Spring Break!!! We've been waiting for a few years for this particular spring break. My entire family decided to a trip together to Orlando what seems like ages ago. . . & we waited & waited & planned & planned & FINALLY, the time was here!
We had rented an Air B&B what seems like ages ago, a massive house with 8 bedrooms, a pool, 2 dining rooms, etc. It was perfect for the crowd of 15 we had. My parents & my sweet brother & his family flew in from UT, while Trek & I drove down from Alabama.
The first day of spring break (Monday), Justin & his family hadn't flown in yet. They flew in Monday night to join us for day 2-6. My family & my parents decided to go explore the Kennedy Space Center that first day. It was about an hours drive from our house there & boy were there a lot of tolls. Guys!!! If you ever travel to Orlando & rent a car. . . . TOLLS TOLLS TOLLS!!!! Just a word of warning, keep TONS of quarters on you.
The Kennedy Space Center was great. Everybody said we'd probably be there 3-4 hours. We spent 7 hours there. There was a lot more to do than we anticipated & we still didn't even see it all.
A lot of the Center is history. They do some great walk around tours with tour guides that help you to know the history of what you're looking at. I enjoyed that.
The kids enjoyed playing in whatever they were "allowed" to get into. And then of course they always wanted to see "how many" people they could get into things as well. Stinkers.
My favorite part of the day was the bus tour. It was 2-3 hours on it's own & well worth going. The bus & tour guide drive you out to the launch pads where all the shuttles took off from. You visit the massive building that builds & houses the rockets & launch pads known as the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building), & see the crawlers that drive the shuttles & rockets to the launch pads. And you also stop at the Saturn Center where there's another whole museum & restaurant. It's a great tour if you have time for it.
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| The Launch Pad where all the space missions have launched on. |
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| The VAB |
After 3 hours of the bus tour, we visited the Atlantis Center where we got to see the space shuttle Atlantis up close & personal. Craiger, who is my space lover, was in heaven here.
If you have young kids, this is the building to take them. Yes, you learn about the Atlantis shuttle, but there are SO many interactive things for the kids to do here. There's a space simulation ride that feels like you're being shot into space, some simulations of cockpit panels for the kids to play with, a giant slide that even I wanted to go down more than once, a tunnel play structure to keep them busy, & then some really cool simulators for them to play with that allows them to try to work a space arm, & other things in space.
We also ran into an "astronaut" outside the different buildings. There are several movies, shows, & IMAX experiences you can do here as well. The kids enjoyed being inside watching a movie when the afternoon got really hot.
And at the very end of the day, Craiger was SO excited to meet Kenneth D. Cameron, a real NASA astronaut who flew 3 missions for the space program. He got his autograph & even a hug. He was SO excited.
It was a great start to a fabulous vacation.
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