Kennedy Space Center | Must See & Do, Tips for Visiting, & More!

Hey everybody. Welcome to the Waldock Way. I'm Jessica. I'm Emily. And I'm Kevin. And today's video is going to be a learning on location. So we recently took a field trip to Kennedy Space Center here in Florida and we had a really great time. We decided to take that field trip because we are currently studying what in our home school? Space! And going to Kennedy Space Center felt like the best way to bring the things that we were learning about to life. Larger than life. Yeah. But life. And I think it did that, right? I felt like we got to see and experience a lot of the things that we had been learning about in our books and our unit studies. Yeah, totally. So today we're going to share a few of our favorite things about visiting Kennedy Space Center and give you a few tips in case you're heading there on a field trip soon. So Emily, what was one of your favorite things? My favorite thing was the movies. You could go in and take a seat. Some you had to stand up, but they were pretty cool because it felt like, no you can't go back in the history, but it felt like you were in the history. Yeah, so their IMAX theater especially because it's 3D and it's very well done 3D I felt like. Yeah, it was real comfortable. And you know how some are like the glasses are irritating or it's not really well done. It felt really well done and you got to have concessions before so it was just like going to move there. You can take popcorn and drinks in and we watched a few of them. I think my personal favorite was the journey to space or the journey through space. Yeah, through space. Which was kind of like the evolution. It really kind of was everything and went from like where we started in space into us trying to go to Mars now. It was kind of like everything we've done so far. I felt like that was a really good one. It had a lot of history to it and like she said, it looked phenomenal. Like it really did feel like you were in this shuttle. I experienced a lot of 3D and I was impressed. Yeah, it was good. So I agree that that was a really cool thing. Now speaking of that, I will say here's the tip. There are a lot of movies. Like there was probably over 10 to choose from. Yeah, I think it was like 10. There's some that are that are the IMAX that are 3D. Those are obviously my top picks because they just were so much more fun to watch. Well, they're immersive. Yeah, they're immersive. That's the perfect word to describe them. But unless you're only going to watch movies and not do anything else, there's no way you can watch them all in one day. No, absolutely not. So we had sat down beforehand and looked it up on the app because Kennedy Space Center has an app that you can download before you even go. And you can see what shows they're offering and what times they're offering them. And so that's what we did. We had looked them up and we had kind of each decided what our must see or what one we wanted to see the most was. And that's what we prioritized, was we kind of moved our day around being able to see that video. Yeah, I find that we're doing that more and more on every field trip. Trying to like research it, figure out what everybody's interests are and then make it happen. Importantly, it works out a whole lot better if you have a little bit of a game plan going in. And it makes it where we're getting the most out of the field trip. For everybody. Yeah. OK, so that was perfect. I absolutely love the movies. You're right. Did you have something else that you really enjoyed as well? Two other things. OK. My second one is the play place. I love it. Felt like you were in space because no, you don't wear those things like astronaut suits, but it felt like you were going to Mars and you were on the sun because you could climb up on the sun and it felt like you could like go everywhere on the moon and stuff. It was I mean, they had the baseball or tennis ball shooters. They had slides. Oh, yeah, tons of slides. It was the most probably the most unique play place I've ever seen. Normally, I'm not a fan of play places because they're all very generic. It was unique. And I also felt like it was an educational play place as well, because like the sun, for instance, was the big thing in the center of the play place. And each of the planets were proportional to what size they would have been, you know, based off of the sun being in the middle. And you really were playing in the solar system. I mean, there was you were jumping on the different things. You were going down the, you know, the astronaut slide. They had the space shooters. Yeah, I'm thinking to myself, where was I with these cool things? Yeah, when I was little, because and to add to that, they even had like the chairs where me and you sat. Remember, like they have little chairs and tables where the parents are waiting for the kids while they're playing. Table had like, um, you could play any app. You could ask. There was the app on it. So you could if you didn't have, you know, it was a table sized tablet and you could basically go if you want to play a game or you wanted to do trivia. I mean, you did trivia. So it it was really cool because there was like a couple of games like hockey like air hockey. Yeah. And then like