Mickey's Mini Garden, The Dragon Fruit Souvenir

In all the years of going to Walt Disney World parks probably one of the best souvenirs that we've ever taken away has to be something that's actually alive and still is after three years.  What I'm referring to is the Dragon Fruit plant that my son Quinn used some of his souvenir money for at the Land in Epcot.

Right across from the travel desk at the entrance to Soarin' is a small store kiosk.  They always have these really cool clear boxes of what looks like clear gel with a little small plants sprout, that is for sale.  Each plant is cloned from one original plant behind the scenes in the Land building.  Each one goes for about $10.00, at least at the time we bought it, and there were a lot of varieties.  Most of these plants are found in the greenhouse.  They have a binder at the counter that has each of the plants that are for sale on an info sheet so you can get details before you buy your plant.  Quinn really liked the idea of the  dragon fruit plant, so that's what he got. 
 
One time when we were on the tour of the greenhouse we saw how they created the cloned plants to use for these cool "Mini-Gardens".  The one of the container is a borrowed pic to show what it looks like.  Our pic did not make it due to a bad camera at the time.  Thanks to the Main Street Gazette.
 
Another good side effect of the nutrition gel that's packed around the plant fragment is that it gives you some time until you need to transplant the plant.  We did not actually transplant it until about three months later.  It survived fine.  Quinn did the transplanting and I watched and all seemed well and the plant took off from the beginning.  It's a really weird plant in that it grows in a lot of different ways and kind of reminds me of an Aloe Vera plant.  We follow the directions, indirect sunlight, water, fertilizer and after a year and 1/2 it was about four or 5 inches tall with three or four off shoots.
Last year we went back to WDW and went on the tour of the greenhouse in the Land again.  Quinn had taken pictures of his plant on his phone and brought them with us.(Could not find them for this post, will keep looking)  In the course of the tour, because he had told our tour guide and showed him the pictures he made it a point two crossed paths with the Cast Member that was responsible for creating those souvenirs.  Quinn was very proud to show her his pictures of the dragon fruit plant.  She actually seemed impressed and then went further to say that most people's plants don't really last more than a year.  She were really made Quinn's day with that comment.


So it's a little over three years later since we've planted the dragon fruit plant and it has grown incredibly.  Unfortunately it has grown horizontally and we're still trying to figure out how to keep it in check.  It seems very fragile where the branches connect so we try not to move it around too much and that's why it has gotten a little out of control.  The girl at Epcot told us that once we make it 5 years the plant should begin to flower.  Once it does then we need to do some research about self pollinating so the plant can eventually grow fruit.

Just to give you an idea of what a dragon fruit, fruit looks like, here is one we got at the store the other day and as for the taste and consistency goes, it tastes like a pear and felt like eating a kiwi.  A very good experience all around.  We discovered the secret of eating kiwi this year and that you cut it in half and use a spoon to spoon out the fruit.  No more messy peeling of the kiwi.  Same process worked well for the dragon fruit.  We can't wait until our plant gives us fruit like this.  Although I am not holding my breath. 

Have you ever bought a Mickey's Mini-Garden while at WDW?  If so please leave a comment and let me know how it went the last time we were down, a much sure if it was that they were just out of them, but there were no fruit plants and I can't remember the exact name, but it was a fern that the leaves closed when you touched it.  Very cool.  So let us know if you tried any of the plants.

New Technology in Epcot's American Experience

One of the things that impresses me the most about Walt Disney World is their sense of technology.  It seems that while some other amusement parks find something that works and sticks with it for years and years, Disney never waits until something is obsolete to replace or upgrade it.  Some of the biggest complaints from WDW world fans is when a ride is replaced or updated.  This idea of updating technology and staying in the fore-front has been part of Walt Disney's ideals from long ago.  Here are some really great quotes from Walt Disney about this:

"I believe in being an modivator."

"Whenever I go on a ride, I'm always thinking of what's wrong with the thing and how it can be improved."

"It's something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing...and adding to."

"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."

"EPCOT will be an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."

And one of my favorite Walt quotes:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Well one of the "new paths" is now found at the American Experience in Epcot and we were happy to see this the last time we were there.  The American Experience pavilion has three main areas.  The first is the Main Lobby, where there are great paintings and where the Voices of Liberty perform.  The second area is the gallery exhibit called National Treasures and the third is the main show area. 

