202 Drive-In

1414 Wilmington Pike,
West Chester, PA 19382

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Norm
Norm on December 17, 2020 at 3:27 pm

I saw a double bill Predator and Masters of the Universe. I had to leave midway through Predator because of rain, thunder & lightning.

ronnie21
ronnie21 on November 25, 2014 at 10:45 am

The last year of operation was either 1991 or 1992. pretty sure it was 1991 though…

funkengroovin
funkengroovin on October 23, 2014 at 5:12 am

My Brother used to manage the concession stand there back in the 70’s… I was just a kid back then, but I loved it when he would take me along some Friday nights… Especially when they played the racier movies later in the night. They’s let me sit in the projection room and I thought I was the coolest!!!

Movieman65
Movieman65 on August 7, 2014 at 12:59 am

Wonderful memories of this drive in,when I was little, one summer my grandparents took me to see herbie rides again and Dumbo, and my aunt and uncle took me to see mary poppins and million dollar duck. Great times

MovieDude81
MovieDude81 on December 5, 2013 at 7:37 am

I never actually saw this theater functioning but throughout the 90’s before it was a nursery I remember the vacant lot with the screen still standing all overgrown with weeds.

jwmovies
jwmovies on August 29, 2012 at 3:01 am

Address was 1414 Wilmington Pike, West Chester, PA 19382. The zip code was incorrect. The drive-in was located several miles south of the town proper. The nursery is called Shermin (just SW of the hwy).

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on April 4, 2011 at 5:10 pm

Parked 250 cars in 1956 and was owned by Ike Lenz.

ronnie21
ronnie21 on March 6, 2011 at 7:20 pm

in June of 1980 a horror film called Don’t go in the house played here and in 83 Frightmare played here..

ronnie21
ronnie21 on March 6, 2011 at 7:20 pm

the last movies i seen , well, the only time i was here was in June of 1991, saw a double of Ernest goes to jail and a film called fire birds with nick cage. I believe this was the last year for the drive-in to be open. by 92 it was for sale.. now its some kinda of nursery with no remembrances of the drive-in.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 20, 2009 at 9:37 pm

Here is a March 1970 ad from the Delaware County Daily Times:
http://tinyurl.com/qw3egt

jordanlage
jordanlage on August 19, 2007 at 8:28 am

As of August 2007, the former 202 Drive-in is now a nursery.

jordanlage
jordanlage on August 4, 2007 at 8:48 am

I have very fond memories of the 202 Drive-in. I lived in West Chester, PA from ages 4-8 in the late 60s/early 70s and my mother brought my older brother and I there several times as kids. Yes, there was the kiddie playground up by the screen that we’d scamper around on until the first film began. A small, battered self-powered merry-go-round used to make me very dizzy. The projection booth building was low-slung, painted light blue as I recall and inside was sold all the typical drive-in food and refreshments, food whose smell was one-of-a-kind, kind of like boardwalk grub, but delicious to an undiscerning 6-year old. The first film I recall seeing at the 202 was Disney’s THE LOVE BUG in ‘68 or '69. A VW bug painted to look like Herbie was parked out front by the entrance as a promotional gimmick. The film was a huge hit the summer it came out, with cars lined up along Route 202 to enter the drive-in before dusk, often the case with popular films there. I remember going one night with my mom, grandmother, aunt, and brother to see a family film as the first feature (I’ve forgotten what) but the second feature was not for kids. I distinctly recall seeing George C. Scott addressing the troops in front of the American flag in PATTON and then the film’s subsequent opening titles over a scorched North African battlefield as I began to lose my battle with sleepiness. My mom took my brother and I to the 202 in 1968 to see TRUE GRIT and this 5-year old and his 8 year old brother were so enthralled with John Wayne and his heroic showdown with Robert Duvall at the film’s climax that we begged my mom to bring us back to see it again. She did, a few weeks later. The last film I remember seeing at the 202 was a revival of THE STING, possibly in 1975 or 1977. I think by then the speakers you’d attach inside your car window had been replaced by a system which you could simply tune in to a station and hear the movie over your car radio. It wasn’t long after that that the sun went down for good at the 202, but my cherished childhood memories of the times spent there have not. When I go back to the West Chester area to visit my folks, I still think of the 202 when driving by the spot it had been.

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on November 2, 2005 at 2:41 pm

Just a thought. Every drive-in left in the nation should have the link to drive-ins.com in their brochures, websites and/or marquees. That would get some newcomers to the scene to help preserve or observe history.

raymondstewart
raymondstewart on November 2, 2005 at 12:22 pm

My first memory of going to the movies was at the 202. We lived in the West End of Chester and went often during warm weather. There were swings and other playground stuff up by the screen and all of us kids would be in our pj’s playing, waiting for the movie to start. My parents would have picked up some hoagies, we’d eat, I’d get to watch the cartoon and short, then off to the back of the Rambler Wagon to go to sleep. There was a Pancake/Waffle place out by there that was a sometime treat, they had waffles with ice cream. I can still remember falling asleep to “what’s new pussycat whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…” in the back of the Rambler (and even later the 68 Mustang fastback). Our children have really missed out by not having drive-ins!