Podcasts about great glass elevator

In this episode of Skip the Queue, Andy Povey sits down with Jérôme Giacomoni, co-founder and Chairman of AEROPHILE, the world leader in tethered gas balloons and immersive aerial experiences. Jérôme shares the story of how AEROPHILE began with a simple idea, to “make everybody fly” and grew into a global company operating in multiple countries, including France and the U.S.Tune in to hear about the company's signature attractions, including tethered balloon flights, the innovative Aerobar concept, and high-profile projects such as how you can experience flying the Olympic cauldron in Paris. Jérôme also shares how AEROPHILE has leveraged its unique platform to explore scientific initiatives like air-quality and climate-change monitoring and how he Integrates unique revenue streams from sponsorship and advertising.Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden, with co host Andy Povey and roving reporter Claire Furnival.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on LinkedIn. Show references:  https://www.aerophile.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerome-giacomoni-3074b7/Jérôme Giacomoni is co-founder of Groupe AEROPHILE and Chairman of AEROPHILE SAS. Since 1993, he has led the company to become the world leader in tethered gas balloons and balloon flights, operating iconic sites in France, the U.S., and Cambodia, and flying over 500,000 passengers annually. He also pioneered “flying food-tainment” with the Aerophare and Aerobar. Jérôme is a member of IAAPA, serves on the board of SNELAC, and is a Team France Export ambassador, earning multiple awards for entrepreneurship and innovation. Plus, live from the Day 2 of the IAAPA Expo Europe show floor, we catch up with:Rheanna Sorby –Marketing & Creative Director,  The Seasonal Grouphttps://theseasonalgroup.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheanna-sorby-seasonal/Sohret Pakis – Polin Waterparkshttps://www.polin.com.tr/https://www.linkedin.com/in/sohretpakis/Thomas Collin – Sales Manager, VEX Solutionshttps://www.vex-solutions.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-collin-18a476110/Peter Cliff – CEO // Founder, Conductr.https://conductr.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cliff/Laura Baxter – Founder, Your CMOhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-baxter-4a756466/Josh Haywood – Resort Director, Crealy Theme Park & Resorthttps://www.crealy.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-haywood-68463630/ Transcriptions:  Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, the podcast about the world's best attractions and the people that work in them. I'm your host Paul Marden, and with my co-host Andy Povey and roving reporter Claire Furnival, we're here at IAAPA Expo Europe. In today's episode, I go on a trip on Santa's Enchanted Elevator with the Seasonal Group, and Claire meets Peter Cliff from Conductr. But before all that, let's head over to Andy.Andy Povey: Good morning, everybody. I'm joined today by Jerome Giacomoni from AEROPHILE for our French listeners. I hope I've got that right. Jerome is the chief exec of AEROPHILE and has been the co-founder and president of AEROPHILE. And AEROPHILE supply helium-based balloon observation opportunities. I probably got the marketing on that completely wrong, Jerome. So please, can you share with our listeners what AEROPHILE is all about?Jerome Giacomoni: So AEROPHILE is a company I created with Mathieu Gobbi, my partner, 32 years ago, with a very simple idea, make everybody fly, you know, and we use a balloon to fly. So we have a tethered balloon. We have a huge, big balloon inflated with helium, a gas lighter than air. And we go up to more or less 150 meters high. up to 30 passengers. So we are linked to the ground with a cable, and the cable is linked to a winch. So you have to imagine that you have a winch that— when we go up—pulls when we go down. This is the exact opposite of an elevator because the balloon wants to go higher and higher. We have a lifting force of four tons.Andy Povey:Wow.Jerome Giacomoni:Yes, it's a big one. And so we need a cable to keep it. And thanks to this lifting force, we can fight against the wind.Jerome Giacomoni: And so the balloon can swing when you have some wind because the balloon is just pulled by the cable itself.Andy Povey: And trust me, listeners, they look absolutely spectacular. Just before we started recording, I was admitting to Jerome that I'm scared of heights. So I've stood and watched. The dining balloon, Futuroscope, never managed to pluck up the courage to try it myself.Jerome Giacomoni: This is another concept, Andy. So we have built two concepts. One is a tethered balloon, a real one with helium, with a cable, with a winch, and we fly by ourselves. The balloon flies by itself, okay? We did another concept 20 years after we created our company, so 10 years before now, in 2013, which is what we call the aero bar. It's a flying bar, and you have an inflatable balloon. to cover the gondola, but it's a fake. This is a real elevator, and you have a gondola with some winches and a metallic structure, and you go up and down. So what you saw in Futuroscope is not a balloon. It's a real elevator.Jerome Giacomoni: And the one you can see in Disneyland Paris, Disney World, Orlando or San Diego Zoo are a real balloon named a tethered balloon. So I'm glad you fell down into the trick. You caught me. Yes, I'm glad about that. But we have really two different concepts.Andy Povey: But the concept, the thing that the guest is experiencing, isn't really related to whether it's a balloon or a lift.Jerome Giacomoni: No. i think it's very different okay i think the aerobar is fun and you have the feet in the sky you feel the thrill of height and everything but you stop at 35 meters it's it's quite high for a ride but it's not a real flight And I think the balloon is a real flight. We have a balloon in Paris. We have a balloon in Budapest, Berlin. And you see the city from the sky at 150 meters high, which is very high. So you really experience a flight. With the aerobar, you have a ride, okay? So both of them are related to the sky, are related to the view, but one is really a flight, the other one is really a ride.Andy Povey: That makes absolute sense.Andy Povey: It doesn't reassure me on my fear of heights anymore, that I would like to go up three times, four times taller, higher than the one I saw first. Very interesting. So, listeners, we're often talking about technology and attractions. There's a huge amount of talk about augmented reality, about AI, about motion simulators. The reason, Jerome, we asked you to come and talk to us is because you don't do any of that. No—your experience is fantastic and it's new and it's unique, but there's no technology or very little obvious technology.Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, quite little. You know, it's amazing because we do this for now 32 years, as I told you. The first balloon was inflated in 1994. We have sold 120 balloons in more than 40 countries. And each time with the balloon, you have a magical effect, you know, because the balloon itself is very nice— because the balloon itself is a show from people looking at it from the ground. And because... The flight experience is amazing because you are really in the sky. You are really looking at the ground, at the landscape. You have no noise, you know, when you take a helicopter or plane. You have a lot of noise. You are in an enclosed airplane or helicopter. Here you are outside. You are on a balcony flying at 150 meters. And wherever we are, always we have like a magical effect of the flight. And with the flying bar, we decided to do something different— where we say, 'Why drink on ground where you can drink in the sky?'Jerome Giacomoni: So we add the drink to the ride, you know. So you are on a table and you have what we say in French conviviality. So we share a drink. We go at 35 meters and you have the thrill of the view of the height and also the conviviality of drinking. So this is another concept, but both of them are universal. And wherever we do it, we have sold 20 aero bars worldwide.Jerome Giacomoni: Everybody is very happy to have this kind of ride. I would say we are on the side of the main market. You know, we have two niche products. The balloon is a niche product. And the AeroBar is a niche product where we have another experience than a normal ride, like a roller coaster or a flume or a spinning coaster.Andy Povey: You say you're a nice product, but the balloon in Paris for the Olympics, where you lifted the cauldron, had phenomenal numbers of visitors watching. That wasn't something you could go on.Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, it was an amazing opportunity. You know, sometimes life gives you some presents.Jerome Giacomoni: And imagine that we were contacted by the Olympic Organisation Committee one day, and we believed it was a joke. And they said, 'We need to talk to you.' And then we discovered that instead of flying humans, they asked us to fly a cauldron. So the Olympic cauldron. And we have like one year and a half of design and manufacturing.Jerome Giacomoni: And then, at 11 pm, 25, the balloon has to fly in front of everybody. I can tell you it was a very stressful time. But so nice and so amazing to have experiences. So, yes, the balloon suddenly was visible by everybody. And that's back now in Paris, isn't it? Yes. First of all, the balloon has to stay only twice— 15 days. You know, you have the Olympics and the Paralympics. So we were open only 30 days in total. And the success was so huge that every night, you have dozens of thousands of people coming to look at it. That's why the mayor of Paris and the French president decided to keep it.Jerome Giacomoni: And just after the deflation of the balloon, they call us back and say, 'Jerome and Mathieu, we would like to have the balloon back.' So we work again with the city of Paris and the French presidency, and we agreed to put the balloon.Jerome Giacomoni: Three times, three months. So from June 21st, in France, this is a music event, you know, the Day of Music. To September 14th, which is a day of sport. So every year until the Olympic game of LA, we will operate the balloon for three months in the summertime. Fantastic.Andy Povey: So, Jerome, you operate in lots and lots of different countries all over the world. I think it's 14 countries that you've been.Jerome Giacomoni: No, we sold, but we operate only in the US and in France.Andy Povey: Ah, okay. Interesting.Jerome Giacomoni: We own ourselves, we operate ourselves, six balloons in the 120 we have sold. So we operate three in Paris region. One, the Parc André Citroën, where we have the Generali balloon since 1999. One in Disneyland Paris since 2005. So we are in Disneyland Paris for now 20 years. Time is flying. And the last one, the Cold Run, which is a very specific event that we operate now for one year and for the next two years. And in the US, we operate Disney World Orlando in Disney Spring since 2009, and San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 2005, and Irvine. South of LA since 2007. So we operate now six balloons for a long, long time, except the cold run. And we keep selling balloons.Jerome Giacomoni: We sell more or less five to six balloons every year.Andy Povey: And how do you find the differences between the French culture and you're on either side of America, so the differences between the different coasts of America and France?Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, we... We are in the US, but we are also in Mexico, in a lot of countries in Asia. In the Middle East, we have a beautiful balloon in Dubai. We have a beautiful balloon in Seoul. So we work a lot with very different cultures. You know, it's very interesting to sell the same product to different cultures. So I would say... The main difference probably lies in the contract. It's very funny when you make the contract. I would say a 'yes' is not the same 'yes' depending on the culture. But everybody is, you know, you... You love people when you work worldwide. You learn a lot, you discover a lot. You have to learn with different cultures. And I have the chance in my professional life to experience that and to meet people from all over the world. And, you know, my job is to go on site, and discuss with someone, and see if it's possible or not to have a balloon at this place.Jerome Giacomoni: So it's always a beautiful job because I travel in a lot of countries in beautiful spots.Jerome Giacomoni: We don't succeed a lot because, if not, I would have sold thousands of balloons. We have always constraints with local authority, with food traffic, etc. But always, it's a pleasure to meet people. And once... The balloon is accepted by the local authority when the customer has a finance for it. Then start more or less a one-year work together between installation, work on site, inflation, and training of the team. And after... They fly with their own wings, even if we have no wings with our balloons.Andy Povey: Very good. And I imagine that you don't put balloons into ugly places.Jerome Giacomoni: We did, sometimes for specific contracts. Ugly, I won't use this name, but not very obvious, logical site. But it has happened. Sometimes we do for small events or for specific needs.Jerome Giacomoni: But yes, most of the time, the sites are very interesting.Andy Povey: So there are other things you're doing with the balloons. So the air quality messaging that you have above Paris. Tell us more about your opportunities to influence in other areas.Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, you know, the balloon is not only a ride, a passenger ride, but it's also an amazing opportunity for communication and for advertisement. So in the city center, like Paris, Berlin, or Seoul, the balloon is used also as a giant advertising billboard. So you have two revenues. You have the revenue of the passenger, but you have also the sponsor revenue.Jerome Giacomoni: When we started the balloon in Paris, it was extremely difficult to get the authorisation to have a balloon in Paris centre. We are two kilometres south of the Eiffel Tower. But you remember, we had the famous Millennium, the Y2K. uh and and so the mayor faris was looking for a new idea and we propose a balloon And they gave us only a one year and a half contract. And the investment was quite huge. And we told him, OK, we can do it, but we cannot do it for only one year and a half. Except if you accept that we have a name on the balloon, a naming and a sponsor on the balloon. And the mayor say yes. And we start another business where we put sponsor on the balloon. And this is a very good business because it makes a... activity immediately profitable so we did that in Paris in 1999 and in 2008 the balloon was like 10 years old because when you fly you have your the balloon is huge we talk about a 32 meters high balloon we talk about like a 12-story building.Jerome Giacomoni: So everybody knows the balloon in Paris. Everybody can see it. And so, when we fly, we have 400,000 people who immediately see us. So we decided to give citizen aspect. And we start— pour changer le couleur de la balle selon la qualité de l'air. C'était en 2008. Et parce que nous l'avons fait, nous avons des scientifiques... coming to us and say, 'Hey, this balloon is a wonderful platform to measure air quality because you make like a carrot of the air from zero to 150 meters. Jerome Giacomoni:  Can we bring some scientist instrument on the gondola? And we say yes. And then we start to make science. And then we start to make scientific publications, scientific publications. And then we start a new business where the balloon is not only a tethered gas balloon for passenger, it's only... advertising billboard and now it's only a scientific platform and so this is very interesting and the last things we have done in 2024 no this year in 2025 is to use the balloon for global climate change. As you know, we have two main gas pollutants for the climate change, CO2 and CH4. And the balloon is a perfect platform to measure evolution on CO2 and CH4. So we are working with a European group named ICOS. gathering all the best laboratories in Europe, who are making a huge study on how CO2 and CH4 how they are in each city.Jerome Giacomoni: And Paris has been chosen as a pilot city. So we are very glad to work with them. And so now the Balloon is also working on climate change. And we will have big, big, big LED screen. So we make some technology sometime, as you said, to inform people on the temperature elevation in Europe and in the world. And the news are very bad, as everybody knows.Andy Povey: But that's fascinating. I love the integration you've been able to take from this unique proposition and apply it to different markets, different problems.Jerome Giacomoni: You know, Andy, I think we have to exit from the box. My message to... all people who are listening to us.Jerome Giacomoni: Okay, passenger rides is very important. It's a key market for many of us. But sometimes we can use... another way to find new flow of revenue, like advertising, and we can be also helpful to our other citizens, like working freely for scientists to make measurements on pollutants of the air. This helps with both air quality and also climate change.Andy Povey: It's a beautiful concept, Jerome. I love it. Love it.Andy Povey: So, final question. Your experiences are obviously very unique. What advice would you have for a venue and possibly a smaller venue that doesn't have the resources to be able to build something 150 metres high or put something 150 metres into the air? What advice would you give them on how to make a compelling experience for visitors?Jerome Giacomoni: I really believe that you have to stick on your roots, okay? I mean that people want authenticity.Jerome Giacomoni: And as you know, we are very keen on balloons, as you can imagine. So we make in our, you know, Paris, it's in Paris where you have the first flight. Yeah. In 1783. Montgolfier, brothers. Yes, with the Montgolfier brothers, with Charles, the scientist. So we really stick on our roots. And I think where you are in Brittany, where you are in Japan, you have to follow your own road and your own path. By feeling what could be the good idea, but also what is your feeling inside you. You need to have something different that you feel very confident with.Andy Povey: Beautiful final thought, Jerome, I like it a lot. So listeners, stay authentic and be passionate.Jerome Giacomoni: Exactly, the right word is passionate.Paul Marden: Next up, let's get some soundbites from the show floor.Rheanna  Sorby: My name's Rheanna. I'm Marketing and Creative Director for the Seasonal Group. We are curators of Christmas magic all year round. Wow, wow.Paul Marden: So you make Christmas special?Rheanna  Sorby: We're the Christmas elves.Paul Marden: Awesome, awesome. I can see you've got such a great set of stands. What have you got here that you're exhibiting for the first time?Rheanna  Sorby: We have Santa's Enchanted Express, which is a three-minute experience that transports customers and guests from a very festive train station to the North Pole in just under three minutes. So it's quite a Christmas miracle. And it also transports on nine pallets. So it's a great return on investment for customers there if it's 24 people on. We also have our elevator experience, which went viral last year. And then we have VR, animatronics, and a lot of our famous items, like the snowman here, just dressed as a little, it's some sort of operator.Paul Marden: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we don't have a lot of luck with lifts at the moment because the team got stuck in a lift yesterday for about 45 minutes. Stop it. We got rescued by the... Well, I didn't get in the lift. I walked because there wasn't enough room. But two of them had to be rescued by the fire brigadeRheanna  Sorby: Okay, so this might be triggering. Well, you know.Paul Marden: Oh, no, I found it hilarious.Paul Marden: I was hugely supportive on the outside, yelling into them.Paul Marden: But Santa won't let me get stuck in a lift today, will he? Absolutely not.Rheanna  Sorby: No, there's an emergency exit. Excellent.Paul Marden: So what's new and innovative then about the Santa Express? What are you bringing to market?Rheanna  Sorby: So a lot of our clients, we sell business to business. They're struggling to get people into shopping centres and we're finding that we need to create retail theatre. So that is something I see as a massive trend moving forward. People want nostalgia. They want an experience, something memorable. But also our customers need a way to return investment as well. So they hopefully will spend something with us and then ticket the experience. So that's something that we're pivoting our business towards. Trying to create a brand new experience every year. A lot of people are struggling nowadays, cost of living.Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely.Rheanna  Sorby: It's difficult, so we're trying to find a way that brings the Christmas magic to people's doors.Paul Marden: We are, where are we at the moment? We're in September, so we've still got a couple of months left before Christmas 2025, but that must be over for you.Rheanna  Sorby: No, the quality of the street is on the shelves. It's already happening. The install season starts literally on Monday for us. Really? Yes. When we get back, we land and then we start installing.Paul Marden: And so this is the busy time. So let's talk about Christmas 2026. What are the trends that you see coming along at that point?Rheanna  Sorby: Whimsical, whimsical. So we've got Wicked number two coming out. And we've also had all like the Whoville, that sort of style, the Grinch. So imagine pastels, furry trees, things that don't quite make sense, a lot of whimsical wonderland, I would say, trend-wise. But equally immersive experiences and how we can bring magic to you.Paul Marden: Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you ever so much. Rheanna, it's been lovely to meet you. Thank you for coming on the podcast. And let's go and visit Santa in his lift, shall we? Yeah, excellent.Paul Marden: And here it is. So we are surrounded by suites in an old-fashioned lift. And there's our doors closed.Paul Marden: Oh, how amazing is this? We're going up.Paul Marden: Ice like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Great Glass Elevator. This is amazing. We're up over the clouds. Just stunning. There's a train there. I think we're going to follow into the tunnel after the train. Yes.Paul Marden: Got cold, now we're underground. Now we're in the tunnel.Paul Marden: And I think this might be Santa's factory.Paul Marden: Let's get ready.Paul Marden: Merry Christmas. The big man's chair as well. Can I take a seat in the big man's chair? Ho, ho, ho.Sohret Pakis: Hi, Paul. My name is Shorhet Pakis. I'm the brand ambassador for Polin Waterparks.Paul Marden: What are you launching this year at IAAPA? What's new for you?Sohret Pakis:Last year, we have won two big awards for a themed water slide, which is... Stingray it was in Nantes in France and it was something big because you know it was like Europeans best water slide number one and I have a brass ring award winner about two million number one but last night in Porta Ventura Stingray has won the second time best water slide of Europe award. But we have something new about it. Last year when I was telling about Stingray, it was an eight-person slide. This year we have something new. Now the capacity went up to 10, especially when we're talking about all these queue management issues. So that's something wonderful. And also, you ask, what is new? This year, we have something very exciting. A parrot-themed stingray. It's the same slide, but it's parrot-themed.Sohret Pakis: It's coming to Dubai by January. It's going to be open.Paul Marden: So can I ask you, what makes that innovative? What's new about that?Sohret Pakis: Actually, it's a very specifically themed waterslide. You know that POLIN has been pioneer in RTM manufacturing and U-texture. It's kind of a composite material technology which we can make waterslides look.  Look like a character, actually. We are the company who did this first because we said that storytelling is very important. Yes, but you know, slides are just slides. So we just wanted the slides look like the characters in that story. Of course, behind that, there is huge material technology, composites technology, design technologies. Actually, that's the time when we introduced King Cobra years ago. And now with Stingray, we took it much further. So actually, the team looks perfectly like a Stingray, but at the same time, it's a water slide with so many features. It has two big towers and between the towers, there's a bridge. From each tower, two slides start with a very special mist roofing and very special bridge where you can just see what's happening all over the slide.Paul Marden: So the queuing experience is enriched so it doesn't feel quite so long and boring because you can watch what everyone is doing.Sohret Pakis: It is, yes.Paul Marden: Super impressive. So we have been asking everybody to think about what are their predictions for 2026?Sohret Pakis: Everybody is talking about AI. Everybody is talking about immersive. So AI, of course, will make a huge difference in operation, especially.Paul Marden: In what way?Sohret Pakis: Actually, in guest satisfaction, because personalisation is very important in our industry. Whoever comes to the park, they are the heroes at the park. And so actually, if the park can make them feel that they are the heroes, truly— if that's their birthday, if that's their wedding anniversary, so whatever. If the park can make you feel that you're special, and thanks to technology, now it's possible.Paul Marden: Absolutely. That's so interesting. Thank you so much for your insights and for joining us on Skip the Queue. Thank you.Thomas Collin: I'm Thomas, I'm from VEX Solutions, so we are a VR company at the start, and now we're going to the arcade with mixed reality as well. Okay, so that's a nice link. What are you launching here at IAFA? So here for the first time we are introducing VEX Party Dash. The Party Dash is a mixed reality arcade machine. So automated, people can go on it, play on it. You have two huge screens that are really highly interactive. You can walk on the screen, you can touch the screen. The goal is really to make you moving. So that's what we want to do with the Dash.Paul Marden: That's amazing, isn't it? So we're watching people at the moment. You can see lights up on the floor that they're stepping on and on the wall.Thomas Collin: What is really the key aspect of this product is that it's highly attractive. People, they just go around, they stop by it, they want to try it. Actually, we can say, 'Hey, come and try it,' because we watch you, we see you. So we can say, 'Hey, come and try it.' And people stop by, they play it. It's highly immersive, but also highly active. Yes. You're just not standing on an arcade, sitting down. No, you're really moving around. So, this is really good for kids and families. Absolutely. That's what we see.Paul Marden: So, where do you see this being used? What sort of attractions will take this?Thomas Collin: Actually, with this product, it can go either in the attraction side or either at the arcade side. So, you can play it as one game, and you can play a three-minute game like an arcade, or you can actually book for 15 minutes. Since there is not a single game, but multiple games, you can play different games, you can play different levels inside the main gate. So you have a high replayability. Because we want you to come back, we want to attract the gamers, and then make them come back.Paul Marden: 15 minutes with this much activity sounds like quite a tall order. It's a workout.Thomas Collin: It's a workout. It's a workout. Yeah, yeah, yeah.Peter Cliff: Hi, my name is Pete Cliff. I'm from Conductr. We're here in Barcelona and it's so exciting to be back at IAAPA. Now, what we're super excited about this year is talking about our collaboration with Norwegian Cruise Lines on Great Stirrup Cay. It's their new water park. It's a great project. We're excited to talk to people about it. It's also lovely to be back in Barcelona. It's been, I think, about six years since we were last back here, and it's always one of my favourite European cities for IAPA. It's great to meet with people from the industry, reconnect with old colleagues and friends, and really see what's happening. There's a huge amount of innovation and special projects that are launching all over the show floor. So yeah, great to be back, and can't wait to see what the future of the themed entertainment industry has to offer.Laura Baxter: My name is Laura Baxter. You may know me as the girl with the purple jumpsuit on LinkedIn. I am the head of marketing for Black Gang Shine, but have most recently just announced that I've gone into freelancing and I've launched your CMO.Paul Marden: And I have to say, the jumpsuits work because I was about 50 metres behind you earlier on and I spotted the Your CMO logo on the back of the jumpsuit, so well done for that. We've talked to a lot of suppliers with stands that are exhibiting. From your perspective, this is your first time stepping over to the dark side and coming to an IAPA. What's the experience like for you? What are you here to get out of the show?Laura Baxter: I'd say it's twofold. Mainly it is for networking. Obviously anybody who's anyone in the industry is here. But also, it's inspiration because I want to be able to talk about new and exciting stuff with... Potential clients that I may have and ideas still for Black Gang as well. So, when you walk around show floor, which is just so vibrant and there's so much going on everywhere—you turn, you can draw inspiration from so many of the suppliers here.Paul Marden: What have you seen that's innovative?Laura Baxter: There's a huge amount of stuff being done with tech and it's very interesting because I think that's where a lot of people are going to think that they need to