Academy 8 Theaters

This theater is quite old and run down, it realistically doesn’t compete with the modern theaters. The concessions stand and the bathrooms are also small and outdated. Our theater was also small, maybe 80 seats — the screen was small and sound system pretty poor. The walls were thin as we heard loud noises from the movies on either side of us.
Our movie was supposed to start at 4pm and at 4:17 the previews started showing… hello? Parking is pretty easy in the back of greenbelt plaza and it was pretty empty when I went there.

My husband convinced me to give the Academy 8 Greenbelt theater a chance due to the affordable ticket prices for a movie that he was truly wanting to see. I went ahead and agreed, especially because it mattered more to me that we were going to spend some time together for a relaxing evening out. I was also pleasantly surprised at the friendly customer service and the theater being pretty clean for the day that we chose to see the movie. Last, but not least, I’m glad to be at an affordable theater were the movie showed at a reasonable time after the movie trailers started playing (I have actually been at one movie theater before where people in the theater where moviegoers wondered when the movie was finally going to play after waiting a reasonable amount of time for the film to begin).

I had mix feeling because of the reviews prior posted by members. But i personal enjoyed myself the cashier were extremely friendly. I asked how long the popcorn was made the staff member. Made new batch for me, my only problem was the restroom needed to be clean.

Yes… I guess you can afford matinée prices of $ 6 when a kids pack is $ 7.75, a bottled coke is $ 3.75 (12 pack prices!) and a large fountain drink is $ 5. Employees and theater ok. A little funky in the theater but it’s kind of old so ok. A less honest person might stop at The Dollar Store and spend $ 3 on raisinettes a bottle of Coke and a big bag of cheese popcorn. I’m just saying…

I live across the street from here. This theater is old and tired. The screens are small, the 3D is extra dark. I used to go here for the $ 5 movies on Tuesdays because for the lesser price I was willing to forgo all the bells and whistles. They did raise the price slightly for 3D movies and I could see that. Lately, they’ve discontinued this practice for newly released films and want to charge full price for those until they have been out a week. If I’m going to pay full price for a film then I am going to go somewhere nice. I have no reason to go here anymore.
To the business: We all know that concessions is where theaters make their money but apparently you don’t want the business that your former Tuesday model generates. Oh well.

Great prices and not a bad theater! However, I went on a Friday and requested Hearing Assisted Technology. They only offered assisted listening headphones (no captioning), which would have been fine, but the employee indicated that the batteries were dead and would be replaced over the weekend. I went back on the following Tuesday to see the movie and the employee said that the headphones still weren’t working. I would love to attend this movie theater more often, but they should make it more of a priority to accommodate those who are deaf and/​or hard of hearing.

While the theater is the cheapest in the area (which management loves to brag about,) the thing that management forgets to mention is that it’s literally impossible to watch a film in here. People scream at the screen literally every second of the film and go so far as to come in late and talk in their normal voices. I would not blame the theater for this except that (A) it’s an every time occurrence (I’ve unfortunately been here enough to know) and (B) if you try to complain, staff just laughs you off, perhaps due to fact A. Also, the management is extremely rude as they always only have one line open no matter how crowded the theater is with no credit card ticket machines. Also, it seems like when I finally get to the front of the line after 30 minutes, they always insist on talking on the phone AT THAT MOMENT. I am giving this one star due to the fact that they have recently raised the prices (it used to be $ 5.50 for any film before noon daily and $ 5 for any film on Tuesdays.) Now, it’s $ 6 for any show that’s BEEN OUT FOR AT LEAST A WEEK before noon daily and $ 5.50 for any show that’s BEEN OUT FOR AT LEAST A WEEK on Tuesdays. Due to this fact, the theater changed from somewhat justified for the «what you pay is what you get» crowd to completely unjustified by raising the prices. While this prices are still cheap, the experience makes it so you’re not paying to watch a film… you’re paying to be extremely annoyed for two hours and worry about getting shot. Oh… did I forget to mention that this theater is in the center of an extremely crappy mall that is also the most ghetto place imaginable?

This is the closest theater to me, but it’s very low on my list of preferred theaters. I tend to go to newer theaters with more polished features, but I was just going to a kid movie and didn’t need or want the extra bells and whistles.
It’s conveniently located in the Beltway Plaza shopping center, which is fairly dilapidated itself. There’s plenty of parking, but it almost seems isolated. If you park only for the theater and not in the areas that are more accessible to the rest of the mall. The theater was relocated to this area of the mall about 10 years ago, to offer stadium-​style seating. This location boasts that they have the lowest admission and concession costs in the entire DC-​metro area, but I’m sure the location and lack of 3D movies attributes to that.
It’s fairly standard as far as theaters go. The concessions area is fairly small, but has all the normal offerings of popcorn, nachos, candy, and soda combos. The bathrooms left a lot to be desired, but I went on a Sunday afternoon which is probably just in «recovery» mode from the weekend. The theaters felt smaller than I’m used to in this area. I think that might be more a sign of the traffic at this location than anything else.
The service isn’t stellar, but I didn’t experience poor service either. I went about 5pm on a Sunday, so the crowds were nonexistent. The cashiers in the ticket booth and at concessions were all friendly/​jovial, which is actually rare. (They were probably teenagers goofing off in their down time, which I can appreciate).
In all reality, I’ll likely go back here. It’s not as polished as other theaters, but it wasn’t a horrible experience. I think I’ve managed to find a good time to go, which should mean for better overall experiences in the future.