Inside the National Treasures area the WDW Imagineers have introduced of of those new technologies in the form of a 3d imaging lamp, to tell the story of the items on display.  I wish I had taken more video.  Here is what it looked like:

 

 

This is such a great way to grab the interest of the park guests as they walk through the exhibit.  Let me know what you think.  Have you seen these new lanterns?  Post your thoughts below.

Monstrous Summer at Disney

A little while ago, the Execs at WDW put on a presentation at Epcot with a couple of our favorite Monsters as special HUGE guests.  The parks are happy to announce that this is going to be a Monstrous Summer of fun.  To start off, they are once again throwing  an all night party which is happening at the Magic Kingdom Park in Florida and Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure park in California. The parks will stay open from 6 a.m., May 24 to 6 a.m., May 25, 2013.  Wish I could Go!  For those that missed it, here is the way it was announced.  Thanks to Ricky at Inside the Magic for the great video.

Her is another version of the video I found.  It looks like they did a test run first.  The other thing to take note is that the above I had assumed was on the back of SpaceShip Earth, but could not tell.  The below video of this announcement is done in an empty Epcot and it is defiantly the front of SpaceShip Earth.  Thanks to the Disney Parks Blog for getting this out there for us.

I was also lucky to find this third video of the event with some great behind the scenes interviews of the Imagineers who put this together.

Epcot's Test Track V2

I am happy to introduce a Guest Blogger today, my son Quinn.  We just got back from a quick one day trip to Epcot and the kids' only price was to each write a Blog post.  Here is the price he paid.  It was well worth it for both of us!

On March 26, 2013, during our trip to Florida for Spring Break, we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Epcot theme park for the day. Though we spent the day hitting the rides we usually hit, and a new experience in Innovations (See Habit Heroes Article), we were even more excited for the new version of Test Track, recently renovated. This version, now sponsored by Chevy, featured the way cars are designed, rather than how they are tested. At first glance, and from reports about the ride, it seemed to be just as great as the original Test Track, but it turned out to be better.

Because of our normal schedule of getting into the park, sending either me (Quinn), or Dad (Ed), to get fastpasses for Soarin’, we missed the huge development of the stand-by line at Test Track. It was at 40 minutes so we decided to take the single rider line, to avoid the long wait. Though it was obvious the normal line had a more in-depth demonstrations about how cars were designed, the line we went on, had a slick silver sports car, and models of engines, one normal one, and one that seemed futuristically possible. We also passed through the area were we would choose our design.

The monitors were on a platform, about four on each side of the platform, and displayed a choice of four different attributes of a car, Power, Efficiency, Responsiveness, and Speed.  After you chose one, it would give you a set of cars to pick, and you would record that onto either your Key to the Kingdom card, available only if you were staying at a resort hotel, or a white card given at the beginning of the platform.

One thing I noticed as we walked through the line is that the single riders have to choose from a set of cars that were pre-made, while the normal line riders would be able to shape and mold their car choice. This was discovered as we walked through the line, because of a glass wall that looked down on the normal line’s monitors. After going through where the engines were displayed, the loading dock for the cars came into view, where you would be matched up with any odd numbered party.

 

Due to what I suspect is a way to cut down the price of this renovation, the track wasn’t different, at all. What was around the track was. After going through the Seatbelt check, the cars, now designed like they had technological wires running around the car, took you up the hill where the power test would be conducted. This was tested by going down the track at a high speed, and using the brakes. After going through the test, the results were shown, ranking our virtual cars that we made by earlier. Next, the Efficiency was tested, by going through various tests to decipher that miles per gallon, and the aerodynamics of the created cars. Once again the results were shown. The Responsiveness test was next, and this test had you curving around the winding road, through the forest. After almost colliding with a virtual truck, the results are again shown (My car ranked first for this one). Next was the one everybody enjoys, which was the Speed test. This sent you flying against a wall, only for it to open just before you hit it, sending you to the outdoor track, which loops around the back parking lot, and to the front of the attraction. After the rankings are shown, you are taken back to the loading dock, where you would exit.

