We Kids were first introduced (by Dad and Mom) to drive-in movies in Puallup, Washington (the Puallup Drive-in---there was also one in Spanaway). Later on, we would attend various drive-ins in Billings, Montana and Phoenix, Arizona. I don't ever remember attending a drive-in movie in Salt Lake City, although I am sure that they had several. (Seems like there was one in Sugarhouse).
Once. when I was in the Coast Guard--a bunch of us sailors went to a drive-in in Mystic, Connecticut. We first stopped at a seafood take-out, buying a big box of crab legs and lobster. We thought this was a great idea until, while watching the movie, the manager threw us out. We had been gorging on the crab & lobster, drinking beer, and tossing out our beer bottles and shell fragments out the window. It was a delicious time until things came to an abrupt ending. It turned out that our antics had attracted every alley cat within sniffing distance and they were squabbling, fighting, and carrying seafood remnants on top of everyone's cars. People were "pissed off" and someone (or several) complained. We were history!
Anyway, Dad and Mom would take us kids to the Puallup Drive-in, on occasion, as a special treat. In the 1950s they would show two features, plus a cartoon, or two (in the middle). There would be an intermission, first--between the movies--allowing restroom time-outs; and to insure that the majority of folks would visit the snack bar.
There were always a few person's with spotlights (yes, Daddy had one, too) on their cars. Before the first movie, and at the intermission (when the big screen was dark) movie patrons would train their spotlights on the big, dark screen and try to catch each one's different light beams. It was fun to join in and pursue the chase. It was also fun to watch.
In our teen years, the drive-ins served as a safer "lover's lane" alternative and there were refreshments to boot!
Another thing that some kids did, in the early days, was to hide a person, or two (sometimes in the trunk) to save admission fee expense. (This would allow more cash for goodies from the snack bar.) The drive-in concerns got wise, and soon were assessing flat rates per car--period! In Phoenix, they even had special $1.00 per car night on Wednesdays and Thursdays as a "slow night" promotion attraction. Some of the radio stations would also offer listeners special station decals that you could affix to your bumpers in order to qualify for a special discount on certain nights.
There are still a few , lingering, drive-in movie spots around, but not nearly as plentiful as in the past (when real estate and property taxes were cheaper) and nowadays they only feature one movie and no cartoon!