saw a bunch of posts from people saying they’ve spotted all sorts of creatures lurking about. any update from AMC reps / management on the issue? I reached out to them on twitter but haven’t heard back
and secondly are there any theaters i can safely visit without having to worry about getting bedbugs?? and rats/mice 😭 im scared to use my a list and am considering canceling, dont know if that’s an overreaction 😭
I know of a theater within an hour and half of me that had problems with bed bugs a few years ago, so I know it's not unheard of for it to happen. I saw 2 movies tonight and on my way home I noticed I had 3 bites on me. One on each hand and one on my elbow. There weren't any mosquitos outside and the walk to my care was so short I wouldn't have gotten bitten that fast anyway. I thoroughly checked my clothes and shoes when I got home but luckily didn't see anything. Didn't check my car floorboard. Should I be concerned it might have been bed bugs?
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are movie theaters safe to visit? i know they can be risky but i live in a somewhat small town and there is nothing else to do so i visit them from time to time.
i know the best option is to just stay home but my family would rather go see it on a big screen, i can’t convince them otherwise. i ended up going down a deep rabbit hole reading about them being in theaters, and my anxiety is now 10x worse.
There was a post here a while back with multiple people talking about bed bugs found in both Jackson Square and Silvercity movie theatres. Is this still the case, or has the situation improved?
Went to the Wicked Sing Along yesterday (theater 25) and halfway into the movie, my neck started being itchy. I didn't think much of it but it continued to itch through the evening and I finally checked this morning to see a bunch of bites in my neck and upper back area (the only areas that were somewhat exposed) that are characteristic of bed bugs. The seats are still the old red fabric ones. I was row J. Be careful guys!
Edit: I just saw a tweet saying mad people got bed bugs from Wicked Sing Along and Nosferatu. Seems like it's everywhere.
Edit 2 (12/31): I just emailed the NYC councilman for District 3 and the NYS senator for that part of the city. If anyone has direct AMC sources, please DM me.
Recently my regal theater has gotten bedbugs and people have gone up to the managers and told them and the managers said that they don’t care or they should leave if it bothers them. So my question is, should I call the corporate office and let them know about this?
Movies still not over but my dad found one on him and it bit him a few times. We definitely don't have them at home as we take many precautions and do lots of checks after experiencing them many years ago. Very upsetting since it's the first time my father's been to a movie in over a decade. Regal Columbiana Grande in South Carolina for those who wish to know
Edit: the GM saw it and gave us lots of compensation and is going to exterminate that theatre to my knowledge
We found out that our mild bed bug infestation we dealt with in our bedroom in January came from the movie theatre are church would meet in every Sunday. Our church leaders had no idea because the movie theatre management kept it a secret. We found out the management knew the theatre has had bed bugs for… TEN WHOLE YEARS! Which means there is thousands in there 🫣
We found out it was in the movie theatre because my partner saw one on his leg a few weeks ago in the theatre. Then other people started noticing them on them. Then my poor grandma noticed one on her the next week in the theatre and she left her bag there in case they had gotten in it. People later checked her bag and it had five bed bugs in it, like what?! I didn’t know they travelled in groups like that. Her jacket has all kinds of bed bug poop stains on it that I’ll attach in the photos on this post. How likely do you think she brought them home with her? It’s a relief to finally know where we picked up bed bugs but also a nightmare! The owners of the movie theatre just sold it to a new movie theatre chain, and we told the new owners and they could care LESS! They will not be treating the problem. How should we proceed knowing this info? I feel like the public deserves to know…
movie theaters seem like a pest-heaven with the dark, warm, and popcorn-covered-floors. I read an article about rats and bed bugs in the Times Square AMC. obviously nothing in Times Square is the model for the rest of the city, but it seems like every theater has at least one review mentioning mice. I have a pretty serious rodent phobia (I’m working on it…) and I haven’t been able to brave that anxiety and go to a theater in nyc yet.
what theaters can I trust? which ones do you go to that are consistently clean and you’ve never worried about pests?
I've never seen any visible pest in a movie theater. Most are very clean. Even the Times Square AMC is fine. The one on 84th and Broadway is kind of run down but egregious.
If you are really that much of a clean freak, the Lincoln Center Film Society theater is always really nice.
I like Alamo Drafthouse, but I’ve only been to the Brooklyn one
High foot trafficed areas like airplanes, movie theater, buses, etc, how are these areas not infested with bed bugs? Or are bed bugs not common?
I use to manage a movie theater and we would have a pest management company in every other week or as needed to treat and prevent these things. And we wiuld make it a point to vacuum as thoroughly as possible every nite and do deep carpet cleaning once a month. We would also prohibit people from bringing big blankets and pillows. Our seats were leather so we would just wipe them between shows and wash those down nightly
Who says they aren't ? Airplanes get fumigated quite often as do cinemas.
Hi folks,
I went and saw barbarian at bowtie yesterday (9/11/22) and I think I encountered bed bugs there. It was the only place I went yesterday and when I woke up this morning I had bites all over the back of my leg consistent with what bed bug bites look like. I was wearing a dress which means that part of my leg was touching the seats. I only have them on the one leg and my partner has bo bites after sitting next to me and sleeping in the same bed.
I am hopefully it was isolated and I didn’t bring any home but am taking serious precautions anyways.
I wanted to give a warning though to be cautious and if you do go to bow tie maybe throw all ur clothes in the dryer on high heat when you get home to be safe.