After you get your photos from the Speed Test, you enter a room where you can create your own car commercial, using your virtual car. Unfortunately, we did not get to experience this as we walked to the next room. In the next room, there were games, in which there was a track, and you could key in your car to race around a virtual track. Continuing on, there were car models filling half the room, as another room revealed the gift shop. We had to return our cards, as they were to be reused by other riders.

In my opinion, this ride was just as great, if even better than the original. One downside I found was the tests were just put in to match the track, but besides that, the ride fit together nicely. It was nice to see how the cars were created, for the four attributes, and how a balance of each was a great car.

Epcot's Food and Wine Chase Lounge

While down on the BOGP Epic Event and the first weekend of Food & Wine at Epcot, my friend Jackie and I were lucky enough to get invited into the Chase Lounge at the Food & Wine Headquarters located in the Wonders of Life Pavilion.  As to the getting invited, well us and a few million of our closet friends that own a Chase Disney Credit card were invited. 

I was not planning any special Food&Wine events so it was nice to have a reason to go into the Wonders of Life Pavillion one more time.  We were lucky to get in there with all of the rides a couple of holiday seasons ago right before it closed up for good.  The Pavilion looked great inside.  The ceiling had been cleaned and was very white.  The floor was set up with many vendor tables and small areas of either rows of seats for the speakers or tables and chairs for food/wine tasting.  The lounge itself was across the pavilion from where the door is.  There was a CM forming a line and monitoring how many people go in at once. 

Once in, it was very nice.  The room itself is not large, but medium sized.  It had a couple couch areas around TV's.  There was a soda machine and a Iphone/Ipod/Ipad charging table, very cool.  There was also a large touch-screen TV that gave you the map for Food&Wine and food ideas.  And to finish it off they had a small table in the corner where there was a Cast Member giving out wristbands for the special standing area for Illuminations that night.


Entry Door to right.  Charging table far center. Refreshements left. First Couch area bottom.

Back to First Couch Area, Otherside of room left is Illuminations table.  Other couch area.  Touchscreen to left. Soda back and far right.

Touchscreen Map of food and Wine

There were bathrooms behind where the soda machines were and there were also baskets of candy spread throughout the room.  This was very nice.  The second Couch area showed cartoon shorts while the first area showed Chase commercials.  The seats were super comfy and did I mention the AC was cranked.  We stayed for about 15 minutes and really recharged our batteries. 
If you've got the Chase card, make some time and stop into the Wonders of Life pavilion and the lounge.  The exhibition tables seemed open to everyone and not just people registered for F&W events.
Let me know what you think?  Did you visit and take some better Photos?  Send them on and I'll post them.

Epcot's 30th Maps

One week ago today I was very lucky to be down in Walt Disney World and able to go to Epcot on it's 30th Birthday.  However, I was flying out that day so I was very limited in being able to attend any of the planned Epcot 30th events.  Most were held in the afternoon and I figured correctly that I would be able to catch up on the events thru Youtube.  Thanks to Ricky, from Inside the Magic.


I was however, able to get the special button you see above and the Park Map for the day.  What was great about the park map, was once unfolded it showed the various stages of growth that Epcot has undergone over the years. Here are some of the parts of that map:

Just think in 1982, I was a Junior in high school and had only to that point been to WDW once.  Wow do things change.

The "We're Going to Walt Disney World" Podcast Show # 7

On this weeks show we spin the Wheel of Attractions one more time. This week the wheel landed on Peter Pan’s Flight. We all agreed that this is a great attraction and we talk about some of the things we like about the ride, some of the things we think they can add, and some tips about the line.

We next try out a new segment called “Beyond the Rides”. In this segment we discuss things we like to do at the WDW resort…that are not rides. We thought we’d switch it up between the Family Tip segment and this new one. This week we talk about the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot’s the Land pavilion. We really liked this tour and the price and time needed were just right to do with the family. You can listen as we actually slip and give up a great family tip with this tour.

 

Our Disney-Net-Check this week is the Disney History Blog run by an internet friend of mine, Didier Ghez. This site is a source of incredible insights, interviews and articles about Walt and the Walt Disney Studios. He also has a great line of books of which volume 10 has just been released. Walt’s People are a set of books that let you read interviews of many of the people that worked with Walt and the Studios.

