Walt Disney World 2016: Part 6 - Day 5

I’m ashamed to say that for as many years as I’ve been going out on my Pixie Dust pilgrimage I have never visited Kennedy Space Centre. From the moment the Mr and I started talking about his inaugural trip to the magic, he laid down two ground rules; he wanted to go and play golf, and he wanted to visit Kennedy. He would take as many pictures with the Mouse himself as my camera could store as long as he got to do just those two things.

We woke up extra early to get over the Disneys Swan & Dolphin Hotel where the Kennedy Space Centre tour bus would be picking us up to take us on over. It took just over an hour to get the to the Space Centre, it turned out we had been one of the first stops and stopped at about 3 or 4 hotels along International Drive before we were on our way. The coach was quick and comfy, and the tour guide was fabulous. He talked the whole bus through the Space Centre, gave an itinerary that pretty much allowed you to stop, see everything, enjoy the guided exhibitions and stop for lunch - the food is always important! Part of our package included a guided tour of the Atlantis.

Once we parked up we headed on in - the first thing that really hits you is the size of the place. It’s tiny compared to a Disney park, hell it’s tiny compared to Disney Springs, maybe just a bit bigger than Typhoon Lagoon - but it is jam packed with amazing things to see and do. We grabbed a quick breakfast muffin (which was better than McDonald's) and went on our first tour of the day. I don’t want to spoil it, but the tour of the Atlantis was amazing. Genuinely, mind blowing, whether you’ve got an interest in space travel or not, you can not be impressed by the sheer size and story behind what you see! 

The whole day pretty much went by in the same way. I felt like a kid stepping into a museum for the first time, where everything is just fascinating. From the Rocket Garden to the Saturn 5, the launch pads, the building house, everything was just brilliant. There are guided tours of everything that are included in your admission so make sure to check the times and hit a few of these as they are way more informative than the placards next to everything and interesting! 

We felt like we had the place to ourselves the whole day and even though the Space Centre is small, there was still things we didn’t get to see or do. We hit so many of the must-see exhibits and took plenty of down time, especially over lunch (hello, eating lunch under a Saturn 5?!) and we sat out looking at the launch pads for a while, taking in the oddly calm atmosphere for a place that has seen some seriously intense times, munching on some astronaut food as you do. 

Hands down, the shuttle launch experience was amazing and way more intense than I was expecting! It’s a simulator but I was literally coming out of my seat which was hilarious! Mum had bowed out of this one but she got to watch our G-force blasted faces from the control room which she loved. 

The launch control room experience for the Saturn 5 was amazing too. That is the actual control room they used for launches and it’s so eerie! The experience was way more involved, you could have easily thought something was blasting off behind you…but you really need to experience to know what I’m talking about!

The whole day went by in a blur and before we knew it we had to head back to the coach. I genuinely had the best time at the Space Centre, I mean I knew it was going to be good but I didn’t quite imagine it to be as good as it actually was. Even for the few in our group who weren’t really into space, they thoroughly enjoyed the day. It made such a difference not to be squashed against crying kids and over tired adults, to not be throwing ourselves down roller-coasters and running from one fast pass to the next. 

Is the Space Centre on your itinerary for your next trip?

You can find the rest of the Florida trip report series here!

Until next time, 

Bloglovin - Twitter - Instagram - Pinterest - Facebook