Brevard Zoo
Melbourne, FL · Space Coast$$
Brevard Zoo lets you paddle a kayak past white rhinos and giraffe in its Expedition Africa wetland, the only place in the country where you can. Hand a leaf up to a giraffe from…
Photo: Stig Nygaard / CC BY 2.0
Attractions
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
About
The 363-foot Saturn V at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Merritt Island sits in a building you reach only on the bus tour included with admission. That bus also stops at the Gantry at LC-39 and runs past Launch Complex 39A, where SpaceX may have a rocket on the pad, and you can stay at each stop as long as you like. Give the loop about three hours and board early, since the last bus leaves two and a half hours before closing. Back at the main complex, Space Shuttle Atlantis is tilted 43.21 degrees with its Canadarm extended, as if it had just undocked from the space station. Search for Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in your GPS, because the shorter name sends you to the wrong place.
Highlights
Space Shuttle Atlantis displayed tilted with payload bay doors openApollo/Saturn V Center built around a real 363-foot moon rocketRocket Garden of real rocketsBus tours out to the launch pads and the Vehicle Assembly BuildingHeroes & Legends and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
Getting there
Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953
It is 45 to 60 minutes east of Orlando with no public transit. Without a car, the Kennedy Space Center ticket page also lists a guided day tour with round-trip transport from Orlando hotels.
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