We also announce the winner of our first ever contest. I think I said first annual on the show. We’ll do this more often than annual. So Tune in for a really great show!

Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot

Walt Disney World offers a number of behind the scenes tours. Each park offers different types of tours. One of the tours that we took last summer was the Behind the Seeds tour. This tour was help in the Land at Epcot. It is a tour of the greenhouses in the “This is the Land” attraction. We had looked at doing this the last couple of trips and finally did it. Of all the tours this is the least expensive. I think we paid $14 each and were able to get a 10% discount using our Disney Visa card.
We paid for the tour and waited for our Tour Guide downstairs on the Land at the Soarin Information Desk. We got our name tags and waited about 5 minutes as other guests strolled up. The Tour Guide came out and off we went. We went out the doors right their near the bathrooms and walked to a set of doors that lead to the laboratory areas of the pavilion. In here we heard about the science involved in creating new plants by such processes like grafting. After that we saw a quick video about the good insects that they use to help the plants. This would come into play later. From here we were off into the greenhouses. As you see the kids go through those doors, it is over pressured in that there was a big blast of air as we entered.
One of the biggest warnings we got was to not walk on any of the sand that the plants were growing in. The threat of plant killing microbes coming in on our shoes was a big threat. As you go through on the ride you’ll see some cast members wearing white booties on their shoes. Pictures were allowed on this tour and we asked a lot of questions. Hope released some ladybugs to fight the bad bugs and all the kids on the tour were allowed to feed the Tilapia. We walked through every section that you see on the ride and were offered samples of the harvest to try out. Cucumbers. The tour itself is about 1 ½ hours and was very informative. Just seeing the people going by in the tour boats was pretty cool. We were in many pictures that day. Some people would wave at you if you looked at them. Very fun. We finished where we started. I’d like to try this again in a couple of years to see what’s changed. I give this tour…wait for it…two GREEN thumbs up!

YouTube Disney Gold:HISTA Pre-Show from the Past

Honey I Shrunk the Audience is an attraction located in the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot. One of my fondest memories of this attraction has always been it's pre-show video by Kodak. Up until around 2003 that is. That is when they changed it. The Epcot Imagineers are 0-2 in my mind with their changes to this pre-show and the changes to Figment. I was lucky enough to find a audio version of the soundtrack, "True Colors" from the pre-show a couple of years ago. We played it a lot. It is not Cyndi Lauper but some studio artists doing a great job. I just came across the video on Youtube just the other day. It was great to see the syncing up of the song to the video. I was also reminded of the most inspiring part of the the video, the 'text messages' that are shown through-out the pre-show:

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR IMAGINATION
Use it
Ask questions
Take risks
Take a picture
Take a vacation
Take a vacation without leaving your house
Be curious
Expect...the unexpected
Invent your own language
Think
Backwards Think
Doodle
Build a model…without the instructions
Look at the world…from a different angle
EXERCISES FOR YOUR IMAGINATION
Stretch your mind
Play “What if?”
Pick up a camera…and see what develops
Stay up all night
Write with your opposite hand
Take a blank piece of paper…then do something with it
Make believe
Remember: Things aren’t always what they seem
HOW TO JUMP-START YOUR IMAGINATION
Think about something else
Talk to yourself
Talk to the animals
Look at the BIG picture
Look at Nature for inspiration
Play
Be playful
Look at the world through the eyes of a child
HOW TO COME UP WITH AN IDEA
Brainstorm
Don’t procrastinate
Turn your thinking inside out
Notice the little things
Get in touch with your inner child
Loosen up
Stay focused
Daydream
Paint something
Use all the colors of your imagination
Imagination comes in many colors
The first rule of imagination: There are no rules
If you can imagine it, you can do it.
Believe in yourself
Never say never
Imagine the possibilities…are endless
True colors are beautiful like a rainbow

I would always try to take some part of that message away with me each time we would visit this attraction. Note the obvious Kodak plugs above in purple.

Take some time and watch the video and really see if you won't really like this flashback.

Epcot Announces India

Walt Disney World Welcomes India...