she said, the app. So let's say that you came from maybe another country or your phone didn't have service there. The Kennedy Space Center app was available on the table. You could go sit down while your kids were playing and and, you know, look at maybe what you wanted to do next. Yeah. The trivia was really fun, which I beat you both times. Yes, you did. But in my defense, you normally know everything. A lot of the things that they were asking were things that I learned while writing the space unit study. So I had one up on you, but I liked it because I never beat you. But it really was. It made it fun, even for me and you to be sitting there waiting on her while she was playing, because there was things for us to do to keep us occupied. It was nice to to just sit down because the space center is quite large. It really is a lot of walking. So it was nice to sit down, let her play for a little bit. OK, you said you had one more. So what's your your last favorite? You're probably going to think this is gross, but my favorite is the toilet, not the real bathrooms, the pretend ones, because I every time we go there, I'm like, I want to go to the toilet. I want to see if it's still there. I love it. It's just my favorite. So she's mildly obsessed with the astronaut, their space shuttle bathroom. And we me and her. This was your first time going. But me and her have been. Nope. Second, second. But me and Emily have been four or five times to Kennedy Space Center now, I think. And so every time we go, she's like, oh, my gosh, it's the space toilet. It's like a little stall with their bathroom, just like what it is on the shuttle. And she's basically. Yeah. And she thinks it's really cool. I think it's weird. OK, so what was something that you really liked about the Kennedy Space Center? Like what's something that really stood out to you when we went? Mm. Atlantis. Yeah, that one did get you. Well, the reason I say Atlantis over everything else, because I mean, you go through history of the space center and what they've accomplished and everything that we've learned and what we're going to do. When I was in the Air Force, they actually brought into my base flying from Florida or California, Florida was a piggyback with Atlantis on the big aircraft. And they landed, refueled, took a break and everything. Had the airplane checked out. I think they had a flat tire to work on or something. Got all that done. And then it took off again. And it's one of those things you're thinking to yourself that was really awesome. No camera available. This was not a situation where you could take pictures. And it was like a once in a lifetime experience. I'm thinking to myself, I'll never, ever really get that close to a shuttle again. And then I'm not going to see inside when it's just a given. You just forget about it. But to go to Kennedy Space Center, walk through the doors, open up. And there's Atlanta staring you in the face, opened up, tilted. You see in the cargo areas, the arms built by Canada that maneuver all the equipment in and out. And you're looking at all the tiles, you know, which you heard all the history on. And you're seeing it right there in front of you as big as life. I mean, it is. Yeah, it's just huge. And, you know, I have I just said we've been four or five times and to get access to the Atlantis building, you have to go through. They like what you watch the movie of how the space shuttle came to be, like kind of how the the trials and tribulations they went through to build it. And it's like two different movie screening rooms that you go through. And then there's a curtain and the curtain raises. And Atlantis is like right there. And I I think this was my fifth time seeing it. And it still gives me goosebumps every time. Like there's something about about seeing it. It's just huge. Yeah. You just I feel like that may be like the coolest thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life. It is because like you feel like you know how big it is. But then all of a sudden you're standing and it's like enormous presence. And you're like, wow, that's bigger than I ever imagined. So, mommy, what was your favorite part? I don't know that I had a favorite part because I mean, it was it was all really cool. I mean, there was there was nothing about it that disappointed me. You know, like I think what I enjoyed the most, though, was how interactive and hands on everything was. I mean, I just really felt like they did a fantastic job. You're a homeschooled mom. Every time we go on a field trip, it's it's interactive and hands on. We're there. Well, because I love that. I love that we get to bring something we're learning about to life. And they did such I mean, places do good jobs, but they did such a good job. I mean, she got to crawl through a replica of the International Space Station and sit on a space toilet. I mean, that's weird, but it's a space ride. That's really cool, too. That that was me. My next thing is the space shuttle experience. So you actually get to experience what it is like to take off and, you know, go through. I love simulators. It is. It was a simulation. Always put on your seatbelt because it's always like tilting stuff. But yeah, well, because the space shuttle starts by standing up and then you level