Port Canaveral, Florida is located about 60 miles east of Orlando and is often a destination
port for cruises sailing along the East Coast of the United States.
If you’re a space enthusiast who’s visiting the port, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitors
Complex is an ideal experience that’s located about 20 minutes away.
The visitors complex offers many space-related experiences, including opportunities to get
a close-up view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis;
walk among rockets from NASA’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Programs;
meet a real astronaut; and more.
In this video we’ll provide an overview of our Summer 2021 visit to the Kennedy Space
Center Visitors Complex, when we were invited to experience everything they have to offer.
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The Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex has many attractions available.
Depending on the amount of time you have -- and your interest level -- you might not be able
to see the whole complex in one visit.
We spent six hours at the complex and still have more exhibits and attractions we want
to see on our next visit.
Before visiting the complex, we recommend taking a look at their website -- which we’ve
linked in the description below -- to determine your list of must-do activities.
You can also see if there are any add-on attractions you want to purchase for an additional fee,
such as the Astronaut Training Experiences.
Daily admission tickets can be purchased online as well as at the park’s ticket counter
and ticket kiosks.
Parking is not included in the ticket price and it cost $10 dollars for our car during our visit.
When we parked our car, DaddyBean -- who is a bit of a space nerd -- got a kick out of
the parking lots being named after astronauts.
If your cruise itinerary includes Port Canaveral, your cruise line may offer a visit to the
Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex as a shore excursion.
Alternatively, when we docked at Port Canaveral in April of 2019, an Uber rideshare to the
complex cost about $40 each way.
After you enter the complex, we recommend you do two things before anything else:
First, grab a daily schedule, which lists scheduled events that are available throughout the day.
Second, get a reservation to take the bus to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, which is roughly
a 20-minute bus drive -- each way -- from the main visitors complex.
During our visit, reservations could be made at self-service kiosks or on our phone.
If you need to leave the park by a certain time, try to get an early reservation, so
you have plenty of time to explore the center and return to the main visitors complex.
Some of the highlights of our visit to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex include:
The Apollo/Saturn V Center.
The center celebrates the historic achievement of the United States landing humans on the moon.
After first watching a short movie about the Space Race of the 1950’s and 60’s
and reliving a rocket launch in the Firing Room Theater,
we then marvelled at the HUGE, 363-foot Saturn V rocket that almost filled the full length
of the building.
We spent about two hours exploring the center’s lunar landing-related exhibits, including
touching a moon rock, which Jellybean loved!
Take note to leave plenty of time for your return bus trip to the main visitors complex
because the wait line for buses can get long, depending on other visitors.
Also, you might end up getting delayed during your trip, like we did.
Just a few minutes into our return trip, our bus got stuck behind a slow-moving Space X
Falcon 9 rocket.
Although our family was over-the-moon excited to see the rocket, it did take away some of
our time for exploring other attractions at the main complex.
Still, it was a great reminder that Kennedy Space Center is much more than just a tourist
attraction; it’s a fully operational NASA field center!
The Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit.
Located near the back of the visitors complex, Atlantis is one of only three shuttles displayed
in the United States that have flown to space.
The shuttle is suspended above the first floor of the building and walkways on the upper
floor allow visitors to get a rare up-close view of the spacecraft.
In addition to visually exploring the shuttle, we also explored some of the over 60 exhibits
that were scattered throughout the building, including interactive touchscreen experiences,
high tech simulators, and more.
The Astronaut Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame is located inside the Heroes & Legends building,
at the front of the visitors complex.
After entering the building, guests first have an opportunity to explore exhibits
that focus on key characteristics of astronauts,
such as inspiration, curiosity, confidence, and more.
Further along, the Hall of Fame section of the building honors over 100 astronauts, with
each inductee featured on a plaque that includes their portrait, name, induction year, and missions.
The Rocket Garden.
Instantly recognizable just after entering the visitors complex, the Rocket Garden is
located just past the Heroes & Legends building.
The garden features rockets from NASA’S Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs and was
a popular photo spot for guests during our visit.
Planet Play.
Located near the middle of the visitors complex, Planet Play is an indoor, multi-story, planet-themed
immersive play area for kids ages 2 to 12.
Jellybean easily could have spent hours at the play area’s attractions, which included
tunnels, slides, interactive games, and more.
Daddybean and I appreciated the seating area for adults, which included phone charging
stations, tabletop touchscreen video games, and trivia.
A drink bar located near the seating area had coffee, beer, and wine available for purchase.
The Gift Shops.
If you’re a space enthusiast, you’ll definitely want to schedule some time to explore the
t-shirts, mission patches, and other merchandise and memorabilia that celebrate NASA and the
history of space exploration.
And yes, they even sell the longtime favorite Neapolitan freeze dried ice cream sandwich!
Finally, if you’re interested in trying to catch a rocket launch when you’re at
the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex, we’ve linked to a schedule of upcoming launches
in the description below.
The website includes the date and launch time window for each rocket.
However, please keep in mind that launches frequently get postponed, so we don’t recommend
planning your trip around a potential rocket launch.