Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
221
Tips
A Cool Place to Cool Off
Club Cool
offers complimentary Coke products to everyone who enters. Just
don't expect to completely quench your thirst—drinks are served up in sampling
sizes here. And don't expect to find the same flavors you would in your local gro-
cery, either—the products served here come from all over the world, and flavors
are often unique. If, however, you're truly in need of a drink, full-size servings (in
familiar flavors only) are available for purchase—the oversized “build your own”
character cups make a great souvenir (and this is the only spot in Mickeyville that
I've come across them). In addition you'll find an assortment of Coca-Cola mer-
chandise. The club is located just outside Innoventions West, on your left as you
exit the walkway heading to the plaza outside Mission: Space and Test Track.
Innoventions East and West
Frommer's Rating:
B+ for hungry minds and game junkies
Recommended Ages:
8-adult
Innoventions East, behind Spaceship Earth and to the left as you enter the park, features
the House of Innoventions. It's a preview of tomorrow's smart house, but many of its
products are already on the market (at astronomical prices). Its refrigerator has an
Internet-savvy computer that can make a grocery list and place the order. A smart picture
frame can store and send photos to other smart frames. And its toilet has a seat warmer,
automatic lid opener and closer, and a sprayer and blow dryer that eliminate the need for
toilet paper if you're worldly. On the east side,
Don't Waste It
is filled with edu-taining
games about garbage—and how we can reduce what we produce. Across the plaza at
Innoventions West, crowds flock to Video Games of Tomorrow, which has nearly three
dozen game stations.
Where's the Fire,
geared to smaller kids, teaches the basics of fire
safety and demonstrates how firefighters fight fires with the help of a pump truck. At
Storm Struck,
the focus is on wild weather, as hurricanes, tornados, and other storms are
explored in a 3-D theater. Strangely enough, the next exhibit planned for the area
revolves around financial planning—talk about timing!
Note:
The Underwriters Laboratories exhibit at Innoventions East, the
Test the Lim-
its Lab,
has six kiosks that let kids and fun-loving adults try out a variety of products. In
one, you can pull a rope attached to a hammer that crashes into a TV screen to see if it's
shatter resistant. In another, you can push a button that releases a magnet that falls onto
a firefighter's helmet.
The Land
Frommer's Rating:
B+ for environmentalists, gardeners; C+ for others
Recommended Ages:
8-adult
The largest of Future World's pavilions highlights food and nature.
Living with the Land
is a 13-minute boat ride through three ecological environments
(a rainforest, an African desert, and the windswept American plains), each populated by
appropriate audio-animatronic denizens. New farming methods and experiments rang-
ing from hydroponics to plants growing in simulated Martian soil are showcased in real
gardens. If you'd like a more serious overview, take the 45-minute
Behind the Seeds
guided walking tour of the growing areas, offered daily. Sign up at the Green Thumb
6
