Body Works 2 Exhibit

[T Baer]

Has anyone gone to this and is it worth the price?

[GothicGyrl]

For what it is worth, I'm not going to mince words and tell you like it is:

I think it is absolutely worth the price. Yes, they are "naked". Yes, you can see their insides. Yes, you **might** see fetus' at various stages of development. Yes, you will see a penis and a vagina. Yes, you will see their butts. Yes, you will see their boobs.

But, IMNSHO, NONE of this should ever stop anyone from seeing this at least once. It is absolutely the most fascinating thing to see.

Here is the website (it's body worlds, not works)
http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html

Gunther Von Hagens has done a miraculous thing by bring our inner body, out. It is absolutely fascinating. The bodies are not "stolen" nor were they taken under mysterious circumstances. He's got thousands, literally, of people lined up waiting for this to be done to them upon death. In fact, I've got an application myself.

The only "bad" thing (and this might not apply to his exhibit, I saw the generic one) is the smell. It is very formaldehyde-ish. Not way strong, but strong enough to notice.

Otherwise, I can't say enough good things about this exhibit and I wish HE, himself, would come down here, not the generic one.

[Pster]

Is this like the "Our Body: The Universe Within" exhibit?

[GothicGyrl]

Is this like the "Our Body: The Universe Within" exhibit?
Yes, that's the generic version. Mine was called "Body WORKS" but was the same as Gunther's display.

[Kat in GA]

We went when it came to Atlanta 2 years ago...taking our (at the time) eight year old daughter with us. There is an audio tour available that we used. We all thought it was amazing and absolutely beautiful. The circulatory room was like art - just, just amazing.

The room with the fetuses and children with deformities was sectioned/curtained off so that if you did not want to see that part...or did not want your children to see it, you could skip it and not miss any other part of the exhibit.

I think it was well worth the price.

[Pster]

We went to the one in Orlando this past fall (Our Body). I took my 7, 5, and 4 yo's. It was very interesting. Definitely worth going to. We didn't find it at all "gross" if that is what might cross your mind. It was presented very well and was very educational!
:)

[Shelly in IL]

We just went to this exhibit last week in Chicago. Ours was the original. I didn't notice the smell she mentioned, but it was incredible.

I found it so educational, personally. It was amazing to see what a stroke/heart attack/enlarged prostate, etc. looked like. Yes, there were naked organs, but it really wasn't portrayed in any way that would make you think "naked."

It was really done in such an artistic fashion. It was absolutely worth the money. We went to the museum on a "free" day to save on cost. The museum was packed, but they had time slots for the exhibit, which was not at all overrun.

It was amazing!

[Heather in VA]

We went when it was in DC. It was incredible. We all went (11, 7 and 3 at the time) and it was well worth it.

[GothicGyrl]

Shelley, I think the smell might be because the stuff Von Hagens uses is patented and protected. So since we saw the "generic" version, ours had a more "death" smell than his might. He invented not only the process, but the stuff used to preserve the bodies and he was smart enough to protect his creation.

So other places, while they know how he did it, don't know exactly what he uses and they have to "make due".

[cin]

One of them has just come to Cincinnati. I'm anxious to go and I think we're going to take our 6.5 yr old. She gets easily freaked and has nightmares, but I think if we look at some books and talk about it for a couple of weeks beforehand, she will not see a monster, so to speak, but see the actual parts of the body. I REALLY hope she can handle it. If not, I'll send DH out with her so *I* can enjoy it :D

[GothicGyrl]

Cin--Can I give some advice?

You: Hey sweetie, look these are your bones?
Her: She looks at her body
You: No, YOUR bones are inside and health, these were not healthy and you can see them so you know what not healthy bones look like.

And so on. In a sing-song cheery voice. When I went, we had a mother who did something similar--little kid would get scared a bit and she'd go "Ooh, your belly button, look he has one too" and so on. Seemed to make it into a scavenger hunt of the living body :) for him.

Dunno how scared she'll get, but this boy seemed pretty tweaked out until she started doing that.

[mcconnellboys]

We saw the similar display at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry a couple of years ago. It is very interesting,

Regena