World of Coca-Cola and Stone Mountain Park, Georgia

Day 1 – Visit World of Coca-Cola & SkyView Atlanta in Atlanta, GA and Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, GA

On Day 1, our plan was to cover some attractions in and around Atlanta, GA. We checked out from the hotel at around 8:15 AM EST and reached “World of Coca Cola” around 8:45 AM EST. We had purchased the tickets online in advance to save time. The admission fee per person is $17.

World of Coca-Cola is a museum located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a 20 acre complex showcasing the history of The Coca-Cola Company. There is a lot to explore inside the museum.

As you enter the World of Coca-Cola building, you will see the lobby featuring some Coca-Cola bottle arts/sculptures that displays culture and traditions of countries around the world (Now they have renovated the lobby and offer coca cola cans to the guests waiting in the queue).

The loft showcases various historical artifacts that represent memories from several years and also different countries around the world.

Coca-Cola Polar Bear is their most beloved character and has appeared in numerous advertisements. We took photos with the bear using our own camera. One can either use their own camera or have their photographer to capture the moment for you.

The vault is where the secret formula for Coca-Cola is secured and represents the history, memories, special moments associated with Coca-Cola. Guests can get inside this vault and get to know the same.

You will also come across series of galleries that provides information about the rich history of Coca-Cola Company. We took a few photos at each of these places.

One can get behind the scene and see the Coca-Cola bottling process at Bottle Works.

4-D movie theatre is another amazing experience that provides visitors with a journey around the world in search of secret formula of Coca-Cola. There are 2 seating arrangements inside the theatre – one with moving seats and other special effects while other with non-moving seats especially for those with medical conditions/expectant mothers. One can always opt for the choice of theirs before the start of the movie. 3-D glasses will be given to all irrespective of what you opt for. Those in 4-D section will experience moving seats along with other special effects.

You can taste more than 100 different beverages made by Coca-Cola Company from around the world. There are several Coco-Cola tasting sections arranged geographically and each offers different beverages that are unique to that geography. So do not miss to visit this area inside the museum and taste all of those different types. Some of these were really good while few others tasted nasty but it’s you can imagine the fun of tasting so many different beverages 🙂

In addition to the various exhibits, it has a fully functional bottling line that produces 8-ounce bottles of Coca-Cola. This was basically for distribution among its guests.

There is also store inside the museum if one is interested to carry some memories from the attraction. You can always get some souvenir as a memory about visit to this place.

We spent around 3 hours at this attraction. Finally around 11:45 AM EST we made our exit and moved to our next attraction SkyView Atlanta. This was just 10 mins walk from World of Coca-Cola.

This is basically a giant wheel that stands 20-story tall and provides a panoramic view of the downtown. It features 42 gondolas which are basically cabins with glass walls for experiencing the view. There is a general admission fee of $14 per person (adults) and can be purchased either online or on-visit.

The view from the top of SkyView Atlanta was beautiful. We could see Centennial Olympics Park and other buildings like CNN, World of Coca-Cola and Aquarium while experiencing the panoramic view of downtown Atlanta.

Around 12:45 PM EST, we left from Atlanta downtown to Stone Mountain Park which is around 40 mins drive. As we had some time and our rest of the evening time was fixed to be spent at Stone Mountain Park, my friends suggested we visit ISKCON (International Society for Sri Krishna Consciousness) temple in Atlanta. This was 15-20 mins drive from Skyview Atlanta and 30 mins away from Stone Mountain Park. We took “Darshan” (an opportunity of seeing an image of deity or god and seek blessings) of Lord Krishna and had “Prasadam” (food that is a religious offering to Lord and then distributed among devotees).

We spent around an hour at the temple and left from there at 2:45 PM EST to Stone Mountain Park.

We reached the park at 3:30 PM EST. We chose this place to spend rest of the evening because we had planned to see the US Independence Day laser show and fireworks event scheduled at late night. This place is voted as one of the best place to see fireworks and Independence Day long weekend is one of the occasion. There is a vehicle entry fee to the park of around $15 for a day.

There are various good attractions in the park making it the most-visited park in Georgia and also offers a lot of activities and fun for families. Stone Mountain is well-known for the enormous rock relief on its north face, the largest bas-relief in the world. The carving depicts three Confederate figures during the Civil War – Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

Summit Skyride is a high-speed cable car that provides a beautiful view of the Stone Mountain, Atlanta Skyline and Appalachian Mountains. It transports the guests more than 825 feet above the ground to the top of Stone Mountain. Most of the times this is closed due to weather conditions. So you may want to check the weather forecast.

Ride the Ducks is an open-air vehicle that takes you from land to water and then back to the land, and also brings to you the history of Stone Mountain Park.

Scenic Railroad features a five mile train tour with open-air cars and takes you around the beautiful landscape surrounding the Stone Mountain. The trip lasts for around 25-30 mins and the train departs every 40-45 mins from Marketplace Depot in crossroads.

Note, there are fees for some of these attractions so ensure you check in advance.

SkyHike is another activity to trek through the treetops on adventure courses. It has 3 levels of trails and one can choose among the 3 challenging trails while being secured to overhead safety system.

There are other places / activities like Geyser tower, Museum, Snowzone, Tube Runner. Some of these are open only during winter season. So again you should check for the schedules for these activities when you plan your visit.

There are many hikes and trails inside the park. As we had some time, we went to hike the walk-up trail which is of a mile and takes you to the top of the Stone Mountain. The view from the top was awesome. So would suggest one should atleast plan for this hike. You can also use a combination of Summit Skyride and walk-up trail to reach the top of Mountain and return back.

If you are planning to cover most of the activities, would suggest allocating atleast a day at this park.

We returned back from the hiking around 7:15 PM EST and it was almost time for the much awaited laser show. We had only carried some snacks to the park and as such were hungry. So we bought some pizza and drinks from the restaurant inside the park.

It was 8:00 PM EST when the laser show started. This was one of its kind that features lights, music, laser & fireworks. Note, the timings of the show varies from season to season. So please check for the show hours during the period you visit.

The laser show was followed by a patriotic firework display.

It took us sometime to exit the park due to the huge crowd and traffic. So would suggest, you either leave 10 mins early during the fireworks or wait until most of the crowd exits the park.

We left from Stone Mountain Park around 9:30 PM EST and reached our next stay at Econo Lodge Inn & Suites located in Marietta, GA. This was located at 40 mins drive from the park and would also save 30-45 mins drive for our next day attractions.