There have been many discussions about the countries that did not make it into the World Showcase of Epcot. I have heard many podcasts and read many great articles about what countries the Imagineers had planned to use to upgrade World Showcase. Argentina, Australia, South Africa and many more. What would it be like if WDW management had decided they liked India? India is a big part of our world. We don’t know a lot about their country and there seems to be a big draw for Indian food since there tends to be a couple Indian restaurants in every town. Let’s find out with this announcement from Meg Crofton:

"Walt Disney World would like to welcome our newest country to the Crown of Jewels that is our World Showcase area of Epcot. With Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, America, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada, we are happy and proud to introduce our newest World Showcase Country: India. India calls to mind the wonderful people and culture of its land, the exotic jungles and mountains of its landscape and its mysterious and beautiful animals.
As you walk through this newest of Epcot's pavilions you will experience the wonder and beauty of India all around you. As you explore you will find a new state of the art 3Dx3D attraction, two incredible new Indian themed restaurants and shopping opportunities from all parts of India.
The WDW Imagineers have out-done themselves with the first ever use of 3Dx3D. Adventures of India will have you travel to middle India on a photographic Tiger Hunt. Try to get the best picture as you explore through the thick grasslands experiencing the wildlife of India thru audio, video and 3Dx3D technology. Mid-way thru your journey a couple of old friends from Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book make sure your see the very best of India and its wildlife.
After building up an appetite on the Adventures of India ride, come and join us in the Bukhara Mahal our new 5 star Table Service restaurant offering the finest cuisine of all regions of India. Its wonderful indoor/outdoor dining areas are complimented by beautiful tile work and fountains with exceptional service. If you’re in the mind for a lighter snack, then stop and eat at Louie’s Grill, our newest counter service restaurant serving a smaller menu full of quality.
And before leaving India, you must stop at one of the two gift stores where you are promised to find many treasures from India. We are very proud of the job we have done on this new Pavilion, we know you will enjoy it to. Thank you."
Stay tuned to this media outlet for more details about our new Indian pavilion and it’s offerings.

Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, Norway:Completed

On our trip down to WDW this past January we had the chance to try out the new Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. This was fantastic. A truly interactive, I can’t wait to see what happens next, kind of activity. It is a great way to give kids, big and small, a new experience in the World Showcase at EPCOT. I am going to go through the experience in detail, so there might be spoilers(Pssst, pssst, there will be spoilers...and pictures...and video). But, since this is only for Norway and since there is suppose to be 6-7 more adventures, you could read this one and plan on doing all the other Adventures first. I’ll also not tell the exact story so that will be kinda new when you do this. This was really fun.
I had heard about this from the various podcasts I listen to, but had really forgotten about it until we saw the Kim Possible sign recruiting to ‘Save the World’ directing us into Inoventions West. Right inside the door to the left is a Kim Possible (KP) Wall with various stations with a monitor at each. They are touch sensitive and you read through a number of screens asking about your party and telling you the beginnings of a story about Kim and Ron not being available and could you help out. Next to the machine is a slot that spit out a Fastpass looking card that had a country name (Norway) and a time that our Adventure would begin. I think we started at 12:45. We had some time so we hit Club Cool. Got the 8 year old with Beverly, but that’s another story, and strolled through Mexico. The KP stand was easy to spot as were the Cast Members. Nice Ron stoppable looking Purple shirts. We handed over our pass and were given a cell phone looking device. We were told how to use them and then we were directed to get about 100 feet away from the cart. Even though there were specific times to start the adventure, you did not have to be there at the time that was on your ticket, so there was a little bit of sound over-lap between our team and others. We listened to Wade describe a World Class disaster in the making and we need follow clues through Norway to solve the mission. I have never been in the Stave Church in all my times down to Epcot and that’s the first place the game took us. Wade directs you to a place and then asks a question that can be answered by reading or looking around where you are sent. Here is one example. In the Stave Church there is a replica of a famous Norwegian boat, can’t remember the name. Wade’s question, that will help us catch the villain, was how long was the boat. The question has four possible answers and you pick the right one to continue the adventure. SPOILERS: The interactivity was great. At one point Wade had us look at Japan and smile. A picture of us from a hidden camera was then sent to our phone/device. Again, the interactivty with the Norway pavailion was great. We caused smoke to rise out of one of the chimmneys near the Maelstrom. We lit lanterns for signals and had flags raised

over a Dragon as an answer to a vital question and even talked to a famous norwegian marathon runner's statue. There was a great finale which you'll need to see and then you dumpedthe device into a trunk near the entrance to the Maelstrom. This was great. I saw parts of Norway I have never seen before. The Stave Church and Perrin's Roost and just the general details of Norway. It took about 40 minutes and I can see us doing this at least once or twice on our next trip. I can't wait to do China or Japan next. Let me know if you've done any other countries.