out. But just everything about it. And we actually upgraded. It was only like eight dollars for her to do it. The cosmic quest. Remember, and I think that's totally worth it because there was a whole room that was dedicated to it. And there were like missions that she had to go on. And you're like going from screen to screen, doing all of these different missions, building your your habitat on Mars and doing experiments on the space shuttle. I mean, obviously this is all simulated, but it was super educational again. I mean, even the play place that you're playing in was hands on and educational. There was hardly anything you couldn't touch. You know, you could touch almost everything. You could interact with almost everything. There was simulators. There was I just I thought it was just really cool. Like I had never been to Kennedy Space Center as a kid. And I think that's part of why I like the hands on the engaging is because I'm living vicariously through her. No, no, no, no. That's why I bring in all the toys. Because these things are like my parents have never seen them. But now that I'm here, we can do all these cool things because. Well, thank you for being here. Thanks for allowing us to homeschool you and take you on fun field trips because time will tell of what cool things. We don't know. We go. She gets to ride along. That's true. So now we're going to tell you a few of our tips for visiting Kennedy Space Center. We already told you to make sure you download the app and look and see what their shows and their show times are and try to pick ahead of time. I feel like it just makes it easier if you kind of sit down and you're like, hey, this is what they offer and you're picking not like under the time crunch of being there and feeling stressed. If you know ahead of time, like these are the shows we want to see. These are the times you can fit everything else around in around them. I like I like it when you always ask, all right, what are you must do's? I that's the way we term it. Must do's. That's so that's how I because I want to make sure that everybody gets what they want out of a trip, whether that's a vacation or a field trip or anything. I'm like, what are you? This is everything we have to offer. What are your must do's? And I give everybody the ability to have about two to three must do's. And that's what we get done no matter what. And then everything else kind of fills in after that. So we picked our shows ahead of time. We knew exactly which ones we were going to go see. We picked all mostly 3D ones because that's what we were like. We said immersive. And I think the first shows don't start until the 10 o'clock range normally. So my recommendation is to go ahead and book your bus over to Saturn five at like nine a.m. I think they may even have an 845 or an 850 slot so that you would be there at nine. If so, take it. Just go ahead and plan for that to be the very first thing you do for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because they run the same buses all day and they're going to be really stinky at the end of the day because people get hot and sweaty. Like that's number one. So you have the fresh, not stinky smelling bus. And yeah, and not sweating buses are for mama's sake. OK, maybe. But either way, I don't want to smell anybody else's stink. So not in a closed space anyway. So you have the fresh, nice, clean bus when you go over. And because it tends to get kind of busy, like that's the one thing because you're being bussed over and bussed back that not that you're stranded over there, but I feel like it can become the most crowded the quickest because everywhere else at Kennedy is in one big area. So there's more room to like spread out and you don't have that as much. So if you go over and you get to the Saturn five building, first and foremost, you kind of can get that out of the way and then spend all of the rest of your day back at the main part. Also, because that's kind of where it all starts. It is. And I think it's important to keep with that. If you want to make it easier for you and your family to follow the timeline on how the program has developed from the beginning. If you get over there, you're going to see Sputnik and you're going to see the moon rover. You're going to see the rockets. You're going to get a feel for how massive those rockets are. Yeah, because the Saturn five is literally on display. It's busted. It's busted into its segments. And basically it is right there, building the whole building. It is. It is immense. And you also get to go through. I mean, it literally, like you said, it starts at the space race. I mean, you're starting at the very beginning. There's like a little theater there, which we did do the lunar theater, which talks about the first moon landing. So you go through all of that. You're getting to see the Saturn five. You're getting to kind of experience the entire like start of and you even get to go through. I think my favorite part over there is the the launch when you get to go into the room where they're actually doing an Apollo mission. And you're like sitting there at mission control. Yeah. And you're listening to each one of the stations doing their part, giving the go no go for launch and making sure their systems are operable