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Author: KLStorey

Ep 132 – March News Round-Up

It’s our monthly news round-up and it’s a doozy! New details on Universal’s Russian plans, the latest on the PeopleMover updates we broke 3 weeks ago, Brightline’s report card, the latest on Disney rumors, and tons of cruise news. It’s been a busy month since our last news round-up so this is a not to be missed episode!

Recording Date: March 9, 2018, in Studio B at WPRK Studios in Winter Park, Florida

Show Notes

New liquor law means more boozy cocktails for Orlando’s restaurant-goers

Brazil’s Senate Approves New Open Skies Agreement With United States

Record number of Brazilians heading to Orlando

Orlando Travel Academy gets an upgrade

NYC’s Cafe D’Avignon opening five outposts in Orlando

Orlando Starflyer to open in May

4DX Review of A Wrinkle in Time

Hard Rock HQ’s Orlando departure to result in 184 layoffs

Sands sells Pennsylvania casino

Universal moving ahead with Beijing, big projects in the works for Orlando

  • Europe park scouting continues, is this the Moscow resort in a new location?

Brightline president: ‘Train ridership is 3 times what we expected’

Queen Latifah named Carnival Horizon godmother

Norwegian Cruise Line getting showcase terminal in Miami

Norwegian rescues woman on Bahamas cruise who fell overboard

Disney releases renderings of its latest cruise ships

New Swan & Dolphin hotel renderings released

Walt Disney World Might be Developing the Old River Country Site According to Permits Just Filed

Bonnet Creek Resorts To Receive New Signs

  • New JW Marriott construction continues, should be visible from I-4 by mid to late-summer

Epcot might be getting a Mary Poppins dark ride

Illuminations update is moving forward

Epcot’s Odyssey to become flex-space

Could Black Panther be coming to Disney World after all?

Could Indiana Jones be moving to DAK?

Tower of Terror updates expected

After more than two years of documentation Google finally unveils Street view from inside Disney parks. 2016 article | 2017 article

Coco won for Best Animated Feature and “Remember Me” won for Best Song.

Susan Arnold Named Lead Independent Director of Disney

Disney shareholders vote against CEO Iger’s pay package

Unions protest outside of Shareholders meeting for better pay

$2B overhaul coming to Disneyland Paris resort

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Ep 131 – Scott Swenson talks SeaWorld Parks

It’s a SeaWorld heavy show when Scott Swenson, former Director of Creative Services at Busch Gardens Tampa, stops by the studio to discuss his more than 20 years with the company. The first hour is filled with insider stories for the past twenty years at Busch Gardens Tampa including never before shared details on the beginning of Howl-O-Scream, the background to that well known photo of the Howl-O-Scream and Halloween Horror Nights teams joining together, plus a ton of stories from the early days of Rhino Rally and Akbar’s Adventure Tours. Hour Two is focused on the current company with Swenson’s reactions to the huge leadership shake-up currently happening at SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment.

Recording Date: Friday, March 2, 2018, in WPRK’s Studio B in Winter Park, Florida

Special Guest: Scott Swenson

 

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Ep 130 – Ponte Health’s Vertical Medical City

Ed and Ken are joined by the team behind one of the most ambitious developments in the history of Central Florida. Ponte Health is looking to be a true vertical city in downtown Orlando that would become a beacon for health research and practice. Today the developers give us a deep dive into their vision. We learn about the hydroponic gardens, the retail, and the research that is being proposed for this massive new tower.

The Gossip Line is also active with Ed giving new details on a ton of summer offerings headed to Walt Disney World including updates to one of the most iconic rides at Magic Kingdom.

Recording Date – February 23, 2018

Ponte Health – Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

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4DX Review – A Wrinkle in Time

This is a *mostly* spoiler-free review of A Wrinkle in Time 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.

A Wrinkle in Time is Disney’s latest big-budget fantasy film.  With beautiful visuals and a wholesome good versus evil storyline, the movie will surely be in regular rotation on television, but these visuals are best seen on the big screen.

The movie opens with a cloud filled flying scene where the fans are used, but the smoke that could’ve sold the scene was missing. This seemed to be a theme throughout the film. The wind, water, and motion seats were used perfectly, but many of the other effects felt like afterthoughts if thought of at all.