This theater is great it has 5 doller Tuesday so u can go if u can’t go any outher time and the popcorn is freshv

You can’t beat there price for a movie before 12noon. I travel from ft. meade to catch their deals on occasions when I want to shop and do things at the mall as well. After all is this is my old neighborhood. I will never forget it! Thanks Academy 8 You’re the Best!!!

$ 5.50 before noon. Not a big theatre but you will still enjoy your movie. Food choices are very limited.

Meh. I went to see Iron Man 3, the theater was smelly the popcorn was soggy and the movie screen was dirty… do not recommend at all. Take the extra 20 mins to go to Arundel mills

This place does not bother me, I grew up in this area and really its not that bad. As long as the bathrooms are clean, the seating is clean and the floors are not sticky… I’m happy. Employees are always nice to me and follow policy accordingly. Can’t ask for more than that!

Best prices around! I’m always looking for a discount and I found out that this theatre charges $ 5 for tickets… I haven’t paid that much since I was maybe 12, and even then I think it was more! The theatre is big enough, the movie I saw was so empty– second week movie with maybe 12 people in the theatre at the most. There are only two ticket booths, so if you are seeing a first week movie, get there early. There are also only 2 snack counters, they move quickly but again… get there early on a busy night!
I don’t like Beltway Plaza AT ALL and I live about 20 minutes away but for the pricing, I will make this my go to theatre. One star off because their online system is awful, I wanted to see a 3D movie and the times were listed on the website incorrectly, I drove all the way to the theatre only to find out that the 3D show was 5 hours later than the time listed on the website. Really glad I didn’t buy tickets online!

I came here during the day, not too crowded and plenty of parking.

The theaters always have a strange funk to them. They do run a fantastic deal on Tuesdays-​5 dollars any movie all day. You can’t beat that anywhere. You need to arrive early since its the day that people tend to bring their huge families or large groups. The seats are a little awkward but comfy. The stadium style seating is really nice. The location… not so much. It’s a little weird having police patrolling the theater on a weekday night, but its that kind of neighborhood. I have had some issues with seeing shows and the volume not being loud enough. It was annoying and really ruined the show. The other problem is the theather is always packed on 5 dollar day, so it gets very loud very quick. Its okay to go for a cheap flick but other than that I steer clear.

Been going there since 1992 and its a good.

I just went here to see a movie yesterday. It is way better than it use to be since they have stadium seating now. The only problem is, whenever i go there, people can’t stop being loud! What is so hard to understand abut being quiet in a movie theater? lol If you want a better movie expierence, go to arundelmills but this is ok for last minute if you live in the area.

I’ve seen a lot of movies in these theaters — this is a sad bit of reality, not something I’m particularly proud of. This used to be an AMC location, one of two in Beltway Plaza, but now they seem to be independently owned and operated. This resulted in some renovations… but the Academy 8 is still a depressingly low-​rent theater complex. They remain one of the cheapest places in the area to see first-​run movies. It’s the closest major theater to the University of Maryland, with campus buses running nearby, so they have a captive audience there.
Seeing a movie at the Academy 8 is a special experience. Which will be worse — the quality of the presentation or the behavior of other patrons? Perhaps the film will break in the middle of the movie, or the sound will be consistently out-​of-​sync. Your movie may be projected half on the screen and half on the wall beside the screen. People brazenly smuggle in all sorts of food and drink, and the row behind you may be passing around some bottles of malt liquor. This isn’t so obnoxious until the bottles begin to roll around at your feet. And the time someone got up and urinated on the wall of the theater during a movie? Well, we just don’t talk about that.
That makes it sound really awful, I suppose. And it can be. I try to avoid the Academy 8 during peak hours — matinees are cheap and fairly empty. This makes it easier to tolerate the variable quality of the presentation and avoid the public urination entirely.

I was debating on giving this place two stars because of its location in the grungy Beltway Plaza, but then I thought that would be very snobby of me.
The theatre (they spell it theater) has been completely remodeled according to their blurb in the movie directory. It isn’t that impressive, but it was hard to see since the lights are dimmed so low even ten minutes before the previews start. All seats are stadium style, so I guess that would be an improvement. They also boast about having the lowest admission and concession prices in the ENTIRE DC area! (Their exclamation point, not mine.) All shows before 5pm are $ 5.50.
From what I could see in the dark, the floors and the seats looked clean. The seats were comfortable, and stadium seats are always a plus! The movie theatre was almost empty so I can’t comment on the typical behavior of the patrons.
If you want to save a few bucks and are in the College Park area, then this isn’t a terrible venue. OK, I guess I’m a snob.