Visited Saturday April 13th 2019
The following timeline was what I achieved as a lone adult visiting KSC for the first time.
I think if my 14 year old's were with me then I'd probably have gone a bit slower due to spending more time looking at various exhibits.
Apparently this was not a busy day despite being a Saturday 2 weeks before Easter.
I was told that a lot of folk had come 2 days earlier to see the SpaceX heavy launch.
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Book tickets ahead of time - I booked a week ahead.
- entry ticket
- parking
- book the extra 10am extended KSC Explore Tour or the Early Space tour according to interests - of course the free tour is shorter but it doesn't include stop offs at important locations
But ...
- do NOT book the audio guide option - just not worth it (I tried it and it's not necessary).
Print off every thing.
By the way the tickets look completely different when viewed on
a PC versus on a phone and they will print differently too.
You MUST bring printed copies with you - print them on a PC.
For the extra tour you need to go to the information office at the gate.
They will give you a badge.
BUT do not give them the paper printed copy of the bus ticket that you brought with you, as this will be asked for at the bus stop later on.
Top tip: Apparently there can be long queues (1 hr +) for the free bus tour.
However, the extra paid tours have no queues as you pay for specific bus times.
This fact and also the extra sights and stops makes the paid tours essential in my opinion.
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I got there 8am.
Car park opened at 830 and I parked right by turnstiles.
Turnstiles opened 9am.
At 8:30 I went immediately to the information office to pickup the ticket for the extra bus tour I'd booked Just put that ticket away somewhere safe and also DO not give them your printed voucher as you may be asked for it at the bus stop as I was.
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After the 9 am entry I went straight to "Hero's" 3d display up the ramp to the left just inside gate, before going to the rocket garden.
At the hero's exhibit is an irritating but short 6 min "what does it mean to be a hero" presentation, but this is followed by a much more impressive but also short 3d presentation in a surround screen.
When you enter the second theatre stand right at front in the middle of the lower tier middle with the screen surrounding you.
Exited exhibit around 9:20am so I was only in there for 20min.
The guide says this takes 45 mins but I didn't spend any time reading the individual information on the astronauts mentioned in that building as I had to move on quickly for the rocket garden and bus.
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Waited at the rocket garden for the 9:30 guided tour to start.
Do this tour.
Rocket garden tour finished at 9:45 and left plenty of time to walk the 2 mins to bus stop for the 10am bus tour I'd booked.
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At the bus stop give it 5 mins to sort out passes by the bus - you will need to hand over the paper bus tour voucher that you printed out for yourself (at least I was). I don't know why they wanted the print out given I'd already obtained a clip on ticket at the information desk before entering the gates.
Also buy water from the vending machine at the bus stop.
I took the 10am extended "KSC Explore" Tour. The 10am bus actually left at 10:15,
This extended tour does everything free basic tour does but is longer and has more stop offs.
It has a human guide, and you can get off at three additional spots whereas the basic tour stops at one. The "Explore tour" takes you to three view points around the site, the first one is a place with chairs for viewing launches, the second stop is place closer to launch pad 39B where one can take photos of the Apollo launch pad from a distance; there is also a drive by of 39A. The bus then includes a good stop at the vehicle assembly building (VAB) where one can get great photos of the VAB and also see a gantry for the shuttle and also some escape vehicles.
BTW On the internet you might see advice about sitting on the right of the bus.
Sitting on right of the bus gives the best best views from bus of the vehicle assembly building (VAB) and also of the tractors that were used to pull the Saturn 5 and Shuttle to the pad.
However, given that this extended tour allows you to get off at the VAB then the seating location probably isn't as important as it is on the basic free tour. In fact there were some better left side photo opportunities from the bus when we were approaching the launch pads 39 A and B; but even then the drive slowed down to give folk a chance to look and photo.
We left the VAB at 11:48 and arrived at the Saturn V building around 10 mins later.
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On arrival in the Saturn V building around midday I had a good walk around the rocket.
