Re-Published from 2013
After our trip to Fairlee, we drove from Vermont to NH and stopped at Laconia for a few days. We stayed at a cozy little motel called Birch Knoll, whose nice pool and close proximity to Weirs Beach made it the perfect place to stay. On our Drive-In tour, we couldn’t pass up the Weirs Beach Drive-In Theater which boasts FOUR screens, and is a must for any Drive-In Enthusiast!
Again, not too far from Boston, Weirs is a great getway to expose the family to some cool honky tonk and a fun Drive-In experience. The beach itself is on Lake Winnepesaukee and the entire stretch next to it is full of arcades, restaurants, gift/beach supply shops, and more. There is a gigantic water slide near the Drive-In, which is at the top of the road.
I had heard several years ago that The Weirs Drive-In had four screens and I’d been dying to get there ever since. Upon arrival, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. The land itself appears to be only about 12 acres. In general, for Drive-In Theaters to have 500 cars for one screen is about 12 acres alone. So, four screens are crammed onto a smaller property the size of one screen. One would think that this is a detractor, but it actually works very well.
What makes it work is that they can widen their audience by doing this: you have two brand new movies on each screen. That’s 8 new movies all of which are of varied genres, to bring in a much wider audience. Even better is that they don’t mind if you switch screens between films, which most theaters these days frown upon. Case in point: one the day that we went, Screen 1 had Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University, and Screen 3 had Pacific Rim and World War Z. We parked at screen 1 and set up camp. My son and I took our chairs and the boom box, and went over to Screen 3 to watch Pacific Rim, while the wife & daughter stayed at Screen 1 for DM2. After pacific Rim, my son went over to Screen 1 and stayed with the family for MU. Having already seen it, I stayed for WWZ. After Monsters University was over, I ran to the car, packed it up, and drove back over to Screen 3 where we finished the WWZ. How cool is that???
The snack bar is very retro with blue tile decor and movie posters. Lots of good, affordable drive-in food such as burgers, dogs, fries, mozzarella sticks, pizza bites and more! Located centrally between all four screens, it’s easy to get to from your car or chair. They do even let you walk in with chairs, and only charge about $10 in that situation.
Thus, the Weirs Beach Drive-In Theater is another must for nostalgia enthusiasts, who want to expose their children to the cool, fun things there are to do in this great land of ours!
(2019 Note: As of this writing, it looked as if the Weirs Drive-in had been sold back in 2016 to be converted into a hotel, but all 4 screens are still up and running! Let’s support our local drive-ins so they don’t go away!!)
