Kennedy Space Center Visit Questions

[Pumbaa]

Hi guys, my wife and I will be visiting Orlando in January for 3 nights. The main reason for visiting Orlando is to be able to tour the Kennedy Space Center. It has always been on my bucketlist and I was after any advice from anyone that has been there before.

I'm thinking of booking the Grayline Kennedy Space Center Tour including lunch with an astronaut ($160US each). Is this the best way to go? I don't really want to drive there and back, and prefer the bus taking us there and bringing us back.

I haven't booked any hotels yet, but I'm thinking of booking one of the Hyatt hotels on International drive. Happy to hear any advice for hotels too.

We will have another half day and 1 extra full day in Orlando. We have already done Disneyland a few years back in Anaheim, and don't really have any interest in doing the theme park thing again. Any suggestions on what else we spend a full day in Orlando for?

 

[Quickstatus]

Waste of time, do no more than one day at KSC
lunch with astronaut is actually lunch with some person dressed up in an astronaut suit. Not an actual astronaut

view of launchpaD is from a few km away on a viewing platform.

You will get a tour of the building where space rockets are put together - the big white building

the rest are replicas of spacecraft.

one or two cheesy rides and that's it

shopping in Orlando . Hire own car drive to KSC and easier for shopping bags. VRBO accomodation cost me $800 for 8 nights over Christmas 2012 for condo that sleeps 6 in gated community in Kissimmee

 

[smithy]

Been to Orlando FA three times, twice we stayed on International Drive and the last time we rented a condo in Kissimmee with own pool etc.. We drove ourselves to Kennedy Space Centre, easy drive and it is well worth the visit. I have used Grayline for other tours and they have a good product. As for other "day things" to do in Orlando and assuming you are not interested in theme parks, do what we did, go to the Richard Petty driving experience at walt disney world where you can drive ( or ride) in a fully fledged Nascar.. A real treat but it ain't cheap..

 

[aaflyer]

I was actually at KSC yesterday, so a timely question.

The tours have changed significantly over the past 12 months, as the shuttle program wound up and they moved to the SLS (Space Launch System). Personally, I wouldn't go with an organised tour to/from the center. I hired a car (around $250 for an entire week for an SUV; car hire here is cheap). The center is 60-90 minute drive each way, depending on traffic (and $4.50 in tolls to/from the Kissimmee area). Parking is $10 (yup, they gouge you for that too, they have learned from low cost carriers!).

Check out https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/tours.aspx for tours you can just purchase at entrance. I wanted to to the up-close tour as well, but my friends had no interest.

December 4 sees the first trial of the new rocket for this, and there's a real buzz amongst the staff there as a result.

I did the general entry and launch centre tour ($50+25 for the extra tour).

We arrived around 10am, and left at 6pm, and were never bored (in fact, we could have done a lot more but we just didn't have time).

There are 2 x IMAX shows, each of around 40 minutes (we didn't get time to do this).

There's a general bus tour that'll take you out towards Launchpad 39B (39A is where all manned space flight was from, and the last STS was launched from, but that is now leased to Elon Musk for the next 20 years, and that's having the STS infrastructure dismantled from it by his group, Space X). They drop you off at the Apollo Center where there's an Saturn V rocket mounted from the ceiling, a heap of memorabilia including a space rock you can touch and another theatre (didn't get time to see that but it was a 15 minute show). There are no outside spots for photos on this general tour. It's around 90 minutes for that, including the bus trip to/from the Apollo center.

The LCC tour (Launch Control Center) was meant to last around 90 minutes but ended up being around 2 1/2 hours. The tour guide was incredibly knowledgable. It's very clear that the tour guides love their job. They were all egging the visitors on for questions, and were keen to educate in an informative an interesting way. Well worth the money IMHO.

One thing to note, i'd probably not do the generic bus tour and the LCC. The LCC actually takes you a little bit futher past Launchpad 39B than the generic, and also to a stop you can get out and take some great photos of the launchpads. It then drops you off at the Apollo Center as well, so it's a bit of an overlap (in fact, you miss nothing if you don't do the generic and just do the LCC).

Back at the main visitors center, there's Atlantis, mounted very dramatically like it was flying in space (on a 45º of so angle, with the doors open and control arms out). There's a shuttle launch simulator ride which is kinda neat (and free) takes around 15-20 minutes, also at the Atlantis center. Lots of simulators there too, and some other cool stuff. I believe the queues are massive when busy, as the infrastructure is definitely in place for large queues.

Do not bother with the paid audio guides. I came to the conclusion it was a non-english speaking tax. The guides were so excellent, and the roaming staff were all brilliant and keen to chat about anything related to the programs.

