last space shuttle launch in NOV

[fcsflyboy]

Hello everyone. I will be visiting Florida in the fall to watch the last space shuttle launch..does anyone know where the best "views" are?

[techie-13]

I've seen pictures of trail of the shuttle that were taken from WDW. But if you want to get closer, you can try to get event tickets for Kennedy. (I believe you are several miles away for safety but they make an event out of being there.)
OR you can do like Hubby & I (and about a third of Florida), we headed out to Titusville and watched from across the river. If you do that, plan on hanging out in Titusville for several hours or overnight because like the Magic Kingdom, everyone arrives over the course of the day and they all try to head home at once. (And the cops handle the traffic well, but not nearly as well as Disney.) I think it took us about 5 hours to get back to the Wilderness Lodge and that was after waiting 1 hour to let some of the crowd go first.
The Kennedy Space Center website has a page of suggestions for viewing areas off of their property.
Our view wasn't the best but wasn't too bad and we planned the day around it once we heard that the original launch was scrubbed and the next attempt was going to happen during our vacation.

[LucyintheSky]

I agree that going out to the coast has the best views. But the traffic going out and then coming back to Orlando can be killer!

I took this of the launch last week, we happened to be in Tomorrowland:

[turkeyham]

One of my friends lives out on the cape and he says it is a zoo. He works at a Walmart. The media uses Walmart's parking lot for an area for filming the launch if they can't get a ticket.

My dad worked on the spce shuttle program with NASA and also one of his under grad students is a payload specialist. My dad was invited to watch his student's launch. They sat up in the bleachers near the count down clock. He had to wear sun glasses and ear plugs. There was a loud roar when it went up. Don Pettit is my dad's friend. :)

[BRWombat]

I had friends in the VIP viewing area for last week's launch. But... you really have to know someone to make that work!

[shinysparklybubbles]

oh I see one is posted for mid Nov, I hope it's when I'm in WDW!

[fcsflyboy]

hey thanks for the tips guys! I am a strong supporter of aviation, after all I am a pilot. And seeing the shuttle lift off is one thing that I REUFSE to miss. if I have to go to the hospital I will just die instead, because life is not about how long you live, it's about how you live it!

[darph nader]

The local Air and Space Museum 'was' thinking about making a bid for one of the shuttles after they were retired,but at almost 30 million dollars,they decided against it. :(

[hobie16]

The local Air and Space Museum 'was' thinking about making a bid for one of the shuttles after they were retired,but at almost 30 million dollars,they decided against it. :(

Bummer. The payload bay would make a great bar. The doors/skylight could be open or closed depending on the weather.

[BRWombat]

Bummer. The payload bay would make a great bar. The doors/skylight could be open or closed depending on the weather.

Ooo, they could name the bar something like "Zero G," and then have fun counting the number of times SG's complain," I thought we'd be floating!" :p: