Ice Skating VS IMAX, a economy smart decision?

^^ and how many ice rinks do you pass drivng across Michigan? ;) j/k, i know that doesn't add anything...

But, regardless of how rare or exotic an experience is, which is actually better? Personally, I would rather see some cool 3D feature than an ice show, and I believe I would have thought the same as a kid (if not more).

Ultimately, I would rather see a Disney-quality dark/boat ride than either.

jam said:
^^ and how many ice rinks do you pass drivng across Michigan? ;) j/k, i know that doesn't add anything...

But, regardless of how rare or exotic an experience is, which is actually better? Personally, I would rather see some cool 3D feature than an ice show, and I believe I would have thought the same as a kid (if not more).

Ultimately, I would rather see a Disney-quality dark/boat ride than either.

Even the smaller scale Disney dark rides have budgets of $40+ million with a ride like Toy Story Mania with new technology runs into the $70-100 milliom range. I wouldn't mind seeing a Sally dark ride in the park, but space becomes an issue as the buildings for dark rides are usually rather large.

I like the IMAX scenes on The Dark Knight Blu-Ray, myself. :) Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I know that I enjoy both the ice shows and the IMAX! I would like to see more of both! I wish there was more to do in Ohio in the winter!

The CP IMAX was one of the first IMAX theaters anywhere, so, it was unique. As an employee at the time, it was one of our favorite spots for air conditioning and a short break when off the clock. The movies were all about 20 minutes long. As others have said, IMAX is no longer unique, the short movies are no longer made, and the CP system is now obsolete. It was great for its time, but, that time has passed.

87-88 was a little late for Frontier Lift.

I'v never seen an IMAX in my life. I don't even really know what it is. Is it just a bigger screen and thats it? I'd rather have a 4D movie.

I do like the skating show very much. But I really wish they would find a better lead-in than the stupid dance lesson/pep rally in the amphitheatre beforehand. (Although it does give us locals an opportunity to identify and loudly boo the Michigan people.)

Your mom is to fat to ride TTD. said:
I'v never seen an IMAX in my life. I don't even really know what it is. Is it just a bigger screen and thats it? I'd rather have a 4D movie.

Its not just a bigger screen. Its a bigger film format. This image should give you a good idea of the difference between the two. When you show a film shot in 35mm on an IMAX screen, you're just stretching it to fit the screen. The 70mm IMAX format is designed to be shown on the larger screen.

So its still just a size difference.

EDIT: After searching on Google and Yahoo Answers I have found some other differrences.

You haven't really seen IMAX until you see one of the space ones. The shots of Space Shuttle takeoffs and views of Earth from space in IMAX are the only things worth seeing.

You haven't seen IMAX's full potential unless you have seen it at an OMNIMAX theatre. Instead of a flat screen, it is a dome, and the picture completely surrounds you; its amazing.

I was going to say, the Lake Erie Science Center's OMNIMAX theater is really amazing. Talk about surrounding yourself in a movie...

Your mom is to fat to ride TTD. said:
So its still just a size difference.

No, it's not that simple. Film is coated with a crystalline material (depending on the type) that changes when exposed to light. But the key is that these crystals are a fixed size. You might equate it to pixels on a digital camera. The more pixels, the more resolution, the clearer the image when you look at it closely. The same is true for film.

Mick Jagger's lips were ENORMOUS on the IMAX screen. The sound is pretty impressive in IMAX theatres but the traditional theaters are finally catching up.

In this whole conversation let's also keep in mind that the switch to the ice show predates the economic times we are now in. I'm not sure they make the same decision today when an IMAX film could be run by two or three people and the ice show must contract quite a number of entertainers.

On an unrelated note, I'm looking forward to seeing Disney's new 3D technology that makes the glasses obsolete. I've never liked those glasses and I tend to get a headache after those older movies. I'm embarassed to say that Captain EO is still one of my all time favorite 3D movies. I don't care for Michael Jackson, but I thought it was a pretty good use of the technology.

Personally I'm waiting for my very own holographic TV. It sounds likes sci-fi, but the technology is already in development.

IMAX is a 4:3 flat screen format, run at 24 FPS, which means that you can see flicker just like you can in your local movie house. I've seen both IMAX and flattened OMNIMAX films in the Cedar Point Cinema, and the flat screen actually has certain advantages over the domed screen, not the least of which is the fact that you don't have light from one side of the screen washing out the other.

I understand the decision to switch from IMAX to the ice shows, especially given the horrible condition of the sound system in the Cedar Point Cinema in some of the later years. But even though IMAX has become far more common, it really has lost something. Now, widescreen movies that are shot in Cinemascope or Panavision on 35mm film and processed digitally for effects are being blown up and cropped to fit the IMAX screen. And they get away with it, even though the film was not shot in IMAX, because the IMAX screens have become a lot smaller.

I walked into a local movie theater to see a show on their IMAX screen. The sign said, "IMAX". I said, "You must be kidding." The screen in the Cedar Point Cinema was 66 feet high and 88 feet wide, and has always been one of the largest IMAX screens ever built. It really is a shame to not be able to see IMAX films on that gigantic screen anymore.

For Cedar Point, the ice show is great, but it only runs six days a week, and it's dark for the first two and last three months of the season. It would be nice if they had a second show in the theater, or *something* to make use of that space and to provide somewhere to get out of the heat and/or rain on those days when the ice show isn't happening.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Two Words...

Red Garter!

^^They had a Halloweekends show at the Good Time Theatre this year.

They're just letterboxing it. Dark Knight was letterboxed except for the imax scenes.