The rumble effect in the seats was used with the bass of the music similar to how Black Panther did, but unlike Black Panther here the score just didn’t have enough bass to warrant such an effect. By far the best use of an effect was the motion seats. Unlike many action films here the seats weren’t rough and didn’t really move with the motion on the screen, instead, here they were used to enhance the emotional draw of the story. In more sensitive scenes the seats would tilt inward, drawing you into the scene.

Similar to Tomorrowland, another sci-fi based big-budget Disney film, A Wrinkle in Time has many scenes with wide vistas of fields. The fans in the theater made these scenes even more convincing. The smoke effects were used but not nearly enough as they could’ve been. The leg ticklers were only used a few times, but where used they were timed just right for the scene. Big storm scenes and a volcano like a scene meant the strobe lights got well used, almost to an annoyance but with so few other effects being used it feels wrong complaining about an effect being used too often.

Despite this being a sci-fi film, the genre that usually allows 4DX to shine, here the effects just weren’t enough to put this film in the upper echelon of 4DX films. It falls in the middle, not in the lower category of films where the effects distract from the viewing experience, such as with Kong, but the lack of variety in the effects mixed with the generic use of what effects, where used, make A Wrinkle in Time a less than memorable 4DX experience.

The visuals are the best part so it might be best to skip the 4DX and instead just take in this film on the big screen like IMAX.

-Review Summary-

  • Use of 4DX Effects- 2 out of 4
  • Movie Overall- 3 out of 4

Other 4DX Reviews

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Ep 129 – Full Sail University’s Hall of Fame, Mango’s, and Mardi Gras

In this huge episode, Ken and Ed give trip reports from Mango’s, Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras, and Toothsome’s. Quick hits in the news include exclusive details on the Cowgirls closure, the CEO of IAAPA resigning, and the latest on how Florida’s Tourist Development Tax is being used.

In Hour Two Ken stops by the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Full Sail University where he interviews the school CEO and all of the inductees in attendance, including Orlando’s very own Film Commissioner.

Recording Date– February 16, 2018, in Studio B at WPRK (Full Sail interviews recorded February 15 at Full Sail University)

Show Notes

Cowgirls closes for good at I-Drive 360

Paul Nolan leaves IAAPA, joins accesso

Florida House approves TDT money for roads, pedestrian improvements Source 1 | Source 2

Opening Date for Toy Story Land – June 30th, 2018

 

Full Sail Hall of Fame

Link

The inductees to be honored during Full Sail University’s 9th Annual Hall of Fame Week are:

Bob Cowan

  • Current Title: Front of House Engineer, Monitor Engineer & Production Manager
  • Industry Credits: Bob Cowan has worked in the live sound industry for over 20 years and serves as Front of House Engineer or Monitor Engineer and Production Manager on tour for some of the most notable artists in the industry including Metallica, where he has mixed shows with the band on all seven continents including Antarctica.
  • Additional artists Bob has worked with include: Melissa Etheridge, Slash, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Ringo Starr, George Benson, Natalie Cole, Enrique Iglesias, Blues Traveler, INXS, Shania Twain, Sammy Hagar, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Tokio Hotel, Phil Lesh, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Lords of Acid, Michael Bolton, Crushing Day, Sophie B Hawkins, Megadeth and more.
  • 1994 Graduate (Recording Arts)

 

Fernando Delgado, C.A.S

  • Current Title: Production Sound Supervisor/Mixer, & Owner at Stickman Sound
  • Industry Credits: Fernando Delgado is the owner of Stickman Sound, Inc. in Las Vegas where he works in a variety of production genres such as live sports/entertainment, reality television, motion pictures and commercials on projects and with brands including: Coldplay in VR, FOX Sports coverage of Mayweather vs. McGregor, Top Gear America, The Ultimate Fighter, Kickboxer Retaliation, Show Dogs, Under Armour and Nike.
  • Most recently Fernando has been working with Flight Line Films mixing Blue Origin rocket launches along with a variety of VR projects.
  • Previously, Fernando has received an Emmy award in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Live Audio for his work with HBO’s Boxing.
  • 1997 Graduate (Recording Arts)

 

