Winds howl, windows shatter, but Epcot's hurricane isn\'t real

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Howling winds send patio furniture whirlybirding off your porch.
Your neighbor's roof tiles, flying like shrapnel, shatter thewindows on your house.
It feels like Ike, but it's really Mickey.
Walt Disney World's Epcot opened an exhibit late last month thatlets park visitors experience a major hurricane. StormStruck: ATale of Two Homes is what Disney calls ``edu-tainment.''
The storm is virtual, but realistic enough. Remember, it comes fromthe same folks who brought you Mission: Space and Soarin'.
The exhibit has thrills. But it's really meant to raise visitors'awareness of the havoc that Mother Nature can create and how theycan protect their homes and families.
''You see the roof fail. You see the windows and doors give in. Youeven see water getting in through the soffits. That's how water gotinto my house'' during Hurricane Andrew, said Max Mayfield,hurricane specialist for WPLG-ABC 10 and former director of theNational Hurricane Center, who went through the exhibit just afterit opened.
He said Disney got the details of a storm and the message right.``If you invited people to come to a seminar on how to mitigatetheir homes, they wouldn't come. This is going to help educatepeople on what they can do.''
SPECIAL EFFECTS
The magic comes from special effects and computer-generated video.The education is provided by the nonprofit Federal Alliance forSafe Homes, or FLASH, which brought the exhibit idea to Disneyseven years ago, and several sponsors -- Renaissance Re, aBermuda-based reinsurer; State Farm Insurance; and Simpson StrongTie, a Pleasanton, Calif., company that makes connectors andfasteners.
After viewing a short video featuring the Weather Channel's JimCantore, visitors don 3-D glasses and are ushered into the SevereWeather Replicator. A Disney ''stormologist'' tells the audiencethat he has a custom storm in store for them.
The hurricane plays out on two jumbo screens. Because it's 3-D,viewers are rocked by the wind (the seats move) and feel rain (realand virtual).
As the wind picks up, the patio furniture flies off the porch, andthe swing set in the backyard breaks apart. You jump back at thesound of breaking glass -- the tiles from your neighbor's housejust shattered your windows -- and your garage doors crumble underthe push of the wind.
When the winds die down -- supposedly when the eye of the storm ispassing through -- the stormologist returns, telling the visitorsthey have a few minutes to make changes that could make adifference in how well their homes survive during the second halfof the storm.
The small screens in front of each seat light up and present eightquestions, such as: What roof shape handles severe wind better?(Answer: Hip, not gable.) Should doors open out or in? (Answer:Out.) Should you leave a window cracked during a storm? (Answer:All windows should be closed.) Should you use masking tape on yourwindows? (Answer: No.)
Viewers have a few seconds to choose each answer. Depending ontheir choices, they'll see if their detached garage and house farebetter during the second half of the storm.
MAKING DECISIONS
''We wanted people to understand they can make decisions that canmake a difference,'' said Joe Tankersley, Disney's senior showwriter, who led the Imagineering design team for StormStruck.Tankersley was interviewed by Laughing Place.com, a Disney fanwebsite.
The experience changes because each audience group answers thequestions differently.
More than 400 possible questions were winnowed down to the eightused in the exhibit, said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president ofFLASH. Most came from FLASH'S hot line.
The masking-tape question is included to dispel the myth thattaping windows is effective protection during a storm. Broken glassmight hold together with the tape, but the pieces are bigger andcould be more dangerous to people in a house.
''We're getting that question on our hot line right now,''Chapman-Henderson said. ``Some couples argue over what kind of tapeis better to use: masking tape or duct tape.''
3,000 FILM CLIPS
Tankersley was called the ''keeper of the fun'' by the planners asthe exhibit was being designed, Chapman-Henderson said. It was hisjob to balance artistic vision and license with science andaccuracy.
Tankersley said his team had to develop more than 3,000 film clipsto portray all the possible scenarios that can be played out.
Once visitors have gone through the ''hurricane,'' there areinteractive terminals that help them learn about the weather risksin their area. After passing a quiz to be ''weather safe at youraddress,'' you can e-mail a certificate to yourself.
Because viewing the virtual hurricane might be too severe for smallchildren, the Disney team included an activity for them: preparinga storm emergency kit for their families.
They learn to pack a portable radio, flashlights, batteries, afirst-aid kit, water for everyone, pet food, and a teddy bear forcomfort.
''I've spent three days without electricity. I wouldn't have beenable to get through it without a teddy bear,'' said Ed Deep, aDisney cast member leading the children through the exercise on arecent afternoon.
On the way out of the exhibit, Darrell and Debra Vaughn ofJacksonville said they learned a lot about mitigation. ''We'regetting those shutters and those clips,'' Darrell Vaughn said.
Bill Reed, director of the National Hurricane Center in WestMiami-Dade County, visited StormStruck with a group that includedMayfield and officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.The cast member who walked them through the mitigation questionswas disappointed, Reed recalls. ``We got all the answers right.''
Yet, Reed confesses that he was tripped up by a trick questionabout which kind of tree withstands hurricanes best. ``I picked thewrong tree. But I'm so snake-bitten that I don't put anything thatcan grow tall near my house anymore.''