LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS
The Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center prohibits some people from taking the tour. If you're carrying either a machine gun or a baby you will NOT be allowed on tour. Even though Seattle and Everett are both rainy cities - plan to leave your umbrella behind as well.
OTHER RESTRICTIONS
First: You must be able to walk up and down steep stairs. If you cannot do that then you must either make wheelchair accommodations far in advance of your tour or experience spontaneous healing because this trip is not wheelchair accessible.
Second: The tour is in English. American Sign Language is available upon request for all tours scheduled at least two weeks in advance. If you don't speak English? Well, you aren't reading this blog then are you!
Third: Children must be at least 4 feet tall (122 cm) to take the tour. Don't worry if you're short as Danny DeVito (4'10") or shorter like Peter Dinklage (4'5"). No matter how tall you are - if you're old enough to own a mortgage, you're tall enough. Put on your high heels and take this tour. Just hold on to the hand rail as you go downstairs because those babies are steep!
Fourth: Visitors may not carry cell phones, umbrellas or babies on the tour. That means you can't wear babies in a back pack or dangle them over a balcony Michael Jackson style. Leave your crying, sucking, beautiful babies at home.
WARNING: If you violate any of the above restrictions the security will side-line you and you'll be spending the day in the "How Planes are Made" section of the museum. There you will stare at still photos with reading cards waiting for your friends to get back - which can take a couple of hours. You might also see a couple of airplane models suspended from the Center's ceiling not far from the various flags but after half-an-hour you will undoubtedly be feeling very bored and wish you had not come.
WHAT YOU'LL SEE ON THIS BOEING FUTURE OF FLIGHT TOUR (if you met the above limitations standards)
Expect to learn a lot about plastic composites and engineering as you take this factory tour. While mechanics and engineers ride bicycles to get around from place-to-place because the factory is so large, you will be walking a cat-walk far above them and you'll be looking down on them. Even way up there, from your haughty perch, you'll get to see how the Boeing 747 is made. You'll also learn a lot about the 787 Dreamliner!In that part of the tour, you'll learn crazy-fun facts such as how jet lag was never caused by changing time zones like we once thought. Instead - it's the cabin pressure and oxygen deprivation that makes people feel groggy after a long flight. The new Dreamliner is built to address many such traveler side-effects so in the future ... when someone goes from Japan to Africa ... they can rest assured they'll be feeling well-rested and ready to embrace new adventures soon as they land.
I've taken this tour and highly recommend it to anyone who is the least bit interested in flying and modern airplane technology. The admission price is well worth every penny. Bring extra cash because they have a couple of fun gift shops and you'll be hungry enough to buy a sandwich when the tour is over.
