Where do I begin? We went to Florida at the very end of July to the beginning of August. This post is extremely overdue but I wanted to make sure I had the time to sit here and share everything I wanted to share because it was THE MOST FUN we had while we visited Florida. We went to Florida along with my sons baseball team and did not want to spend more time at Disney, not because we don’t love Disney, because we do, but because I knew that it would require more time than what we had. I wanted to find things to do that didn’t revolve around the Magic Kingdom and I did! There is so much more to explore in Florida if you have the time and opportunity. There were still some things that I didn’t get to do that I really wanted to only because our baseball playing schedule took priority. Those things that we didn’t get to do was to go to Universal’s City Walk’s Margaritaville, LEGOLAND Florida, Everglades Holiday Park and fishing at one of Disney’s fishing options! Those things are on our MUST-DO list when we have the opportunity to go back! I’m so sad we weren’t able to visit them all.
That being said, we did get to visit the Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach. Let’s start with the Kennedy Space Center. OMG, the kids had such an amazing time as did us parents. It was a beautiful day and everything was spaced out {pun intended, lol} so we never felt like we were on top of people even though it was pretty packed. We started with visiting the Angry Birds Space Encounter {because we were on a time constraint with having a planned lunch with an astronaut!} and we played the Eggsteroids Slingshot, which my team lost…boo. We raced against the clock to get hit our targets but we still lost. We took at trip through some crazy mirror maze and while the kids loved it, I was started to get nervous I’d never find my way out! Then the kids did the Red Planet Laser Challenge, while I looked on and laughed. When we were done, we had just a few moments before we had to head to our lunch with the astronaut.
While we waited we walked around the Early Space Exploration and took notice of all the things they had and used for their space flights. It was really neat to take a step back in time and just imagine what it was like to work with NASA during the early days of space exploration. Seeing all those artifacts really made you question what the world was like. My kids were so interested and involved the whole day, it was such a nice and refreshing feeling of seeing them have fun without their phones buried in their faces!
When we lined up for lunch, we had no idea what was in store for us. It was so amazing! It was a buffet style banquet room filled with tables, waiters, and other guests. It reminded me of when I took a cruise and you sit with people you have never met before, so it was that awkward silence. But, if you can get past that, like we did, then you would have a great time and you’d experience super food! We had rice {which was so tasty}, chicken, bread, salad, some veggies and desserts…oh those desserts and TANG!! YES, I had the kids try the TANG! It was funny because before we even walked in the eating area, my husband asked if they were going to have TANG there and I had no idea, but they DID!!! My kids didn’t like it, lol so they opted for the water and soda. About mid-way through our lunch our guest astronaut was introduced and he shared his life experience. We learned about Brazilian Astronaut, Marcos Pontes. On March 30, 2006, he became the first Brazilian to go into space when he launched into the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8. Hearing his story was so inspiring and we felt blessed to have learned so much from him at that moment. He did answer some audience questions and was available for photos too. Because we wanted to see the bus tour and the last movie, we weren’t able to stick around, but man, I wish we did.
From there, we went over the the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour area and hopped on a bus. The bus took us to see the Launch Pad, the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Launch Control Center and Cape Canaveral. We were able to visit the Space Shuttle Atlantis, the Apollo/Saturn V Center {saw moon rocks and mood dust}, Alan Shepard’s lunar suit, and Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13 flight suit. There was so much to see, we could have stayed there so much longer because we were in awe. We sat and watched a couple presentation/exhibits and then headed to the 3-D IMAX Theater…but first, I had to slide down the big slides with the kids! They laughed at me so hard…but I don’t know why…maybe it was the look of terror on my face? I am not one for rides no matter what they are or how fast/slow they may be and while this wasn’t a ‘ride’ per say, it still wasn’t something I normally would have done. It was very high and steep from my point of vision!
We made it to the IMAX Theater and watched the IMAX Space Station narrated by Tom Cruise. It was so neat to see how they have built the International Space Station! I personally couldn’t imagine doing it, but to see all those trained professionals up there doing what they do was simply amazing. I couldn’t believe how much my kids enjoyed themselves and to this day they say it was the best part of our trip.
We ended the day with a walk through the Space Shop where we made a pretty hefty purchase of shirts, space pens, space ink, magnets, sweatshirts, and little space figurines. On our way out we took a quick tour through the Rocket Garden to take notice off all the cool rockets that helped to put NASA Astronauts into space!
We had such an amazing experience at the Kennedy Space Center. It is something that my kids will remember for a very, very long time. We have even been caught watching the NASA channel on tv – when no one is looking! 🙂
I can’t thank the Kennedy Space Center enough for sharing the gift of history and knowledge to my technically brainwashed children. It was amazing as a parent to see how everything we visited, everything we experienced sparked their curiosity for space and made them realize that they too can reach for the stars!