go, because that's the way of the world now, and the next generation don't know life off of a screen and they're expecting to have these incredible digital experiences.Laura Baxter: I'm not convinced that is the way to go. But yes, it's still impressive tech. So for me, there are things that I stand back out and look at and I'm like, 'Whoa, that's really, really cool.'Laura Baxter: I'm not so sure it's potentially what consumers want, though, controversially.Paul Marden: It's really hard, isn't it? Because as a parent of young kids, you want them off the tech as much as you possibly can. But you need a hook. To be able to attract them, don't you? So there's been some amazing stuff here that bridges that gap between the real world and the tech world. So, summer season 2025 is over. What are your predictions about summer 26 and what operators should be thinking about right now?Laura Baxter: It's a really tough market, we all know that. Budgets are tight for households, so there is an awful lot more thought going into their spending and what they're doing and where they're choosing to take that little bit of disposable money that they do have. Therefore actually I don't think next year operators should be thinking about huge innovations or new attractions. I think they need to strip back to basics and nail their customer service. I think guest expectations now are so high. because they're parting with money that is a little bit more precious to them than perhaps if they don't leave at the end of that day having had a good experience they feel ripped off they're going to go straight to review platforms they're going to let it all out and actually you need to be focusing on making sure that every single touch point with that customer is bang on and we're talking pre-visit as well from the your website journey to buying it to the follow-up emails to the pre-visit emails to that first person they meet on front of house to the ride operators to the events team if you have that kind of entertainment on park if you are not nailing your experienceLaura Baxter: You are going to lose out well.Paul Marden: I think we should end it right there. That there is a nugget of gold.Paul Marden: So I am here with co-host Andy Povey and our good friend Josh Haywood from Crealy down in Devon.Josh Haywood: Hello.Paul Marden: It's the end of day two. What have you seen, Josh? What's blown your socks off?Josh Haywood: Good couple of days so far. We're probably into 40,000 steps, which is great. I think technology is the thing that struck me this week so far. Just the small changes that some of the operators and some of the manufacturers are putting into their existing kits. So, for example, I attended a seminar this morning about bowling. and normally temping bowling is temping bowling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But now there's augmented reality, and they've got features on the lanes, and it's not about just taking all the pins down, it's taking pin one and six out, and all those things they're trying to do to reinvent older, more traditional attractions, which I think I find really interesting. Yeah. I think some of the seasonality stuff, the Christmas and Halloween stuff has been really good. We sat on a train and went on a journey and the seats rumbled and the sound and the visual effects, they were great.Paul Marden: I saw that. There was no room for me to go and sit on that train. It was amazing.Josh Haywood: I thought that was really good. And, you know, I've been really impressed with generally the show. I think you can get around it all as well. It feels really friendly. I think the sun shining always helps as well. It's not too tough, is it?Paul Marden: I mean, the last time we were in Barcelona, we were all wearing face masks. Absolutely, yes. So it's really refreshing to be back here. And not have that.Josh Haywood: Absolutely. And not have to queue to get in as well. I think that was interesting on the first day.Paul Marden: Oh, did they see you and then just wave you through?Josh Haywood: Red carpet was up for, of course, award-winning theme park and resort. Paul Marden: Mr. Hayward. Did you say award? Winnie and obviously you're on the back of your two awards in the theme park awards last week. How was that? And then we've got some really exciting news from Creeley.Josh Haywood: I saw it at the press this morning. Yes, so a couple of things happened last week. So first of all, we had our anniversary 25 years of Maximus the Coaster. The Vekoma Coaster, 25 years. The first coaster in Devon. It was Devon's first coaster, over half a million riders later. It's done 2 million miles around the track. It's great. So we did a sort of event for that, and we used it to sort of make some announcements about future attractions, which I'll tell you about in a minute. But then we went to the Theme Park Awards last week at Wickste Park, where... We've been the recipients of a few bronze and silvers, and we go being little old us and hope for the best. And then the award I really wanted to win was one of two: the best for families and the best for value. And when the family award came up, they said, 'In bronze is such and such, in silver.' And I was like, 'Well, there you go.' That's all that's left for another year. And then when they said the win at gold was cruelly for best for families, we were delighted. I got a bit emotional about it. I think we would just work so hard over the years to be the best in the Southwest, certainly. And certainly since we put Sootyland in as well. We won the award for Toddlers.Josh Haywood: So it was a double wham. And within 10 minutes as well. It wasn't separated. Within 10 minutes, I just got my breath back from the first one. And then we were up on stage again taking that second award. Oh, it's tough, isn't it? Which was great, yeah. Multi-award winning. Multi-award winning theme parking resort. Devon's finest. Most right in Devon. We're just going to... absolutely bleep the hell out of this for the next 12 months because who knows we may not win it again so we'll just shout from the treetops about this and then we also won thanks to martin rose and rose events uh silver for best entertainment event for the city show It's still very popular, the legacy brand. People love the Sooty show. And as I said at the awards, we sell loads of those puppets. People love a Sooty and a Sweep. So it's been a really good collaboration for us.Paul Marden: We were at our first away day for our Merak team back a few months ago down at Creeley, and I found a little sooty puppet underneath the lectern. I was absolutely chuffed to bits. And there he was, just sitting at the front of the away day, watching everything going on with Sue next to him.Josh Haywood: He's still popular. We understood when we put Cityland in, it wasn't going to be Peppa Pig. world and we didn't think for a minute we'd even sort of get to those heights of Thomas Land at Drayton Manor but it certainly hit a chord with the older market certainly the nannies and the granddads who remember such from when they were kids and you know it's a legacy brand and it works but what we have done really well is sort of corner that market for younger children and toddlers and we Sort of took some comments over the last 12 to 18 months that we may be missing the mark when it comes to the 8 to 12-year-olds, which we were pretty good at five or six years ago. So we've decided this year that we're going to invest in some thrill attractions. So we've just launched news that we've got two new rides going in next year. One, I can't tell you exactly because we're still going under. Got some planning issues, but we're going to have the Southwest tallest ride and the Southwest first inverted ride. So a multi-million pound investment going in and hopefully that will give us another boost that we need to kick on again. We've still got new accommodation going in. We'll still be doing new events and shows for next year.Josh Haywood: So it's going to be a bumper year for Crealy. Absolutely.  I really look forward to that.Paul Marden: I look forward to you being on the launch ride.Paul Marden: Me down on the ground watching and videoing.Josh Haywood: What they have said, which is really interesting, we spoke to an operator, there's only one other ride like it in the UK, and that operator said, whatever you do, make sure when you put the ride in, you fit a hose pipe and a tap right in. Because you may be washing the seats down more than you would usually on your current ride. So, yeah, it certainly will add that next level of ride experience to our family market.Paul Marden: Yeah, I think that's super important, isn't it? Mr. Povey, what have you seen today that has blown your socks off?Andy Povey: I'm really looking for the place to go and get some more soft, comfortable socks. I've walked so much. I've stood around and listened to so many fantastic talks, had so many brilliant conversations. I'm done. My feet hurt. I need to sit down and have a beer.Paul Marden: Well, I hate to break it to you, but there's another day left. And there's still more interviews to do. Still more opportunities for us to get some interesting stories on Skip the Queue.Andy Povey: Look forward to that.Paul Marden: Gentlemen, I think we're about done. So thank you ever so much. It has been a joy. And Mr. Povey, see you back here tomorrow. Josh, wonderful as always.Josh Haywood: Maybe see you at OrlandoPaul Marden: Oh. Absolutely, yeah.Josh Haywood: We'll do it againPaul Marden: Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you liked it, leave a comment in Spotify or Apple Podcasts. If you didn't, let us know on hello@skipthequeue.fm. Today's episode was a team effort for Sami and Emily from Plaster, Steve from Folland Co., as well as Claire and Wenalyn from Skip the Queue HQ. We're back again tomorrow for more fun from IAAPA, including Andreas Andersen from Liseberg, one of Scandinavia's most visited parks. See you all tomorrow. The 2025 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsTake the Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

