Kennedy Space Centre before cruise?

[K8T]

Hi

We are staying in Disney for 7 days, then picking up the Dream for a 3 night Halloween Cruise, we have a hire car.

As we have been given free tickets for the Kennedy Space Centre we would like to make a quick visit.

How long from POR will it take to drive and then how far is the Centre from the cruise terminal?

We could possibly do it on our return, as we have a further 3 days at Universal before we fly back to the UK, although my DD will want to get to Universal as soon as she can!

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[_auroraborealis_]

KSC typically is about an hour from WDW, and about 25 minutes from the car rental returns at PC. Doesn't generally open until 9 or 10.

I think you would be seriously rushing it to do it on embark. It really is an all-day destination.

 

[MichelleCanada]

We just did the KSC a couple of weeks ago. We did it on the day we disembarked. We had late breakfast and were not in a hurry at all. It took about an hour to: wait for the rental shuttle; get our car and pull into the parking lot at KSC. We got there around 10:30 and stayed until closing at 6 pm. When you get to KSC go all the way to the back and do the bus tour first. There was no line up because everyone stopped at everything else first.

We stayed at POFQ after the cruise and it took almost exactly an hour to drive from KSC to POFQ.

Don’t forget tolls and parking at KSC is $10.

 

[K8T]

Thank you, the timings were exactly what I wanted.

I will ask my daughter what she prefers, I was hoping we could get there for 9am opening and leave around 1.30/2pm. We are parking the car at the port.

I think because the tickets are free, I'm not too worried if we don't make the best of them, but it would be a shame to rush it.

Universal or KSC? I fear the draw of Harry Potter will be too strong!

 

[MichelleCanada]

KSC can be done in less time - we weren’t in a hurry and I think we saw it all. There are a lot of movies/IMAX presentations - I wouldn’t do them all.

Have a great time no matter what your schedule ends up being!!

 

[owensamo]

We haven't been in years, but when we went we skipped all of the bus tours, and I don't think we really spent more than a half day. I would think if you just spend your time at the Visitor's Center, you should be able to see pretty much everything in 4-5 hours without feeling too rushed.

 

[K8T]

We just did the KSC a couple of weeks ago. We did it on the day we disembarked. We had late breakfast and were not in a hurry at all. It took about an hour to: wait for the rental shuttle; get our car and pull into the parking lot at KSC. We got there around 10:30 and stayed until closing at 6 pm. When you get to KSC go all the way to the back and do the bus tour first. There was no line up because everyone stopped at everything else first.

We stayed at POFQ after the cruise and it took almost exactly an hour to drive from KSC to POFQ.

Don’t forget tolls and parking at KSC is $10.

Thank you, very helpful. How long was the bus tour? This sounds a great idea and then come back to the main centre.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I am not sure what you would call the main Center any more.

 

[MichelleCanada]

Thank you, very helpful. How long was the bus tour? This sounds a great idea and then come back to the main centre.

The bus tour takes you by two of the launch pads and then drops you off at the Apollo Saturn V exhibit. It really depends on how much time you look around there before Yu take the bus back (10 mins) In total we took 2.5- 3 hrs for the bus and the Saturn V exhibit. But we looked at everything - you could do it in less time.

The Atlantis exhibit has the most interactive things to do. Our DS7 loved it in there.

We were in Houston last year for a DCL cruise and went to the space centre there - good addition to both vacations.

 

[Quellman]

Thank you, the timings were exactly what I wanted.

I will ask my daughter what she prefers, I was hoping we could get there for 9am opening and leave around 1.30/2pm. We are parking the car at the port.

I think because the tickets are free, I'm not too worried if we don't make the best of them, but it would be a shame to rush it.

Universal or KSC? I fear the draw of Harry Potter will be too strong!

Since the tickets were free, I agree silly to waste them. Take planning for KSC the same as you would do any park. Look what they have to offer and see what interests your party, and prioritize. You can do this on either end of your cruise. I would probably do the embarkation day, this way you know you have a hard stop. I would want to be at the center close to when they open so you can make sure you get to do the things you want. If you go after the cruise, you may start to creep on your planned departure time because it's 'just Universal'.

I did the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles in about an hour because I was pressed on time. But I knew which pieces in the museum I had to see based on personal interests. I could easily have spent so much more time, and taking guided tours. But I knew this was a 'walk and see' visit instead of a 'stop and immerse' visit. I hope to return sometime when time is better on my side, but even if it doesn't happen, I'll still have some nice memories. So plan on the saturn v, the space shuttle, and some of the interactive exhibits. I remember doing the bus tour as a kid when the shuttle program was still in full swing. I can't comment to how it is now. If they allow you off the bus and into some buildings, neat! But just driving past some launch pads..... maybe not so neat when you can see apollo mission capsule and do some interactive training!