Can you see the shuttle from DW?

[dec2901]

Someone told me today that the shuttle launch was postponed until Saturday (tomorrow) at 8:47. Can you see anything from the world? If so, where is the best place to view? We are staying on property?

Thanks!

 

[perdidochas]

Someone told me today that the shuttle launch was postponed until Saturday (tomorrow) at 8:47. Can you see anything from the world? If so, where is the best place to view? We are staying on property?

Thanks!

When I lived in Miami, we could see the contrails from the shuttle launch. Considering that's almost 200 miles away, I would imagine that you could see a little more in Disney which is more like 60 miles from the Cape.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

Don't be suprised if they scrub tomorrow, weather is not looking so good for a launch, they are thinking Tuesday might be their best option, but they are supposed to have a news breifing tomorrow morning before they start fueling the tanks.

Here is the link to a long running thread about places to watch from.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1144755&page=1&pp=15

There are also some pictures from previous launches, it is really a good thread

In case you don't want to go through the whole thread, WillCad had posted this, I think it will be helpful for you

KSC is due east from WDW, so from anywhere on WDW property all you have to do is look east. The scheduled time for this launch is 9:38pm, so if it launches on time I will be at MVMCP that night, hopefully just finished watching Wishes. By that time the other parks will probably be closed or getting ready to close, but if the launch is postponed (as they are so often), who knows where we will be when it finally lifts off? With that in mind, here are some simple directions for each park so you will know which direction to face:

In MK, Tomorrowland is the eastern side of the park - the walkway from the Hub to Tomorrowland runs directly east.

In Epcot, Future World is north, World Showcase is south, so wherever you are in the park, line up with Spaceship Earth to your left and the American Adventure to your right, and you will be looking east.

MGM is more difficult, because it doesn't have a centralized hub/spoke design like the other parks, but there are two places I can think of that face due east: Stand in front of RnRC with your back to the giant guitar, and you are facing east; stand with your back to Gertie the Dinosaur, and you are facing east. The MGM entrance plaza and Hollywood Blvd face northeast, so if you are in the entrance plaza outside the gates, stand with your back to the gates and turn 45-degrees to the right, and you are facing east.

AK is laid out better, but the vegetation makes direction finding more difficult from within the park. However, you can stand with your back to Tusker House and you will be facing slightly north of east; you can stand in the entrance plaza outside the gates, with Rainforest Cafe at your back and the gates to your left, and you are facing east.

At Downtown Disney, the West Side is to the west and Rainforest Cafe is to the east, so face RFC from pretty much anywhere at DTD and you will be facing pretty much east.

There are too many resorts to list each one, but I can list a few off the top of my head:

At Pop Century, the Classic Years are all on the east side of Hourglass Lake, so stand with the lake at your back and Classic Hall in front of you and you are facing east.

At any of the All-Stars, stand at the bus stops with the building at your back and the main road in front of you, and you are facing slightly north of east.

In the Epcot resort area, stand so that Stormalong Bay is to your left, the Boardwalk is to your right, and Swan & Dolphin are at your back, and you will be facing generally east.

At the monorail resorts, stand so that MK is to your left, Poly is to your right, and GF is at your back, and you are facing east. Note: Contemporary's tower is aligned north-south, so the lake side rooms all face due east. If you are eating at California Grill during the launch, your view will be blocked; go out onto the observation deck and face right, away from MK.

At Wilderness Lodge, stand with the main building at your back and the lake in front of you, and you are facing northeast. Turn 45-degrees to the right, and you are facing east.

 

[domestic goddess]

We have seen the shuttle launch from both Fantasyland at MK and World Showcase at EPCOT. The time at MK was during MVMCP and they stopped the fireworks until it was out of sight and then resumed the fireworks. We had gone to Kennedy Space Center the week before and had seen the shuttle on the launch pad. It was very cool!

The time at EPCOT was during the day and we could just see a shining object ascending in the eastern sky.

We feel very lucky to have seen it twice. Good luck!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

When we were there in September, we saw the launch from Epcot. We were looking right over Mission:Space and saw it there. Very cool!

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

CNN had reported this morning that the launch was being postponed, that however was misinformation. It is still scheduled for tonight at 8:47pm, the astronauts are strapping in to the shuttle right now. Cross your fingers that they can get the shuttle up. Sorry for the original post with the mis-info...