Innoventions

Innoventions Review

Innoventions is a two-building, 100,000-square-foot, walk-through attraction. Interactive exhibits entertain kids (some are especially designed for preschoolers) and adults as they investigate the innovations now improving the world around us.

Innoventions East is loaded with activities designed to entertain and inspire kids and adults. Take Sum of All Thrills by technology company Raytheon, for instance. This is not your typical "design a coaster" ride. Here, you get your own multi-touch-screen table with math- and engineering-based tools (and simple instructions) to design and customize your bobsled, jet, or roller-coaster ride with corkscrews, inversions, and steep hills. Along the way, you'll apply math and engineering principles to measure the energy you need to make it over a hill. Then you and a partner get to climb aboard a robotic simulator for the high-def immersion ride that's as mild or as wild as you design it. Another hot ticket is the Habit Heroes interactive challenge, where you can throw down the gauntlet to defeat bad habits. You'll arm yourself with a remote control to combat Couch Potato, with a "salad shooter" to overthrow Sweet Tooth and the Snacker, and with a dance pad and other devices for a battle with Lead Bottom.

StormStruck, presented by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes and partners like State Farm, serves up severe weather that'll make you jump and duck in a 3-D theater. You have your own electronic buttons for voting on how you'd protect your property from future storms before the "big reveal" tells you whether you're right or wrong. At the Test the Limits Lab, you can be product testers for Underwriters Laboratories trying to break TV screens, slam doors, crush helmets, and put other home products through their paces.

At Innoventions West, you can test drive the Segway Human Transporter at Segway Central. The transporter is so popular that it's used by some Disney personnel to wheel across the park and has been incorporated into guided tours. Liberty Mutual's Where's the Fire? interactive experience is a terrific way to review fire safety and prevention. Your family can enjoy the game house, where you'll team up with other guests to find and extinguish as many fire hazards as possible and learn best ways to stay safe in a fire. The Firefighter Photo station lets you send a photo postcard to family and friends.

At Smarter Planet, IBM puts you in a game where you can create an avatar of yourself who's able to jump, run, and dance through a video game starring (you guessed it) you! You can even watch your cash reserves grow at the Great Piggy Bank Adventure by T. Rowe Price. Children love the real piggy bank they get to move from one interactive station to another; adults enjoy the fast-paced teamwork involved in choosing a "dream" goal, learning strategies to save, staying ahead of inflation, and diversifying funds.

If you can't resist an interactive escapade with a bit of intrigue tossed in, sign up here for the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. You'll receive your own "Kimmunicator"—a handheld wireless controller connecting you with several Kim Possible characters who provide clues to stop comical villains from taking over the world with their mad inventions. At your own pace, you can scour the World Showcase for clues and solve challenges encountered during the experience.

For people with disabilities: This attraction is completely wheelchair accessible—some exhibits inside this always-evolving attraction may require transferring from a wheelchair. Sign-language interpretation is available some days. Guests with service animals should check with an attractions host when entering. Come before 11 am or after 2 pm. Sum of All Thrills, StormStruck, Habit Heroes, and The Great Piggy Bank Adventure have some of the largest crowds.