Join Jim as he unearths more hidden fantasy gems of the 1960s, all ones that critics got wrong! We're diving into the decade's most fascinating yet critically overlooked fantasy stories. No literary awards here, yet still all very successful and popular books! Get ready to discover the magic that flew under the critics' radar, discovering more to add to your own TBRs.#FantasyForTheAges #Fantasy #SFF #FantasyFiction #BestFantasy #BookRecommendations #TBR #ReadingRecommendations #booktube #booktuberWant to purchase books/media mentioned in this episode?The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Fourteenth Series: https://t.ly/AJ9EAThe Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Sixteenth Series: https://t.ly/sWBJGThe Blue Star: https://t.ly/nhSXgThe Book of Three: https://t.ly/RpPRWThe Castle of Llyr: https://t.ly/c63Q8Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: https://t.ly/o0-sICharlie and the Great Glass Elevator: https://t.ly/_mipGThe Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth: https://t.ly/hN9JlThe Dream Master: https://t.ly/ZcSlTA Fine and Private Place: https://t.ly/xq-kDThe Goblin Tower: https://t.ly/U3tZJJames and the Giant Peach: https://t.ly/QSb_QThe Jewels of the Aptor: https://t.ly/moI5XKothar – Barbarian Swordsman: https://t.ly/oteCJThe Letter for the King: https://t.ly/51wT6The Master and Margarita: https://t.ly/b3zbpThe Serpent: https://t.ly/HD1ZUThe Smartest Man in Ireland: https://t.ly/VMkFdThis Immortal: https://t.ly/4mLzlThongor in the City of Magicians: https://t.ly/35H4ZThree Hearts and Three Lions: https://t.ly/KlbmDThe Weirdstone of Brisingamen: https://t.ly/9LScXThe Wizard of Lemuria: https://t.ly/HyHQXWays to connect with us:Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FantasyForTheAges Follow Jim/Father on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13848336-jim-scriven Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/jMWyVJ6qKk Follow us on "X": @Fantasy4theAges Follow us on Blue Sky: @fantasy4theages.bsky.socialFollow us on Instagram: fantasy_for_the_ages Follow us on Mastodon: @FantasyForTheAges@nerdculture.de Email us: FantasyForTheAges@gmail.com Check out our merch: https://www.newcreationsbyjen.com/collections/fantasyfortheagesJim's Microphone: Blue Yeti https://tinyurl.com/3shpvhb4 ————————————————————————————Music and video elements licensed under Envato Elements:https://elements.envato.com/

