Cast of Characters:
Me, Lori, 36. Disney nut and compulsive planner. Starts planning the next trip before the last one is over.
DH, Craig, 37. Not as crazy about Disney as the rest of us, but has recently stated his intention to become a bass fishing excursion guide at Ft Wilderness when he retires. Im sure I can be talked into retiring to Orlando
DD, Jessica, 9. Also a Disney nut, needs to be talked into going on the big rides, but would discover that Rock n Rollercoaster was actually a FUN ride this trip. DD is part fish and will give the pool slides a workout.
DS, Ryan, 5. Loves Disney, but would happily spend his entire vacation in the pool. Also not the bravest child on the planet when it comes to rides, but loved Mission Space (go figure).
DSIL and DBIL, 30-somethings (technically DBIL just turned 40, but close enough). Big Disney fans, recently purchased DVC points at Saratoga Springs, so this will be their last non-villa Disney stay.
Tuesday, May 11th
This would be a non-Disney day, so if you arent interested in hearing about Kennedy Space Center, please proceed to the nearest exit.
We had taken DD out of school for the week, so we felt compelled to do at least one truly educational side trip. We left in the rental van around 9am for the Kennedy Space Center. It took us just under an hour to get there. We decided to sign up for the NASA Up Close Tour, as it sounded more interesting than the bus tour that is included in the regular admission. We chose the tour that was leaving in 20 minutes. Since we hadnt had breakfast, this wasnt our smartest move. We ended up buying some muffins, cookies and Doritos at a snack bar and eating them on the way to the bus stop. They took our group photo before we got in line, and you can see the Doritos bags in the picture. Some of us were at least savvy enough to hide the muffins behind someones back.
We werent supposed to have food on the bus, so we stuffed our faces quickly. Why we didnt sign up for the next tour that left only 20 minutes later, Ill never know. The bus tour was very cool, at least for the adults. It was a bit slow for the kids after 3 days of Disney. DS just wanted it to be over after about 30 minutes, and there were 90 minutes to go. We made stops at the space station assembly building, the shuttle assembly building, both launch pads, and the landing pads. We got off the bus at the space station building and got to go inside. We also stopped at a viewing area very close to the launch pads for photos. This tour gets much closer to things than the standard tour, and I think it was worth the few extra bucks.
After the tour, we were dropped off at the Apollo / Saturn V center. Before you get into the room that holds a real Saturn V rocket, you get to experience a simulated launch in a room that contains the control panels from the original mission control for the Apollo launches. The windows shake, which the kids thought was pretty cool.
By the time we got into the main Saturn V room, we were starving, so we took a quick look at the rocket (which is much bigger than I expected) and got some lunch at the snack bar. We bought way too much food here did I mention we were starving? We are usually pretty good about splitting things, but we had enough pizza left here to feed another family. We checked out a few more exhibits and then went out to the bus stop. We somehow missed the moon rock that was supposed to be in the gift shop that you pass through on the way out, but I didnt remember it until we were on the bus. Oh well.
The bus took us back to the visitors center. We walked out to the shuttle pavilion which has a full-scale model of the space shuttle. You can walk inside, but dont get to see a whole lot just the cargo bay and astronauts seating area. I think the kids expected to be able to walk around inside a bit more. Next we saw an IMAX movie about the space shuttle called The Dream is Alive. It was interesting, but a bit out of date as it was made before the 2003 Columbia accident.
Next we headed over to the rocket garden for some photo ops. The kids sat in a space capsule. On our way out we made the customary trip through the gift shop, where DS wanted to buy everything he saw. He settled for a set of small rockets.
We were running later than we expected as we had hoped to spend some time at the beach today. We decided we still had time to dip our toes in the ocean. We headed towards Cocoa Beach. DS fell asleep in the car, so we made a stop at Ron Jons surf shop so DSIL could run in to pick something up for someone. Im not sure why she couldnt have just ordered it on line, but at least it gave DS a little more time to nap. We found some public parking near the ocean and went down to the shoreline in our clothes. We had brought our suits, but it was so late we didnt bother changing. The kids played in the sand and surf for a bit, and actually managed to stay pretty dry.
We hopped back in the car with the intention of stopping for dinner. We didnt see anything appealing around Cocoa Beach and got back on the Beeline. Note for future trips there is NO FOOD along the Beeline between Cocoa Beach and International Drive. In desperation, we ended up at a Sizzler on I-Drive. We would have eaten anything at this point. Sizzler wasnt bad. As is typical here, we were so filled up on the salad bar offerings that no one was hungry by the time their steaks came. This was fine, as the steaks were pretty lousy anyway, with the exception of DHs Porterhouse. At least the salad bar here allowed us to get some food quickly, especially DS who had been announcing rather loudly that he was starving for the last 30 minutes of the drive.
We got back to the hotel after 9. Since the kids had done some power-napping in the car, they had energy for a late night swim. We kept it short, as tomorrow was to be a very early day at Magic Kingdom.
