McDonald's Inside Houston Museum of Natural Science

[IronTiger]

Help me out here: I know there's a McDonald's inside the Houston Museum of Natural Science (and frankly, kind of surprised there is still one) but I am curious of a few things. When I went to the museum in 2000 (and a few subsequent trips), it offered shaved ice (actually, just snow cones) and I seem to remember some sort of planet-themed meals as well exclusive to that McDonald's. Does anyone know when the McDonald's opened there, what sorts of things else it had, and when those things went away? Thanks...

[SpaceGhost]

I remember they offered a specialized kids meal for group orders. Where you would have the normal entree choice Hamburger, Chicken Nuggets, or Cheeseburger cookies for the side and a boxed juice or milk for your drink. They also offer some items like pretzels that you wouldn't find out of place at a Walmart McDonald's. I would guess it was opened around the time the IMAX theater was added around 1990. It has been since remodeled a few times. IIRC the soda fountains weren't originally customer accessible  and where behind the counters.

[IronTiger]

I remember they offered a specialized kids meal for group orders. Where you would have the normal entree choice Hamburger, Chicken Nuggets, or Cheeseburger cookies for the side and a boxed juice or milk for your drink. They also offer some items like pretzels that you wouldn't find out of place at a Walmart McDonald's. I would guess it was opened around the time the IMAX theater was added around 1990. It has been since remodeled a few times. IIRC the soda fountains weren't originally customer accessible  and where behind the counters.

They still offer pretzels, but they don't look too great. It was remodeled a few times, I seem to remember that in the not-too-distant past (2008), one was the main food counter and one was for desserts.

By the way, apparently the IMAX name is gone, all references now in-museum refer it to as the "Wortham Giant Screen".

[kylejack]

They still offer pretzels, but they don't look too great. It was remodeled a few times, I seem to remember that in the not-too-distant past (2008), one was the main food counter and one was for desserts.

By the way, apparently the IMAX name is gone, all references now in-museum refer it to as the "Wortham Giant Screen".

 

" The 24-year old theatre recently upgraded from IMAX 70mm film projection to stunning 4K digital with advanced 3D technology. Images of unsurpassed size, clarity and impact, enhanced by a superb six-track sound system, are projected onto a giant 60’ x 80’ foot screen."

http://www.hmns.org/?option=com_content&id=44&Itemid=6

[mkultra25]

" The 24-year old theatre recently upgraded from IMAX 70mm film projection to stunning 4K digital with advanced 3D technology. Images of unsurpassed size, clarity and impact, enhanced by a superb six-track sound system, are projected onto a giant 60’ x 80’ foot screen."

http://www.hmns.org/?option=com_content&id=44&Itemid=6

 

Wow. I don't think I'd consider that an "upgrade". I wonder if any IMAX licensing fees may have played a part in this decision? Sad that the first IMAX venue in Houston is no more, leaving the Edwards IMAX as the only true local IMAX theater. 

[kylejack]

I dunno, sounds pretty good... 60x80 screen still puts it near the very top of the IMAX range of screens.

[mkultra25]

The screen size isn't the problem, it's what they're using to project the image onto it. 4K projection should stack up adequately against standard 35mm projection. 35mm film has at best about 6K lines of resolution, although this is a rough number because film grain doesn't map precisely to pixels/lines of resolution. In practice, this "6K" is often much less as there's usually several levels of duplication in between the original camera negative and a release print, and you lose resolution at each one of those levels.

 

"Real" IMAX is 15-perforation 70mm film running horizontally instead of vertically, and as such has a vastly larger surface area and ultimate resolution compared to 35mm. It's usually said to have about 18K of resolution. 

 

When theatrical digital projection first started to take hold, 2K projection was the standard. 4K projectors have since become more common, and while the image a 4K projector throws onto a 60x80 foot IMAX screen probably won't suck, it's also nowhere near what's possible with 15/70 IMAX. But most people probably won't care, because it's "digital".