Dr Pepper Museum & Free Enterprise Institute

Address:	300 S 5th St, Waco, TX 76701, USA
Phone:	+1 254-757-1025
Site:	drpeppermuseum.com
Rating:	4
Working:	10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 10AM–5:30PM 12–5:30PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

David Desmarais

We took a family drive down to Waco to see the Original Ginger-A-ale bottling plant that first started bottling Dr Pepper as it started getting fame from Old Docs Drug store soda fountain, but wasnt too amused as it is very modern. The lady at the ticket counter was a bite helpful, and I didnt understand why they charge so much ever charge kids and a baby? But we paid anyways cause we drove from West Texas just to see the Texan Original and the Nations second OLDEST still running soft drink. The Muesm was nice, we were shocked to see the town go hit with such a back tornado in the 1950s. The court yard was dry, and not much to see but still good for the eyes and pictures. The soda fountain isnt really a soda fountain because they have no clue how to do old sodas, Italian sodas, making a Dr Pepper Ice cream soda was like pulling teeth for them so they dont know how to make ice cream sodas, dont know Egg creams or New York style Egg creams. All they know how to do is floats. And they staff is really RUDE. They DONT know Dr Pepper Formulas or the products very well at all. Dr Pepper has there NEWEST Formula since the late 40s with HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP and when I asked if they had Dr Peppers ORIGINAL Formula with Imperial Cane Sugar a guy at the souvenir booth said yes and pointed to some 12oz Dr Pepper bottle that are remakes of the 50s and early 60s bottle but I told him thats NOT the Original Dr Pepper formula from Imperial Pure CANE SUGAR and he argued saying it was but it ISNT because Ive tasted Dublin Dr Pepper that used the Original Dr Pepper formula from Imperial Pure CANE SUGAR and it DOESNT taste the same as that 12oz bottle because it just has Gradulated Sugar which is DIFFERENT FROM RAW Cane Sugar that derives from the SUGAR CANE PLANT. If it was Pure CANE SUGAR from Imperial Cane Sugar it would have been in an 8oz glass bottle that looks like Dublin Dr Pepper bottles. Plus I dought Imperial Cane Sugar is used in that Dr Pepper Formula because Imperial Cane Sugar would have had it marked. If its Gradulated cane sugar from Imperial Cane Sugar it would STILL taste different because RAW CANE SUGAR has minerals in it Gradulated Pure CANE SUGAR has everything that ISNT sugar related taken OUT OF IT. so if it doesnt have Minerals and other natural compounds that RAW Cane Sugar has then that slight different will show in its taste hence showing the difference between them in taste. But Im sure its Beet Sugar derived from Beet plants thats gradulated which is a 0.5% difference in the type of plant, environment, sugar sweetness, and process it is produced from the 99.5% Fructose Cane Sugar and beet Sugar has that 0.5% of the 99.5% really does make a difference and the manager at the soda fountain argued with me the same way, play stupid like she knows it all but clearly doesnt. if you dont know the Original Dr Pepper formula from Imperial Pure CANE SUGAR different from Gradulated Beet Sugar Dr Pepper Formula and you work at the FIRST BOTTLING PLANT that SHOWS THE HISTORY OF DR PEPPER haha wow! Some interesting people you are employing.

Glen Young

Our experience at the museum today was pretty disappointing, especially with regards to the customer service. The lady at admissions was not friendly. My friend and I are students, so our admission was $5. Our wives are not students so their admission was $8, but with the coupon we had on our phones, it should have been a $1 off for each person, so $4 for a student and $7 for a regular adult admission. Well, when we showed her the coupon on our phone, she quickly dismissed it, saying she didnt need to see it--and then she didnt give the discount. $13 dollars for each couple (instead of $11). Whatever. Then, they give these tokens out for a free sample of Dr. Pepper--but only if you pay for an adult ticket. So our wives each got a token, but we didnt, and this is literally for about $0.05 worth of soda. This seemed ridiculous to me that only adult tickets and not student tickets or children tickets, get a token. So if youre a family with four kids, sorry kids, only mom and dad get tokens, youll just have to suck it up because Dr. Pepper just cant swallow a $0.05 expense of soda. I couldnt actually care less about getting a 2 oz. sample of Dr. Pepper, but they were just so hardline and stingy with that policy that it really bothered me. As for the exhibits, unless you are a beverage historian, the exhibits are not very interesting. I guarantee pretty much nothing in there would be of interest to young kids. If youre thinking itll give you behind-the-scenes, "How Its Made" type of insights into the production of the products, it does not. A couple of the more promising exhibits were movies of old commercials and another one in this little theatre, but both were out-of-order, so that was a bust. All in all, I think anyone could walk through the entire museum in 15 or 20 minutes and not feel like they missed out. $8/ticket, or $5/ticket for that matter, just doesnt seem like a good value.

Josh Place

For the Dr. Pepper drinker who loves each of its 23 flavors equally, this is the place for you. Learn EVERYTHING about the drink that changed your life forever, from its debut to its current state (it is a museum, so theres much more on the past than future). Speaking of museums, you know that old, dinghy smell they all have? Yeah, this one has it, big time. I would pay an extra cent per can if they would invest in some Febreeze. Youve been warned. There really is something for the whole family here though, so while your waiting for the line to die down at Magnolia Market (face it, that is why youre in Waco), stop by and grab a Waco! Yes, back in the late 1800s, asking for a Waco would result in an ice cold Dr. Pepper made fresh from the jerk with syrup and carbon. Showcasing a rather beat up ol soda bar, there are plenty of treats to choose from with a gift shop full of slightly overpriced memorabilia. Dont ask for a price on the Squirt Cowboy boots though, I already did, theyre not for sale. Be sure to put this destination on your list of Things To Do In Waco. On that note, here is a list of all 23 unique Dr. Pepper Flavors: 1. Amaretto 2. Almond 3. Blackberry 4. Black Licorice 5. Carrot 6. Clove 7. Cherry 8. Caramel 9. Cola 10. Ginger 11. Juniper 12. Lemon 13. Molasses 14. Nutmeg 15. Orange 16. Prune 17. Plum 18. Pepper 19. Root Beer 20. Rum 21. Raspberry 22. Tomato 23. Vanilla

Chris Cox

Driven by this many times on my way through Waco and never stopped in, but a couple of weeks ago, I finally decided to check it out to satisfy my curiosity. Its a cool little museum with lots of nostalgia and antiques. Theres an older part and a newer part in separate buildings. The older part has most of the plaques and history. The new part has the ice cream shop and gift shop along with interactive exhibits and a lab-like classroom where they talk about flavors and smells of the ingredients. It is true that they do not provide free samples at the end of the self-guided tour, but Im not losing any sleep over it. It would add value to the tour and let you immediately savor the history after learning about it, but Im sure they have reasons for not providing samples. A miss, in my opinion. As a funny side note: I thought it rather ironic that the DP vending machine was out of order too. So even if I wanted to buy a drink, Id have to stand in line at the ice cream stand. The $10 admission fee does seem pretty high for touring yourself around an old building so some might not think its worth it. It was worth it for me just to be able to finally say I went there and check that off my list of places to visit.