Back at World of Coca-Cola
After my buddy and I had a great lunch at Wahlburgers with our 2 local friends last month in Atlanta, we all needed something to do. With the weather slightly raining, we decided to do something indoors and nearby. Since me and my local friends have already done most of the nearby attractions, we let my buddy choose where we go next. He chose, the World of Coca Cola. You can read about my previous experience here.
lunch at Wahlburgers before our visit
Getting There
Since we were already downtown having lunch, it was only a quick 10 minute walk/stroll to the World of Coca-Cola. Our local friends went to pick up their car to park closer, while my buddy and I had a nice stroll through Centennial Olympic Park. Because of covid, the Fountain of Rings water show has been temporarily discontinued. It would have been cool to see again, so hopefully it comes back for my next visit.
Fountain of Rings show closed at Centennial Olympic Park
Prices have gone up $1 to $18 per adult which I still think is a great value for what we get to experience. A temperature scan is also taken before entering. They do not provide a free mini can of Coke anymore at the lobby before heading in to start The Loft experience. The nice ramp leads us with a group of people in to see over 200 Coca-Cola artifacts throughout their 125 years of existence.
no free mini can of Coke anymore before entering
The only difference so far, is that the host along with every visitor must wear a face mask at all times, except when actively sampling the drinks. We then went to the Coca Cola theater to see the mandatory 6 minute video “Moments of Happiness” before we could separate as a large group and do our own thing.
staff and guests must wear masks
watching “Moments of Happiness”
Exhibits
The first exhibit we visited was The Vault again. Nothing has really changed at this exhibit as the secret formula to Coca Cola is still locked away here. My previous experience can be found here.
heading into The Vault of the secret formula
Coca Cola Bear
getting ready to see the Coca Cola polar bear…
The experience here is slightly changed from last time. The world famous polar bear is now enclosed in a velvet rope and guests can not cross it to hug or touch the mascot. Staff are now not permitted to touch guests phones or cameras to help them take pictures because of covid. We did ask other guests to take group photos of all 4 of us before leaving this area.
… but we can’t be too close
More Exhibits
We then went to the Bottle Works exhibit to see the process of bottle Coke products. It was a smaller exhibit so we went through that fast. The Milestones of Refreshment was next and we spent longer here seeing all the historical items like bottles, cans and collector’s items over the years. Nothing has really changed in these 2 exhibits, but it was fun looking through everything again.
bottling Coke products at Bottle Works Exhibit
Pop Culture Exhibit looked like they were moving things around here. Some spots looked empty and the iconic American Idol couch is roped off so guests could not sit on it to take a picture with it. This exhibit also has the wrap around line to get to the new exhibit right next door.
American Idol couch now closed off at Pop Culture Exhibit
NEW Scent Discovery Exhibit
Scent Discovery is a brand new permanent exhibit that opened in September 2020 and is the newest addition since 2011. This new exhibit allows a person to learn how their sense of smell can dictate their preference on their favorite drinks.
new permanent interactive exhibit as of Sept 2020
A staff member brings in a small group of people in and we get to smell different scents and try to guess the sweet, spicy, and fruity aromas. It was hard for me to get my nose into the scent vents, but the staff member had little bottles beside her so my friend could put them up to my nose. We still had to keep our masks on for this activity.
they do have scent bottle samples for those who can’t bend down to smell
Taste It!
Just like my last visit, the Taste It! Exhibit is what I look most forward to. This is where we get to sample over 100 different Coca Cola drinks from all over the world. During covid, they did limit what visitors got to sample but we were lucky that was over with.
so many sampling stations
The only thing missing was the sampling bar. This area was closed as it previously had staff members handing out super limited samples of drinks to guests. We were ok with not having that as all 4 of us had way too many samples from the tasting stations and the Freestyle machines. This year I really enjoyed the blue raspberry Fanta.
loved the blue raspberry Fanta
3D Theater
It was already 5pm and the World of Coca Cola closes at this time on weekdays. I watched “In Search of the Secret Formula” on my last visit and it used to be a 4D theater. We were told they got rid of the 4D effects because not everyone enjoyed having something poke their back during the mini movie or the rough movements of their seats. I wrote about my experience last visit and wheelchair guests don’t get to experience that effect anyways.
the huge gift shop
This year, 3 hours was not long enough of a visit for us. The new Scent Discovery Exhibit was not exciting enough to make this visit extra special but visiting the Taste It! exhibit did. I highly recommend visiting but make sure you have lots of room in your stomach to sample all the bubbly goodness.
