StormStruck – A Tale of Two Homes
In early February 2008, Walt Disney World announced a coming interactive Innoventions exhibit that would offer guests the opportunity to discover what it feels like to be in severe weather while learning about the associated risks and ways to protect the home.
Mickey at the announcement of the coming StormStruck
Then in May the Associated Press highlighted a Disney presentation at the Governor's Hurricane Conference about the developing exhibit further increasing my interest and excitement for the coming attraction. It said that "visitors would be shown how fortifying a home against a storm can change the outcome for the home. Two examples of homes will be used, one that survived Charley, and another that didn't."
StormStruck at Epcot
With these tidbits in mind Doobie and I headed out Monday to experience StormStruck. I was first struck by the visual difference entering Innoventions. It is quite a contrast to the almost sleep inducing forest that had previously filled that first spot. While I often meandered by the trees I never did participate in the activity. But StormStruck with its bright colors and frequent rumbling is a great addition to the ever increasing energy within Innoventions East. Just around the corner is the Waste Management exhibit where people push around garbage trucks and further down the path is the UL exhibit where guests attempt to smash TVs or slam doors to showcase the activities of product testing facilities.
But back to StormStruck -- apparently we are not alone in finding the new exhibit enticing as the wait time was about 40 minutes to enter. The queue is in the home that appears to have been damaged by a storm while the neighbor's house next door (the exit) looks just fine. Inside the queue while we wait to enter we learn about various ways to strengthen home structures and about the machines that have been developed to create extreme weather conditions to test these creations.
3-D film illustrates the power of a severe storm
StormStruck is a 3-D experience with some in-theater effects. I'm not a fan of in-theater effects of the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" or "Tough to Be A Bug" variety and thankfully this is not anywhere near that intense. Sitting in the theater it appears we are looking out our home windows at our detached garage and our neighbor's home. A storm approaches and the winds pick up. Debris begins to fly and takes advantage of our duck reflexes thanks to the 3-D glasses. Winds blow and we can feel the rain filled gusts hit our face from time to time. After the storm passes, the cast member briefly leads us through a variety of options to strengthen our home as we prepare for an upcoming storm. The next film sequence is impacted by the audience choices. For example we chose to plant a Sand Pine in our yard instead of a Magnolia tree. Immediately a Sand Pine pops up in our backyard and unfortunately the Sand Pine has shallow roots so when the second storm comes through that tree was quickly blown down. It will be fun to return and see the film changes in response to the audience replies.
Given the articles and announcements leading up to the exhibit, it was not at all what I had expected but that's not a bad thing. In retrospect I wonder if the AP description was connected to the FLASH (one of the exhibit sponsors) presentation "A Tale of Two Homes" which does focus on two homes in hurricane Charley. Due to the earlier information, I envisioned a standard documentary-style introductory film about two homes and the impact of a hurricane on them, followed by brief audience interaction that would impact a brief storm film finale. It was a very pleasant surprise to be hit immediately with a storm scenario after we entered the theater that featured high winds but was not ever specifically labeled anything other than severe storm. The initial sequence of destruction -- watching the neighbor's pool screen blow off, the outdoor grill go flying by, hearing the audience gasp and sigh when a power line fell on our car does a good job of setting the stage. When the interactive part follows there's more ownership to it. I had just experienced the effects of non-planning, let's see what can happen when I plan. And seeing the contrast in the storm effects on the homes between the first and second storm is a great motivator to take the knowledge home and apply it. So rather than being about home A and home B in a storm its the story of my two homes -- an unprepared one vs. the prepared one.
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