Epcot and Kennedy Space Center

Tuesday, 12/22/15 - It was an easy travel day to Orlando (only 129 miles).  All we had to deal with was the traffic.  Turns out Christmas is a very busy time in Orlando.  We parked in one of our Thousand Trails parks.  This is the biggest one we have been in and very hard to find a parking place.  They have a lot of games here - pickle ball, horseshoes, pools, playgrounds, etc; and even wildlife -turtles, frogs, and even a few gators.  But no cable TV or internet.  We got excellent antennae reception and I have internet on my phone so we are good.

Wednesday, 12/23/15 -Here we are at Epcot Center.

Epcot front entrance

Prices have gone up since I was here 17 years ago. We bought a 2 day pass for Tom and I to only this park.  Our tickets were $408 plus $40 parking fees for two days.  We went through the rides on the right side - Nemo and his friends (45 min wait); Soaring (2 hour wait); and Journey into Imagination (25 min wait).  Each ride is accompanied with interactive hands on areas for the kids and of course a gift shop.  Then we headed to the countries surrounding the lake.

In Canada, we watched a circle-rama movie about the country narrated by Martin Short.  It was beautiful.  In England we admired the structures and the shopping.  In France we bought pastries at the patisserie.  In Morocco I saw beautiful dancing outfits for girls,  Here are pictures of the buildings.

Morocco courtyard

Morocco buildings

 In Japan, we were entertained by native girl drummers.  The Pagoda building was beautiful.

Japanese pagoda

In America, we watched a historical movie about our country. Much of what we saw we had already experienced in our travels. Of course, it made me cry.  We walked through Italy and Germany - only shopping here.  China was one of my favorites.  The buildings are beautiful.

In one of them we saw this...

Tomb Warriors

and horses and carts

The Tomb Warriors of the Qin Dynasty (221-210 B.C.).  These warriors were modeled after the actual warriors that guarded the tombs of the emperors.  When they were discovered in an archeological dig and uncovered, they were life size.  This is a model of what was dug up.


Beautiful jade carvings and other artifacts were also on display.

Jade artifact  

Night has fallen now, here is China at night.

China at night

In Norway, we were entertained by actors.

Norway singers

  In Mexico, Chichen Itza was lit up at night.

Chichen Itza in Mexico

As we were leaving, I shot these nighttime pictures of Christmas decorations.

Epcot Christmas decor

Epcot Ball and Christmas decor

 All of the countries around the lake were lit up, but my camera did not take good pictures at night.  This is an amazing park.  Every country had a Kid Fun Stop, and of course shopping of the native country.  We ran out of time and will come back tomorrow for finish up.


Thursday, 12/24/15 - Back to Epcot Center for about a half day tour.   This time we went to the left side from the entrance.  Test Track (85 min wait); Mission Space (45 min wait); and Ellen Degeneres' Energy Adventure (no wait); Space Ship Earth (the Big Ball in front) (20 min wait).  Tom especially enjoyed Test Track put on by G.M.  Here is a picture of a concept car of the future...

Chevy Concept Car--En-V

Concept car opened up

 It is run on sensors and needs no driver.  Actually Tom and I designed a concept car for our Test Track ride and came in 2nd.   My favorite ride was the Mission Space - the visuals and the feelings of actual launching into space were great.

After we had done all four rides, I went shopping at the Mouse Gear shop and Tom went back to Test Track to re-design a car to try and get 1st place.  Since he was a single, he got through the 'single' line very fast.  I bought Mom a birthday gift and sat outside in the warm, but humid, sun and waited for Tom.  He wasn't very long, and he came in 2nd again.   We were both tired, so decided to go back to the RV.   We spent the evening watching 3 sappy Christmas movies and I called my family back home.  Felt a little 'homesick' as our kids and grandkids were at Kathie's in southern California; Dad and Liz were in Texas at Liz's daughter's house; and Karen and Bob were at their kids house in northern California; and we are here in Florida.  Next year, we will have to double-celebrate.

Friday. 12/25/15 (Christmas Day) -  no travel or tours today.  We did laundry and cleaned the RV.  Merry Christmas!

