Who would try to do this? Go to Kennedy?

[oooohDonna]

My adult nephew wants to go to Kennedy Space Center BEFORE boarding ship on SATURDAY!!

The Radisson shuttle is taking them to the ship, scheduled for 1PM, at this point.

Is he crazy to try and do this? Kennedy opens at 9:00. If he got there at 9:00-12:00, would it even be worth the $39.00 entrance fee?

Anyone have ammunition to talk him out of it? :eek:

I want on that ship ASAP so I just don't get it.

I think he thinks will be better to go beforehand rather than after cruise as they have a 14 hour drive home. He really wants his boys to go to Kennedy though.

Any thoughts?

Thanks all,

Donna

[98Charlie]

Took our kids to Kennedy Space Center years ago during a spring break trip to Florida. DH & I were both amazed at how much our kids were interested in all they were seeing there and we were there many more hours than we had originally estimated.

 

My humble opinion is that taking kids to a memorable site like the space center for a 3-hour visit would be much like a Chevy Chase ``vacaton'' movie.:eek:

 

If your nephew truly wants his children to have a valuable experience at the center, I would highly suggest he plan to visit Kennedy the day they disembark the ship and plan to stay the night in a hotel somewhere between the space center and home.

 

Dianne

[kikipug]

KSC is definitely a full day in and of itself... and not to be missed! My son loves it, and we only live 45 minutes away and still get there first thing in the AM and stay all day. Plus, the Astronaut Hall of Fame is a separate venue, about 6 miles away, on the same ticket that's also not to be missed!

 

I would suggest staying an extra day (as he is driving, so rescheduling a flight won't be an issue)... if vacation time is an issue, call in sick, call in dead, tell them the dog ate your homework... life is too short :D.

[JES11583]

I went to Kennedy Space Center last year... just going there, you could get around in about 3 hours.. however, the tour.. which a bus takes you around (further) to museums and other places.. thats more time... so if you just stay at the main area of kennedy, you "could" do it... but to fully enjoy it and take advantage of the tour I would save it for another time ...i love science and astronomy and anything space related, so of course, I would like to take my time....

..plus you never know how busy itll be...could be crowded and long lines

[SWPSquared]

My adult nephew wants to go to Kennedy Space Center BEFORE boarding ship on SATURDAY!!

The Radisson shuttle is taking them to the ship, scheduled for 1PM, at this point.

Is he crazy to try and do this? Kennedy opens at 9:00. If he got there at 9:00-12:00, would it even be worth the $39.00 entrance fee?

Anyone have ammunition to talk him out of it? :eek:

I want on that ship ASAP so I just don't get it.

I think he thinks will be better to go beforehand rather than after cruise as they have a 14 hour drive home. He really wants his boys to go to Kennedy though.

Any thoughts?

Thanks all,

Donna

No way!

 

Kennedy is very cool, but trying to see it all in 3 hours wouldn't be fun at all. I would drive down a day earlier and visit Kennedy on Friday, then make your way to the ship on Saturday morning. The cruise port is a bit like an airport, you can't just show up 5 minutes before cast-off and expect to get on the ship.

 

There are plenty of things to do on the ship while you're waiting for sail-away. There's no sense turning a relaxing vacation into a stressful one by trying to cram too much into too little time.

 

Just my opinion of course :)

 

- Steve

[tnt091605]

I don't see a problem with it. There is not a lot of advantage to getting on the ship at 11 anyway. If that is what they want to do, that is what they should do.

 

How does this stop you from getting on the ship?

[crusinpsychRN]

I went to high school with a guy who became an astronaut, Wilson Scott. I thought that was amazing...you're not going to put me in one of those things!

[mariemorgan]

Can he do it the day before? That may give him more time too.

[oooohDonna]

I don't see a problem with it. There is not a lot of advantage to getting on the ship at 11 anyway. If that is what they want to do, that is what they should do.

 

How does this stop you from getting on the ship?

 

 

It doesn't and it isn't stopping me. Not getting on at 11, hopefully between 11:30-12 :D Hotel check out is at noon, so might as well get on the ship.

That is what he is thinking, 3 hours better than nothing to him.

He can't go after the cruise. His brother is with him and he wants to get back home ASAP....no side trips! LOL

I did send him the "opinions" against going but he didn't fall for it. LOL!

Thanks anyway...teeheeeee.

[dotshub]

Not nearly enough time. You would be much better off going there after you get off the ship. Thats what we did, and it was great.

[Majesty Fan]

We did KSC 2 years ago before our Wonder cruise. It is anall day thing. Just to get through security was 30 minutes. Musch tighter than Disney.

