Lake Haines Drive-In

The Lake Haines Drive-In Theatre opened on April 8, 1952. The first screening was the Western “Flaming Feather" (1952) with Sterling Hayden, Forrest Tucker and Arlene Whelan, and two Walt Disney cartoons. The April 3, 1952 pre-opening night movie advertisement had it listed as “Flaming Arrow", maybe a misprint. The new airer was opened by Carl Floyd dba Lake Haines Drive-In Theatre Corp. and Floyd Theaters. The first location was going to be on Lake Haines between Haines City and Lake Alfred, but there were a few problems with that location, so a second location was found. The new drive-in had a 300-car capacity with in-a-car speakers. The 50 ft. screen was constructed to withstand 125 mph winds.

Roy E. Williams was the manager of the drive-in theater. He had all new playground equipment installed and ready for use on July 18, 1958. Williams advertised that the playground featured new equipment for children of all ages with swings, a merry-go-round, Jack and Jill slide, two whirl-arounds, monkey slide and an animal slide. Picnic tables are provided for parents to use while supervising their children. October 27, 1966 was the grand opening of the completely rebuilt concession stand and projection booth, with all new equipment and restrooms.

From 1952, the Haines Drive-In Theater continued to screen movies under the stars until it closed for good in 1986. Floyd Theaters – Floyd Enterprises had approximately thirty-seven drive-in theaters located in Florida. They were the biggest owners and operators of drive-in theaters in Florida including their hardtop theaters. The property has had various owners throughout the years, and is now the County Auto Auction (2022).

GPS: 28.108731, -81.675816

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.