We've got a sequel on our hands, spooky kids, and you'd better believe it's disquieting and unsatisfying! Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are back to discuss Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Roald Dahl's hodge-podge of a sequel to his beloved classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hotel employees are eaten alive by aliens! Willy Wonka reveals the chocolate factory contains a hell dimension! And there's some really tedious poems! You'd be forgiven for skipping this book, but have a listen to the episode. A transcript of the episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/69-great-glass-elevator

When Bill forms a friendship with Former Texas Governor Ann Richards, his ex-wife Lenore returns. Directors Gary McCarver Klay Hall Writers Mike Judge Greg Daniels Jonathan Collier Stars Mike Judge Kathy Najimy Pamela Adlon Brittany Murphy Johnny Hardwick Stephen Root David Herman Ellen Barkin Ann Richards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs!https://patreon.com/TheBookPile*To buy the books and support the podcast, click HERE for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!https://amzn.to/3HPkXZXor HERE for Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator!https://amzn.to/3UtoNiN*Wonka is available to stream this week, and in honor of it, today we're praising Roald Dahl's most famous book, and roasting his most infamous book. That's right! We're covering the Charlie books, a series with a bigger sophomore slump than Pirates of the Caribbean. Plus, Dave has a brainteaser for you and Kellen can't wait for you to hear what the "positive" reviews for the Great Glass Elevator have to say...*Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

