Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, has a new Exhibition Center and they are hosting all sorts of amazing local events! I took the boys to Exhibition: Dinosaurs and Outer Space, two world class exhibits.
Exhibition: Dinosaur is an exhibit 165 million years in the making, which allows guest to travel back in time and walk amongst the largest creatures to ever call Earth their home. The exhibit combines life-size, lifelike animatronic dinosaurs with realistic movements and sound with fascinating and educational interactive experiences. The exhibit also celebrates and explores the fascinating world of dinosaurs and the hunt for their fossils in the early 20th century. Visitors of all ages can step into the shoes of paleontologists and archeologists through interactive cabinets filled with excavation artifacts and fossils, including the chance to tests their skills extracting dinosaur bones from the earth. The exhibit was super lifelike and educational.
Highlights of the Expedition: Dinosaur exhibit include:
- Full-motion robotic dinosaurs with realistic movements and sound effects, including a climbable T-Rex head.
- Interactive robotic dinosaur egg incubator.
- Interactive archeological dig-site, including simulated dinosaur fossils and digging tools.
- Hands-on activities and puzzles that allow guests to discover how dinosaurs lived various environments and prehistoric periods, mix and match dinosaur species, recreate Pangea and more.
Journey to Space experiences include:
- Experiment with a vacuum chamber to see how common objects behave in zero pressure
- Examine a full spacesuit including gloves worn by Neil Armstrong and an Apollo astronaut helmet
- Imagine yourself weightless in space with mirrors that create an optical illusion of floating
- Control a robotic arm in the way astronauts do using hand controllers and video monitors
- Stand inside a full-sized mock-up of the International Space Station’s U.S. Destiny Lab module
- Smile through your space helmet and smile for a photo as you imagine yourself on Mars
The Journey to Space exhibit was equally lifelike. We were able to enjoy life like experiences and learn all about life as an astronaut exploring space with the exhibit featuring over two dozen hands-on, interactive displays and artifacts from the past 50 years of space explorations, as well as innovations designed to help astronauts make more frequent and longer trips into orbit.
Needless to say, the day was very educational for both the boys and me! I recommend these exhibits for children of all ages.
The Exhibition Center is open daily from 9 am – 4 pm
