The family and I are hanging out at Disney World this week, and I thought it would be fun to drive over for the Space Shuttle launch on Tuesday.
The last time I saw a launch (about 15 years ago), we went to Titusville (I think) and found a bridge that we crossed where you see the launch pad across the water (I think it was about 7 miles away). If you continue on that road, you quickly come to a sign that says “forbidden entry…only official vehicles past this point”, or something like that. It seems like a great spot to watch a launch, but I can’t remember how to get there anymore.
This will be the first time for my kids, so I’d like to be as close as possible to get the full effect of the roar from the rockets.
Well, I used to live just barely north of Orlando, back in the late 80’s, & I could always see it just fine.
Many restaurants & bars on the Space Coast have viewing areas, like roof gardens. Call around, but make advance reservations, & be prepared to pay a cover charge.
I drove up from Fort Myers for the last attempt and I can tell you DON’T DRIVE OUT THERE. I-4 and the Beeline Expressway were jam-packed and I spent more time driving less than 60 miles between Orlando and Titusville than I did the 160 miles between Fort Myers and Orlando. It was in Orlando that I went two miles in two hours. AND when I did get to Canaveral, the causeway was closed. They just turned everyone around in a u-turn to send them away. Without putting up any signs on the approach road that the space center was closed. Very considerate, huh? So my advice is to stay in Orlando and watch. It is still quite impressive.
Argh!! Turns out that we were gone all day yesterday, and I didn’t get a chance to check back here before we went to the launch. You would have saved me a lot of time.
Turns out that we did get held up on the Beeline, just like you said. Traffic was horrible! We only got to within 24 miles of Titusville before the launch…so we had to pull off to the side of the road to watch it (which is what everyone else did too).
It was a spectacular launch, but I wish we were closer.
For future reference, the best radio station to listen to for the launch is 1300 AM (don’t know the call letters). They had very detailed coverage from 30 minutes before to 15 minutes after. Some of the other stations only broke in for the launch itself.