On this episode of Drunken Book Club we read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator to pair with the movie Wonka coming out this week. Listen as we talk about one of the most batshit insane sequels to anything we've ever read. Follow the linktree here and find where you can listen to us and follow us! https://linktr.ee/drunkenbookclub Support us on Patreon.com/drunkenbookclub All of the content is $1! Make sure to check out our Patrons 1. Trey

The books I talk about are "James and the Giant Peach," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator," "The BFG" and, "Matilda." --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/daniellesreadingnook/support

This week Mark and Jonny discuss episodes ninety five and ninety six of "King of the Hill", "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator" and "Now Who's the Dummy?"

It's time to jump into some sequels! We begin this chapter devoted to second installments with the second story in the Charlie Bucket duology. Topics of discussion include the physics of atmospheric re-entry, Josh downplaying the United States' achievements in the Space Race, Harold admitting Stephen King writes just like J.R.R. Tolkien, and a recitation of a beautiful poem about flatulence. Interact with us! Join the discussion and view and post relevant material on our subreddit! Like us on Facebook Tweet us @reliterated View our Instagram Episode archive and video content on our YouTube channel Do whatever it is one does on TikTok Send us your burning questions/comments for our listener mail segment to reliterated@gmail.com

Willi Wonka es un personaje ficticio que aparece en la novela infantil Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, escrita por Roald Dahl en 1964.y en su secuela de 1972 Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Él es el excéntrico propietario de la fábrica de chocolate Wonka. Y hoy recordamos una de sus frases llenas de sabiduría y locura también: “Tanto tiempo y tan poco que hacer. Espera un momento. Tacha eso. Era al revés.”

Willy Wonka is the greatest villain ever, Wheelers, and the campaign to make Arnold Schwarzenegger the next Vice President begins. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl (1972) vs The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1904).

Roald Dahl's weird Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sequel that nobody remembers!

What made Galaxy Quest a good movie and what made Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp a not so good movie? How many Trumpets does Ham 1 own? And when do you feel a sense of completion? Your Two Baked Hams answer these tough philosophic questions. The music for this episode is by purple-planet.com.#AlanRickman #GeneWilder #CoolKids #DeanRichtorIsaBum #WokeLion

Writing Children's Fiction. Episode 1. Asking the question: 'What is a story?' and figuring out how to begin crafting an idea. All content created by creative writing lecturer and children's author A. P. Winter.

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! For this episode, we read and watched: Roald Dahl’s original novel, published in 1964. Read on Amazon or iBooks. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 movie directed by Mel Stuart, adapted by Dahl and David Seltzer, and starring Gene Wilder and Peter Ostrum. Watch on iTunes or Amazon. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the 2005 movie directed by Tim Burton, adapted by John August, and starring Freddie Highmore and Johnny Depp. Watch on iTunes or Amazon. Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 2017 direct-to-DVD animated musical comedy adaptation of the Gene Wilder movie. Not the book. It’s weird. Watch (or don’t) on iTunes or Amazon. Footnotes: Mr. Bucket, buckets of fun! Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, written by Dahl and published in 1972. Quentin Blake’s Willy Wonka vs. Joseph Schindelman’s Willy Wonka A comparison of the old, racist Oompa Loompas, and the revised Oompa Loompas Cracked.com’s The 6 Most Secretly Racist Children’s Books Was beloved children’s book author Roald Dahl a raging bigot? The Dead Authors Podcast Chapter 34: “Roald Dahl featuring Ben Schwartz” Scriptnotes, a podcast hosted by John August and Craig Mazin “Cheer Up, Charlie” The scene where the little girl almost gets hit in the face during the filming of Willy Wonka Matt Gourley’s I Was There Too: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Big Fish with John August” The trailer for Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (and Arielle’s reaction to watching it for the first time) You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com. If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Willy Wonka is a fictional character who appears in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its 1972 sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. He is the eccentric owner of the Wonka Chocolate Factory. Wonka has been portrayed in film multiple times. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Emma has chosen this classic from Roald Dahl for this week's discussion! As the sequel, how does it stand up to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the story we know and love?

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features David Braun, Creative Director at Open the Portal, a stop motion studio in LA. David shares the journey it took to create the studio from scratch, while also developing and pitching an original series idea to major networks. You’ll also learn: *The hardest questions a producer will ask you during the pitch *The #1 thing that will immediately impress any studio executive *A complete list of absolutely everything you need to prepare before you walk in to pitch your series David Braun is the Creative Director of Open The Portal, a creative development studio with a focus on stop motion animation. The studio recently directed two new TV spots for Rick & Morty, and have also produced projects for Disney, Katy Perry, Mattel, eBay, and many others. After 5 years of creating professional work for outside clients, Open The Portal has shifted focus this year exclusively to their own original concepts, and have a pitch for an animated anthology that they are taking out to studios and streaming services this summer. David started animating with his family's home movie camera when he was nine years old and hasn't stopped since. After high school he spent several years pursuing a career in music with his band Great Glass Elevator who were signed to Atlantic Records. Through the process of making original stop motion videos for them, he decided to make animation his career. David then attended the Experimental Animation program at CalArts from 2009-2013, and also studied for a year at FAMU in Prague. He won a contest through MTV as a student to interview Tim Burton, and has also worked on several animated commercials and TV shows. As the creative director at Open The Portal he loves nothing more than bringing animators and artists he loves and looks up to together to create new and exciting animated projects. Reach out to David at david@opentheportal.com Get in touch with Open the Portal Studio at hello@opentheportal.com Follow Open the Portal on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opentheportal/ Learn more about this podcast at terryibele.com/animation-industry-podcast/

