The space shuttle

[David R]

Against my better judgment, I agreed to go to Disney World with a friend on the 4th of July. The place was packed. We went to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

While at Epcot in the afternoon we rode Mission Space. As soon as we got out of it, we saw a lot of people all looking into the same direction, and that’s when it hit me, the space shuttle was about to launch.

And sure enough, not 30 seconds after we stepped outside, right over the the Mission Space building, there it was, the space shuttle. It was awesome. You could see the shuttle, the fire from the rockets and the thick column of smoke. It was picture perfect. People started clapping and we all looked until you could not see it anymore. The entire park had stopped and was looking at it. Some cried. Most clapped.

It was a perfect patriotic ending to a fantastic 4th of July theme park adventure.

 

[ugadog99]

So cool! I would have loved to see that!

 

[princess22]

That is awesome! Must of been a beautiful sight! Years ago, I was up at the top of Astro Orbiter just in time for the shuttle launch. It went up just to the left of Space Mountain. I was working, and tried pointing it out to people, most people just looked at me like I was crazy!

I was over at Cocoa for the launch today! It was amazing!

 

[MMOUSEFAN]

Do you take any pics??? I would love to see any.

 

[David R]

Do you take any pics??? I would love to see any.

No, I go to WDW so often that I just hardly ever carry my camera with me. I was kicking myself for not having brought it, it would have been an awesome picture.

 

[randbmom]

We took a break to our hotel midday and watched the launch setup on local channel 6 and then saw the shuttle from our balcony. Everyone in the hotel and at the pool were cheering. It was awesome.
This is actually the second time we've been lucky enough to see the shuttle take off. Thanksgiving 2002 we were coming back to PO from DTD on the boat and the boat driver stopped in the middle of the river and told us where to look. We had a great view of a nighttime launch at about 10 PM. It struck me that even the CM's and other locals stop everything and watch the shuttle liftoff. I think that's pretty neat.

 

[TnTsParty]

Tried to see if from down here 3 hours south of WDW and it turned out to be too cloudy between here and there so we couldn't see it. But on a clear day you can see it lift off. I did watch it on TV and felt proud!!

 

[jimmybop]

iOn my First CP In the spring of 02, I had the day off during one of the launches and was resort hopping. I was at the Wilderness Lodge and saw everyone out by the beach gathering around and realized the shuttle was about to lauch. I took out my radio and listend to the count down, and about 30-60 later you could see a tiny speck with a huge flame and a train a smoke behind it. It was really cool even from that far away. My roomate was lucky enough one day and went to one of the beaches with a coworker and got a cool video of the shuttle lifting off before sunrise.

I hope to see one or two this fall during my next CP Always love the space program since I was little.

 

[wdwguide]

And I've lived in FL for like six years now and missed it each time. We wanted to go on the day when they first scrubbed the launch and got stuck in Orlando traffic - not that we missed anything that day.

 

[wendypooh]

It is an awesome thing to see!! We were at WDW back in 'O3 and saw Columbia, we got it on video. Of course, it was horrible and shocking with what happened to it upon descent. My thoughts and prayers are with this crew.

 

[Corryn]

Wow!!!!! I would love to see the shuttle take off!
When we were down there in April last year, a satellite took off into space. It was amazing, the sky lit up like nothing I've ever seen before!
But the most incredible event was when it penetrated the atmosphere (not sure if that's exactly it...) but after you couldn't see the rocket, about a minute later, there was a sound and my husband said he saw this dot with a circle surrounding it, and it was a really strange sight, he said it looked like something out of a movie...They showed something like it on the newscast, but the television camera just could not pick it up like he could actually witnessing it.

Did you see this? Did you hear the noise?

 

[TheDoctor]

Years ago, my family and I watched a shuttle launch from the monorail. It was very moving.

 

[twoprincesses]

We were at Houston Astros game when it lifted off... the crowd went crazy when we saw it on the huge screen. That was the highlight of my July 4th. It doesn't top yours though... I'd love to see that live!

 

[epcotking]

I used to live in Tampa, and during the night launches, you could clearly see the shuttle launching into the air. It left a streak of fire about an inch long in the horizon. Absolutely amazing.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

It's an awesome sight, isn't it? I saw it in April 1983. I'd just arrived with my mother and grandmother for the week, and we were having lunch. We noticed a crowd of people standing outside, looking up, and my mother smacked me and said, "The shuttle launch is today! Run out there, I bet you can see it!" I'll never forget it.

 

[phisigprincess]

How neat is that?? What a great 4th of July surprise!

 

[Pdowning98]

Wow, what an amazing sight that must have been!

 

[tofubeast]

We will be at WDW when the shuttle returns. Assuming it lands at KSC, I am hoping we get to hear the sonic boom. As a child living in L.A., I used to hear the boom when it landed in CA. We shall see!

 

[DisneyWorldWisher]

But the most incredible event was when it penetrated the atmosphere (not sure if that's exactly it...) but after you couldn't see the rocket, about a minute later, there was a sound and my husband said he saw this dot with a circle surrounding it, and it was a really strange sight, he said it looked like something out of a movie...They showed something like it on the newscast, but the television camera just could not pick it up like he could actually witnessing it.

You know, everytime the shuttle takes off it burns a huge hole in the ozone. They won't let people underneath the launch pad for a day or soon because they would get sunburned badly and quickly. Perhaps that was what it was?

Anyway, to the OP, that had to be very cool. Getting off of Mission: SPACE and having experienced the feeling of space flight, and then seeing the astronauts take off.
I would have paid to see that!

 

[JulielovesDisney]

We got to see Columbia ( ) take off from the Boardwalk a couple years ago. We were riding one of those multipassenger bikes and we stopped on a bridge and watched it. It's was very cool!! I'll never forget that.

That must've been awesome, just getting off of Mission Space then seeing it in real life. You're lucky, I'd love to experience that!!