We would have given this 5 stars except for the poor information on where to pick up the city tour bus. We used our smartphone app to get to the street address but ended up in a poor part of town. After calling the local city tour bus contact, we were redirected to the Hilton Hotel, thought with less time than we expected before the bus left. We were saved by the fact that there was a race on city streets in addition to major construction around the Hilton, so the city tour bus never made it to the Hilton - the tour guide walked from a spot a few blocks away and herded our group back to where the bus could park.
The city tour was very good at city tours go. The weather cooperated - only a couple sprinkles near the end of the ride. Spring is a great time of year to go as it supposedly gets pretty hot in the summer months, making an open top city bus tour a bit uncomfortable.
The space center visit was very worthwhile. The 747 transport plane and shuttle sit outside - you can walk through each. There is a building housing a number of interesting educational exhibits plus a food court and gift shop.
A major highlight is a tram ride into the main space center. The 1st stop is the mission control building where you sit in auditorium seats and have a informative talk on the space program. The 2nd stop is a building which houses the complete rocket system laying on its side which was used to launch the space hardware. It's a self guided event, but very impressive along with commentaries along the walls. NOTE: There can be extended waits - ours was about 30 minutes - to get on a tram. There is a website you can visit beforehand to sign up for a time to get a tram. It didn't help us as the available times were near the end of our stay at the space center. It should be possible to get the web link beforehand to sign up for your preferred tram ride time instead of having to wait for however long the line is the day of your visit.
Great displays. Very hands on for children big and small!
Meeting place was not clear. Street address given was a hotel , no signs where to wait ! Gave rise to much confusion . Bus was late.
The city guide was excellent .
The buses used were in poor condition old rattle traps , and sitting sideways is no way to see the view ,, and not comfortable at the speed that was driven on the way to and from the space center .