Space Shuttle Launch and WDW

[wdwwdeagle]

DH and I have realized that the space shuttle will be launching from the cape while we are at WDW this spring. We'd love to take the kids to see it before it's grounded for good. The launch is scheduled for 1pm, and we have an ADR that night at 7:45.

Has anyone ever done this? I'm sure under normal circumstances, it's no problem to drive over to canaveral and back (I'm thinking it's about 1.5 hours each way, or maybe less? Please advise.).

However, I'm not sure how early we would need to arrive for the 1pm launch, and I don't know if there will be a lot of traffic on the way out, or what to expect as far as leaving after the launch. Of course, I know that launches get delayed quite often, so we will be taking that chance.

If anyone has been to a launch from Orlando/WDW and can give me details of how it goes, I would so appreciate it.

 

[WDW 3]

I've heard it is a really long drive on a launch day. Lots of traffic.

 

[One Lil Spark]

The roads all the way to Orlando are insane after a shuttle launch, so good luck. Though I believe there are places to view it closer to WDW. Let me do some digging...

 

[The Empress Lilly]

My parents took me as a child to see a launch.

I was very small. They woke us up in the middle of the night, and drove us there. I remember it wasn't all that far. It was very crowded though. We didn't see much initially - it was the middle of the night. Until, that is, the rocket (shuttle?) launched. We only saw it from afar, quite a long way off. But oh boy! Did that nightly sky lit up!

Awesome! Awesome!

It was all so very much worth it. I'll always remember it. So my tip: just do it. :sohappy:

 

[rock_doctor]

I would go for it. It is only 80 miles away, across 528-the bee line expressway (expensive by the way) but if you have something like 4 hrs between the end of the launch window (latest time they will launch) and the time you must leave for your dinner reservations i would go for it. There is a parking area across the waterway from the launch area so you can get relatively close, maybe within a mile or two. It might seem far but it really isn't. I can't give anymore info we went in the 80s so things may have changed.

 

[WDWRLD]

Here is a picture of a Atlas rocket Launch from last June from the Canada Pavalion. They say that from right infront of Mission Space is also a good spot. We also have watched a night launch from POR which was also great.
Here is a video of a Shuttle Launch from July 4th a couple years ago. This was taken from the back parking lot of Daytona Speedway. www.wdwrld.com/Shuttle2006.wmv One thing to think about is that it is very likely that it will get delayed by either days or weeks. And that might not even happen untill minutes before the expected launch time. If you spend a couple hours driving over to the Cape to get a good spot then they cancell it by the time you drive back you will have used up alot of valuable Disney time.

 

[worldfanatic]

It would be amazing to see a launch up close near Port Canaveral.
But beware that launches are constantly postponed for weather and other reasons.
In september of 2006, we were excited about being at WDW during the Shuttle Atlantis launch. I made sure we were in a position to see it on the 3rd floor of our Pop Century building as it was scheduled.
Unfortunately it was postponed til the next day. Then the next day it was postponed again.
Finally the third day was the charm. We saw it from our 3rd floor viewing location and enjoyed it. It was distant, but you could see the plume and the orange glow of the rockets. Very cool!

It was worth missing a few afternoons in the parks to see. Atleast we got to hang at the pools. But I would have been ed if we had spent two days driving towards Port Canaveral, only to drive back without having seen anything.:shrug:

 

[WDW Monorail]

Depending on from where to decide to watch, it should not take more than 1 hour to travel to the coast. Be sure to be there at least 7 hours ahead of time to be safe.
The drive back will take you much longer. I don't think I've ever been stuck in traffic for such a long time. Took almost exactly 4 hours to travel the same road back to LBV.

 

[TimeTrip]

Depending on from where to decide to watch, it should not take more than 1 hour to travel to the coast. Be sure to be there at least 7 hours ahead of time to be safe.
The drive back will take you much longer. I don't think I've ever been stuck in traffic for such a long time. Took almost exactly 4 hours to travel the same road back to LBV.

7 Hours ahead of time? Is that a typo?

In any case, when I've gone out to see launches (watching from Titusville), there usually isn't much traffic taking the east west expressway (408) to 50 then right up to the Indian River. It might be worth the extra drive north to avoid traffic on 528. Anyways, park in the Searstown parking lot and watch the magic!

Traffic on the way back is a little rougher...

 

[schewy]

It takes me about 45 minutes to drive to the coast from WDW when we visit. This is during normal traffic though. When i was a child I saw the shuttle from WDW while at River Country. I know it is not the same as seeing the actual lift off, but we were close enough to watch until it entered the outer atmosphere.

