Orlando Science Center
777 E. Princeton Street
Orlando, Florida 32803
Saturday, October 13, 2012 – Sunday, April 7, 2013
I first received a flyer for this exhibit while attending 2012’s Star Wars Celebration VI at the Orlando Convention Center. Being a life-long “Star Wars” fan, I was immediately interested. Science mixed with fantasy? Where do I sign up. This exhibit was developed by the Museum of Science in Boston along with the collaboration of Lucasfilm Ltd, which makes me more excited. “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” is not just a couple of props, it is a 10,000 square-foot exhibit that transports you into the world of “Star Wars”.
This wonderful exhibit not display costumes and props from all six Star Wars films but it blends them with current technologies. Besides just viewing the exhibit you can also go one step further and get the inside world with many kiosks setup throughout with extensive video interviews with the filmmakers and even scientists and engineers. Even being such a big fan myself, I actually learned a lot of things that I never knew because of this. To be honest it is a bit overwhelming when you realize that you are literally standing right next to these props that really have been used on screen for these films. Of course, who doesn’t want to see the real Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder, Yoda puppet and Han Solo costume, just to name a few of the amazing sites included.
One aspect, I would like to focus on with this exhibit is the presentation from the Orlando Science Center. They really gave this exhibit a lot of respect and care. When you walk into the doors, you are put into a room with black sheets hanging from the ceiling. Then like the black sea, the curtain part like a theater and you are revealed to see the original and breath-taking Millennium Falcon. It was very well presented and a great way to start this tour. I also loved the complete atmosphere in the exhibit. The lights were dim but the props where perfectly lit. You are not allowed to use flash photography in the exhibit but you honestly do not even need it in order to get that perfect shot. It is setup so well that each item on display is surrounded by a wonderful halo
of light.
As much as I love “Star Wars”, I love the science behind. I mean who doesn’t spaceships and mechanical robots, just to start with? But like I said the exhibit doesn’t stop at displaying some amazing props from the “Star Wars” saga, it delivers much more. There are a lot of “real-life” aspects with that gives its visitors some real hands-on action. There are two Engineering Design Labs, where you can actually build and and play with your own speeders and robots. Does it get cooler than that? This is also not just for kids, there plenty of fun to have for us big kids as well! There is also a simulated ride where you can see what it is like to actually drive your own speeder, this was very cool!
The price of admission to the Orlando Science Center will run you a little steep $27 dollars per person, but it will also include entry into “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination”. I have to say as much as I liked it, I feel like it is a little pricey especially for a large groups of families. If you are a hardcore fan though, you will leave this exhibit very satisfied and believing you still got your money’s worth for sure. So with all that being said…Orlando, you still have two months left to experience this great exhibit before it continues its museum tour. It’s next stop will be at the Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, IN from Saturday, May 25th – Monday, September 2nd. I would highly recommend catching this.
For more information on the exhibit, please visit: www.mos.org/star-wars.
All photos are courtesy of the Orlando Science Center: