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<\/a>Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience<\/em> is such a beautifully varied<\/em> exhibit. Each room is different from the one before, and they’re all interesting. And educational, as well, for everyone. I brought two kid pals with me–twelve-year-old Leon, who told me the whole thing was \u201cfun and interesting,\u201d and nine-year-old Lula\u2014along with their mother, Laura. And all of us of different ages learned something. If \u201cKing Tut lived to this age\u201d was a question on Jeopardy<\/em>, I would have erroneously guessed \u201cten\u201d before, (because he’s always been referred to as \u201cThe Boy King,\u201d) but now I know it’s really \u201cnineteen.\u201d (So, actually, more of a man than a boy, especially for those<\/em> times.)<\/p>\n But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. The Immersive King Tut\u00a0experience is located in downtown LA, in The Magic Box which, in turn, is in The Reef. That all sounds complicated, but it’s actually far from it. And it’s in a very easy part of downtown\u00a0LA. There’s usually even street<\/em> parking in that area! (But no worries for those of you who, like Mr. X, prefer to park off<\/em> the street\u2014there’s also an adjacent affordable lot.)<\/p>\n And let me tell you\u2014every single staff member we encountered that day was wonderful: the people who checked us in, the guy who helped us enter, the guides inside, the young gift shop saleslady, the girls who ran the Virtual Reality area, and even the young woman at the snack stand! They really made the whole experience an absolute pleasure.<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n In case you didn’t know, November 4, 2022, (the day this exhibit opened, actually,) marked one hundred years since King Tut’s tomb was discovered. (And no\u2014it was definitely not Geraldo Rivera who did it!) I understand that it’s the only intact<\/em> ancient Egyptian royal tomb ever found, which makes learning about it that much more special.<\/p>\n The Immersive Experience takes place over several continuous areas, with images, all-enveloping animation, booming narrations, (ala Disneyland and World’s Fair attractions, in the best way,) and posted stories from the archives of National Geographic<\/em>. I have to admit that I never appreciated that magazine when I was younger, even though my parents had hundreds<\/em> of them in my library-esque basement. But now that I’ve seen this show, I’m a fan, (which I wish I had realized before I let all of those historic mags go when I cleaned-out my childhood home just a few years ago!)<\/p>\n My group even got to play an ancient board game in one of the rooms, which, of course, was my co-favorite part; it was a tie with the colorful final portion of the exhibit. [Note: By the way\u2014it’s immersive<\/em>, not interactive<\/em>, so I believe that fun game is the only thing that can be touched in there. Ask the guides when you go, to be sure.]<\/p>\n The game we played. I’m not saying which team came out the victors, but slow and steady definitely won the race! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n All of that is definitely enough for a great time, but you can add a VIP Experience to your admission, which we all feel is worth it. It provides two fabulous perks, one at the end and one that you can choose to do on either end of the exhibit. (We chose to save that one for last.)<\/p>\n First up for us was this one: As with so many artistic experiences, the exit is through the Gift Shop. (So put blinders on your kids if you’ve already bought all their holiday gifts this year.) When we got to the end of it, we found-out that, because we were VIPs, we each received a cloth tote bag, and got to choose between a handsome commemorative King Tut poster and a lovely blue stone bracelet with a little silver ankh, which, of course, the three of us gals chose in a nano-second. That just put extra smiles on all of our faces.<\/p>\n This is one of the photos in the exhibit, but you get to explore the whole room in the VR add-on. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n The other VIP situation is…a Virtual Reality session! It’s entitled Enter the Tomb<\/em>, and that’s exactly what we felt like we had done. Leon gushed, \u201cThat was really cool,\u201d and advises my readers, \u201cYou should do it!\u201d [Note: It is not<\/em> recommended for children under twelve, so keep that in mind. But Laura chose to allow her precocious nine-year-old daughter to do it, and she loved it!]<\/p>\n Speaking of Laura, (my grown-up<\/em> associate,) she deemed the whole thing \u201camazing,\u201d and told me, \u201cI really enjoyed the history lesson.\u201d Comparing it to the Van Gogh exhibit, she added, \u201cI liked that this one takes place\u00a0in several<\/em> spaces, and has a narrative along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n I concur with everything those guys said, and especially found it to be a really fun experience to share with your family and friends. So to that end, I share this with you<\/em>: I often look for something special to do on the day or afternoon of New Year’s Eve, to avoid being out at night with all the crazies. So seeing this different kind of entertainment, followed by an early dinner at an out-of-the-way cafe in that area of town, and then getting to stay in that night and watch all the NYE shows on TV, is the perfect way to end this stressful year.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>