Kelly,
Thanks for the suggestion. Let me explain again- there were certain "givens" on this assignment: First, you have to use the existing building - you can't add rooms or change the nature of the basic experience (e.g. a "walk through"). Second, the budget did not allow for creating entirely new rooms. Third, we had to accomplish all the changes and get the new show on its feet. And 4th, we couldn't add a cast member - the original show was based around ONE actor - we had to leave the operations budget the same as we found it.
So - the challenge in this case is take the existing format, the existing number of cast, the existing show equipment, and then to do something dramatically different that really makes the show more entertaining that previous versions. (Remember, there were two other attempts to enhance the show by doing exactly some of the things mentioned by other people here on the message boards. Its not that those changes didn't make a difference, is just they were not of a magnitude to change the overall perception of the attraction.)
I love a good challenge. As I said before -- while this is not how I would have designed an attractino based on Poseidon had I been brought on to do it originally, I think it's a great new story and that it meets all the parameters I had to work within. And I want to be clear that I am not making excuses - I like the show a lot - I just saw it again two weeks ago - in fact I saw it five times with five different audiences who all seemed to like it a lot.
But, I do appreciate your ideas and its a unique approach to the finale. By adding another room though, you do add more time to the show, and yet another transition from room to room - so you have to think about what that timing does to the overall capacity of the show. That's another thing you have to always keep in mind when creating these shows - you have to keep capacity up so that it gets the proper number of people per hour through the gate.
Its certainly a challenging medium to work in -- we have more rules to deal with than any other entertainment medium -- in film, theatre, television you have a great deal more flexibility in how to tell your stories. You don't have to worry about capacity issues, fire exits, safety rules that require you to look at head room for all effects, etc. etc. --
Anyway - again, thanks for the comments ---