A Week at Cape Canaveral and the Ron Jon

Best Things Nearby:
Kennedy Space Center, two casino cruise ships, Orlando, Daytona International Speedway

Best Things About the Resort:
The pool areas, free movies at their theater, the beach and the slow laid back atmosphere.

Resort Experience:
The Ron Jon is a nice quiet place with plenty of area attractions within an hours drive. You can go to Disney, Universal Studios, Daytona Speedway, Kennedy Space Center or just steps away you have the beach.The resort has a lot of extras for the family. Breakfast on your patio, lounge by the pool, float in the lazy river. Have lunch at their restaurant, relax some more around the pool, and then go out for dinner at one of the local restaurants or take a trip on one of the two gambling ships that are close by. Or if you want to stay with your kids then after dinner take in one of their free movies or play mini golf.There is really a lot to do at the Ron Jon, so much that if you wanted to you could make your vacation very active, or just relax. We did a lot but there was too much for one trip. They have an exercise room at the main resort which really gets underused and they also have bike rentals available.The two bedroom unit we had was beach side, but beach side doesn't mean right on the beach, there is a large foliage area that you must walk through to get to the beach and for the pool we had to walk (or take their shuttle) to the main building and their only pool. If you do not have a floor higher than the second floor then you will not be able to even see the beach. The beds that we had were super hard. The staff seems to know about it but the resort has done nothing to help. We ended up sleeping on the pull out sofa/sleeper which was comfortable but wasn't what we thought we should have to sleep on during our vacation. The carpeting had cigarette holes and stains in them. We thought that for a resort that has only been open for 2 years. this was a little problem but found out that they were already redoing the 2+3 floor rooms.But we did like the resort and would go back. They seem to want to please (even though they never gave us a wake up call our last day there) and it is the only time share resort in Cape Canaveral, so it does have its benefits.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Good

My wife loves Italian food and while we were driving around we saw this restaurant and thought that it was worth a shot. We got more than what we expected.

They have really good food at a reasonable price. It was so good that we had dinner there twice during the week we were in Cape Canaveral, plus we even had a take-out pizza another night.

The dinners we had were :

The kelsey trio - meatballs, Italian sausage, grilled chicken strips with meat sauce over spaghetti for $9.89

The spicy romano shrimp and chicken - penne pasta in a spicy crewam sauce with shrimp, grilled chicken, spinich, tomatoes and mushrooms for $12.79

Spaghetti and meatballs (or sausage) for $8.79

Chicken parmigiana with marinara sauce, melted cheese over pasta for $12.29.

And their desserts are assorted cheesecakes and cakes (only $4.19 each ), tiramisu ($4.19) and we had the baklava (which we just loved) for $3.29.

The one thing that we noticed when we were here was the number of people coming in and eating. It is not that they rush people out, but that a lot of people wanted to eat here. The crowd was college students, families and
senior citizens. The staff was courteous, efficient and helpful when we wanted something done a little different (like no mushrooms).

The only other thing was the pizza. The large cheese and pepperoni was only $11.00, was tasty, and had enough toppings. We have great pizza in the upstate NY area and this was good but not as good as we normally get, but it was much better than many we have found in our travels around the US.

We would, of course, go back again when we are in the area.

The first thing to do here is to go on the KSC bus tour. They start early and run every 15 minutes. There is also plenty of wildlife to see along the way, and plenty of exhibits throughout each of the stops. The bus driver can be good if you get the right one. Make sure that you give yourself enough time for this trip since it took us around 3 hours and we didn't see everything. There are 3 stops along the way. Those stops include...
(1)LC-39 observation gantry-where you can see some of the launch sites
(2)Apollo/Saturn-V center-touch a real moon rock
(3)International Space Station Center-see them working on the next space craft going to the International Space Station.

Upon returning to the main complex There are two IMAX theaters. One narrated by Tom Hanks (Magnificent Desolation) and the other by Tom Cruise (space Station 3-D) both are good and about 45 minutes long each. Get there early and try not to sit too close for the 3-D effects are better at a distance. P.S. don't forget the popcorn.

Mad Mission to Mars is definitely a kids show and has really limited seating so get here early, and get a seat because the kids have a great time and so will most adults.

The Rocket Garden has an area where the kids can play but better than that they have some of the large rockets. It is AMAZING and it's where you can walk across the same Gantry that Neil Armstrong walked before he went to the moon. Also get inside some of the capsules that 1, 2, or 3 people would get inside. Just remember that they chose men that were about 5'8" or less just to fit the spaces. Twice a day they also have a walking tour with a guide that is fairly informative, but is a little dry and the kids might get a little bored.

Launch Status Center has a lot of info but while we were learning about outer space the kids were getting their booklets stamped. It keeps them somewhat interested but not for long.

Launch Status Center gives an update of upcoming missions but nearby you can see a replica Space Shuttle and the wall of light where those who gave there life in the quest of space.

Maybe best of all could be to listen to a real live astronaut talk about their missions, being able to ask them questions and getting your photo taken with them. Our astronaut had gone up on 4 missions including an untethered space walk and working on the Hubble telescope.

The Robot Scout exhibit is one that is somewhat boring and could easily be passed up.

There are other exhibits and plenty of shopping so leave time for that as well.

There is so much to do here that you will be glad that you can come back the next day for free just make sure that you get your ticket validated as you leave for the day.