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Factory tours - recommendations / locations / unusual

Factory tours - recommendations / locations / unusual

Old Aug 13th, 2001, 12:43 PM
  #1  
GOL
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Factory tours - recommendations / locations / unusual

I've often wanted to tour a orange processing plant when visiting Florida. Still haven't found one yet, but did hear about a book, "Watch it made in the USA," that lists factory tours. [Anyone have it? Any good?]

I've toured the Hershey plant (before they made the current fake tour) and the Coors brewery in CO. Remember seeing "old men" take the tour just for the sampling at the end.

What tours did you like, dislike; were unusual - and where were they. I'd love to tour something very unusual and hear about your experiences.


 
Old Aug 13th, 2001, 12:48 PM
  #2  
booklover
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Amazon.com has 4 customer ratings for this book with 4 stars. Customers discuss good parts of the book in their reviews. You might want to visit amazon for better info. There is also a used one for sale there at 14.95. I really like this service as it has affected my purchase in the past.
 
Old Aug 13th, 2001, 12:52 PM
  #3  
X
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I've seen the book you mention and its a goood starting point, but a little out of date (1997)
The problem with most factory tours i"ve seen is that they've become commercialized like Hershey (Ben & Jerry's in Vermont and Crayola Factory in Pennsylvania come to mind).
I've had decent luck with microbrewery tours (including one in Windsor Vt--I can't remember the name right now, but actually another microbrewery bought them out and run the tour)
 
Old Aug 13th, 2001, 12:58 PM
  #4  
X
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There's another book I thought of:
"Corporate Museums, Galleries and Vistors Centers". It's even older (1991) so it might be harder to find but it lists comanies that actually have small
displays attached to their corporate headquarters. I think I remember that Lipton tea company (northern NJ) and Campbell's soup (southern NJ) have unique smallish more authentic displays
 
Old Aug 13th, 2001, 01:57 PM
  #5  
Amy
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In my neck of the woods we have the Miller Brewing company in Milwaukee which is probably similar to the Coors plant and pretty interesting. My parents retired to Kentucky 5 years ago, we had never been there before but have since been several times. They took us on a great tour of the Corvette plant and museum in Bowling Green KY (the only place in the world corvettes are made). It was okay if you like cars. Dad and husband really enjoyed but sadly there was no test drive at the end! we also went this summer to the Lousiville Slugger bat factory and museum. Even I thought this was great, especially the museum. At the end you can order a tailor made bat for your height, weight, reach whatever. Husband did this and had his name engraved on it. Nice. The best fatory tour I have ever been on however was in Jamaica. We toured the Appleton Estate where world famous Appleton rum is made. Got to see everything including the beautiful manor house and had a great tase test as well.
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 05:28 AM
  #6  
Ann
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I, too, love factory tours. Some of the ones I particularly remember are the Jelly Belly jellybean factory outside of San Francisco (very commercial, but lots of fun and well run), Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee, which included a free lunch at Mrs. Bobo's Boardinghouse (my husband is a Tennessee Squire, a special JD club, and that's one of the benefits) which was one of the best lunches ever, and the Pendalton blanket factory in Washugal, WA. I think I got hooked back in my early childhood upon taking a factory tour of CrackerJack near Chicago. At the end we got a bag filled with Crackerjacks, Campfire marshmellos, and a box of CJ prizes!! Does anyone else remember this tour? I was under 5 when I took it, so I just don't remember too much of it (just the gifts at the end). The next tour I'd love to take it at the Corning Glass factory in Corning NY. I understand they show Stuben glass being made, and have a great glass museum.
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 09:02 AM
  #7  
xx
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I've heard the tour of the Herr's snack plant in the Lancaster, PA area is good. I also heard that Crayola no longer has a tour of the real factory, due to concerns about industrial spies. (And anyone who thinks there is no difference between cheap crayons and crayolas doesn't have kids!)
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 09:10 AM
  #8  
xxx
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An ice cream factory tour is fun....soft, freshly made ice cream tastes so much better than the rock hard frozen stuff in the stores. Try the Dreyer's tour in Union City, CA or the Ben & Jerry's tour in Vermont.
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 10:25 AM
  #9  
John
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The Boeing 747/777 assembly plant tour offers good views of bigger-than-life planes set inside the world's largest building. The tour is something of an assembly line affair, somehow fitting for those of us who ride economy class anyway.