Since January, there's no tours of the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) and other programs have been axed. The LCC is fairly new, and you get to go into the launch room where the last 21 STS were launched from. Interesting to note, these rooms only took the launch up to the first 8 seconds, then it was handed to Houston (basically once it clears the tower, it's out of their hands).

I wouldn't bother with the 'lunch with an astronaut' unless you're a space nut. They are genuine astronauts, but it's not likely to be anyone famous. The one yesterday was a lady, but I can't recall her name (I certainly did not recognise it).

There's an 'angry birds' thing which I didn't bother going in to.

I was last there 20 years ago as a kid, and I'm 100% glad I went back. Was truly a highlight of any trip to the USA i've had.

Also, be sure to hit up the factory outlet malls here. Never short of a bargain or three (and call by the visitors center with a voucher you can get off websites for a discount coupon book to make it even better).

Oh and try to go mid-week. There were almost zero children, and it was not busy. We also had amazing non-typical FL weather (around 25º and very low humidity).

 

[Skyring]

I did morning and lunch there three years back (afternoon and dinner at disney world - it was a packed day). The last shuttle was sitting on the pad, we played around the rocket garden, had lunch under a Saturn V and saw the outside of the iconic VLB. I would have loved to have spent a couple of days to see more, especially some of the historic stuff. It's near fifty years on, and that big ugly square thing with the giant tank treads once carried moonships and may do so again one day. Awesome.

All right, the Saturn V isn't the genuine article. It is just a test vehicle made to check out the systems before the real objects arrived. Still, it's big and bold and awesome. The restaurant underneath is excellent, much much better than the cheesy "Moon Wok" stands at Houston. Nothing flashy, but it sells good solid American fast food and beer.

The gift shop nearby is excellent.

For me, just to be on the KSC campus was a thrill. Perhaps even more so now, with new systems in the pipeline. I'll be back.

 

[ReLoad]

We've also been there before and timed our visit for a shuttle launch (delayed due to weather) and we missed it by a day! But we found the tour to be awesome, again midweek there was no kids.

As per the great post above the tour guide knew more about everything than anyone on the planet and was fantastic. It's all the little stories that make the tour worthwhile.

The landing box on the runway for example only being perfected by a woman for example made Mrs Reload very happy.

We are there again in 3 weeks with the kids for the first time, so happy to TR as well if you like.

 

[Warks]

Quickstatus you make it sound awful! But it isn't. It's the best.

I've been three times but not since 2003. I was there in 2000 and did the bus tour etc. At that time the Saturn V was just sitting out in a field as I recall. It was on my next visit it was undercover in the big visitors centre. I loved every minute of the tour and just wandering around. Even Rocket Park which is a static display of all the rockets that came before the Saturn is simply amazing. The sad part is the memorial to the astronauts who have died on the job. When I was there last Columbia was on the pad but wasn't about to launch. It was its last mission. I remember at the time looking at the memorial and thinking they had a lot of space left on it.

I never got to see inside the VAB though. That was off-limits except for special "backstage pass" tours. However in 2000 I was fortunate enough to be there for the launch of a satellite. I'd been on my tour the day before (Sunday) and then met with my colleague at their office about an hour south the next day. When I mentioned to him there was a rocket launch today he said "well let's get in the car!" He'd worked in the area for 30 years and said nothing compared to watching a Saturn V take off at night. Although he said night shuttle launches were pretty spectacular. He'd also seen the Challenger disaster - he happened to be walking between buildings and looked up at the sky.

Anyway we went to the observation area and the countdown was right on schedule. It wasn't a huge rocket but an amazing sight to see the flames pouring out the bottom and then lifting off the pad. As we were several km away it was a while before the sound hit. And what a sound! I understood the meaning of 'visceral' as the sound wave went right through my body. I was snapping away with my old film camera. In hindsight it would have been better just to watch. Still something I'll never forget.


We are going to KSC in July next year too!

 

[Gold Member]

WRT hotels, I just checked out of the HR Grand Cypress this morning from a 3 night stay and would recommend it. Really nice lagoon pool(s) and property. The Club Lounge barely ever had more than 5 people at any time I was there and has a nice outdoor balcony with views. You pay for drinks, but they are heavily discounted (eg. $5 coughtails). Decent hot food in the evening too.

Although the property was fully booked during my stay, I'd say 95% were on conferences so the pools and other facilities were nice and quiet throughout the day. Proximity to the theme parks is perfect if that's your thing.

Tip: Request a high floor with pool view and give the Pitch n Putt golf course a go! And don't bother burning a DSU unless you add a co-pay to get the next level suite category with huge outdoor balconies. The regular suites are nothing special.