Recently, on a vacation with my family, we drove through Atlanta, GA where we stopped overnight. We planned to go to Six Flags Over Georgia while we were there, but it was so cold that the park closed for the day. I have been to outdoor entertainment opportunities in the past in extreme cold, so we would have bundled up and done it, but I am secretly glad it was closed that day because it WAS really cold. We decided to do something indoors and landed at The World of Coca-Cola Museum.
The World of Coca-Cola is located downtown at 121 Baker Street, Atlanta, GA, in the same complex as the Georgia Aquarium and the Center for Civil and Human Rights. If you are planning to visit, prepare to stay in the area the entire day to see the other venues in the complex. When planning your day, you can plan at least a couple of hours per venue.
Upon entering the World of Coca-Cola, groups gather in the lobby before entering a room filled with Coca-Cola memorabilia and is given a brief introduction by a guide. The group then enters a theater to view a somewhat corny short film. After that, guests enter the main part of the museum where they can roam freely. The theater venue opens into a very large white lobby from which guests can access different areas of the museum.
The lobby has a vignette where patrons can take pictures of the Coca-Cola polar bear. Some dramatic stairs rise directly from the theater exit to the second floor.
On the second floor, several galleries are available to learn the history of the company and the process of how Coke is made, and one room is devoted to different smells that appeal to taste.
The last room of interest is the tasting room on the first floor, which offers international Coca-Cola beverages owned by the company. Visitors can dispense beverages to taste. Some of the international sodas were not very good. I found this interesting, but after tasting some of these beverages, I bee-lined to the real dispensary to drink something good and familiar.
The exit is situated through the Coca-Cola store, where you can buy gifts, souvenirs, and clothing. This is a large store—actually bigger than the ones at Universal City Walk and Disney Springs in Orlando. You can buy just about anything with the Coca-Cola logo on it.
All in all, this was a fun experience. I thought the history galleries were the most interesting. I enjoyed seeing all the items, experiments and expansion of the Real Thing over the decades since its inception.