 

[Mikester71]

Missed the Shuttle launch back in March of this year by seconds. Was walking to the food court from my room in the 50's section facing the pool at Pop Century and noticed a bunch of people filming up towards the sky from the 3rd floor balconies. As I got closer, I noticed people on the ground also looking skyward, so asked someone what they were looking at. He pointed up to a trail of smoke in the sky and said that the Shuttle Discovery had just launched a few minutes ago. It was a gorgeous day and there were little clouds in the sly, so you could see the trail as plain as day.

It was originally suppose to launch on our way down to Florida and my son and I were disappointed that we were going to miss an opportunity to actually see a launch by a mere day. :hammer:We had no idea that it had been delayed, or else we would have tried to make it a point to find a place to view it. We are hoping to take a day trip to Cape Canaveral during our next WDW vacation in March of 2011 and I am praying for a launch that week. If not, we're still going to take the NASA tour and enjoy all that NASA has to offer (for a small fee no doubt)! :sohappy:

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I've read (somewhere) that the roads are closed near the launch site hours in advance - the 7 hour arrival time posted earlier is a good guide.

Likewise - traffic on your return journey will be a nightmare.

Go for it, but don't be disappointed if you don't make it back for your ADR

 

[Dj Corona]

A nice story, a few years ago, leaving from Riverside to the airport, our taxi driver, who apparently was way into NASA, actually took a route where we could see the best shot of a liftoff with no obstruction, pulled off to the shoulder and killed the meter, to we could take it all in...it was a pretty neat sight to see!

 

[WDW Monorail]

7 Hours ahead of time? Is that a typo?

In any case, when I've gone out to see launches (watching from Titusville), there usually isn't much traffic taking the east west expressway (408) to 50 then right up to the Indian River. It might be worth the extra drive north to avoid traffic on 528. Anyways, park in the Searstown parking lot and watch the magic!

Traffic on the way back is a little rougher...

We went to a couple of the early morning launches (2AM) and it was pretty packed, so I recommend even more than 7 hours for a daytime launch, which may attract more people.

 

[WDW Monorail]

Ummmm... Why those locations specifically? Because you can't see the sky from anywhere but those locations?? :hammer:

I highly recommend looking in the direction of The Land pavilion.

 

[cattprez]

i tried to make this work earlier in the year when i was at WDW. in then end we went out the front of DHS and watched it.. all we saw was the trail and i think we heard the boom.. but still its magical to see. it may be 1.5hr in the car to get there but coming back i read at heaps of places when ive investigated it its up to 4hrs and then some coming home

 

[prspeppers]

If you can't make it out to the cape to see the launch, I highly recommend heading over to the dock in the back of the Contemporary for the best view. If thats not an option, the beach at the Poly is another great place to watch the shuttle launch. In addition, another option would be to head over to a place like Coco Beach Pier or anywhere on the coast with a great view. However none of these locations compare to actually being at Cape Canaveral. If you have the opportunity to get there dealing with the drive, traffic, etc...is all worth it!

 

[wdwwdeagle]

However none of these locations compare to actually being at Cape Canaveral. If you have the opportunity to get there dealing with the drive, traffic, etc...is all worth it!

OP here.
Thanks to everyone for the help and suggestions. I knew you guys would come through for me! We have a NASA friend who is working on getting us tickets to view the launch from inside canaveral. Hoping he can secure these tickets! If so, we'll go for it (unless the weather is bad) and just plan to leave WDW in the early morning. If we don't have tickets, we'll probably just stay at WDW and watch from one of the places mentioned here.

I might take the suggestion of driving on the east-west instead of the beach express (or whatever it's called). That looks like a good idea. And if we get back for our ADR, great. If not, we can always eat there another trip! thanks again!

 

[WDWRLD]

Ummmm... Why those locations specifically? Because you can't see the sky from anywhere but those locations?? :hammer:

Well I have seen launches from POR and Canada. And I have heard that there is a certian spot that you can get a great photo of the shuttle above MS.....

I highly recommend looking in the direction of The Land pavilion.

Actually its better if you go inside of The Land and look up through the skylights.........

 

[Tinkrbell]

I saw 2 launches from WDW this past spring. The first one was at night & it was trying to rain. There was enough of a break in the clouds for us to see it.

The second one I saw was around 6 or 7pm. It was a perfecg day to see the launch. We probably watched it for almost 10 minutes before we couldn't see it anymore.

I saw both of the launches from Fantasmic, once from the parking lot next to the costuming building & the other time from the back of the mountain.

I've also heard the sonic boom when the shuttle re-enters the atmosphere. We didnt have a clue what was going on. I was working at Block Party that day and we thought something had gone wrong at the Indiana Jones show cuz we were near the backstage area for it when we heard it.