Showing posts with label Innoventions. Show all posts
New Epcot Attraction Called Habit Heroes Added To Innoventions
Habit Heroes
Habit Heroes, presented by Florida Blue and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, debuted at the Innoventions East Pavilion in Epcot on February 3, 2012. It continues the theme of adding interactive activities to the Innoventions Pavilions that help guests learn while they are having fun.
During Habit Heroes Epcot guests will meet Will Power and Callie Stenics and help them battle against villains like Sweet Tooth and The Snacker. The goal is for kids of all ages to learn healthy lifestyle habits and to become more active.
Habit Heroes can be found inside the Innovations East Pavilion and joins some other interactive attractions that families can enjoy together. All too often Innoventions is skipped in favor of more high profile attractions. This is a shame since there are worthwhile interactive activities that can be discovered inside.
One of the nice things about the Innoventions Pavilions is that the attractions will change over time, bringing new experiences to enjoy.
One of the Innoventions East attractions that you should check out is called: Storm Struck. You can witness the devastating force of storms and learn how to protect yourself in the event one hits your area.
The most popular Innoventions attraction is called Sum Of All Thrills presented by Raytheon. Here you can design your own thrill ride and then get to "ride" it with the help of a 6-axis robot simulation. Great fun that should not be missed!
Think Green At Epcot Innoventions With "Don't Waste It"
"Don't Waste It" brought to you by Waste Management
I'll have to admit when I saw the full size garbage truck in the Innoventions Pavilion, I assumed that "Don't Waste It" was a Waste Management commercial disguised as an attraction. After experiencing "Don't Waste It" first hand, I came away very impressed and actually learned a few things about waste handling and how we can make a difference.
Make no mistake, this is still Disney World and the goal of the attraction is to entertain you first, and hopefully you learn something along the way.
"Don't Waste It" takes your team (family) through a series of stations to first learn about your current waste creating and handling habits and then learn how you can make a difference through Recycling, Using Waste As Fuel, and Finally Capturing a Renewable Energy Source (Methane Gas) from Landfills.
The learning happens through the use of fun, interactive, video games at each of the stations. You also get to take your own miniature Waste Management Garbage Truck from station to station encoded with your team's information.
Sort It Out - Recycling
The first challenge is called Sort It Out. Here we are introduced to the concept of Single Stream Recycling. This means that there is not a need to have separate collection containers for glass, metal, paper, & plastic. It can all go to the recycling center in a single stream.
The video game that your family plays has each member help sort the material to be recycled into its separate categories. The game is fun and you have to pay attention.
Here is a quick video explaining Single Stream Recycling:
Fuel The Burn
The next challenge is called "Fuel The Burn." Here you learn that often garbage can serve as fuel to power electrical turbines, thereby turning garbage into electricity. You family works together to bring garbage to the facility and then feeding the correct mix of wet and dry garbage to keep the incinerator burn at peak efficiency.
The better you are able to accomplish this task the more energy you can generate.
Land Fill Up
The last challenge is called Land Fill Up. Here we learn that Landfills can be tapped to collect the methane gas that is naturally generated by the garbage as it decomposes. Waste Management currently has 110 landfills designed to capture this renewable resource and uses it to power 400,000 homes daily.
Think Green!
By completing the games and challenges found at "Don't Waste It" we learn how there is much more to garbage than just throwing your items in the garbage cans and taking to the curb each week.
I also learned that Waste Management is not just a Waste Hauler, but also a company that is using state of the art technology and processes in order to lessen the impact to the environment for all of the garbage that we generate.
The best course of action is to not generate the waste in the first place, but it was great to learn that there is a lot of great technology being put to use to handle our garbage!
Innoventions Hit Attraction!
"Don't Waste It" should be considered an attraction that is definitely worth visiting. The interactive video challenges are fun, and the learning experiences are a bonus.
Innoventions attractions have come and gone over the years, with some being successful and others, no so. "Don't Waste It" fulfills the first requirement of being entertaining and it also fits right in at Epcot's Future World by providing a better look at the benefits that technology is providing to our world.
You can learn more about recycling and Waste Management's efforts to be at the forefront of using innovative ways to handle our waste at: Think Green. As you can tell from the sign that is proudly placed on the side of their Garbage Truck: "The Waste We Collect Helps Power Over One Million Homes," Waste Management is serious about Thinking Green!
Epcot Gets Great New Attraction Called "The Sum Of All Thrills"
On Tuesday of last week while at Disney World, I had the opportunity to experience first hand Epcot’s newest attraction on its opening day: “The Sum Of All Thrills” found in the Innoventions East Pavilion.
This new attraction is sponsored by Raytheon and it is something that you want to check out for yourself!
Like most attractions in the Innoventions Pavilions there are learning aspects involved with the experience. “The Sum Of All Thrills” eschews the benefits of math and science and encourages folks to consider becoming an engineer (for the next 20-30 minutes if not for a career).
Amongst all of the great things that engineers can innovate and design, thrill rides are the topic for the day. By utilizing the specialized tools provided, the guests will get to design their own thrill ride and then test it out on the special simulators.
The simulators are specially designed robots by KUKA with 6 axis motion that when combined with a special viewing screen, allow you to experience the thrills of the ride that you designed.
The Sum Of All Thrills
The Briefing RoomThe attraction starts with a short video clip, where you are introduced to the attraction and told about the importance of math and science to engineers. By utilizing tools fueled by math and science the engineers can design great things.
Then it is explained what the guest will get to do.
After your initial choice, you start to pick elements for your ride. Again they range from relatively mild to wild. After the element is chosen you can further customize it by adjusting the size and speed. The machine will show you if you have picked a combination that will work or will crash. If it crashes, you can make adjustments to fix it.
After several more elements are chosen, then you name your creation and it is saved onto a card with a magnetic strip.
The Simulator
The last and most fun phase is to actually ride your creation. You give your card to the person manning the simulator (there are 4 identical simulators), who will swipe the card in a reader and the information will transfer to the simulator.
You then get in the simulator and they lower the hatch to bring the view screen into view and hold you in position. (There is a panic button that you can press to stop at any point if you so desire.) Then the simulation begins. It is unbelievably smooth. You experience the movements, turns, and motion of a roller coaster without the jerks and jarring rattles that sometimes accompany the coasters.
I think that the only thing missing was the sensation of wind blowing as you went along the track. If they could add that feature, I think you would get the full sensation of the speed that you are simulation. Otherwise I would rate this very highly.
I have tried the Roller Coaster Simulator at DisneyQuest and although it is very similar, this simulator provides a better overall experience.
Conclusion:
"The Sum Of All Thrills" is a great addition to Innoventions East and should definitely be added to your list of Future World attractions to see during your next trip to Disney World and Epcot.
Tags:
Epcot
,
Innoventions
