Know the city | Know the industry

Ep 139- Monarchs and Movies

Full Sail’s Jacob Kaplan and Casey Tanous stop by to discuss the school’s role in launching The Monarch Initiative. This new program is filling Central Florida with beautiful murals and plants to help bring awareness to the plight of pollinators. National Geographic has taken note of how Audubon Park has taken a lead in the program. The conversation includes deep dives into the role of eco-tourism and how local businesses contribute to the area’s general wellbeing.

Then Orlando Film Commissioner Sheena Fowler calls in to discuss the area’s film industry. The conversation includes mentions of the new ‘Deal or No Deal’ filmings set to take place at Universal Orlando, the role local governments had in getting Tomorrowland to film here, and why Georgia and Louisiana are now better known for their film industry than Florida.

Recording Date: May 18, 2018 in Studio B at the WPRK Studios in Winter Park, FL

Important Links

The Monarch Initiative

Orlando Film Commission

Full Sail University

News

I-Drive 360 is now ICON Orlando 360

American Dream Miami megamall is approved

I-Drive’s megamall isn’t dead

New 1,200 room hotel heading to Universal Boulevard

U.S. Special Olympics coming to Orlando in 2022

Gambling Amendment gets hit by a lawsuit

Disney denies AR windows on monorails

Burger bar Hopdoddy’s heading to Pointe Orlando

Redefine Gallery partners with Ripley’s

Continue Reading

Ep 138 – The Queen of Medieval Times

We’re joined in studio by one of the Medieval Times queens and a show designer. They share their behind the scenes stories from over the years at Medieval Times, including the incredible work that went into the latest show. This new show is one of the company’s most ambitious and most historic.

Hour Two is filled with news including an update to the Florida Mall story we talked about a few weeks back. We also touch on the latest news from WDW including Dan Cockerell’s retirement and the end of Night of Joy.

Recording Date- April 27, 2018 in Studio B at WPRK Winter Park, FL

Show Notes

Hour One

Medieval Times Orlando

Article on the new queen

Hour Two

Pandora closed April 24-26

Update to monorail story

Florida Mall panic at Apple store prompts a lawsuit

Trolls Topia- 4th park land, Kids Zone?

Night of Joy confirmed cancelled for WDW

Dan Cockerell, VP of Magic Kingdom Suddenly Departing Company

accesso gets a new ceo

Fun Spot Orlando gets a Headrush 360

I-Drive’s high-flying StarFlyer debut pushed to June

Ride-sharing Safr coming to Orlando, focuses on women’s safety

Continue Reading

Ep 137 – Holly V Kapherr talks the future of travel agents, Marineland, and Florida tourism

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

Show Notes

Holly V Hapherr’s Travel Weekly | Orlando Weekly | Twitter

Marineland

Travel Weekly’s Marineland coverage

 

St Augustine Aquarium

Jeff Vahle has officially been named as president of Disney Signature Experiences.

Casino pact gets an extension

  • 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
  • almost 29,000 commercial flights a day in US
  • Asiana in 2013 in San Fran last major incident
  • 40 deaths worldwide in 2017
Continue Reading

Ep 136 – The disturbing trend of chaos at The Florida Mall + poetic justice on Kirkman

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.

Recording Date: April 13, 2018

Show Notes

Florida Mall panic

Pirates Dinner Theater fire

Magic Kingdom Theater removed from Coming Soon site

Rumors have been there for some time | Feb 2 article

SeaWorld SEC sanctions

  • 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”

Shamu Express closes at SWO

Ocean Odyssey opening 10 locations in the Middle East

National Travel and Tourism Office pulls their numbers after “probable undercount for 2017”

Universal land buy

Pointe Orlando Funky Monkey closes, Tommy Bahama closing

Magicbands being outdated?

Space hotel opening in 2022

Contemporary Disney Art display April 19

Continue Reading

4DX Review – Rampage

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.

 

-Review Summary-

  • Use of 4DX Effects- 4 out of 4
  • Movie Overall- 3 out of 4

Other 4DX Reviews

Continue Reading