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK: Netflix has invested $1Billion dollars in a Roald Dahl deal that will bring 16 of the author's books to life -- including, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The BFG, The Twits, George's Marvellous Medicine and The Enormous Crocodile -- in multiple animated shows. Netflix is developing a 10-episode, live-action "Cowboy Bebop" series. "Ugly Delicious" has been renewed for a second season. The planned spinoff to "The Middle" has been scrapped by ABC "Take Two" has been canceled at ABC CBS will end the "Murphy Brown" sequel after this season. Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of "Spongebob Squarepants," has died at the age of 57. Youtube is going to shift back its strategy with originally scripted content from being a premium pay service back to an ad-based platform in 2020. Jerry Springer will launch his own courtroom reality show called, "Judge Jerry" in the fall of 2019 at NBCUniversal. Legendary TV is developing Blake J. Harris’ "Console Wars" novel, which documents the "behind-the-scenes drama that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry," as a limited series. JACK'S LOSERS: "Dirty John" and "Paradise PD" AARON'S FENCERS: "Room 104," "The Purge" and "The Walking Dead"JACK'S FENCERS: "Queen America" AARON'S WINNERS: "The Good Place," "The Final Table," "The Nightflyers," "The Christmas Chronicles" and "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"JACK'S WINNERS: Matt Baume's Culture Cruise, LegalEagle and NHK WORLD-JAPAN all on YouTube, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "Hilda" Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and comment! Find us on Twitter: @PunchDrunk_TV, @flatlinejack and @aaronflux  Join the conversation on Facebook. Welcome to Episode 115.  

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! For this episode, we read and watched: Roald Dahl’s original novel, published in 1964. Read on Amazon or iBooks. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 movie directed by Mel Stuart, adapted by Dahl and David Seltzer, and starring Gene Wilder and Peter Ostrum. Watch on iTunes or Amazon. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the 2005 movie directed by Tim Burton, adapted by John August, and starring Freddie Highmore and Johnny Depp. Watch on iTunes or Amazon. Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 2017 direct-to-DVD animated musical comedy adaptation of the Gene Wilder movie. Not the book. It’s weird. Watch (or don’t) on iTunes or Amazon. Footnotes: Mr. Bucket, buckets of fun! Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, written by Dahl and published in 1972. Quentin Blake’s Willy Wonka vs. Joseph Schindelman’s Willy Wonka A comparison of the old, racist Oompa Loompas, and the revised Oompa Loompas Cracked.com’s The 6 Most Secretly Racist Children’s Books Was beloved children’s book author Roald Dahl a raging bigot? The Dead Authors Podcast Chapter 34: “Roald Dahl featuring Ben Schwartz” Scriptnotes, a podcast hosted by John August and Craig Mazin “Cheer Up, Charlie” The scene where the little girl almost gets hit in the face during the filming of Willy Wonka Matt Gourley’s I Was There Too: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Big Fish with John August” The trailer for Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (and Arielle’s reaction to watching it for the first time) You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com. If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Who knew children’s literature could be so creepy? Come relive the horror of the Vermicious Knids, a bored, eternal candymaker, and some very interesting fanfiction with Anna & Em this week as they tackle another childhood hateread, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: youtube.com/fretwiz. Rather Be Reading: Coraline by Neil Gaiman The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett Did you read any good Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fanfiction? Send us your best example! (Or original work???) Email: hatereadcast @ gmail Twitter: @hatereadcast, @emnoteliza, @amdeebee

In this episode, comedian Mary Mack reads "Attention Please! Attention Please!" by Roald Dahl. Mack is a nationally touring stand-up comic, beloved for her singular oddball folk humor. She's been on Conan and WTF with Marc Maron. Her latest album is Ms. Taco Man. “Attention Please! Attention Please!” by Roald Dahl appears in the book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, published by Puffin Books. Keep up with Mary Mack on Facebook, Twitter, and marymackcomedy.com. As always, the Haiku Hotline (612-440-0643) is open for your short poems and poetic musings. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe on RadioPublic, iTunes, or Stitcher.

Willy Wonka is a fictional character who appears in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its 1972 sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. He is the eccentric owner of the Wonka Chocolate Factory. Wonka has been portrayed in film multiple times. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tradepaperbacks/message --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rangerryan/message

Sharifah and Jenn discuss award news, female authors, and a new Kickstarter, and recommend middle-grade science fiction and fantasy. This episode is sponsored by Vanguard by Ann Aguirre and Genius: The Con by Leopoldo Gout.   News: 27 Female Authors Who Rule Science Fiction and Fantasy Right Now via EW Announcing the Winners of the 2016 Shirley Jackson Awards via Tor.com Colson Whitehead wins Arthur C Clarke Award via The Guardian World Fantasy Award nominees announced via Tor.com BACK THIS KICKSTARTER: Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction   Books Discussed: Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates by Caroline Carlson Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

As it's the centenary of Roald Dahl's we've spoken with a Willy Wonka whistleblower. Can a great glass elevator be true? How can it have so many buttons? We investigate...

Aquaman vs Namor. Black Manta's bizarre origin story. Deadman's giant high rise red collar. Shazam's short cape. Martian Manhunter's suspenders. And the Frankenstein Monster. Kurt and fellow DC nerd Dave Jahblahblahblah debate these incredibly important issues. They also discuss the passing of Gene Wilder, the announcement of Deathstroke in a solo Batman movie, the characters of Justice League Dark, whether the Rock's creative control over a Shazam film is a good thing, the return of Adam West & Burt Ward, and the growing CW TV universe. Finally, Tom Wilson aka Biff from Back to the Future is up to some interesting things, and the guys break down the meaning of his "I Am Pop Art" video.

The Ull Conference, Earnings, WWDC, Apple's Taxes, and more. Host: Andy Ihnatko Guests: John Gruber, Chris Breen, Jason Snell, and Rich Siegel Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes. Bandwidth for MacBreak Weekly is provided by CacheFly. Sponsors: Hover Audible

The Ull Conference, Earnings, WWDC, Apple's Taxes, and more. Host: Andy Ihnatko Guests: John Gruber, Chris Breen, Jason Snell, and Rich Siegel Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes. Bandwidth for MacBreak Weekly is provided by CacheFly. Sponsors: Hover Audible