My Dad came to SoCal to visit my brother and I and being the family o’ nerd that we are, we decided to go to the Discovery Science Center’s Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit in Santa Ana. I’ve always wanted to visit the giant black cube that looks suspiciously Borg-like so this was the perfect opportunity.
The museum itself is mostly a kid science wonderland so if you don’t like small children running full speed into your legs all day (that’s gonna leave a bruise) then I would suggest going on a weekday. The Star Wars exhibit was a lot like Star Trek: The Experience (or Star Trek: The Tour….or Star Trek: The Exhibition….) in that it was costumes, props and models used in the movies.
One cool thing about having it at a science center was the interactive games they brought in, like this Moisture Farm that my sister-in-law (whose name is Troi btw…no really, it is and it’s pretty awesome) and I couldn’t figure out…probably because we’re over the age of 10.
My 3-year-old nephew is finally getting to the age where he can really appreciate science fiction and if I have anything to say about it he will be savant-like in his knowledge of all things nerdy. This is how my sister-in-law woke him up this morning:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLSGOWJG1TQ]
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The costumes kind of freaked him out (and cost me what would have been an awesome picture of him standing next to a Jawa) but he LOVED anything mechanical.
Apparantly it runs in the family.
Here are some close ups of the Millenium Falcon. The detail was unbelievable. Thanks to the lighting I had to take all of these pictures with my phone. They turned out way better than the pics I took with my point and click camera.
Here’s a few pictures of me with my patented double thumbs up pose.
Stormtrooper? Double thumbs up!
Han and Chewie? Definitely double thumbs up!
Darth Vader? Worthy of two chicks doing a double thumbs up!
Speaking of Darth Vader…they had his helmet displayed in three pieces allowing us to see the complex breathing apparatus that serves as the main portion of his life support system.
Here are some costumes from the prequels. I desperately wanted to put that Anakin costume on my nephew cause he totally looks like a Skywalker.
And here are some costumes (and puppets) from the three Star Wars movies that didn’t suck.
Just another day of hanging out with Leia, R2 and Threepio.
I may have molested a Wookiee or two. Ahem.
I attempted to ride in the hovercraft but I think I was too heavy for it because it was really slow.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U1gQxm4Vyw]
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The Discovery Science Center has an impressive space section but I’ll keep the picture show Star Wars-related and just show you one last video of my sister-in-law and I in a wind tunnel. Mostly because I think it’s really funny. And if you’re wondering what I’m handing her at the end, it’s strategically timed eyedrops.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIBuRfOzqBw]