The Kennedy Space Center

Of all the theme parks in Orlando, Kennedy Space Center is the least known. Its location is a bit aloof from everything else in Orlando: the Kennedy Space Center is at the Atlantic Coast, north of Miami. This is where all Apollo Missions and Space Shuttle flights were started. Until 2011, all manned space flights of the USA were launched here. Nowadays, there are still rockets launches and even landings on a regular basis. Parts of the area are open to public and can be visited.

How to Reach Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space is located at Florida’s Atlantic Coast right in the middle between Jacksonville and Miami. From Orlando, going to the Kennedy Space Center is easy: it only takes an hour to drive (85 km); from Miami it’s a longer drive. The closest towns are Daytona Beach and Cocoa Beach.

I’m usually not a big fan of theme parks, amusements parks and everything around it. I was not interested in seeing Disneyland for example. Kennedy Space Center is different. It’s not primarily about entertainment; they try to tell the history of space travel. This is the dominating motto in the park; everything else is arranged accordingly. The park has lots of interesting information about space travel in general.

Kennedy Space Center refers to a larger area, where some parts are restricted. NASA has their spaceport there, Cape Canaveral is right next to it. This is where all the rocket launches are operated. Larger areas on the island are uninhabited a make and important nature protection area.

Visitor Center Rocket Garden and Bus Tour

Parking is available right in front of the visitor center, even though a fine has to be paid. Finding a parking spot is, in the US, usually easy and not a big problem. A day pass gives you entrance to the Rocket Garden. Several old, discharged rockets and space technique can be seen here. Simply seeing how enormously large the rockets are is something special. The sheer size of the rockets only becomes visible when you walk around these rockets. Also there is a launch capsule. Sitting in it is funny in particular for taller men who can barely squeeze themselves into it.

The rocket garden is where the bus tour starts. It is not possible to take your own car; you need to do the bus tour. The bus stops several times on its route. There are smaller and larger attractions. At the larger ones, you can stay as long as you want und just take the next bus. The system is quite simple and runs smoothly.

Several things can be seen on the bus tour: the bus passes along a large building – the vehicle assembly building. This is where the rockets are indeed built and assembled. You also get to see a couple of launch pads and the engine of the first moon mission.

The next larger stop is an exhibit about the Apollo Program. Here, they tell all kinds of stories about the Apollo Program and its astronauts. Also, several rockets, space suits, equipment and a moon stone are shown. Highlight at this stop is the Saturn V, the biggest rocket that ever flew in space. At the entrance hall, the rocket hangs horizontally in about 5 meters high. You can walk along its body and watch it from an unusual perspective. A second larger stop is about the Space Shuttle Program.

You also get to see the launch center of the Apollo Mission; it looks just exactly how you know it from TV. A 4-D-Cinema imitates how a rocket starts, including special effects. This is all nicely done, even though a bit kitschy and cheesy, typically American.

You pass along the launch pad several times. Launch pad sounds a bit like its nothing. Anyways, these pads are completely the opposite. A launch pad is a highly complex piece of engineering with loads of single elements and technical equipment.

After about 3 hours, you reach the Rocket Garden again. Here, there is the astronaut encounter: a Q&A with an astronaut and an IMAX 3-D cinema. When I was there, they showed a movie about the Hubble Telescope. Now it’s a movie about the Mars Mission.

Special tour: Vehicle Assembly Building

In addition to the regular tour, there are many special tours available. We didn’t exactly plan to do a second tour but there was a rocket launch three days later and we decided to definitely come back for that.

A report about that rocket launch can be found here.

We did the special tour about the Vehicle Assembly Building on our second day. You have to pay for the regular one day entrance and the special tour. It was expensive but worth it! This time, we did not pass by the huge building but were allowed to enter it. The building itself can be described in only two word: incredibly huge. It is the largest building with only one storey. At the center is a huge, empty room where rockets are made. On every side are stairs and entrances. You can easily imagine how they assemble their rockets here. Anyways, you don’t get to see a lot in the building. The tour group is lead into the building for something like 50 meters, you need to stay behind ropes and marks.

A lady who works there or worked there, told the group many interesting facts about how they build things, which materials they used, what kind of problems they had and what they did to fix these problems. To me, it seemed like the lady really enjoyed talking about everything and that she could have continued for ages. Anyways, she was interrupted a bit harshly by our tour guide and we almost had to run to the bus because the next tour group was already waiting.

Is Kennedy Space Center worth a visit?

Definitely Yes! I have to say, I’m not a space travel enthusiast, nor am I particularly interested in engineering or a big fan of NASA, aviation or the space. That is why I wasn’t really sure if the Kennedy Space Center is right for me and worth paying that expensive entrance fee. Also, I didn’t know if two days is too much time there (the rocket launch was in the evening, we spent an entire second day at the KSC).

The Kennedy Space Center offers many attractions: a mix of facts and technical knowledge in their exhibits, entertaining presentations, original locations and old space technique. All of this is shown on the regular bus tour. Also, these several special tours are interesting and offer new aspects and ideas. The bus tour is funny and interesting you can learn more about space travel but never get bored. American kitsch and cheesiness is also there, as well as American pathos. Both is always present in the background. But I didn’t mind, it was ok. Of course you are taken to the gift shop, mandatory everywhere in the US. The restaurants are ok and not overpriced.

All bus drivers and tour guides are some kind of entertainers. I met several older gents, veterans; who clearly enjoyed their job and could totally crack up the entire bus. Telling jokes during the bus ride is part of it, yet the jokes weren’t even bad. Everyone was very helpful and all questions were answered friendly and in detail. You can easily spend a whole day here. I would highly recommend visiting the Kennedy Space Center.

Fun Fact: Manatees in the Nature Protected Area

According to Wikipedia, only 9% of the island is habitated, everything else is protected area where many animals find a place to live. All busses drive along standard routes, expect that traffic is weak, only a few employees. Fun fact: we did get to see a manatee. The manatee was swimming in one of the channels while we were driving past it in the bus. The tour guide said this happens regularly. In the Everglades, I wasn’t lucky enough to see a manatee but here in the KSC I got to see one.