I don't know about 9D, but I once saw Avengers: Age of Ultron in 4D in a theater in Seoul, South Korea. It was a 3D film with moving seats, smells, and air that would blast in your face.
During a car chase, you could smell burning rubber, or close-ups of women would have a whiff of perfume or flowers. During a shootout, you'd get fine blasts of air on either side of your face, like bullets barely missing your head. If someone took a hit, the seats would jolt violently. It also poked you in the back if someone was hit from behind. Not to mention, flying in any aircraft felt like you were on a rollercoaster; the seats would raise and lower and tilt in all directions. It was pretty intense. Like being on one of those Universal Studios rides at their theme park, except for an entire film.
Dude I wish those kinds of theatres were more common. Disney has (or had when I was there last anyway) Honey I Shrunk The Audience and A Bug's Life as 4D experiences, and those were awesome.
This is a PSA but there are a handful of theaters that do 4D called 4DX theaters and you might have one near you if you live in the US. Regal theaters specifically usually have them.
Went and saw Dune Pt2 in theaters and it was actually super fun. Shaking during the fight scenes, wind on your face when out on the dunes, lots of movement riding the sand worm, and water blasts and more.
They’re super fun, look them up and maybe travel to one sometime.
I saw dune 2 in 4dx and I'm going to have to disagree... It was mostly just being mildly shaken, uncomfortably, for 10 seconds as you hope your food and drinks don't spill in a hard chair. Not to mention expensive, I'm probably never gonna see a 4dx again
It’s not for everyone but mildly shaken is not how I would describe it for me. They would be hard pressed to shake you or move you any faster without a seatbelt. The movie also doesn’t shake you for the entire time, but I’d say it’s on for a good 1/3rd of the movie. I was at my limit with it by the end for sure but that was fine. But maybe it varies from theater to theater.
You’re correct though, they usually are more expensive. I went on a discounted day, my ticket was $14, but they are usually $20 which is double normal rate.
So my advice is: If your movie is available in IMAX, go see it in the room adjacent. Or on a regular screen. Have your soda, popcorn, hotdog, whatever. Be comfortable. Then on another day, preferably discount night, come back to 4DX and don’t get a lot of food and drink. It will make you spill it.
4DX isn’t meant to be comfy and relaxing. It’s an intense experience and isn’t for everyone. It was my second time with the movie though and if you’re going in expecting to be on a rollercoaster the entire time, it’s super fun if you already know the movie. Also, pick your movie carefully. They only do a dozen 4DX movies a year. Horror would be amazing with it but the more action packed, the more shaking. So choose wisely. And if you have kids, this is a must at least one time. They’ll have so much fun.
When I was a kid in the mid-90s, I went to Universal Studios in Orlando and experienced T2-3D: Battle Across Time, their Terminator spinoff story. It was amazing! 3D visuals, spraying mist into the audience as machines are blown apart, and there was audience interaction too, where the story would "leap off the screen" and actors would duke it out in front of us. I always wanted to go back and experience that again, but I guess they finally closed down that ride about a decade ago.
Unfortunately, Honey I shrunk the kids is no more and I heard that they are getting rid of A Bugs Life (although that might just be a retheme)retirement.
The Star Tours ride moves around while you're in it and the Avatar ride moves and puffs smells while you fly on the back of the flying dragon animals, but I think that's the closest experience to 4D now.
My dad and brother are going in a couple months but I gotta know: has Star Tours changed at all? I constantly hear rumors that it has more tours you can take, but I've heard that since I was 12 it's always just been the same thing, despite all the posters in the line for other things lol
Yes, Star Tours has changed. A friend rode it back to back like 6 times and only repeated a couple scenes. The ride has multiple scenes to choose from the prequels, OT, and sequels and it's all randomized.
Read up on Genie Plus, they now have a system where you can get a virtual queue starting at 7 AM on the app that will give you a time window to join a ride (kinda like Fast Pass). Then you have to wait a certain amount of time to join another virtual queue. Some rides, like Tron and Guardians of the Galaxy, are virtual queue only. There is also Lighning Lane, that costs around $16 and let's you basically skip the line.
I think there's even a way to link everyone's accounts together so that you can select the virtual queue or lightning lane for everyone. You definitely can link accounts, so that all your pictures are pushed to everyone's account. If a picture doesn't show up from a ride, you can tell them the date, time, and a description of people in the group and they can normally find you and send the pictures into your Disney experience app
I hope y'all have a great trip!
Disney's California Adventure has one that was recommended to us where you fly over parts of California, but it was unimpressive. Also, it apparently was highly dependent upon where they seated you because we were getting perfumes blown right in our faces rather than getting vague wafts of smells like were obviously intended.