Tampa Bay / Kennedy Space Centre

[Guest]

Hi all,

We are going in August. Staying in Solterra (Davenport)
We are considering the Space Centre for a day and we are also considering Tampa Bay for a day

Are these good choices for a day trip?
Is the Space Centre expensive to visit (we are on a pretty tight budget)

Also will the sea be warmer on the Carribean coast than on the atlantic coast?

Thanks

[Sparky]

I’m sure someone far more informed than me will give a better answer but the sea at Daytona Beach is sooooo warm. We went there after KSC... pretty cool to drive along the beach.

[Persnicketty]

Originally Posted by Albert Tatlock

Hi all,

We are considering the Space Centre for a day and we are also considering Tampa Bay for a day

Are these good choices for a day trip?

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Space Centre I'd view as a half day trip. And for Tampa Bay its probably best to narrow that down a bit to a specific resort area, eg Clearwater, St Pete Beach, Pass a Grille etc. All are easy travel distance.

As for price, check here..

kennedyspacecenter/info/tickets

[KK_Cat]

Just to show how people differ I consider Kennedy Space Center a full day and that was even before Atlantis which wasn't there last time we visited. I'm looking forward to returning this year and plan to go 2 days. You would certainly get all of the important stuff done in one day though. The (included) onsite bus tour out to the gantry and Saturn V area alone takes 2/3 hours if you want to look at everything there and that's aside from everything in the main area.

[Northerndave]

Agreed, no way is KSC a half-day trip. The travel is 3hrs there and back on a good run. Plan to set off early, take the 417 toll road to the 528 and head east.

A great place to visit, definitely a full day trip. You could spend a good hour just looking at the Saturn V rocket and the artifacts around it. A great day out

[smithlane]

If you do decide on KSC (which I’m in the full day camp) I can really recommend Shilohs Steakhouse for dinner afterwards. It’s in Titusville and not much of a detour on your way back to Davenport

[Persnicketty]

Originally Posted by Northerndave

Agreed, no way is KSC a half-day trip. The travel is 3hrs there and back on a good run.

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3 hours on a good run? It's a 50 mile journey on a straight road. Since our first visit in the late 80s its never been close to a 3 hour round trip. Even NASA's web page describes it as "a short 45 minute drive from Orlando".

And I concede absolutely that some folk might want to linger and peruse every moon rock and video presentation. A day, even longer. Definitely an option for those who crave it.

But its fairly widely treated, in my experience, as a part-day by the typical tourist. Other folks experiences will of course vary.

[Northerndave]

Originally Posted by Persnicketty

3 hours on a good run? It's a 50 mile journey on a straight road. Since our first visit in the late 80s its never been close to a 3 hour round trip. Even NASA's web page describes it as "a short 45 minute drive from Orlando".

And I concede absolutely that some folk might want to linger and peruse every moon rock and video presentation. A day, even longer. Definitely an option for those who crave it.

But its fairly widely treated, in my experience, as a part-day by the typical tourist. Other folks experiences will of course vary.

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Yes, but the OP isn't travelling from Orlando, they are travelling from Davenport. At least 1hr 15mins each way and that is with no hold-ups, Toll booth stops etc etc.

NASA might describe it as a short 45 min journey, but real-world doesn't compare to the marketing blurb

[Welshjim22]

Agree definitely a full day, been about a dozen times over 20 years. £35 or so an adult. If your going to visit where man left for the moon, see real space craft on a trip over 4000 miles from home, you might as well spend the day. We have always found it a good weekend trip, no school groups and avoids parks on a busy day of the week.

[ianc]

I agree that KSC is definitely a full day (and well worth it!). To put it in perspective, if you can do KSC in half a day then you can do any of the Disney or Universal parks in a third of a day as they are 50 miles nearer so much less travelling time!
Persnicketty's 50 mile straight road starts near MCO, so you can add another 30miles/minutes to even reach it, depending on where you are staying! If you want to do other things on the Atlantic coast (like time on the beach, Daytona, etc) that's another day. Where I agree with Persnicketty, there are dozens of things to do across the whole of the large Tampa Bay area - effectively several day trips or you need to be very choosy.