Lexi

[BCfan]

Donna,

 

There's just waaaay too much to see and do in 3 hours. We flew in two days before our cruise and drove to KSC on Thursday PM. We bought the two day ticket (you have 7 days to use both days), stayed till closing, then spent all day on Friday there, and we never even made it to the Hall of Fame.

 

IMO, he should wait for another time to visit, perhaps in conjunction with a WDW vacation (only 90 minutes from WDW).

 

KSC was a highlight of our vacation. Not to be missed.

 

ETA

 

There are pictures of our time at KSC in the link in my signature, under Glory Cruise.

[Meredith9217]

We were there last August - got there at 10:00 AM and left approx. 4:30, didn't even stop for lunch. Still did not see everything. Waiting on the bus service can take some time.

[ata1976]

We went a couple of years ago when we got off the boat. I think we got there about 10 AM and felt rushed when we had to leave at 4 PM to get to Orlando for a flight home that night. I would not try to do it in 3 hours either.

[eco]

3 hours is not even close to enouh time, and the time goes by quickly. If they decide to try this, don't be surprised if the miss the ship. And if they make the ship, they will be complaining about not having enough time at Kennedy.

[Nunu]

3 hours better than nothing to him.

 

There's your answer right there.

[glrounds]

Took our kids to Kennedy Space Center years ago during a spring break trip to Florida. DH & I were both amazed at how much our kids were interested in all they were seeing there and we were there many more hours than we had originally estimated.

 

My humble opinion is that taking kids to a memorable site like the space center for a 3-hour visit would be much like a Chevy Chase ``vacaton'' movie.:eek:

 

If your nephew truly wants his children to have a valuable experience at the center, I would highly suggest he plan to visit Kennedy the day they disembark the ship and plan to stay the night in a hotel somewhere between the space center and home.

 

Dianne

 

Excellent advice . . . would have been my response . . . complete agreement. :)

[gatrbait]

My first thought is OMG what if he gets caught up in traffic and misses the ship? I live about 30 min away from the port and with all the accidents reported each day and right now the road closures b/c of wildfires I wouldn't chance it...

I also agree about it not being enough time to realy see it and in my opinion he is really wasting his $$...

But we all have opinions and it is up to him to risk it!

Regardless I hope you all enjoy your cruise and make more time to go one day, it is really worth it...

Micky

[SWPSquared]

I don't see a problem with it. There is not a lot of advantage to getting on the ship at 11 anyway. If that is what they want to do, that is what they should do.

 

How does this stop you from getting on the ship?

Oh, I don't think this would prevent them from getting on the ship. It's more a question of whether (a) it's a good value, (b) whether they can actually see what there is to see at Kennedy, and © whether its still "fun".

 

All of those are subjective, but since the original poster asked for opinions, that's what he's getting :)

 

(a) For me, $39 for 3 hours wouldn't be a very good deal unless there is some specific event that I could attend (like a shuttle launch, running a space ROV, doing astronaut training, etc.)

 

(b) There is a lot to do and see at Kennedy. Unless you just want to say "been there, done that", you need more than 3 hours. If you're really interested in the subject matter, you'll want to spend more time (I could probably spend an hour walking around the Titan V rocket :) ). If you're not that interested, then it's not a very good way to spend your money.

 

© For me, getting up early so I can check out, hurrying to the KSC, then rushing through as much as I can, so I can then rush to get back to the hotel for a shuttle bus, which will take me to the port so that I can wait in a long line, just doesn't sound like a very nice time. In this case, I'd probably prefer to sleep in (especially if I had driven 14 hours the day before), have a leisurely breakfast-type snack, and be ready for the shuttle in a relaxed state.

 

Like I said before, in my opinion :)

 

- Steve

[Nunu]

I just see people spend a lot more money than this for much shorter excursions (which is really what this is). They won't get to see all of it but I still think it's worth it.

[goldmom]

If he contacts his Congressman, he may be able to get 2 free passes to the center. At least then he's not spending as much for just 3 hours. Some of them do it and some don't, but it can't hurt to ask.

 

If he doesn't do the bus tour part, he may be able to do just the main area and see most of it, but there's no way to do both the bus tour and the attractions in 3 hours. They're going to have to chose one or the other.

[MDSue]

If it's a choice of 3 hours or no visit at all, I'd choose the 3 hours. While he won't get to see everything, he could get in enough time to see some sights. Just the Visitor Center alone has a ton of neat stuff. I'm sure he wouldn't have time to do a tour, but he can walk around on his own and see plenty. I'd say go, get there as early as possible and enjoy. It's a great place to visit.