Lunch with an Astronaut About This Page:

[statelady01]

Very cool! Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!!

[Golden]

Has anyone had any luck with waiting until day of or day before getting tickets?
We aren't sure if we are going to do two half days or a full day and which days is somewhat dependent on weather! In March, by the way....

[Mulan2]

Hi All
We just got back yesterday form our cruise and our visit to KSC. We did the Lunch with an Astronaut. It was with Jerry Carr, commander of Skylab 4. He was a good speaker and a very nice man.
We bought tickets, the Annual Passes, the day we got off the ship and had no problems. Since it was a cloudy kind of day and at this time of year, the place was sorta empty. We plan on going back this summer since we couldn't see everything. We did the basic KSC tour and Astronaut Encuonter which is included in the basic ticket. Next time we plan to do the NASA Close Up Tour.

[ilovedisney0_0]

How did you like it, Mulan? Did you think it was worth it? How was the food? Did Jerry Carr hold the interest of your kids?

[Mulan2]

Lunch with an Astronaut was kind of expensive if you go with a family of 4. An adult ticket cost $24.37 and a kid's ticket cost $16.95. So it came out to around $84 for us on top of the admission tickets. The food was set up buffet style in a room with round tables. The buffet had chicken breast, rice, salad, corn dogs and macaroni and cheese. They had a separate table for dessert- small slices of various types of cakes. Drinks consisted of soda and coffee.
They show you a short film while you eat about living in space which was interesting. Then the astronaut comes in and speaks about their personal experience for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, you are invited to take pictures with your camera or by them to purchase later. You also receive a sign photo of the astronaut.
Overall, it was worth trying. I don't think I would do the lunch again. We went to the Astronaut Encounter and that was included in the basic ticket. Here you are in a small auditorium and the astronaut speaks about their experiences at NASA. Both times they took questions from the audience. So we got to hear Jerry Carr both times and my ds actually got to ask him how long did it take to reach Skylab from Earth. We will definitely be back at KSC this July to do some of the things we missed. My ds (8) loved it but my dd(5) fell asleep at Astronaut Encounter and was fidgety through the lunch.
Hope this answers your questions. Feel free to ask me if you have more.

[QueenOfTheCastle]

Originally Posted by Mulan2

Lunch with an Astronaut was kind of expensive if you go with a family of 4. An adult ticket cost $24.37 and a kid's ticket cost $16.95. So it came out to around $84 for us on top of the admission tickets. The food was set up buffet style in a room with round tables. The buffet had chicken breast, rice, salad, corn dogs and macaroni and cheese. They had a separate table for dessert- small slices of various types of cakes. Drinks consisted of soda and coffee.
They show you a short film while you eat about living in space which was interesting. Then the astronaut comes in and speaks about their personal experience for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, you are invited to take pictures with your camera or by them to purchase later. You also receive a sign photo of the astronaut.
Overall, it was worth trying. I don't think I would do the lunch again. We went to the Astronaut Encounter and that was included in the basic ticket. Here you are in a small auditorium and the astronaut speaks about their experiences at NASA. Both times they took questions from the audience. So we got to hear Jerry Carr both times and my ds actually got to ask him how long did it take to reach Skylab from Earth. We will definitely be back at KSC this July to do some of the things we missed. My ds (8) loved it but my dd(5) fell asleep at Astronaut Encounter and was fidgety through the lunch.
Hope this answers your questions. Feel free to ask me if you have more.

The fidgety 5 year old has me worried. My ds (4) is looking forward to this meal and I was wondering if he would be bored. I read this meal takes about an hour. How much of this is quiet sit still time? He will have some things to keep him busy at the table but if he needs to be still and quiet for a long time it will be a problem. He doesn't run around during meals but he does like to talk and move around in his seat.

[akleos]

We researched this for our last trip, but due to a launch, we weren't able to do it! If your DD loves space travel, I think lunch with an Astronaut would be a great experience, but if she's not really sure, then just seeing the KSC itself would be enough. There is so much to do/see/learn that were I you, I would base my decision on my child's interest. Let us know what you decide and importantly, whether or not you recommend it to others!

[Mulan2]

Queenofthe Castle
If you decide to it then request seating away from the front of the rrom. It is set up like a small dining room with round tables that seat 10 each. They may seat you with other people depending on the crowd size. We got there first so we got seated right in front of the speaker and I felt like everyone was watching us as my DD was squirming around. You eat your meal during this whole time. My DS was fascintaed the whole time so it depends on your child.
Also if you go on the KSC website you can look up to see which astronaut is scheduled to appear. We'll be going back in a few weeks and DS is already preparing himself to ask Mike Mullane ( I think he is scheduled) some questions.
Have fun and enjoy your visit.

[churros]

I just posted this on another thread but we have already bought our admission tickets to KSC and when the date for Lunch with an astronaut became available I tried to book online but you can't by it without purchasing admission at the same time. I tried to contact KSC by email but keep getting an error. Phoning is difficult from Australia because of the time difference and cost!