US/IOA 1/21 to 1/25! We had warm Weather!

[ky07]

Where are the kiosk located? I haven't been to universal in at least 12 years and never been to islands and i have to get my tickets at the kiosk and just wondering where they are?

I believe they are to the left of the ticket windows at the will call cause you can't miss them you will see the screen that you have to put in your info

 

[armstrong80]

thanks

 

[rpbert1]

enjoying your TR, looking foward to the rest and some more pics

 

[klacey1]

Excited for the rest! We always fly out of White Plains, although after our terrible experience at the Delta counter this past time, DBF would rather just fly out of JFK or LaGuardia. 684 is scaaary in the mornings, good thing you left so much room to ride.
Too bad you didn't like the Simpsons-- we LOVED this ride! Are you usually motion-sick??

 

[Coach81]

 

[ckmiles]

Excited for the rest! We always fly out of White Plains, although after our terrible experience at the Delta counter this past time, DBF would rather just fly out of JFK or LaGuardia. 684 is scaaary in the mornings, good thing you left so much room to ride.
Too bad you didn't like the Simpsons-- we LOVED this ride! Are you usually motion-sick??

I only get motion sick when the ride really bumps you around, and when I watch any IMAX movies....

 

[ckmiles]

I have been really bad about finishing this! Must keep going before I forget!

 

[ckmiles]

Ok so after the observation tower viewing, we were off to the next building. Apollo/Saturn Exhibit. This was by far the coolest exhibit. At first you walk into a large holding room where you watch a movie about various space missions, most importantly Apollo 11 (the moon landing/walking mission). It shows old footage of news reels and newspaper clips (very informative).

Next you enter into a room that has the actual control panels from the Apollo 11 mission

In the room you witness a re-enactment of the launch with the countdown, and the lights on the monitors going off. It was exciting, as you felt like it was really going to launch. And those are actual lab coats worn by the members of the launch team!

But the best part of this exhibit is when you walk into the next room. Its the actual rocket used to launch Apollo 11.

The cockpit

This was so awe inspiring, it makes you appreciate the enormity of the project as well as how much goes into getting people into space. I could have spent all day here...

There is also a little cafe in there that service warm food and snacks, at this point you have the option of 2 buses, one takes you back to the main area with the IMAX movies and gift shop, or the next stop is the International Space Station Building. We went on to the Space station.

Im at work so I do not have access to the other pictures so I will finish tonight, I promise.

As we were on the bus, the driver pointed out a large bald eagles nest, its kind of hard to see but once you see it its huge! Most of the land surrounds the KSC is all protected wetlands, so they got lots of wildlife and its up close and personal!

 

[klacey1]

I've never had a big interest in the space center (unlike DBF), but your pictures make it look amazing!!

 

[ckmiles]

We moved on to the Space station building. In this building, all of the parts that are sent up to attach or repair the space station are thoroughly tested and retested to ensure there will be no issues using them in space. Everything is conducted in a clean room, I didnt take any pictures here (your behind glass and one level above all fo the work)

There was a NASA employee in the area who was taking questions, so I bothered him for a while...

Also in this building is old sections of the space station which you can walk through at see what its like to live on the space station

After this stop we returned to the main area. There are 2 IMAX movies to watch (I dont watch them, I get motion sickness) Also there is the Astronaut memorial (which was closed for painting)

Also there is a retired space shuttle that you can walk thru

The fuel cells...

The inside of the shuttle

Also there is a 'graveyard' of old rockets that is pretty impressive..

After some shopping, and Jeff getting a case of astronaut ice cream (not really but he loves that stuff)

We stopped at Sonic for a late lunch, we do not have one of these in CT so it was a novelty stop for us. It was pretty good!

We came back to the hotel, went to IOA for 2 hours, then went to Margaritaville for a light dinner. They have the BEST Margarita's! Seriously fab!

We had the Volcano nachos (we shared them and that was enough for dinner)

Next day 2 parks in one day!

 

[ckmiles]

I've never had a big interest in the space center (unlike DBF), but your pictures make it look amazing!!

Thank you! It was really very interesting and fascinating, I highly recommend it!

 

[pixeegrl]

Thanks everyone for stopping by to post! I really appreciate it!

As for the car rentals, Alamo always gives great deals about 2 weeks before your travel date, and the let you stack codes (ie use a promo code AND a coupon)

Mousesavers.com and our own DIS boards always have people posting coupon codes etc. The one I found on here was for $10 a day and it worked. Alamo never requires you to show the coupon you used, and by using the kiosk we hardly had any interaction with any alamo employee! (no offense to anyone that works there of course )

Thanks!

 

[pixeegrl]

Thanks for the pics of KSC. DH wants to go and it looks like it will be quite interesting!