Cape Canaveral, shore excursion or do our own thing?

[fergieis]

I want to pick the brains of those of you who have been to Cape Canaveral in Florida. We are travelling with two small children (3 and 6mo) and want to visit the Space Center while in port. We can get discounted tickets through work but the logistics of a taxi with carseats (FL law) or renting a car seems difficult, making the more expensive shore excursion option tempting. We are also travelling with grandparents. Specifically, I have the following questions:

 

Are there any rental car companies at/within walking distance of the pier and when do they close? (We will be in port from 11am to 10pm)

 

Are there any taxi companies that are small shuttle buses (not requiring car seats) or have car seats?

 

Is there any place to store car seats at the Space Center if lugged onto a taxi?

 

Are there any special benefits to taking the RC shore excursion? 8 hours seemed like a LONG time for two small kids to look at a museum.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

[Cshgrand]

Hi, we are also in Canaveral for a day on Dec 24th similar times and have a 4yr old.

 

Last January we cruised twice from Canaveral and spent few days there in between. After both cruises we took the rental company shuttle (Thrifty) to the rental office about 10mins away - it didn't have seat belts and our son's booster was put with the luggage. I don't think you would want to walk the road to where the rental depots are really. We returned one car after the office had shut and there was a simple drop off procedure for this. Taxi back to port was about $15 from memory.

 

This is only personal, but we found four hours at Kennedy enough with our son (who was then 3.5yrs). He had a great day and enjoyed it but had enough by then. I have read reviews from others who have spent many more hours there and not had enough time. I should add that we were there early on a weekday in the middle of January and it was quiet though - no queues or waiting at all. Plus the big space shuttle exhibit was closed for redesign.

 

Renting a car would give you the chance to combine Kennedy with dinner out somewhere or a drive around the local area if the kids get tired. Given the ease of renting in the area I would definitely do it again if need be.

 

We offered him the choice of excursion this year; sea world or animal kingdom. We were planning on renting a car again and driving to orlando as ships excursion was too long. He asked to go to Canaveral beach and dig in the sand!!!

[samasquatch]

You can usually rent car seats from car rental companies. Prices vary, but the cost for Budget is about $13/day per seat. That may be worth it to keep you from having to drag your own car seats along. Not all rental companies offer this, so you would probably have to check the individual websites or call them to make sure.

 

I'm no expert on Port Canaveral, but I was thinking of doing something similar when we are there, so I've been looking into this.

 

The price for a limo, town car, or private shuttle is not nearly as high as I thought it would be. That might be an option you could look into, especially since there are 6 of you. I'm seriously considering it for several reasons. One of which is that it's just me and my daughter on this trip and I don't like the idea of being in a rental car and lost or having a flat tire! I also don't want to deal with the logistics of catching a shuttle to the rental place, getting the car, putting gas in it before I bring it back, etc. Plus, we'd get dropped off at the door to wherever we end up and not have to pay for parking :)

 

Enjoy your trip!