Kennedy Space Center information?

[Disbound]

Can anyone give me some information about visiting Kennedy Space Center? It will be my husband, 12 year old daughter and myself. We will be traveling from Orlando (3 days at Disney) upon checkout 4/20 to the space center, then over to the Tampa area for the rest of our stay. It looks to be about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from Orlando according to MapQuest.
Few questions maybe you all could help us with...
1. Is this an accurate drive time?
2. Recommended exibits to visit while there?
3. Would we need a full day if we did choose to see it all?
4. Should tickets be purchased in advance?
5. Any known discounts for tickets?
6. Are there reasonable places to grab a meal on site?

Any other information you could share about visiting the space center would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[MEK]

My first/last visit was in Nov 2006. I'm sure there have been a few changes since then, but here goes:

It took us about 1 1/2 hrs to get. I don't know - maybe we drive slow or maybe we missed a turn or two.

It is DEFINATELTY an entire day (or more) to see everything. Get there early when it opens (? 9am ? 9:30am). I don't know opening time, but we did not get there until 10:30 and we waited in a 1/2 hour line to get in. At the time they handled all forms of admission through the same gates. We had passes from AAA, which took about 1 minute to exchange, but we had to wait in line with people who took FOREVER to go through the same line. Perhaps they have become more efficient in their admission procedures in the last 3 years.

You can not bring anything (food/water) into the center. Everyone has to be checked going through security (sort of like the airport).

I do remember a cafeteria there. The prices were theme park rates. Counter service type food.

I do believe there is a new attraction there - sort of like mission space, so you probably want to check that out.

We saw several Imax films which were excellent.

We took part of the bus tour (saw 2 of the three stops), but had to bus out early because we needed to get back to WDW for an evening dinner ADR. The bus tour is really interesting. Try to see the whole thing.

There is a rocket garden, there are astronaut meets, there is a huge crowded gift shop.

There is really a lot to do. Devote a whole day to doing it right. It is very interesting and educational. My boys loved it. It is a nice change from a typical theme park.

discount tickets can be purchased through AAA.

They also have a museum, which is included in the price of the ticket, but we missed that. The museum is located near the center within driving distance. We really should have gotten there earlier and left later.

Oh well - one of these days I will go back. Have fun! It's impressive!