It's all in the Details; Epcot

Have you ever seen this scene before as you walk from England to France in Epcot's World Showcase? I have past this and taken pictures and have always loved it. This past trip I learned something that a lot of people probalbly know already, but it was a wonderful surprise to me. As I got closer I got another picture close up. With Disney, it's all in the details. After I took the close up picture I looked up and right across the river saw the scene in the painting. Without the boat, true, but the detail is really incredible. It makes sense that the artist would have been painting the scene in front of him, but to really see it for the first time was very cool. Hat's off to the Imagineers!

Horizons Revisited

I just came across a great post over at the Disney and More Blog. Alain posted an article about Horizons, that great, but extinct attraction from Epcot Center. There are a ton of pictures and video of the ride itself at the end of the article. Just the picture of the Imagineer painting the murals in the attraction is very cool Also look for links to a bunch of other attractions at the end of his post. Spaceship Earth, the Living Seas, and The Land to name a few. So check out this very well laid out post and have fun with the memories.

Fantastic Plastics Works At Epcot's Innoventions East

FANTASTIC PLASTICS WORKS PRESENTED BY THE SOCIETY OF THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY, INC

On our last trip to WDW we did something I have never done before which falls into the general theme of this trip. We spent a lot of time at the Innoventions exhibits In Epcot. For the most part, on previous trips, we would bypass this to get further into the park and usually as we passed that way again later on, Innoventions would be closed. This trip however, we all decided that we want to spend some time exploring the exhibits they had to offer. They were all fun, but today I wanted to talk about the Fantastic Plastic Works or the Robot Exhibit sponsored by THE SOCIETY OF THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY, INC. This caught our eye because of the size of the area and all of the activity going on around it. This exhibit is billed as a Design your own robot, compete with it and then build it. It is not quite that as you will see. As you wait online, there is an area of monitors and devices that show you how molecules are combined to create different types of plastic. The next step is to get into the intro area. Here we had all of the specifics about what we were to do explained as we waited for the group in front of us to finish. Once they were done we were escorted into the computer area. Each person had a big terminal to create their own robot on. The wife and I did not take a station, we hung behind the kinds in order to help them out. You have control over all aspects of designing your Robot. It can be designed for looks or performance. The idea is that after your design is done, you can then run a race versus about 10 other people’s robots. So along with looks you want to make sure it is fast or maneuverable. To make your robot go, there are large pads on the floor that you need to run on. There are also pads to move right or move left. The race course is more like and obstacle course. I think you jump but jumping and landing on both feet. There is a time limit for all of the above. The boy did well in the race, our daughter did not do as good. Even with me jumping in at one point to keep her robot on course. However, at the end, everyone is asked to vote for the coolest robot designed. The big screen let you see everyone’s robot. My daughter came in first in design. My son came in 4th. After this part was over we were moved along into another area where we were able to grab parts for our robots. Here was the confusing part. The robot you build is not the one you designed. We had thought that this attraction was smart enough to take our design, produce the parts and let us build it. But, not the case. There is a standard robot design that they have the parts for. So, two legs, two arms, two sides of the head and two sides of the body is all you need to assemble your robot. At the back of this room was a plastic press machine making the parts we were using. It appeared to be really making the parts as they were dumped into a barrel at the end of the process. All automated and very cool. We took Tobor and Alice home with us. This post came about because we just dug them up this past weekend to play with. Here is a link with more information about this exhibit from AmericanChemistry.com And here is an extra bonus, the web site that let's you do everything that you can do at the exhibit. It's Fantastic Plastic Works. This is a very fun site. Enjoy.