and there's no red lights. You're not like really sitting in the chairs, you're sitting in your own booth. But it kind of feels like it. It does. And I feel like that gives you a really good starting place. Right. For like all of Kennedy Space. Like this is kind of where you start. Oh, and they also have that garden outside. So if you just want a breath of fresh air and want to go outside, they have a garden. Oh yeah, they even have a tree garden. Yeah. Which is which each tree represents the astronaut. It does. So each of the seeds that was planted and this garden over there was taken to space. Yes. During their mission. Yes. And then it was brought back and planted. So there's one for Neil Armstrong, one for Buzz Aldrin and one for Michael Collins, which is kind of getting quite large now. So that's pretty cool. But yeah, go outside, take your breath of fresh air, walk around. They got a statue of the three men standing there and then they have the beautiful trees there, too. So so that's I mean, that's kind of cool. And then you can get that. Like I said, you can get that done kind of first thing and come back. And then after that, if you want to keep doing it chronologically, which is what we did, because I just wanted to experience it chronologically this time and you would go to the Atlantis building next, because that's going to be all the space shuttle programs and you're going to have like the ISS is there. All of the hands on experiences are there. From there, you would then do the journey to Mars, which has some Mars rovers. And there's like a new show now that you're talking about them going to Mars. Yeah, it's a lot about some trivia in it. Yeah. Yeah. It talks about a lot about SpaceX and what they're doing, what NASA is doing and what other companies are doing. And we're all in it together. And they're really going to go to Mars. They're working on it. It's going to happen. And then the things that I would say kind of fit in around that are meeting an astronaut because they have an option for you to do that. Doing your movies that you picked, getting something to eat because there's plenty of places, junior astronaut program, they do. So they have an astronaut training program. I believe you have to be a little older, 13, 12 or 13. So we did go talk to them about it. We're going back. So, yes, we'll go back in a few years. But so if you have a kid that's a little older, they can do that. I think it's almost like a whole day program. It's really immersive. You get to kind of actually do. Some of the things and a little close to some of the things that an astronaut would do. Right. But yeah, so kind of around all of that, you can just fit in meeting the astronaut, taking your picture and doing the shuttle experience, which that is within Atlantis. So that's part of the whole shuttle experience. Watching your movies, getting something to eat, playing at the play place. And then we close the day out the rocket garden. Yeah, the rocket garden. You can't miss it. I mean, bigger than life is huge. We looked at it on the way in, but we didn't like go through it until the way out because I really wanted to have a bigger appreciation for the rockets that were in there. And after having learned everything we learned, I felt like we had that bigger appreciation. But a lot of the rockets have pods or, you know, things where you can like actually go in and sit in them to feel their vastness or their tightness in some cases. I mean, there was some that Emily, do you remember? You were like, I could not be in this for. Yeah, there was one where it was like you had to duck and you had to go in. Oh, I couldn't do it. But it's actually in the space garden, the rocket garden. Yeah. And then the very last thing we did, and I felt like it was the perfect way to close out our day, was we did the Heroes and Legends, which is one of the first buildings you see when you come in. And that's the one I didn't get to do on my first trip. Yeah, this was actually the first time we had ever done it because normally we don't get there at opening. And I will say that is probably one of my number one tips. You guys know, I'm not a morning person. I'm not a huge fan. It's worth it. It is if you can only open from nine to five. So if you can get there at opening and you're, you know, like I said, ready to get on the bus when that first bus pulls out, you have a larger chance of getting in. Maybe not everything, because like I said, you can't watch all the movies, but getting in a lot in one day. I mean, at least I felt like we did everything we wanted to do in the one day we were there. Learn stuff. And yeah, I think we did even more than what we had planned on doing. We did. We definitely did. And it was the perfect field trip to bring everything we had learned about life. But even if we weren't doing a space unit study, I still think just going to Kennedy Space Center has so much interactive, educational and the benefits of going and the fun that we had, I think would be worth it. Whether you were doing a unit study or not. Like if you're just coming to Florida for vacation, you should still go. I agree. Yeah, totally. So you think you should go whether it's on a field trip or a vacation, like you would go just for fun? 100%. Yes. I agree. I agree.