We planned a weeklong Florida vacation for Kavya’s 10th birthday. Our key attraction was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal, but we also visited a couple of other places. In this post, I will share our experience visiting NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre and Disney’s EPCOT.
Vancouver – Orlando
We left Vancouver on Saturday, Feb 4, early in the morning and landed in Orlando late in the evening. We took an Uber to Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort – a retro-style resort inspired by Florida beach resorts from the 1950s and 60s. This resort would be our home for the rest of the week.
It was our first family vacation staying in a resort like this. Usually, it is hostels, b&b places or even tents. So, the whole resort experience was quite an upgrade. Our initial plan was to go to Kennedy Space Centre towards the end of the trip. But a SpaceX launch was scheduled for the next day, Feb 5. So we changed our plan and booked a rental car for the next day.
AVIS counter at the resort opened at 8 am, but they had just one rep, and it was a busy day for rentals. Initially, I had booked a KIA electric car, but considering the overnight charging/parking cost, I switched to a regular car. It was past 9 am by the time we hit the road.
Kennedy Space Centre
It was drizzling as we entered the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC). We went into the visitor information centre and got a layout of the area and a rough plan for the day.
Two types of bus tours are offered at KSC – a shorter one included in your admission ticket. The other is the more extended Explore Tour, which is $25/adult and has more stops and photo opportunities.
Kennedy Space Centre Bus Tour
We got on the bus for the regular tour. It was an air-conditioned bus with tv screens. Our tour guide/bus driver would talk about the upcoming attraction and then play a video on the screen.
First up was the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), one of the world’s largest buildings by area. By volume, it is equivalent to 3.5 Empire State buildings.
Next to it was the Crawler Transporter – 2, which weighs about 3000 tonnes – the same as about 1000 pickup trucks. CT-2 transports rockets and space shuttles to launch pads. The operating speed of this giant machine is less than 1 mile per hour.
A few months back, at Cummins (the company I work for), this machine was highlighted as “Machine of the Month.” Two 1500 kW Cummins Generators power the control room for this transporter.
Our tour guide showed us some launch pads from a distance, but we could hardly see anything due to bad weather.
Race to the Moon
We arrived at the Apollo/Saturn V Center and got in line for the next show at the Firing Room theatre. The show highlights the launch of the first crewed NASA mission to orbit the Moon in 1968.
As we exited the theatre, we entered a huge area where you could walk below the massive Saturn V rocket. It was impressive.
Next, we visited Lunar Theatre and relived the final moments of the first human landing on the Moon. The show used footage from July 1969 and other theatrical elements to provide a fantastic experience.
Exiting the Lunar Theatre, we entered an exhibit that included spacesuits, rocks from the Moon, a command module and other items from Apollo Missions.
After almost an hour at the Apollo/Saturn V Centre, we took a shuttle back to Main Visitor Complex and made our way to the latest addition to KSC – Gateway.
Gateway
Gateway has some of the best interactive displays by NASA and its commercial partners, like SpaceX and Boeing.
The big attraction here was the Spaceport – which offers four options for a 4D simulator ride. After waiting in line for almost an hour, we chose “Uncharted Worlds.” It was a short (about five minutes) but amazing ride to Trappist-1, a system of seven planets orbiting a dwarf star.
As soon as we got out, we got in line for the “Red Planet” ride. The journey to Mars was fun, but our favourite was “Uncharted Worlds.”
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Our final stop was at the Space Shuttle Atlantis – which has a full-scale space shuttle stack of two solid rocket boosters and an orange external tank at the entrance.
We first got in line for the Atlantis Experience – where you stand and watch a video on a wide-angle screen highlighting the origin and journey of this Space Shuttle until its last flight in July 2011. As the movie ends, a night sky is projected, and as the screen opens, you can see the real Atlantis. One of the best introductions to an exhibit.
It was late in the afternoon, and just before it closed, we got in line for the Shuttle Launch Experience. It is a simulation of the shuttle’s eight and half minute ascent into orbit.
The experience starts with a prelaunch briefing, and then we are guided to a capsule-like structure with about 7-8 rows. Once we secured ourselves on the seat, more instructions were displayed on the giant screen in the front. Eventually, the countdown started, and lines of codes scrolled on the screen.
Finally, we “took off” and with all the seat rattling, sounds and special effects, we got a taste of the liftoff. It was fun.
Finally, it was time for the event that made us change our plans and visit KSC on the first day of our trip – the SpaceX Amazonas launch. But it got postponed due to the weather. It was later rescheduled for the next day, and you can watch the launch here.
Overall, it was a good start to the weeklong trip.
Disney’s EPCOT
While planning this trip, I contacted Justin, a colleague in Orlando. He suggested extending our stay to a week for a better value. So after Universal and Kennedy Space Centre, we looked at Disney Parks. Considering Kavya’s interests, we included a day trip to EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). Kasturi and I had been to EPCOT in 2010 with friends, but a few more attractions have been added since then.
We took an Uber from Cabana Bay Resort to EPCOT. Earlier in the morning, we had tried to join the virtual queue for the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride. Justin highly recommended this ride and said it’s one of the most popular rides at EPCOT.
The virtual queue opened at 7 am and was all booked within 2-3 minutes. We would get another shot at 1 pm. Once we arrived at EPCOT, we first went to Spaceship Earth, right at the entrance.
It’s a slow ride that showcases the history of development from the Stone Age to the present day. The rides were not busy, and over the next few hours, we explored Soarin’ Around the World, Living with the Land, The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Mission: Space.
Mission: Space – Orange Mission
Mission: Space had two rides (missions) – Green Mission and Orange Mission. Green Mission is a gentler ride through space with light movement. Orange Mission is a more intense mission to Mars. We chose the Orange Mission.
We were divided into groups, each with a Navigator, Pilot, Commander and Engineer. After orientation, we got into a capsule without much room. I felt like we were actually in one of the space capsules.
As we took off and felt the g-forces (up to 2.5G as per the sign outside), it was a unique experience. However, even though it lasted a few seconds, I felt relieved when we were finally “slowed down.” Later, we were guided through several tasks to land on Mars. It was a unique ride, and I preferred it over the Atlantis Shuttle Experience as it was more personal and intense.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
At 1 pm, we could join the virtual queue for the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride. Finally, around 3:30 pm, we got a notification on the Disney app that our group was current. But we still had 50 minutes of waiting before we got on the ride.
We have not watched any Guardians of the Galaxy movies, so we didn’t know what to expect. But, as we walked through the lineup, we were introduced to the world of Xandar, its characters, its impressive spaceship, etc. The ride is one of the largest fully-enclosed coasters in the world and rotates 360 degrees. So I can see why this ride was so popular.
Later in the evening, we met Justin and his wife, Anita. First, we took the Gran Fiesta Tour – a boat ride showcasing Mexico- and then went to the China area to watch the 360-degree film “Reflections of China.”
One of the highlights of EPCOT was the Fireworks, but due to weather conditions, it got postponed. By 8:45 pm, it started raining, and we decided to head back to the resort.
We visited Kennedy Space Centre on our first day in Orlando, and EPCOT was on the fifth day. After walking the equivalent of 10-12 km for the first four days, we were all tired and were not motivated to explore more at EPCOT. If I was to plan this trip again, I would probably take a break after 2-3 days for a good rest.
In the second post, I will share our experience at Universal Studios.
Resources:
Kennedy Space Centre: NASA Website | Rocket Launch Schedule
EPCOT: Disney World
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.
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