Tourism writer Holly V. Kapherr talks about her recent Marineland article in Travel Weekly, her work with boutique hotels, and the future of casinos in Florida.
Recording Date- April 20, 2018 in Studio B at WPRK Studios in Winter Park, FL
2010 pact, the Tribe is bound to make monthly payments for the exclusive right to offer certain games, including blackjack
Air travel safety
The last time there was an uncontained engine failure in a U.S. plane was in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989. That accident killed 111 of the plane’s 296 passengers
Ken points out a disturbing pattern of safety concerns at The Florida Mall. Then Ed and Ken discuss the latest news from both the Pirates Dinner Theater and the Main Street Theater.
SeaWorld’s latest issues with the SEC might actually have a silver lining. Ken gives the history behind Universal’s latest land grab and why Pointe Orlando needs to be even more worried.
June 2017 SEAS stated in a regulatory filing “concerning disclosures and public statements made by the company and certain executives and/or individuals on or before August 2014, including those regarding the impact of the ‘Blackfish’ documentary, and trading in the company’s securities”
This is a *mostly* spoiler-free review of Rampage in 4DX format. This isn’t designed to a be a review of the movie as much is it’s a review of the 4DX experience for this movie.
Rampage opens with a scene in space. The smooth gliding of the motion seats is accented by drips of water timed to floating liquid on the screen. The astronaut falls against a wall and the chair kicks you in the back. Perfectly timed again.
Scents are used to set the next scene, one of the least used effects but one that really makes this scene shine. No snow effects but plenty of water effects are used including at least one scene where the rain effects are mixed with the wind effects creating a sense of chaos in the theater.
The motion seats can get rough in some scenes, be prepared for a wild ride with this film. During a plane crash scene, the leg ticklers were used, mixed with the wind and motion seats it was one of the more impressive crash scenes I’ve experienced in the 4DX.
While used multiple times the smoke effects seemed to be turned on for a shorter length than in most 4DX films, this meant less smoke in the theater but also meant the smoke had dissipated before the scene was over. Latency between the action on the screen and the in-theater effects is one of the primary issues with 4DX but with the effects slightly turned down the experience isn’t diminished but the latency issue is fixed.
The last third of the film is a non-stop action sequence where an city is destroyed. It is one filled with smoke, motion seats, wind, and strobe lights. The non-stop action means that, despite nearly two dozen 4DX screenings, this is one of the roughest 4DX experiences I’ve done. Sadly, the snow effects could’ve been used in these destruction scenes but weren’t.
While not all effects are used the ones that are go with the film perfectly. From the sci-fi space opening to the intense total destruction of a city, Rampage was made for an experience like 4DX. While most action films seem to feature only a few effects, like the motion seats and wind effects, Rampage embraced many of the other effects. It also mixed the effects in unique ways that make this a must do screening.
Breaking news of the Pulse shooter’s wife has use discussing safety at WDW. We look back to a 2015 episode where we discussed it in detail. We also talk about the questionable future of Vista Way. And the latest on a big increase in CMs headed to WDW and what a recent hiring event may mean about it.
Recording Date: March 29, 2018 at WPRK’s Studio B.
This is a *mostly* spoiler-free review of Ready Player One in 4DX format. This isn’t designed to a be a review of the movie as much is it’s a review of the 4DX experience for this movie.
Ready Player One is an overwhelming crash course into everything pop culture of the late Twentieth Century and just as the film threw everything possible at the audience so did the 4DX. Slow camera linked motion in sweeping scenes was used, but it was more intense racing scenes that made the motion seats really sing. The use of fans and seats helped sell these scenes even more than similar ones in Cars 3, the use of the leg ticklers also added a great addition sense in more intense racing scenes. The ticklers made it feel as though we were just out of the grasp of those who were after us.
The wind effects were used in large swaths of the film but rarely not in a fitting way. In dream like sequences, the wind effects helped enhance the scenes even more than in more apparent scenes, such as the racing ones.
The racing scenes often led to crash scenes, and here the smoke effects were timed perfectly. A poorly timed smoke effect can give away an upcoming scene or linger way too long, a problem that nearly ruined Geostorm. Here the smoke seemed perfectly timed so that it appears just when needed and disappears before the scene changes.
Many of the effects were used more sparingly. The strobe effects, while only used a few times in the film, brought the action of the screen into the theater just as 4DX intends. The air cannons in the seats were rarely used, even in scenes that could’ve been enhanced by them.
What may be the least used in-theater effect for 4DX overall is easily the snow effect. While no scenes in Ready Player One called for the effect to be used in its traditional sense, here it was used similarly to Blade Runner 2049 where paper scraps were simulated with the snow. Here it was sold even more than in Blade Runner 2049 thanks to the paper in the film looking so similar to the snow in the theater.
The water effects were used in nearly every scene even remotely featuring water, possibly to the point of becoming repetitive though still not the level of Kong or even Ghost in the Shell. But the water effects do get more of a pass than other effects since viewers can turn the water off if they desire. Ready Player One did see the water effects used to simulate blood but it was much less gruesome than how Kong or nearly any horror film has used this same effect, but that could also be thanks to the much less gruesome action on the screen.
Overall, Ready Player One, while not in the upper tier of 4DX films, due mostly the repetition of certain effects while little use of others is definitely in the top quarter of 4DX films. The use of certain effects, while possibly only once in the entire movie, still help place it just above many other films of a similar style, including A Wrinkle In Time.
Ready Player One is a must see movie for any film or pop culture buff, and it’s an excellent introduction to the power of the 4DX experience.
