What You Need to Know About the Sedalia Walmart's Drive In Event

Walmart's plan to bring the drive-in movie experience to it's parking lots hasn't exactly been a super secret. Stories began popping up about it a month or so ago. How the retail giant was pairing up with the Tribeca Film Festival to turn the parking lots of their stores into temporary drive-in theaters to give communities an opportunity to enjoy some great films from the safety of their car.

According to Walmart:

The Walmart Drive-in promises families a fun, contact-free experience where they can watch popular films thoughtfully curated by the Tribeca Film Festival. Audiences will be welcomed back to the big screen to enjoy a wide range of films safely from their own vehicle.

When I first saw some of the movies they had curated to screen I got excited. One of the things I've noticed looking at area drive-ins are just the lack of variety that's out there. "Grease" was one of the first films drive-ins chose to screen back when they were allowed to open this spring. And you can still see it this weekend. The same with "The Goonies".

I'm not a parent, but if I was, I have a list of films from the 80's and 90's that I'd want my kids or teens to experience. And many of them on my list haven't shown up at a drive-in yet. It's getting a little better, but not fantastic. So when I saw Walmart was bringing films like "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial", "Men In Black", "The Karate Kid", "Space Jam" and "Beetlejuice" to their screenings I got excited.

The screenings at the Sedalia Walmart are "The Iron Giant" on Tuesday October 20 and "The Goonies" on Wednesday October 21. Not exactly the films on Walmart's list that I have much interest in seeing, but hey, people do want to see them as all the free ticketed screenings are currently sold out.

The good news if you missed out on getting a ticket is a message encouraging people to check back because registration may reopen. So I guess it's possible more screening times may be added? Or screening locations?

What can you expect if you're one of the lucky ones whose attending the screening?

Gates open at 6:00PM and the screening starts at 7:30PM, no late entries will be allowed.
Guests are asked to stay in their car and parking spots will be physically distanced.
Early arrival will have no effect on your parking location. Cars will be parked randomly or vehicles may be placed by size.
Restrooms will be the restrooms inside Walmart, please wear a mask in the store.
No out of car standing or sitting is allowed. However, hatchbacks and trunks may be open and convertibles are allowed.
Movie audio will be fed through your FM car radio.
Movie selections, dates, and locations are subject to changes. Ticket holders will be notified by email of any changes.
Movies will screen rain or shine. In the event of severe weather ticket holders will be notified of a rescheduled date or cancellation by email.
If you can't attend the event you can cancel your reservation. Check your event reminder email or confirmation and click the "cancel R.S.V.P. button."
Walmart asks that you wear a mask when outside of your car at the event.
There may be tickets available online the day of the event, but there will be no tickets available on site.

I'm not surprised the events sold out, but I'm very surprised how quickly they sold out. If you scored tickets I hope you and your family or friends enjoy the show. It'll certainly be one of the stories from summer of 2020 to tell your grand kids about.