I watched the "Apollo 8 firing room" presentation in the Saturn V building - the theatre is at left of rockets nose. https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/race-to-the-moon/apollo-8-and-the-firing-room
Also see the "Race to the moon" presentation in the "Lunar Theatre" at the Saturn V building.
https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/race-to-the-moon/lunar-theater
If I recall correctly the "Race to the Moon" exhibit is directly after the "firing room" exhibit.
Touch moon rock - on the left of the Saturn five space, about half way down, there is a smallish exhibit cabinet where you can slide your hand into a slot and reach in to touch a triangular sliver of moon rock.
After that , I ate lunch in the Saturn 5 building. I bought some nasty spicy chicken thing, but they also had better looking salads and sandwiches.
I then had a final look around the Saturn V building and took a return bus to the main centre at about 1:25pm.
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I then wandered over to the Atlantis exhibition building.
There is a winding ramp inside the main entrance to the building that takes one up to a theatre for a short 15 min presentation and then entry to the "hanger" containing Atlantis, exhibits and also the "shuttle launch simulator" ride..
On the day I was there there was a short queue inside the building on the winding ramp - It only took about 15 mins to get into the theatre. However, I can imagine this queue is longer on busy days.
Top tip: If there is a big queue on the ramp into the Atlantis exhibition theatre then abandon the theatre and instead enter the building via the gift shop outside to the right of the main entrance.
You'll miss a 15 min video that's all.
Either way spend some time viewing the shuttle. On the day I was there there was an astronaut casually talking to folk.There is a slide from upstairs to downstairs the kids liked.
On the ground floor there is a "Shuttle Launch Experience" simulator. This is definitely worth doing. I actually felt like the skin on my face was being pushed back.
I started queuing for launch sim at 2:10pm and was back outside the Shuttle building by 2:45pm.
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After that I did a quick walk through the Mars rover exhibition building.
Then I left and wandered for a few mins.
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Before 4 pm go to the theatre where the astronaut of the day is doing their presentation.
Go there some time BEFORE 4pm as I got there at 4 and wasn't allowed in..
I wasn't that bothered as I'd met and chatted with Al Worden in London a couple of years before.
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So I was finished around 4pm and was pretty tired.
I had to get to airport to fly back to London that evening anyway so really didn't have much spare time.
I left abut 4:30pm after resting for a while by the gate where there is a covered area with wifi.
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It was closing at 6 or 7pm that night so I had time for other things perhaps but I'm not sure how these would have fitted in.
I missed the Hubble exhibit - didn't even know it was there.
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This was definitely a great day and if I'm back here with my family I will come again.
Have fun.
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I've included some more thoughts on the bus tours below - I'm not certain about everything but it might be useful to you.
There is a free bus tour included but it stops only at the Saturn V building, whereas the two pay-extra tours go further afield and include multiple stop offs..
I did this one: https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/behind-the-gates/kennedy-space-center-explore-tour "See icons of spaceflight operations like the Vehicle Assembly Building, historic Launch Complex 39 and disembark to capture once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities."
But there is also this one: https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/behind-the-gates/cape-canaveral-early-space-tour "Tour stops also include the Air Force Space & Missile Museum, the Mercury 7 Monument, and Launch Complex 34, the memorial site for the crew of Apollo 1."
The tour I did was about 2 hrs.
I think the early space tour is the longest one 3 hrs.
The one I took "Explore Tour" was 2hrs and I hadn't realised that it actually stopped at the VAB, but it also had photo opportunities for launch pads 39 A & B which were used for Apollo, Shuttle and now SpaceX. I don't know if the "Early Space" tour includes these locations, but the "Early Space" tour definitely goes places that the "Explore Tour" doesn't.
I understand that either of these alternative tours include all the sights of the free tour, but the free tour only does a drive by of the VAB.
It might be the case that the longer "Early Space" does everything that the other two tours do plus extra things - I have no idea.
To be sure one could phone or email them.
I don't think one could easily do both of the extra tours in a single day and also see the other stuff. It might be possible but it would be tight. Also, KSC advise against trying this.
Anyway hope that's useful and have fun.
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