Saturday, 12/26/15- A short travel day.  Today we traveled from Orlando to Cocoa Beach (only 65 miles), but slow as the roads around Orlando were jammed.  As soon as we got out of Orlando, things moved again (I think a lot of kids got a trip to Disney World for Christmas).  We are only here in Cocoa Beach for two nights, for the purpose of visiting the Kennedy Space Center.

Sunday, 12/27/15 - Tom and I left for Cape Canaveral to see the Space Center.  Low and behold, the Kennedy Space Center is not at Cape Canaveral, it is on Merritt Island, about 9 miles north of Cape Canaveral.  We arrived  around noon to find a large crowd here too.  We bought our admission tickets ($50 each), but could not get on any guided tours as they were all sold out by ten o'clock a.m.  Just past the entrance gate, you are greeted by the rocket garden.  

The Rocket Garden

I looked at the schedules and thought we would be better to get into the  IMAX movie first.  We went there first, but had to wait about 45 minutes for our turn to get into the theater, and then a 40 minute film.   It was all about exploration of space with lots of pictures from the Hubble telescope--Great. Next we went into the Exploration of Mars building.  This was a walk-through display, and very interesting.  In the center of the buildings, I spied this used Apollo capsule.

Used Apollo capsule

I must stop here and explain some of what we learned here at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. First a little history of the space race--The first flight into space was the Russian satellite Sputnik in 1957. That flight seemed to scare the Americans into getting into the space race.  At first, everything that Americans tried ended in failure.  Then Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in April, 1961. Again, the Russians were way ahead.  Then, finally, America put Alan Shepard into space in May, 1961 aboard a Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7.  Shepard was one of the original 7 Mercury astronauts, many of whom have become famous.  Shepard also flew later on Apollo 14 as commander.  Through the Mercury program, the Gemini program, and finally the Apollo program, Americans most definitely took the lead in the Space Race. Finally in July of 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.  Between 1969 and 1972, the U.S made 6 manned landings on the moon (and numerous unmanned landings),  To date, the U.S. is the only country to have successfully conducted manned missions to the moon.

The Apollo program ceased in 1972 and NASA focused on the next phase--a reusable manned spacecraft.  The first space shuttle, Columbia, was launched in April of 1981, almost exactly 20 years after the first American, Alan Shepard, was launched into space.  The main focus of the manned shuttle flights was to build the International Space Station (ISS).  Over the next 30 years (1981 to 2011) the space shuttles made 135 flights, 133 of which were successful.  Two failures were Challenger-launch failure (7 fatalities); and Columbia-re-entry failure (7 fatalities).  Over this long period of time, the ISS was built and added-on-to many times, and research done on the ISS has improved our quality of life immensely.  Now that the Shuttle program is closed, NASA is focusing again of something new--manned exploration of deep space.  They are now undertaking the Orion program, and planning to put a manned spacecraft on the surface of Mars and return the men safely.  It will be a 2 year voyage, and is targeted to be launched in the 2030's.  How exciting is that!

Full Orion Rockets and spacecraft model
The rockets are smaller but 3 times more powerful than the Saturn V that launched Apollo

Orion capsule
Larger than Apollo capsules

Back to my log...Tom and I waited in line about an hour for a bus tour of the Space Center.  We were taken on a drive-by the Vehicle Assembly  Building (VAB). My picture isn't very good as I was in a moving bus.  You can see a good one on http://www.nasa.gov/content/vehicle-assembly-building-at-kennedy-space-center.

Vehicle Assembly Building

Then we were taken to the Saturn V building where a full (all stages) rocket is on display laying on the floor horizontally.  The three-stages of the rockets total over 281' in length; plus the service module and the command module.  That is why NASA needs a 526' tall VAB  to stand up the completed spacecraft and launch platform (the tallest one story building in the world).   Here are some pictures of the Saturn V rocket.

The Saturn V rocket exhausts

Saturn V stages

Apollo Command module and capsule

 
By the time we finished the tours at the launch pad and were bussed back to the Visitor Center, it was 6:30 p.m.  We left and headed back home.  It has been a long day, and we still have to stop for dinner and at the grocery store.   So here I am--writing this blog.  Tomorrow is another travel day.  Can't wait to see waits for us next.