Wizard of Oz at The Sphere in Las Vegas is an interesting attraction. It would fit right at home with classic Disneyland/World, though on a scale you could never do inside a theme park. It was very much like one of the Disney 4-D theater attractions, except instead of a 3-D movie, you see a huge surrounding dome image and “real” theater effects. There is wind, blowing “leaves” (paper), falling (foam) apples, flying monkeys (yep, a really cool drone thing) as well as some huge butterflies that fly around during one of the sequences. Add to that fog and fire and lighting effects and you have something far beyond just seeing an old movie upscaled and “special edition-ed” to fit a dome screen.
And, the seats also vibrate.
One real clever thing they do is project this on the dome as you are entering the theater:
I wish I had not already know about this. The transition from what appears to be a stage with a curtain and speakers hanging around to this…
…us truly a “wow” moment.
When I get some time, I will write up some thoughts about it from a theme park perspective. It was quite the unique experience.
More to come…