Amusement Park for the Mind opens in Pigeon Forge

Close your eyes and imagine. Imagine feeling the unsettling power of an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale. Or the thrill of landing an F-18 fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Think about designing the roller coaster of your dreams and then holding on for the ride of your life.

These are just a few of the remarkable experiences inside WonderWorks, a ground-breaking attraction combining science education and entertainment and located at the site of the former Music Mansion on Pigeon Forge Parkway. Thanks to cutting-edge graphic and audio presentation techniques, the new attraction features some of the most imaginative displays and exhibits anywhere in the United States.

WonderWorks is a place where reality and fantasy come together, said Sande Weiss, general manager of WonderWorks Pigeon Forge. There is just nothing else like it. We think of it as an amusement park for the mind.

WonderWorks is the brainchild of owner Robin Turner, who founded Attraction Concepts, Ltd. to create the original WonderWorks in Orlando in 1998. We are thrilled to bring the unique WonderWorks experience to East Tennessee, said Turner, whose love of the Smoky Mountains prompted him to move to Gatlinburg last year.

Pigeon Forge is a great location with nearly 12 million tourists traveling to the area each year. It is a wonderful place for family fun, said Turner. In addition to Pigeon Forge, Attraction Concepts, Ltd. is planning to expand its WonderWorks concept to New York City and Anaheim, Calif.

Guests arriving at the nearly 55,000-square-foot facility will know they’re in store for something different. The interactive science museums 82-foot-tall façade, part of a $9 million renovation project, makes it appear as if one building the mysterious WonderWorks Institute has crash-landed upside down atop a 1930’s-era brick warehouse.

According to the folklore, WonderWorks began as a technically advanced research facility on an island in the Bermuda Triangle for scientists to study unexplained phenomena. When an experiment went awry and a man-made tornado was unleashed, the laboratory was hurled into the sky before crashing hundreds of miles away.

The story behind the building is part of the fun, says Weiss. When you enter, everything will be upside down, so you have to be inverted. Guests pass through an inversion tunnel, which uses special lighting effects to create the sensation of being flipped upside down.

Once properly aligned, guests can begin exploring the more than 100 hands-on exhibits that are arranged throughout a variety of themed rooms. In the Disaster Zone, for example, simulators help guests experience an earthquake or go head to head with hurricane-force winds. In the Space Zone, they can land a space shuttle orbiter or take a 3-D journey of the solar system. The Lights and Sound room features a variety of optical effects plus a giant keyboard that is played by hopping from key to key like Tom Hanks in the movie Big.

One of Weiss favorite exhibits is the Wonder Coaster. Guests get to design their own roller coaster and then get inside a simulator that takes them on a ride, based on what they just created, says Weiss. It feels just like you’re riding a roller coaster.

Other activities include a realistic, simulated weather station and the Risk Zone where guests can test chance, probability and odds. There are several virtual reality exhibits such as Virtual Hoops, a basketball game where guests can become completely immersed in a computer-generated 3-D world. Also inside is a small theatre showing a video detailing the science behind some of the wonders of the world and the Illusion Gallery, where nothing is really as it appears. On the upper level of the attraction, guests can find a laser tag area and a large video arcade.

WonderWorks serves as a showcase for three world-renowned artists working in mediums and materials that are as thought-provoking as the rest of the attractions exhibits and displays. Sculptor Larry Kagan brings his innovative approach to form making that combines steel and shadow, while artist Jason Kronenwald contributes his remarkable portraits made entirely from bubble gum. John Pugh, a master of trompe l oeil painting, has created a mural so vivid and precisely rendered that the viewer can mistake image for reality.

Along with the most interactive exhibits in East Tennessee, the attraction features a 300-seat dinner theater that hosts an original stage production called Hoot and Holler. WonderWorks provides the community and visitors with a unique combination of fun and learning, while challenging them to let their imagination run wild, said Weiss. Our attraction is the perfect place to bring a school, summer camp or church group, or just friends and family.

Courtesy: Grouptravelblog