Any DVCers been to WDW during a space shuttle launch?

[loveswdw]

We are SO hoping to see our first shuttle launch in October! We have friends who live on Merritt Island (where the Space Center is located) so they always have a great view (and a shaking house according to them when the launch goes!). We will be staying with them the Sat. the shuttle is supposed to launch. We are so keeping our fingers crossed that it will launch. We always seem to be in Florida during a launch that gets scrubbed so we don't get to see it. We've been coming to FL since 1998 and STILL haven't seen an actual launch yet!

We will be heading to OKW on Sunday 10/21 so even if the Sat. launch gets scrubbed we'll hopefully get to see one from WDW sometime that week.

 

[jekjones1558]

This photo is from last Dec. taken from BC. It doesn't really do justice. We were excited to see it:

 

[mickey mouse lover]

We saw one from Magic Kingdom a couple of years ago. We were out front and to the side of the castle. It was real neat to be able to see it.

 

[flexsmom]

We were at the OKW pool on July 26, 2005, when Discovery launched - it was the first launch after the Columbia crash, and it was phenomenal. Every single person was out of the pool and a CM was reciting the countdown over a loudspeaker and made sure everyone knew where to look. Once the launch happened and you could see the smoke plume and the flame firing behind the engines, you could hear people urging it on "go, go, go".....in a couple of different lanuages. It was my first launch and truly spectacular!

 

[javamom]

Actually, I have not seen a shuttle launch from Disney. I did travel to Florida in '91, I think it was. To see the first shuttle launch post-Challenger. I stayed off-site, and watched the launch squatting in a marsh on the other side of the "bay." I could see the launch pad perfectly, all the ships in the "bay," and all the planes keeping the airspace clear.

It was thrilling doing the countdown with the radio. The whole time, i just kept saying, "Climb, climb, climb, please don't blow or anything." It was a thrilling thing to witness and I can still hear and feel the roar, even from that distance, after all this time.

I spent a whirl-wind day at WDW that trip as well. It was my first.

 

[DebbieB]

On my first trip to OKW in 2000, I saw a sunrise launch from building 26, looking down the fairway towards Downtown Disney.

 

[La2kw]

We saw it from Tomorrowland a couple years ago, from OKW last year, and from Cape Canaveral about 10 years ago. It's always an impressive site. We've also seen it land here in California a few times, which is also pretty cool to watch.

 

[Don12]

We were at the Magic Kingdom earlier this year in June during the last shuttle launch. We weren't even thinking about the launch, had just gotten off of Splash Mountain and noticed everyone looking to the East. We had no problem seeing the shuttle fly by and were even able to take some descent pictures...

 

[DISNEY FIX]

We were there last December and were just getting on our pontoon boat to go watch Illuminations when the shuttle launched. We had a great view of it! My DH was so excited, it was something he never thought he'd see in person in his lifetime.

We saw last December's night launch from MK (it was scrubbed from the Thursday and happend on the Saturday). We were near the castle hub and watched Spectro - then turned and looked toward space mountain about 15 minutes later - and the shuttle rose looking like it was coming right out of the mountain. We had a great perspective. The area around the mountain glowed white, then orange then you could see the "flame" come up and then it angled left as you look at it and the light became more of a white glow - for quite a while. After that - we turned toward the castle once more, and Wishes started. Timing could not have been better.

This photo is from last Dec. taken from BC. It doesn't really do justice. We were excited to see it:

We were there too! Just as the Spectromagic parade ended in frontier town someone shouted "hey look it's the shuttle". The crowd went crazy with cheering and clapping. I caught it on my 80x camcorder, I could see the fuel cells fall away. What a moment.
Chris

 

[LOLA2]

We will be getting on the Disney cruise on October 20 the day of a launch, I just hope we are up on board by time it take off at 12:50. I wonder how loud it is since we will be like right next to it?

 

[henri + katie's mum]

I was at POFQ last year in mid-July when the shuttle landed. I had the TV on and the door open and I kept running outside, but I didn't see anything. I don't even remember if I heard anything.

I guess launches are better for viewing.

 

[La2kw]

I was at POFQ last year in mid-July when the shuttle landed. I had the TV on and the door open and I kept running outside, but I didn't see anything. I don't even remember if I heard anything.

I guess launches are better for viewing.

You really need to be up close to see the landing. POFQ would not be close enough. I work about 30 miles from Edwards AFB where the shuttle used to land (and still does when it can't land in Florida). We always hear the sonic boom and feel the windows rattle. If you can get close enough to see it land, it pretty much appears to drop out of the sky very quickly. Launches are more spectacular because of the roar of the engines and the speed in which it launches. The fact that it's easy to see the plume of exhaust from a great distance, makes it much easier to spot than the landing, which doesn't have that plume of exhaust. You can see the plume from WDW but you can't really see the actual shuttle with the naked eye. I recommend anyone who's in Florida during a shuttle launch to head over to Canaveral and see it up close.