio sound ever since. The new radio station was added in 1993. I maintain the old concession snack bar reel between shows so it’s what you call a real intermission. If it seems appropriate, an older movie trailer may be added for fun. Since snack bar trailers do wear out, it is best to build up a reserve of this material for future presentation, since I always look to buy snack bar trailers since they do wear out.
The drive-in opens in late April or early May and usually stays open until late October. During the year, the TWIN CINEMA is open. There are three days of operation on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Looking forward to seeing you there. Christmas Eve is the only night of the year when the CAMEO is not open.
Newberg Drive in Present:
The cost for adults and kids is $9 and $5, respectively. That is for two recent movies. We’ve seen a lot of movies on opening day. You can bring your own food in. Are you now hooked? There is a pre-show party before a movie.
Allow your children to run wild. All the kids run up in front of the giant screen and play football, frisbee, baseball; there is always a nice kid handing out glow sticks, and lots of people are out on their lawn chairs playing cards on their cooler. You will have a few hours to hang out as the line starts a little before 6:30 PM and the movies start at dusk. The weather is either rain or shine. To get a spot, you need to be in line around 6:30 PM. Things don’t sell out very quickly.
Facts to know/ things to bring:
- Cash or credit cards are accepted.
- Burger King is next to the theater, and is close to several chain restaurants.
- If raining, toys include bubbles, coloring books and sports toys.
- You won’t see the kids for a few hours if you have a deck of cards or good book.
- When it hits dark, the trick is to put them in PJs. They watch the first movie, go to the bathroom, and then watch the second one on their own.
The place is great for all ages. All the way up to a 10-year-old, I’ve been there with a baby. The drive-in is only open on Thursday through Sunday. Checkout the website to see what the movies are playing. We will be there and the kids will be giving out glow sticks.