Hello! Luckily I've never had bedbugs but a couple of friends have in different states and they were so miserable that I'm terrified of them now, I'm terrified of bugs in general but this sounds like a nightmare!! I'm trying to take precautions to avoid getting them now. I live in the middle of nowhere and my girlfriend and I don't travel so I don't think we're at high risk but I still worry!!
Tomorrow we're heading out to the nearest city to see a movie for the first time since lockdown. We're both vaccinated and the theater is still doing social distancing etc so we aren't worried on that front. But I read recently that bedbugs can live and spread through theaters so I'm kind of freaking out about that but I don't want to be a buzzkill with how excited my girlfriend is :( I don't want to never see a movie in theaters again either!! Is it a really big risk?? Is there anything I can do to mitigate it?? Thanks!!
I know there was a situation with bedbugs in the regular theaters, but what about in the Dolby theater?
East coast movie theaters have big issue of bedbugs. How are the movie theaters here? Safe from bedbugs?
The reason I asked this questions is because when I signed lease for apartment, they mentioned about the bedbugs issue in Tucson and suggested to laundry clothes immediate after returning from movie or if buy old furniture then keep in sun for a few days.
I was just thinking off all the ways we can track BB into our homes. I doubt I'll ever go to the movie theater again. I'll hesitate to sit down in doctor's office waiting rooms if the chairs are fabric and wood. I don't even want the guys who change my oil to sit in my car to move it now. The thought of brushing against strangers in crowded venues terrifies me at this point too.
I think I'm going to need therapy at some point.
Do you all have elaborate plans in place for avoiding bringing them home with you again? Has anyone needed to go on any sort of anti-anxiety meds after dealing with these little jerks?
Movie theaters and doctors' offices aren't really all that risky as far as bed bugs are concerned. Shine a little sunshine of knowledge on your ignorance and the fear will evaporate.
For one, bed bugs don't like to hitchhike. It does happen, but only by accident. They want to get on, feed, and get off without you ever knowing they were there and without you moving a muscle. They're fragile, unlike ticks, so they get squished and lose limbs easily. They only want to be on people when we're deeply asleep or at least very sedentary for a long time. Sometimes hunger gets the better of that instinct and they "rush" it, but that requires certain specific circumstances.
For example: Your doctor's office is likely perfectly safe, all other things being equal. The free clinic, however? Not so much. Why? Poorer patients. Bed bug treatment is, as you know, incredibly costly. Many working poor are simply forced to live with them to one extent or another, unable to afford extermination and unable to solve the problem on their own. They're more likely to be hitchhiker candidates than most people because there are likely to be more bugs in and around their stuff day-to-day, getting caught on their clothes before they're worn, etc.
High risk seating usually includes city buses (where the working poor commute) and courtroom waiting areas. Random movie theaters (especially with the price of tickets these days keeping the poor out) and other waiting rooms, not so much. Public library seating, though, is often risky, though.
Statistically, picking bugs up from seating is actually pretty far down near the bottom of the list of likely means of catching bed bugs. Above that you have:
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Simply spreading from one apartment / condo / unit to an adjoining one
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In one's baggage after a stay at a hotel, motel, AirBNB, etc.
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In used furniture picked up curbside, from secondhand shops, antique shops, or yard sales
So, if you really want to be able to tell yourself you are taking steps not to get them again, all you have to do is:
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Either don't stay overnight anywhere but your home, or if you do, use soft-sided luggage that you can throw in the dryer along with all your clothes, coats, shoes, etc. the minute you get home, and shower. As long as you do that right away, they should all be killed or washed away, if present.
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Don't live in an apartment complex with high turnover and infrequent inspections. Most infestations start from a new tenant bringing them in 4 months or longer before the next bed bug inspection, which gives them time to spread.
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Don't buy or accept used furniture.
That's it. Sit with confidence at the theater. Personally, they don't feed my anxiety much. But I do lift my mattress every now and again, just to check...
We bought a zapp bug oven to treat husband's bag after business trips, and daughter's bags when she goes back and forth to university.
I'm with you, I'm nervous about everything right now. I switched to Kindle books a long time ago because the main library in our city had an infestation years ago and it freaked me out. And I hadn't even had them at that point. We are about 3 weeks past treatment right now (heat, pesticides, dessicants) and I'm not sure I'll ever be completely worry free again.
Hey community -
I saw a post maybe a week or two ago about the Astoria Regal movie theater having bed bugs? Is this still true? I miss going to the movies.... but not enough to risk getting bed bugs if that's true.
Any info appreciated, thanks!
On the 17th, Astoria Regal reached out to me via email after the Regal support team reached out to them and said: We have received your comments and concerns regarding bed bugs. Please rest assured that we have taken this matter very seriously. Our pest control vendor has checked all auditoriums and they did not find any bed bugs or bed bug activity. However, as a precaution all seats are in the process of being treated. We will continue to monitor this situation closely, if you have any further questions or concerns please email us at [redacted].
I'm probably not going to risk going there for the next decade after hearing about it.
I heard a rumor from someone that some of the local theaters have a bad bedbug infestation and wanted to see if anyone in the community knows about it? Obviously not going to say which one as its just a rumor and i dont want to hurt a buisness by passing in misinformation, but wanted to get other's input on it.
In case you're wondering to yourself, "We don't get bedbugs up here." we definitely do. Speaking from experience unfortunately. 😭
I'm not sure if this is true or not, as I have not heard this but add that as another reason for not going to theaters. Except for Bear Tooth, I fucking love that place.