Birt Family Focus

Universe of Energy Pavilion -- 6/4/02

Today we go to Ellen's Energy Adventure. It is supposedly an attraction within the Universe of Energy Pavilion, but all that is there is the ride. I really like this one. It takes about 45 minutes and is in the dark, so for you power nappers, this is a good spot, too. I have both enjoyed the show and napped here. ;-)

The attraction is to the left of Spaceship Earth. There are dinosaur topiaries out side of the building that are mega neato (as my daughter puts it). Definitely a spot for a family photo. It is hosted by Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy.

You first enter a large room with a screen above and in front of you. If the line looks long, take heart, this ride can seat around 500 people so lots of folks go in at once and a long line magically disappears. Even though it is a 45 minute show, the first 20 minutes is a movie, then you go into another space to be seated for the ride. Because of this, it loads every 20 minutes or so. I have never waited more than that to see this- even during high crowd days.

In the preshow, Ellen is watching Jeopardy and falls asleep. She dreams she is playing against an energy expert (Jamie Lee Curtis) and losing. In comes Bill Nye to show her where fossil fuels come from. At that point you are escorted into a huge room with what looks like rows and rows of bench seats. They are actually huge cars that seat about 125 people or so and actually move-slowly- through out the displays. At this point the movie continues for a bit, explaining how you and Ellen have come to be on prehistoric earth with some dinosaurs.

Bill then escorts Ellen and you through a tour of the dinosaur period and explains with the help of some very cool animatronic dinosaurs and other critters, how we get most of our energy today.

The ending of the story is very cute. The information is accurate and delivered in a very entertaining way. Anyone who is interested in dinos or energy, or Ellen will like this. Oh yes- if you don't like any of those things, it's a great place for a nap. And be careful of those dinos- they sneeze dino snot!