Sheena Fowler

  • Current Title: Orlando Film Commissioner and Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, Orlando Economic Partnership
  • Industry Credits: As the Orlando Film Commissioner Sheena works closely with productions seeking the unique backdrops and premiere production facilities that Central Florida has to offer supporting the workforce and businesses that make up Central Florida’s entertainment production ecosystem. Key productions include Tomorrowland, Paper Towns, Sisters, The InBetweeners, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Real Rob, and countless national commercial campaigns.
  • In her role as Senior Director of Marketing and Communications she manages public relations and content creation, promoting the region as a top business location.
  • Her prior experience includes production work with Warner Bros., HBO Boxing, CNN’s Captain Planet Foundation, Go Film, Transition Productions, iNEXTv.com and WMFE (Orlando’s PBS affiliate).
  • Sheena also has a background in Public Relations serving Orlando’s Downtown Arts District tied to organization, promotion and implementation of special events including the Gibson GuitarTown Foundation Auction.
  • Sheena is a past-president of Women in Film & Television – FL and the immediate past-vice president of Film Florida.
  • Sheena was named to the Orlando Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list, which recognizes young leaders who have played a key role in shaping the Central Florida Community.
  • 2006 & 2007 Graduate (Film & Entertainment Business)

Brett Novak

  • Current Title: Director, Editor and Visual Effects Artist
  • Industry Credits: Upon graduating from Full Sail’s Digital Arts & Design program, Brett moved to Los Angeles where he landed work as a Visual Effects Artist on some of the biggest music video projects for the likes of Beyoncé, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga, to name a few.
  • Brett’s work led him to a Lead Visual Effects Artist position with the Bandito Brothers, and later he branched out to pursue his own brand of video production.
  • Brett’s short films have received over 25 million views online, several of which broadcast daily on TV channels in the U.S. and around the world, and has been featured in major outlets including: Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, VICE, and the BBC.
  • His career has led him to film in over 25 countries, and has garnered awards at numerous international film festivals in categories including Best Short Picture, Best VFX and Best Editing.
  • Brett has directed commercial work for brands and companies including: Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Google, Mattel and Warner Brothers.
  • 2007 Graduate (Digital Arts and Design)

 

Grant Shonkwiler

  • Current Title: Owner, Shonkventures & Executive Director, Game Developers Foundation
  • Industry Credits: Grant Shonkwiler landed his first position in the video game industry with AMI Entertainment/MegaTouch Games as a game programmer immediately after graduation. Soon after his start he moved up to Lead Designer and after 3 years with the company he had shipped well over 50 titles.
  • In 2011, Grant made the leap to id Software as a Technical Producer and worked on “Rage”, working on the Multiplayer Team. After “Rage” he started working on the “Doom” franchise as a Producer for the Artificial Intelligence, Combat, Character and Narrative teams.
  • Grant’s career continued to skyrocket as he accepted a Producer role with Epic Games in 2014 and an opportunity to work on “Fortnite” in addition to being a Lead Producer for one of the prototype teams on a project that eventually became “Battle Breakers.”
  • In late 2016 Grant ventured out on his own starting a Production Consulting company called Shonkventures and has recently taken on an Executive Director role with the Game Developers Foundation, helping those interested in getting into the video game industry.
  • 2008 Graduate (Game Design & Development)

 

Tremaine Williams

  • Current Title: Engineer & Producer
  • Industry Credits: Shortly after graduation Tremaine Williams began his career as an intern at the renowned Santa Monica, CA based Hidden Beach Recordings.
  • During his internship Tremaine became a voting member of The Recording Academy where he met the legendary production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, which led to Tremaine landing a job as their in-house engineer/programmer earning him credits on projects with artists including Usher, Janet Jackson, 50 Cent, Jill Scott, Boyz II Men and Chaka Khan.
  • After a few years of studio engineering, Tremaine joined the touring team of multi-GRAMMY award-winning artist Mariah Carey as a stage manager, keyboard technician and programmer.
  • In between touring, he also earned television show credits producing music for hit television shows Empire (commercial), Keeping Up with the Kardashians, MTV’s Real World and served as a Pro Tools operator for BET’s Sunday Best, Comic View and Apollo Live.
  • Tremaine earned his first credits as a film composer for The Last Fall (2012), Sound Designer for 9 RIDES (2017) and serves as a Governor for the Los Angeles Chapter of The Recording Academy.
  • Tremaine is currently on tour with multi-GRAMMY award-winning artist Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic World Tour 2017.
  • 2004 Graduate (Recording Arts)
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