As a youth I toured a Tootsie Roll factory and haven't eaten one since. 'Nuff said.
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 11:06 AM
  #10  
Dan
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I'd nix the Ben and Jerry tour. A video
and a window to see the packages of ice cream. Thats it. I thought it was a waste of time. Certainly not worth a drive.
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 03:31 PM
  #11  
xxx
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Great question-just love the responses! At one time the Kellogg's tour in Battle Creek Mich was good, but not sure if they still have a 'real tour', or if it's become like the Hershey tour-gosh I remember going on the Hershey tour as a kid-it was great! And, oh, that smell of fresh chocolate is something you don't forget. Keep the responses comin!
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 04:13 PM
  #12  
ldsant
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A couple of tours that I've enjoyed:

One I took last fall was the Hammond candy factory tour in Denver. To say the least it was absolutely wonderful! I would HIGHLY recommend it. The nicest people and the yummiest hard candy! They sell their candy canes through places like Martha Stewart and Williams & Sonoma. It was very fun to see how they actually make it from start to finish. The people there were just so gracious though - that's what really made the tour so wonderful.

The other tour that I thought was good is here in Seattle - the Redhook Brewery Tour. $1 and 4 glasses of beer with a souvenior glass. It was very fun to see how they make this beer. Small brewery; they also have a restaurant on site as well.

Finally, another tour that I thought was really interesting (and may not be a factory tour per se) was the Denver Mint. I was there on the first day they struck the Virginia quarter. It was a fun tour to see even if the tour guide was a bit too serious for my taste!
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 04:16 PM
  #13  
Lindsey
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Three years ago while in Rome, I saw an article in USA Today about a glass factory that allowed you to tour their facility. Since this was on the way during our drive from from Rome to San Gimignano, my wife and I stopped for the tour. Unlike the "tours" in Venice where you watch the glassblower make a "leetle horsey", this tour allowed us to walk all around the floor without any supervision. It was fascinating watching the process. up close. The workers definitely enjoy the opportunity to show their craftsmanship. Within seconds after walking on the floor, you could hear whooping and definitely sense a speeding up of the work, and every so often one of the workers would call you over to watch what he was doing. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the city or the plant.

When I was younger, just out of college, I toured the Waterford crystal plant in Waterford, Ireland. Can only be described as amazing due to the shear scale of the facility.

In Houston, a microbrewery here has a 2 hour tour of its facility each Saturday at 1:00 pm. The first hour is a tour on the shop floor explaining the brewing process. The second hour is free beer. Great fun.
 
Old Aug 14th, 2001, 05:04 PM
  #14  
Beth
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When I was a kid, factory tours took you into the factory. The ones I've taken my kids on are basically walking down a hallway with glass between you and the workers.
Cape Cod Chips in Hyannis, MA - 10 min
Yankee Candles in So. Deerfield, MA - 10 min (But Xmas gift shop reminiscent of Rothenberg ob de Tauber)
Stoneybrook Farms Yogurt in Londonderry, NH - 20 min
Ben & Jerry's in Stowe, VT - 30 min
The Annheiser Busch tour in Merrimack, NH is supposed to be good, but I have not been.
I've also heard that the German auto manufacturers have great factory tours if you're ever in town! (Mercedes in Stuttgart, BMW in Munich, and Porsche in )
 
Old Aug 15th, 2001, 03:39 AM
  #15  
Anne
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A really neat set of tours is offered by the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, in Shelburne, VT. One is a 1/2-hour-long tour, and includes the history of teddy bears and how they are created. Very interesting, and lots of fun for "kids of all ages!"

Another tour is called "Make a Friend for Life." You select/purchase a teddy bear form, and choose from a variety of stuffing materials. You're given a tiny "heart," to place within the bear, and a worker stitches up the form-- voila, your new lifelong friend is "born!" You're then given a "birth certificate," for your new friend, and a travel case--complete with air holes, so he/she can "breathe," on the way home--very cute!

 
Old Aug 15th, 2001, 05:30 AM
  #16  
Pat
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Kellogg's ended their real tours 15 years ago. A few years ago they opened a fake tour type thing. I haven't been, so I don't know if it's any good. I too love factory tours, so this is a great thread!
 
Old Aug 15th, 2001, 03:25 PM
  #17  
Debbie
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How timely! Today's www.frommers.com edition of the budget travel newsletter has an article about US industrial factory tours. It's a good read, and does refer to the book, "Watch it Made in the USA" ENJOY!
 
Old Aug 15th, 2001, 05:17 PM
  #18  
xxx
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Just FYI for anyone who may plan to visit the Denver area and thinks that a tour of the U.S. Mint would be a good thing. NOT! It's a two hour wait for a 20 minute commercial about coin collecting, then you're herded to the gift shop. Complete waste of time.
 
Old Aug 19th, 2001, 07:27 PM
  #19  
sl
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In International Falls, Minnesota you can tour the Boise Cascade paper mill and watch paper being made. It's an up close tour. The tours are only in the summer though.
 
Old Aug 20th, 2001, 08:50 AM
  #20  
Stella
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There are two places I'd recommend near Las Vegas - the Hoover Dam is great, and there's also Mrs. M's chocolates. That's a very small tour, but the candy is delicious and there is a very nice Cactus Garden you can stroll in. On the East Coast in Litiz, PA there is Wilburs Chocolates. (Notice a theme). Again, a very small operation, but great candy!
 

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