No, we didn't. We just did the basic admission - I was mainly interested in seeing the Apollo/Saturn V building and the shuttle.
The bus tour. In order to get to the Apollo/Saturn V building, you have to do the launch pad tour. While I do like the idea of touring the pads, I think they should have some option to just get out to the A/S V building directly. It takes quite a while to do that tour, which some people might not want to do for time management reasons.
- We had to wait a half hour or so to get on the bus, with the temperature above 90 and several of the overhead fans not operating. A bit uncomfortable.
- The bus driver kept talking about stuff that was in front of the bus, which most of us couldn't see. By the time the bus got to where we could see out the sides at whatever she was talking about, she was off talking about something else. She did this with the VAB, the big crawler, the launch pads, everything. She even did it with the big eagle's nest we drove past.
- Several screaming infants on the bus. The long wait in the heat probably didn't help the kids' mood.
- The video they play during about a third of the trip had too much NASA propaganda and not enough about whatever we were driving past.
- The driver went on and on about the stupid giant American flag painted on the VAB. I don't give a shit about a painted flag - it isn't NASA, it isn't NASA history. It's just blatant Americanism.
- We had another half hour standing in line in the heat to get back after visiting the A/S V building. During that time, it was obvious they weren't keeping up with the crowds as the line grew longer than the chained queuing area could handle. They just didn't have enough buses to accommodate the crowds and if I'm paying $50, I expect them to be prepared.
There were other issues I noticed that annoyed me. One example is the information signs next to some of the exhibits in the A/S V building, such as the 'instrument ring' (or whatever it's called). They have a graphic that points out and names a bunch of the instruments mounted on the ring. But when I went back and forth between the graphic and the real thing, I could see they didn't match up. The graphic was illustrating something different than what was behind it. I saw the same thing with the lunar excursion module stage exhibit - things didn't match. How hard is it to get a graphic that illustrates exactly what you have, especially if the whole point of the graphic is to illustrate detailed features? Again, for $50 I expect better.
As you probably know, I'm a big space fan and I lived through the Apollo days. I really expected to see something along the lines of what you get at any of the Smithsonian museums. What I got was a poorly executed version of a theme park. But with better rockets.
Charging people $10 to park when they have a huge lot and are charging $50 to get in is just extortion, much like you'd find at a theme park.
Semi-amusing facepalm moment: NASA, of course, was a pioneer in ergonomics and efficient use of space. They had to be to make the spacecraft thing work. Cramming three suited people into an Apollo capsule in such a way that they can get in and out and can manipulate the various instruments without continually saying 'pardon my reach' requires some planning and design. So, I use the mens restroom in this mecca of NASA glory. On entering, I see the urinals to the right, the sinks to the left. I head for the urinals only to bump into someone heading out after washing up. The trash can is on the right side of the door, requiring people entering and exiting to cross paths. I also see that there's plenty of room to the left of the door for the trash can, which would allow a circular traffic pattern. I notice these sorts of things. I probably shouldn't - I'd be a much happier person if I didn't see as much of the stupidity in the world as I do. I suspect most of y'all are the same.