Some of the displays look to be around 30 years old. And even the displays that were newer seemed to be designed by the visual merchandiser of Dollar General. Many displays weren't even open (they were being overhauled for my "visual pleasure"), which could be why the museum is offering free admission for about 10 days. If you go now, you won't see much. And what you will see, looks like a bad 8th grade science project.
The U-505 Submarine tour was sold out for the day by 11:30 AM. The airplane tour, Idea Factory, ice cream factory, and coal mine tour were closed. The wait for the Pioneer Zephyr was 1 hour. The fairy castle (which seems to be a huge exhibit according to the MSI website) is merely a large dollhouse crammed into a tiny, dark room. The Earth Revealed exhibit is great, but only if you are seated in one exact location in the circular theater. The food court couldn't hold the number of people who chose to eat there; people were standing with trays waiting for tables to clear.
I'd never really wanted to go inside the museum, I guess, but rather see the outside of the building itself. MSI is the last vestige from the Columbian Exposition's World's Fair of 1893, which is really the most fascinating fact about MSI. Back then, it's name was the Palace of Fine Arts, and it's stood at its same location for the past 115 years or so. The only building to outlast the White City, imagine what it could say if its walls could talk. And if they could, I'm sure they'd have something alot more interesting to say that what's being housed inside it today.
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