Spandex and Underoos!
Like promised, here is the report of our fieldtrip to the Marvel Super Heroes Science Exhibition. Arrived at the California Science Center at about 2pm, with light traffic. A BIG difference from when were in the same area during the RBD concert. USC had something going on at the Coliseum that let out at the same time we were leaving, and that caused a little traffic, but not all that bad really. The next available time slot open for the exhibit was 2:30pm, so we got our tickets ($8.75 for adults) and proceeded to the exhibit entrance, which was located on the third floor.
Managed to snap a few pictures of the decorations in the lobby for the exhibit. There were a couple of cool images of Spidey, plus an activity where you could do a little rock climbing, just like Spidey. (Well, maybe not JUST like Spidey, but as close as you can get!) And that's the whole purpose of the exhibit anyway. It introduces us to the characters, their powers, the science behind their powers, and the reality of those powers in our everyday world. They try to explain how advances in science are making things such as Iron Man's armor, or Doc Ocks Tentacles, possible.
Made our way up to the third floor where we found the entrance to the exhibit waiting for us. We came upon something that appeared to be an elevator, and from deep within the bowels of the exhibit we could hear the distinct sounds of screaming. (Could there be more to this exhibit than meets he eye?) My interest was peaked. Unfortunately, you see that big red sign next to the elevator doors? Yeah, it says no photography inside the exhibit. (Hear that? That's the sound of my bubble bursting!)
So we proceeded to the "elevator" doors, since it was only meant to give the illusion of an elevator, and when the doors opened on the other side, we were greeted by images of the X-men. We walked into an area that resembled an alley, and from there we made our way to the main exhibit floor. Now, I said that there was no photography allowed inside, but that wasn't stopping anyone from doing it, so I made the rounds with my camera as well.
Okay, overall the exhibit itself was a bit of a disappointment. That's not to say that it didn't have it's good points. I just think that perhaps we were out of the demographic range. It was clear right away that the exhibit was geared towards kids, and they were there in full force. The X-Men area of the exhibit showcased Professor Xavier with an explanation of mutation, Iceman with giant hands made of real ice, an x-ray of Wolverine's skeleton, and Magneto with a demonstration of how magnets repel each other.
There was a cool animatronic Doc Ock that let you manipulate the tentacles with a joystick. (Yeah, I know that sounds dirty!) And I finally learned what the source of all the screaming was. There was a booth that focused on Banshee and his power which allowed you to scream as loud as you could in order to destroy a Sentinel on-screen. It was loud, and kinda annoying. There was a demonstration of an exo-suit that allowed you to lift a Scion xB in relation to Iron Man's powers that was also kinda cool.
At the end of the exhibit there was a small showcase of Marvel artwork as well as a video presentation of Stan Lee speaking about comic books, superheroes, Marvel, and the importance of the media. There was a small gift shop at the end selling only Marvel merchandise where I picked up a Marvel Select figure of Doc Ock and Spidey. Also got a limited edition trading card promoting the exhibit with Spidey on it. 
I really think that if we had younger children with us we would have enjoyed the experience a lot better. There was more hands-on activities for the youngsters than for the adults. The last time we went to the California Science Center, it was for the Body Worlds Exhibit (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp), and THAT was definitely worth the price of admission. I guess that I was hoping that this show would be on the same scale. It would have been cool if they had the costumes from the movies, or even props from the movies, like Doc Ocks tentacles. But oh well, our curiosity was satisfied.
Like promised, here is the report of our fieldtrip to the Marvel Super Heroes Science Exhibition. Arrived at the California Science Center at about 2pm, with light traffic. A BIG difference from when were in the same area during the RBD concert. USC had something going on at the Coliseum that let out at the same time we were leaving, and that caused a little traffic, but not all that bad really. The next available time slot open for the exhibit was 2:30pm, so we got our tickets ($8.75 for adults) and proceeded to the exhibit entrance, which was located on the third floor.
Managed to snap a few pictures of the decorations in the lobby for the exhibit. There were a couple of cool images of Spidey, plus an activity where you could do a little rock climbing, just like Spidey. (Well, maybe not JUST like Spidey, but as close as you can get!) And that's the whole purpose of the exhibit anyway. It introduces us to the characters, their powers, the science behind their powers, and the reality of those powers in our everyday world. They try to explain how advances in science are making things such as Iron Man's armor, or Doc Ocks Tentacles, possible.
Made our way up to the third floor where we found the entrance to the exhibit waiting for us. We came upon something that appeared to be an elevator, and from deep within the bowels of the exhibit we could hear the distinct sounds of screaming. (Could there be more to this exhibit than meets he eye?) My interest was peaked. Unfortunately, you see that big red sign next to the elevator doors? Yeah, it says no photography inside the exhibit. (Hear that? That's the sound of my bubble bursting!)
So we proceeded to the "elevator" doors, since it was only meant to give the illusion of an elevator, and when the doors opened on the other side, we were greeted by images of the X-men. We walked into an area that resembled an alley, and from there we made our way to the main exhibit floor. Now, I said that there was no photography allowed inside, but that wasn't stopping anyone from doing it, so I made the rounds with my camera as well.
Okay, overall the exhibit itself was a bit of a disappointment. That's not to say that it didn't have it's good points. I just think that perhaps we were out of the demographic range. It was clear right away that the exhibit was geared towards kids, and they were there in full force. The X-Men area of the exhibit showcased Professor Xavier with an explanation of mutation, Iceman with giant hands made of real ice, an x-ray of Wolverine's skeleton, and Magneto with a demonstration of how magnets repel each other.
There was a cool animatronic Doc Ock that let you manipulate the tentacles with a joystick. (Yeah, I know that sounds dirty!) And I finally learned what the source of all the screaming was. There was a booth that focused on Banshee and his power which allowed you to scream as loud as you could in order to destroy a Sentinel on-screen. It was loud, and kinda annoying. There was a demonstration of an exo-suit that allowed you to lift a Scion xB in relation to Iron Man's powers that was also kinda cool.
At the end of the exhibit there was a small showcase of Marvel artwork as well as a video presentation of Stan Lee speaking about comic books, superheroes, Marvel, and the importance of the media. There was a small gift shop at the end selling only Marvel merchandise where I picked up a Marvel Select figure of Doc Ock and Spidey. Also got a limited edition trading card promoting the exhibit with Spidey on it. 
I really think that if we had younger children with us we would have enjoyed the experience a lot better. There was more hands-on activities for the youngsters than for the adults. The last time we went to the California Science Center, it was for the Body Worlds Exhibit (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp), and THAT was definitely worth the price of admission. I guess that I was hoping that this show would be on the same scale. It would have been cool if they had the costumes from the movies, or even props from the movies, like Doc Ocks tentacles. But oh well, our curiosity was satisfied.
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