Families sport pajamas for discounted movies, popcorn at Warehouse Cinemas

Jan. 29—Mike Zemrose, 39, remembers his first time going to see a movie in theaters.

It was 1988, he was 5 years old and his mom took him to see "The Land Before Time."

On Sunday, life came full circle for the Zemrose family, as Mike and his wife, Megan, took their 3-year-old son, Jacob, to his first movie in theaters.

The featured film? The Land Before Time.

It was one of two movie classics that Warehouse Cinemas in Frederick showed as part of its Pajamas and Popcorn Party on Sunday, which included discounted movies prices and free popcorn for people wearing pajamas, a onesie or a throwback Snuggie.

"I don't know how he'll do, he's a little young," Mike Zemrose said of his son. "But, I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to take him to his very first move theater experience to see the same movie that his dad saw for his first movie theater experience."

The Zemroses were dressed for the occasion, too. Jacob stole the show with his Christmas tree pajamas — substitutes for his dinosaur PJs that would have matched the theme of the animated film he was about to see, but those were in the wash.

A member of the Prieur family, Wyatt, 4, also saw "The Land Before Time" for his first movie-going experience.

"We just left church and switched into our PJs," said his dad, T.J. Prieur, who secured his free popcorn by sporting a pepperoni-dotted onesie.

T.J. Prieur said the discounted movie price of $5 also incentivized he and his wife, Sarah, to bring Wyatt and his brother, Jack, 6, on Sunday.

In addition to "The Land Before Time," Warehouse Cinemas showed "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," which Angie Dodson and her 4-year-old son, Cole, traveled from New Market to see.

Cole, who specified that he is almost 5-years-old, displayed a wide range of interests in his choice of sleepwear for the movie — bulky Minecraft slippers paired with a Baby Yoda t-shirt and a round Spider-Man pillow. But, the pajamas only scratched the surface of young Cole's passions.

"I love Harry Potter," he said.

And, his mom said, "he loves Indiana Jones."

"We just thought it was a fun way to get the free popcorn and watch a movie that we knew he liked," said Angie Dodson.

Warehouse Cinemas' next event, "Margarita and a Movie: Magic Mike's Last Dance," is scheduled for Feb. 9.

Like Sunday's Pajamas and Popcorn Party, the event will be at both Warehouse's Frederick Towne Mall and Leitersburg (Hagerstown) locations.

For more information, visit warehousecinemas.com/events.

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan