From Where in the World Can I See the Shuttle Takeoff?

[famsen]

We are at WDW right now staying at Wilderness Lodge.
From where on Disney property can I see the space shuttle taking off Monday morning? If I go to say the Contemporary, which direction should I look. Can it be seen from Magic Kingdom area? Can I see it from the beach at our resort?

 

[newholidayx2]

what time is it taking off?

 

[famsen]

6:15am I believe. Yeah, it's really early and I am getting up for it no matter what. I just don't know where to look or if I should just hop in the car and head east for a while and pull over to watch.

 

[larryz]

6:15am I believe. Yeah, it's really early and I am getting up for it no matter what. I just don't know where to look or if I should just hop in the car and head east for a while and pull over to watch.

If you could get to the roof of any of the taller resorts, you'd have about the best view you could get. An unobstructed look to the east... You'd likely see the bright engines, then when the smoke trail breaks the terminator, you'd be able to see that as well. Should be quite the vision, if the sky conditions allow!

 

[famsen]

If you could get to the roof of any of the taller resorts, you'd have about the best view you could get. An unobstructed look to the east... You'd likely see the bright engines, then when the smoke trail breaks the terminator, you'd be able to see that as well. Should be quite the vision, if the sky conditions allow!

Seeing that would be a dream come true for me. Especially since there are only a couple launches left, ever. I really hope I can find somewhere on property that early where I can get a great view.

 

[nhra67]

I have watched from the CR dock, look to the eastern sky or (left if you are walking out on the dock). If it is clear you will see a bright light with a long smoke trail behind it. Try not to miss it, there are not many launches left.

 

[kazfloyd]

I saw it from outside of my room at the CBR last year. It was awesome to see!! It went off about 12:05 a.m.

 

[etpinge]

Many many moons ago, I saw it from Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse - beautiful

Get up and find it!

 

[DisneyWisher]

If you are at WL just head out to the boat dock (the one that takes you to MK) you should have a great view from there. If you want a better view and you have a car head over to Kennedy. It's probably about an hour away but it's a once in a lifetime experience for anyone outside of Central Florida. I live in Ft Lauderdale and we can see the bright fires from the engines and the smoke from here. It's about 180 miles from here.

 

[Tink1073]

We saw it during our stay in Nov 2008 from POR. Everyone was standing along one of the bridges, it was really cool! My soon to be 4 year old still talks about it, and he was only 2 1/2 at the time.

 

[natebenma]

Here's an awesome link to a YouTube video of a shuttle launch as viewed from the beach at the Poly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJUCeIDatBA

Here is where you can check the schedule of remaining launches
www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Last July, we saw the shuttle launch over Mexico (the pavillion) around 6 PM as we were waiting for our Le Cellier dinner reservation.

 

[wishspirit]

About 5 years back I saw a shuttle launch over the top of Space Mountain!

That was pretty cool!

 

[famsen]

Here's an awesome link to a YouTube video of a shuttle launch as viewed from the beach at the Poly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJUCeIDatBA

Here is where you can check the schedule of remaining launches
www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Last July, we saw the shuttle launch over Mexico (the pavillion) around 6 PM as we were waiting for our Le Cellier dinner reservation.

Thanks for the video link. That is AWESOME!
I am going to head for the WL boat dock at 5:30am
On a side note, the International Space Station is scheduled to pass right over Kennedy Space Center about 15 minutes before the shuttle launch.
So anyone looking up and over towards the east, look for a REALLY bright light, looking like a moving star, that gradually fades into brightness for several seconds and then gradually fades out. It should be an amazing morning.

 

[luvindis]

We were in Magic Kingdom last Spring Break and our DS was marching in band and was so excited and thrilled that just moments after he walked by the space shuttle took off. We were standing facing tomorrow land with the castle just to our left and had the most perfect view. There were shouts and cheers a joy for all there. It was a better view than I would have ever imagined. The funniest and saddest part was my husband was videoing (new camara) was so excited over the shuttle zoomed in for terrific pics could not hardly contain himself only to discover afterwards he forgot to hit record He was devastated, but he got our son marching down Main street at Disney World recorded I managed to get some pretty good pics with my cell phone of the take off.

 

[KBazzel]

I'm not sure where the best location to see the shuttle launch is but I'm here to tell you don't miss this opportunity! If it's that important to you I might even suggest that you drive closer. When I was a child (I'm thinking around 10 or so) my family and I stopped on our way home from grandma's specifically to see the shuttle launch. There were so many cars blocking the roads trying to get closer that we could only get several miles away. But it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. The flame was so bright and you could feel the power of the engines reverberate through your chest. And this had to have been at least 20 years ago. It's still something I remember vividly. I would love to take my girls for the experience but the scheduling just hasn't worked out. We live in the Rocket City and have the space and rocket center in our backyard so sometimes I think we're immune to the wonder of it.

Kira

 

[Tomh]

We saw it from the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, the bridge just behind the main building, going over to Ole Man Island, even got a picture, though it is blurry because I didn't have the tripod with me.

 

[Feralpeg]

You should be able to see the launch from anywhere that has an unobstructed view toward the east. I stand out on my front yard and look to the east. I can aways see it. Since it is so early and the sun will not be fully up, you should be able to see the burn really well.

I've watch a ton of launches over the past six years since moving to Florida. It never gets old!

Here's a picture I took from my yard of a Discovery launch.

 

[Nicoal13]

I saw the launch in Feb. from the parking lot at Kidani. Of course we couldn't see it until it cleared the top of the resort, but was still a good view. We could see the boosters fall off and everything. And we got up at 4:30 am to see it and didn't have a car, so we couldn't get a better view.

I also saw a launch in Nov. 2008 from Titusville. Absolutely breathtaking. Most amazing thing I've ever seen.

Enjoy!

 

[Sandy Fisher]

Speaking of timing, a lot of things can change the launch time. Today they were talking about a possible delay because of dense morning fog. It's been very foggy the last three mornings. The fog doesn't affect the shuttle going up, but if they'd have to land, that would be difficult because of low visibility. Keep track of the latest information before you make plans to watch.

 

[8lovesmickey]

We had a good view from the front of Pop and also from POFQ by the river (we've been lucky to see two!). Hope for clear skies... it's amazing.