Putting the fun in Fun World

Posted By GREG BURLIUK, THE WHIG-STANDARD
Saturday, May 1  2010

A movie fanatic, Dan Wannemacher came to Kingston in 1991 to run a failing drive-in theatre as a summer gig. To his surprise, he finds himself still operating that drive-in for what is his 20th season.

He couldn't have done it without go-karts, however.

Wannemacher is the owner of Kingston Family Fun World, a collection of three movie screens, plus other attractions, including miniature golf and go-karts.

Back in 1991, he had already had experience running the Twilight Drive-In in London, Ont., and a couple of indoor theatres near Toronto.
"I thought I could do the go-karts during the day and the drive-in at night," says Wannemacher of his move to Kingston. "The go-karts were an instant success, but the drive-in was not."

Most Kingstonians remember the location off Division Street as the long-time site of the Mustang Drive-In, which was a chain of drive-ins across Ontario. In the 1980s, however, with the advent of VCRs, drive-ins were hit hard and closed in droves.

When Wannemacher started, he was leasing the theatre and by 1993, he was ready to toss in the towel.

"The second year I had it, it rained 12 weekends in a row," he says.

He was persuaded to go one more round with the drive-in.

"We opened that year with a little film called Jurassic Park,"he says. "I'd never even heard of it, but it was such a big hit for us, I became convinced that people still wanted to go to the drive-ins."

In those days, drive-ins served movies on a time delay basis. "It used to be 90 days," says Wannemacher, who bought the business in 1995. "But now we open a film the same time as the indoor theatres."

Drive-Ins have had to face many challenges over the years from VCRs to the current rage over 3D films, but Wannemacher says the biggest one will always be the oldest one -- the weather.

"Last year, there were only three weekends when it didn't rain," he says. "There's such a short window for a season, it hurts when there's a lot of rain." His three screens usually open in the first week in April and run until the end of September.

Wannemacher says there are currently 27 drive-ins in Ontario and the closest ones to his are those in Picton and Alexandria Bay.

"Those who survived the '80s did alright although the land values caused a lot of them to close," he says. "That was really true in Ottawa, which was one of the hottest places for drive-ins."

There was a time when drive-ins were hotbeds for teenagers to party and carry on romantically, but those days are no more, says the owner.

"We cater to families and young couples" he says. "And you don't have people crawling out of car trunks anymore either. Have you ever tried to hide in a mini-van?

"Besides my ticket box lady, Pam Cleary, has been doing this a long time and she figures out pretty quickly if anything is up. Everybody loves her."

There's a sure-fire way to tell if a movie is a hit with audiences -- the snack bar is empty.

"Action comedies are the most popular," says Wannemacher. "Last summer, for example The Hangover stayed the whole summer."

The 3-D onslaught worries Wannemacher, but not that much. Currently, he is showing How To Train Your Dragon, but not in 3D like in the indoor theatres.

"The lense I'd have to put in to show it in 3D is just too expensive," he says. "There was some 3D last summer, but it didn't affect us. We'll find out this summer as this is the first full year of it."

Another problem he sometimes faces is in matching up films for double bills. The company showing the headliner insists that the second film also be from its wares. If its early in the season and there isn't a lot to choose from, that can result in some awkward pairings.

"For example, right now we're showing How To Train Your Dragon, which is a family movie with Shutter Island, which is a horror movie," says Wannemacher. "That's not a good match, but we really didn't have much of a choice.

"In May, we'll be able to put together Iron Man II and the new Shrek movie, which will be a terrific match."

Wannemacher admits he wouldn't have survived this long, however, without his money maker, the go-karts.

"I couldn't have even afforded the taxes," he says. "There's not much profit in the movies."

gburliuk@thewhig.com

Essentials

What:This year, Kingston Family Fun World celebrates its 20th year as a movie drive-in theatre, on a site that has housed drive-ins since 1966. It's currently open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.