Pumpkin Party

Discovery Cube OC’s latest exhibit, Pumpkin Palooza features bumper cars, dancing, and of course, pumpkins.

Right now it’s all about pumpkins at Discovery Cube Orange County. 

It is, in fact, Pumpkin Palooza. Beginning Oct. 6 and running through Halloween, the mega event features The Pumpkin Palooza Dance Party, a digital dance experience set to today’s popular hits. There’s also a large Ride Boo’s Bumper Cars experience, where children can learn the laws of motion. Other family activities that are both fun and cognitively challenging include the Haunting Hay Bale, Corn Maze Challenge, Science Demo Live: Pumpkinology 101, and yes, Trick-or-Treating. 

“Pumpkin Palooza is a new seasonal program in Orange County. It follows a similar model to the Cube’s largest event, Bubblefest — a large entertainment draw combined with an engaging, educational, hands-on festival experience,” said Vice President of Exhibits and Program Development Roxy Gonzales. “This fall, it’s all about the pumpkins!”   

Gonzales — a 22-year science center veteran who’s held many roles over the years, from exhibit and program manager to director — has overseen all aspects of exhibit development, design, production and implementation at Discovery Cube, including the Eco Challenge exhibits, Boeing Rocket Lab, Science of Hockey, Helicopter Tours and the expansion at both museum campuses in Orange County and Los Angeles. As with all of its programs, STEM is at the heart of Pumpkin Palooza. 

“Every day we read about advances in technology, health care, artificial intelligence, even the power grid!” she said. “When I was a kid, smartphones did not exist. Change is happening in our everyday lives at a rapid pace. And so, there is a great need to foster innovation and appreciation of science and technology in multi-generational learners to fill these new and emerging roles. The Discovery Cube is committed to growing the science center’s reputation as a regional STEM resource.”

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Of course, the Cube also loves Halloween. 

“Every year, we introduce a seasonal program around fall and Halloween! It seems SoCal is obsessed with #EverythingPumpkin,” Gonzales said. 

The Dance Party will take place in the Cube’s 10,000-square-foot showcase on the second level and includes a 20-foot inflatable pumpkin — Jack O’ Lynn — acting as DJ. The entire experience will be projection-mapped onto the pumpkin, the walls and dance floor. It’s a first-of-its-kind for digital technology bringing together kids, families and costumed fun. 

“Building full-sensory experiences that immerse our guests in other places, like the brand-new Pumpkin Palooza Dance Party, invites guests to come for the fun and stay for the education,” Gonzales said. “Layers of educational content are embedded in the experiences around the festival — guests will get a glimpse of pumpkin science, chemistry, physics and even healthy living.”

Even as the Cube is covered in orange for fall, Gonzales and her team are planning future activities in all things STEM. 

“2023 is going to be a spectacular year for the Cube,” she said. “The Orange County campus is set to open Ocean Lab, a space that teaches about ocean health and sea life, including touch tanks. Additionally, in late summer 2023, a reimagined Dino Quest experience will launch, including a multi-sensory explorer experience, a large dig pit and more than 10 new dinosaurs. The goal is to foster multi-generational engagement and produce a culture of young learners with popular themes like sea life and dinosaurs.” 

Gonzales said that over her 20-plus years at the center, she is most proud of the Eco Challenge collection, including the award-winning Discovery Market, an experience that teaches guests about their environmental impact along with health and nutrition. 

“As a mother of three, tackling topics like waste and environmental impact, while making them accessible to our community, is important for our future generations and a healthy planet Earth,” she said. “It’s equally important to keep ourselves and bodies healthy. The Discovery Market Nutrition game teaches kids how to read and understand nutrition labels, portion sizes and shape their young minds to explore healthy food choices.”

She encourages families to get involved with STEM at home now. 

“STEM starts at home, so now is the time to start planning to grab your household or a group of friends and enter the Science of Gingerbread competition at the Cube,” she said. “For more than 12 years, the Science of Gingerbread competition has been a holiday tradition in the Gonzales household — we draw up a design, gather lots of candy and gingerbread pieces, and put it all together and build it. We’ve failed, we’ve succeeded, and we’ve learned so much along the way about food chemistry, engineering and teamwork, while having fun!”  

Visit the discoverycube.org to find out more about the Science of Gingerbread.

By Jessica Peralta