Volume 1, No. 20. November 20, 2001
New Arrivals
PHOTO: Guests ride the SimEx theater's mission to Mars at Vienna Prater's new Kultiplexx. Photo courtesy of Kaleidoskop Kulltiplexx
It's a kultiplexx!
Prater in Vienna, Austria, announces the arrival of Kaleidoskop Kultiplexx,
October 26, 2001. Measurements: 2,500 square meters (8,250 square feet), six
caverns for educational workshops, one stage theater with 180 seats, one SimEx
theater with 12 motion seats and six stationary seats, one interactive play
area, one exhibition room, one restaurant, one gift shop and three party rooms.
Delivered by Martin Schwarz GmbH.
The second oldest amusement park in the world entered the 21st century in a
big way last Friday with the opening of a new-generation family entertainment
center that combines games with shows and hands-on educational programs. "Though
similar in infrastructure, the Kultiplexx and the Multiplexx are decidedly different
in content," said Catherine Zoihsl, Marketing and PR representative for Martin
Schwarz GmbH. "The Multiplexx offers many movie theaters, while the Kultiplexx
offers many theaters which have live performances of different types"—with
a little virtual reality on the side.
Kaleido, a robot, greets guests and directs them to one of the themed workshop
rooms or caverns: the Fairy Tale Cavern, Music Cavern, Media Cavern, Circus
Cavern, Magic Cavern and New Games Cavern (games without losers). A Cavern Master
works with the families on an interactive program that then moves to the Show
Theater. Afterward, families can take in the rest of the Kultiplexx's offerings,
from the play area for little kids to the virtual reality games for teens and
adults.
Opening night introduced this concept and the ATS 60 million (US$3.9 million)
Kultiplexx to 300 invited guests, who not only experienced the SimEx theater's
first trip to "Mars" but also were treated to two cabaret shows featuring 15
artists from 10 countries performing magic, acrobatics, break dancing, music
and rap. The weekend traffic was lighter than expected, said Samantha Fisher,
International Press Representative for Martin Schwarz GmbH, but she expected
the numbers to grow in coming weekends, especially when the Viennese realize
the Kaleidoskop Kultiplexx is open on Sundays, a rarity for such entertainment
venues in Austria.