Miami theme park goes retro with new drive-in as COVID-19 keeps movie theaters closed
As businesses start to reopen Monday in Miami-Dade County, indoor movie theaters are one place you won’t be able to go for a while. But an old-fashioned movie-going option is coming soon to North Miami: a drive-in theater outside Dezerland Park, the largest indoor theme park in the region which has been closed since mid-March due to COVID-19.
The city of North Miami issued a permit last week to let the park host drive-in movie nights every Friday through July 3. Michael Pizzi, an attorney for Dezerland, said he worked with city officials to make sure the site will be safe.
Cars will be spaced apart in the parking lot with a maximum of 150 per showing. The sound from the movies, which will be displayed on a 22-foot by 40-foot screen, will be pumped in through car radios. Food orders will be taken by a phone app and delivered to people’s cars.
And portable restrooms will be for one person at a time, with attendants on hand to sanitize them after each use.
“We have created a safe environment where families can stay inside their vehicle with the windows closed and enjoy a wonderful night out with the family,” Pizzi said.
Dezerland, at 14401 NE 19th Ave., is also covering the cost for North Miami police to monitor the operation.
“We’ll be evaluating it as it goes on,” said Arthur Sorey, North Miami’s interim city manager. “We’re gonna be there to support our businesses and help them move forward, as long as they’re doing it the right way.”
The first showings are set for next Friday, May 22, with kid-friendly “Sonic the Hedgehog” screening at 5 p.m. and the original “Jurassic Park” film at 8 p.m. The schedule for subsequent Fridays has not yet been released. Tickets are available at carflixcinema.com.
In his emergency order allowing certain non-essential businesses to reopen Monday with limits on capacity and other restrictions in place, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez named movie theaters on a list of businesses that must remain closed for now.
But Sorey said city officials took that to refer only to indoor theaters, not drive-ins. Pizzi submitted a permit application May 3 and it was approved May 13 after some back and forth about social distancing protocols.
Dezerland Park, which is owned by high-powered real estate developer Michael Dezer, held a grand opening in 2019 to debut bumper cars, go-karts, a 300-foot zip line, outdoor paint balling, a two-level mini golf course, indoor skydiving and a ninja-warrior course.
The novel coronavirus pandemic brought it all to a screeching halt in March as Miami-Dade ordered all businesses deemed non-essential to shut down. Dezerland’s foray into drive-in movies represents a local business adapting to a new world, said Sorey.
“They are one of the first people in our city to kind of change the business model and come up with something that kind of keeps [them] afloat,” he said, praising Dezer as a “big component” of the community in North Miami. “This was an excellent idea from them.”
Sorey was so intrigued by the drive-in theater concept that he inquired with Dezerland representatives about what it would take to open more locations in his city, assuming the Dezerland opening goes smoothly.
He said he wasn’t aware of any other drive-in movie theaters in Miami-Dade. The website for the new North Miami location touts it as the first drive-in theater in the region. The Drive-in at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop Flea Market is scheduled to reopen Monday.
“In the middle of this pandemic, the drive-in movie is a safe way for families to get out of the house on a Friday evening and enjoy a movie,” Pizzi said.
This story was originally published May 17, 2020 at 2:15 PM.
