So I heard that there is a place called World of Coca Cola in Georgia. I don't drink Coke, but I still wanted to go and see what it was all about. It was in downtown Atlana, and parking was a bear. I finally found parking but I had to pay $10. So, I did, and then wrote down where I was parked so that I would be able to find my way back. (If Bart was here, I wouldn't have to worry about these kinds of things).
I purchased my
ticket for
$16, and then had to
wait about 10 minutes for the
next tour to start. So, I took pictures of some of the
art that was in the lobby. (What's with my eye again?)
Inside they had all kinds of old signs that have advertised the Coca Cola brand through the years, and around the world..
The silver sign is the original sign that was on the building when they first opened.
Our guide talked about the creating of the contoured bottle. I guess back in the day, there were all kinds of copy caters who were trying to sell Coke as their idea, so they made a patented bottle so that people would know that it was the "original" Coca Cola recipe.
The next part of the tour - they took us into a theatre and showed us a short 6 minute movie. It was about all the positive things that people did while drinking Coke. Like riding a hot air balloon, proposing to a girlfriend, having Coca Cola at their wedding, etc. When it was over, the screen lifted up, and that was the way that you entered the Coca Cola Museum. Pretty cool! You were on your own from this point on. The rest was self guided, and you could go in any direction that you wanted.
There are 6 different areas that you can go in to. The first one that I went to was called "The Vault". This is where they keep the original recipe to Coca Cola. I guess the recipe was stored somewhere else until just recently.
The creator of Coca Cola was actually a pharmacist. He created this recipe in 1886. Pemberton didn't just introduce a better cola. He presented the world with the first cola.
Along that back wall, there were drawers that you could pull open for fun facts. This one had samples of his handwriting. I love seeing old documents.
On the opposite wall was an interactive station. You could turn the wheels and try to guess the formula by making it more sweet/sour or salty, etc. It would tell you if you were close. No one I saw was even serious about trying to get it right.
Looky here, I knew horses had to be involved somewhere! Haha.
This was a cool interactive thing to do. You walked up to the frame. It was filled with bubbles, and when you lined yourself up, you could see your image and the bubbles came off of the picture. The picture didn't turn out very good, but it was super fun.
Then, while we were waiting (yet again) to get into the next area, they had an interactive game. Up to 10 people could play. Volunteers from the audience could walk up the screen and they would appear on the screen as white images. Then, as you move, the images would move. There were things that they asked you to do, like pick up barrels, or pull tassels down. I thought it was funny that this grown man was more into it than those kids. He was just having a good ol' time!
Once the doors opened, we all entered this circular room. They were able to project images all around the room and even on the floor. It was different. The picture on the right showed filling up the "room" with Coke - like you were actually in the cup itself. It started at the bottom and then filled all the way to the top.
They showed all kinds of Coca Cola memorabilia, again.
The walls opened up and they showed "The Vault" where supposedly the original recipe for Coca Cola is now kept. They said that you could take pictures of it, but you couldn't cross that stripped line on the floor or an alarm would sound. It even had a hand security pad that was all lit up on there. I wonder if it is real or just for show? (I noticed that all of my selfie pictures: I'm not smiling at all). I think that I was in too much of a hurry to really enjoy it all.
The next part of the hub that I went to was called "Milestones".
More Coca Cola logos. But, I will take this cool car that would sure be fun to drive.
These are some of the models they used, and some of the old Coke machines. I remember my Grandpa Poppy had one of these at his work. It had glass bottles too.
Just for fun. They had so much of this stuff.
These are all of the Olympic Torches that have been used in the past Olympics. I got to hold one! That was pretty memorable!
They had an entire wall with just collector pins on it! Crazy how they have been able to keep all of this stuff through the years. Then they had 100 of the original bottles and cans of the flavors of soda that they have made.
"Bottle Works" was next. I liked this part. This is where they bottled the drinks.
First off, the bottles were sterilized.
Then they were filled them up by making a vacume inside the bottle to suck the liquid in. I thought that they poured in the liquid. Pretty cool process.
They had these bottles lifted up and over, all around the place. It was a cool machine to watch. They used the entire room.
Then each bottle was labeled electronically so that they know when, where and what time it was bottled! I wish I could have stayed here a little while longer, but it was getting late....so I scooted over to the next part of the hub.
This "Fizzy Bot" was my favorite. It was a robot that actually picked up the glass Coca Cola bottles. If you look at the arm, it would pick up 6 bottles at a time on the back table....
...then
swing around to the front, and put them there -
preparing them to be filled.
It was slick to watch.
Then, came the blender. I thought it was crazy how many fans there were in this area. I wonder what happens if the "formula" gets too hot? Does it change the taste?
Here, the bottles were spaced out so that it could go into the next machine. That white part that looks like a corkscrew turned and as the bottles would come through, it would space them farther apart from each other. It was amazing how these machines all had their own job, and that everything worked together.
They had different bottles from all over the world. This bottle had glitter all over it and was from Columbia!
Even the Atlanta Braves baseball team drink Coca Cola!
"Pop Culture" was next, and they had all kinds of fun stuff in here.
Anything you can think of they had a Coke label on. I really liked this ceiling fan!
Check out these little cars and boat made out of the Coke cans.
How about a hat or a harp?! Anyone?
There was ALOT of cool stuff here. There were even a few posters of the Old Fashioned Santa - (Bart likes those).
On the wall right before you leave, there is an area that has letters from people from all over the world who have visited, and have written down why they drink Coca Cola. Anyone can submit a letter, and if they choose it, it is placed in this special red box for all to read.
One of the last parts of the hub that I visited was the "Perfect Pauses". In here, they showed all kinds of commercials from over the years, and a lot from around the world. I watched quite a few of them. Some were pretty good, some were funny, but they were all positive and uplifting. I stayed until some guy came in with bad B.O.! Couldn't take it any longer, so I had to move on.
"Taste It" was the funest part. Here, they had over 100 flavors of their drinks that you could try. They suggested that you only take a sip of each one so that you didn't get too full. Here is Pineapple Fanta from Greece! It was pretty tasty.
How about Delaware Punch from Honduras? Really? I didn't think that they even supplied countries like that with soda! I only tried a few of the different drinks. But, it was really fun. They even gave me a sample of the new Coca Cola made with Cane Sugar. I couldn't taste a difference, but I think it was supposed to be better for you. Um, I didn't think that soda was good for you in the first place!
Then, right before you left the Coca Cola tour and were spit out into the "Gift Shop", you were able to take a small collector Coca Cola bottle home with you. Have a Coke on Us! (That's a $16 coke!)
I missed 2 parts of the hub. There was a guy dressed up as the Coca Cola bear that you could take your picture with, but the line was really long. Then the other one was a movie that was 4D. I get motion sick easily, so I didn't even attempt that one. Didn't want to drive home feeling sick.
Conveniently placed right at the opening of the gift store were all kinds of cute labels that you could now purchase for only $4 that you could shrink wrap onto your bottle! (Now that $16 coke would now be $20 - they are very smart!) I didn't do it, but I liked the bear ones the best.
So, I was running out of time, and I needed to get back on the road. I didn't want to get home really late. So, as I looked outside, I realized that it had started raining! So, this really nice guy that worked for Coca Cola had - of course - a Coca Cola umbrella and offered to walk me over to the street that I needed to walk down to get to where I parked the car. I took him up on it. Once I got there, I had to put my Coca Cola bag on my head (umbrella was in the car) so that I could walk the rest of the way.
I was only there for 2 hours. It seemed like an eternity. I was able to find my car, pay the parking fee, and get going!
