Click here to see my YouTube channel video on this destination
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When visiting the Orlando area and you have had your fill of the Theme Parks there is another stretch of road you can check out.  International Drive runs pretty much parallel to the insanely busy I-4 Highway (avoid at all costs), but is packed with all different types of attractions all vacationers may be interested in.  On trips past I always remember driving down International Drive and it was almost like Florida’s version of the Vegas Strip.  Neon lights everywhere, interesting characters wandering the streets,  all sorts of restaurants  and entertainment.

One of the unique buildings I remember seeing along the roadside was an upside down building.  My parents were never interested in checking out these hackney attractions but as I got older I found some of them actually quite interesting.  This past weekend I decided it was time to see if this upside down building was still there and go inside to see what it was all about.  Sure enough it was there and is called WonderWorks.

From the outside I guess  I assumed it would be like a Ripley’s Believe it or Not with strange exhibits found all over the world, but instead it’s more like a science museum.

There is an area where you can experience a simulated hurricane, or dance on a large piano like Ton Hanks in the movie Big.

Some areas have arcade like games which actually mask a learning experience and kids seem none the wiser.

It also includes a 4-D theatre, Rope Coarse and Laser Tag but I didn’t check those out on this trip.  Maybe when my daughters are a little older I can convince them to come and try them.  The “museum” is spread out over two floors and winds through various rooms each designed around a certain theme.  Eventually you head back downstairs to a very small little snack bar area which seems to usually be filled with birthday parties.  As you slowly make your way past the party tables you end up in the gift shop.

There is the usual candy, t-shirts, coffee mugs and shot glasses here as well as some other interesting keepsakes.

Just as you exit the gift shop area but before heading back into the main entrance there is a four design hand crank penny press machine.

As you can assume these pennies all have designs themed around the exhibits.  The images include WonderWorks Let your imagination run wild!, the Upside Down Building, Albert Einstein, and I Survived Hurricane!

All in all I was pretty surprised by this place.  The interactive exhibits were fun and educational without seeming like a stuffy science museum.  It was busy and there were lots of kids running around, and I’m sure this gets worse on weekends when there are plenty of birthday parts.  But you could easily spend a few hours here having fun inside some Air conditioning, and press some more pennies on the way out.