Me, Lori, 36. Disney nut and compulsive planner. Starts planning the next trip before the last one is over.
DH, Craig, 37. Not as crazy about Disney as the rest of us, but has recently stated his intention to become a bass fishing excursion guide at Ft Wilderness when he retires. Im sure I can be talked into retiring to Orlando
DD, Jessica, 9. Also a Disney nut, needs to be talked into going on the big rides, but would discover that Rock n Rollercoaster was actually a FUN ride this trip. DD is part fish and will give the pool slides a workout.
DS, Ryan, 5. Loves Disney, but would happily spend his entire vacation in the pool. Also not the bravest child on the planet when it comes to rides, but loved Mission Space (go figure).
DSIL and DBIL, 30-somethings (technically DBIL just turned 40, but close enough). Big Disney fans, recently purchased DVC points at Saratoga Springs, so this will be their last non-villa Disney stay.
Tuesday, May 11th
This would be a non-Disney day, so if you arent interested in hearing about Kennedy Space Center, please proceed to the nearest exit.
We had taken DD out of school for the week, so we felt compelled to do at least one truly educational side trip. We left in the rental van around 9am for the Kennedy Space Center. It took us just under an hour to get there. We decided to sign up for the NASA Up Close Tour, as it sounded more interesting than the bus tour that is included in the regular admission. We chose the tour that was leaving in 20 minutes. Since we hadnt had breakfast, this wasnt our smartest move. We ended up buying some muffins, cookies and Doritos at a snack bar and eating them on the way to the bus stop. They took our group photo before we got in line, and you can see the Doritos bags in the picture. Some of us were at least savvy enough to hide the muffins behind someones back.
We werent supposed to have food on the bus, so we stuffed our faces quickly. Why we didnt sign up for the next tour that left only 20 minutes later, Ill never know. The bus tour was very cool, at least for the adults. It was a bit slow for the kids after 3 days of Disney. DS just wanted it to be over after about 30 minutes, and there were 90 minutes to go. We made stops at the space station assembly building, the shuttle assembly building, both launch pads, and the landing pads. We got off the bus at the space station building and got to go inside. We also stopped at a viewing area very close to the launch pads for photos. This tour gets much closer to things than the standard tour, and I think it was worth the few extra bucks.
After the tour, we were dropped off at the Apollo / Saturn V center. Before you get into the room that holds a real Saturn V rocket, you get to experience a simulated launch in a room that contains the control panels from the original mission control for the Apollo launches. The windows shake, which the kids thought was pretty cool.
By the time we got into the main Saturn V room, we were starving, so we took a quick look at the rocket (which is much bigger than I expected) and got some lunch at the snack bar. We bought way too much food here did I mention we were starving? We are usually pretty good about splitting things, but we had enough pizza left here to feed another family. We checked out a few more exhibits and then went out to the bus stop. We somehow missed the moon rock that was supposed to be in the gift shop that you pass through on the way out, but I didnt remember it until we were on the bus. Oh well.
The bus took us back to the visitors center. We walked out to the shuttle pavilion which has a full-scale model of the space shuttle. You can walk inside, but dont get to see a whole lot just the cargo bay and astronauts seating area. I think the kids expected to be able to walk around inside a bit more. Next we saw an IMAX movie about the space shuttle called The Dream is Alive. It was interesting, but a bit out of date as it was made before the 2003 Columbia accident.
Next we headed over to the rocket garden for some photo ops. The kids sat in a space capsule. On our way out we made the customary trip through the gift shop, where DS wanted to buy everything he saw. He settled for a set of small rockets.
We were running later than we expected as we had hoped to spend some time at the beach today. We decided we still had time to dip our toes in the ocean. We headed towards Cocoa Beach. DS fell asleep in the car, so we made a stop at Ron Jons surf shop so DSIL could run in to pick something up for someone. Im not sure why she couldnt have just ordered it on line, but at least it gave DS a little more time to nap. We found some public parking near the ocean and went down to the shoreline in our clothes. We had brought our suits, but it was so late we didnt bother changing. The kids played in the sand and surf for a bit, and actually managed to stay pretty dry.
We hopped back in the car with the intention of stopping for dinner. We didnt see anything appealing around Cocoa Beach and got back on the Beeline. Note for future trips there is NO FOOD along the Beeline between Cocoa Beach and International Drive. In desperation, we ended up at a Sizzler on I-Drive. We would have eaten anything at this point. Sizzler wasnt bad. As is typical here, we were so filled up on the salad bar offerings that no one was hungry by the time their steaks came. This was fine, as the steaks were pretty lousy anyway, with the exception of DHs Porterhouse. At least the salad bar here allowed us to get some food quickly, especially DS who had been announcing rather loudly that he was starving for the last 30 minutes of the drive.
We got back to the hotel after 9. Since the kids had done some power-napping in the car, they had energy for a late night swim. We kept it short, as tomorrow was to be a very early day at Magic Kingdom.
