[Leviticus59]

Originally Posted by JoeyHog

generally it seems that theaters and booths (glory hole style) are nowhere near as common as they used to be back in the 90s/early 2000s (I'm mid 40s so can't comment on any first hand experience prior to this).

No, they aren't. There used to be many more of them around.

It also is apparent that it is overwhelmingly a gay/cruiser scene - hetero couples & action is truly rare, yet does still occur.

For the remaining ones, yes it is, but that wasn't always the case. I used to frequent an ABS a few miles from me that enjoyed very heavy couple traffic for many years. There was always a sizable gay/bi attendance, but back in the day a lot of straight, working class guys passed through on lunch hours, after work, and after the bars closed who needed to unload, either by jacking off or getting blown through a glory hole. When I say "back in the day" I mean before the rise of the internet and all it's free porn. This was also before the AIDS scare. Those two things were mostly to blame for killing off the ABS/adult theater scene.

With the exception of the infamous FantasyLand in Tampa and a few other places like Berlin in NJ, it seems that unless a swinger style couple happens to go, one is looking at mostly gay anon scene.

Yes, any more that's pretty much true.

Have gotten plenty of intel and tips, yet my timing is off on trying to hit lightening in a bottle.

That has always been the case, even when couple traffic was heavy in those places. You could burn a whole lot of time waiting around for something to happen, or you could get a hit immediately after arriving, but generally speaking there was a whole LOT more miss than hit. There were generally better times than others, but still no guarantees at all. However, like a Skinner rat, when you got a good hit you'd go back and do the interminable waiting around for the next one. I can't count the number of times I showed up and asked, "anything going on?" Some guy would say, "there was a couple here 20 minutes ago and the gal fucked three or four guys." If I had a nickle for every time I heard that I'd have retired to the Bahamas by now.

Actual cinema/theater style set ups seems rare nowadays. Many charge a good deal of moolah as well for something that is not at all a given.

There's still a few around, but you'll likely have to drive to get to one. Google Dr. Emilio Lizardo's Journal of Adult Theaters. He keeps a comprehensive list of theaters and ABSs, along with current action and goings-on, but as far as I can tell, he's moved to Fakebook, which I refuse to patronize, so no link to him. As for entrance fees, eh, I have no problem with that. Helps keep the riff-raff down. 20 or 30 bucks isn't all that stiff, especially these days.