Gatorland is a wildlife
preserve park that is located in Orlando, Florida. Opening its doors in 1949 on
a 110-acre piece of land, it quickly became known as the “Alligator Capital of
the World” and is currently the oldest attraction left in Florida. There are
thousands of different animals that you can view safely or walk on the wild
side with. This park is family owned to this day and is well known for rescuing
gators that would typically be trapped and killed for sale. While visiting
Gatorland, you have several different options of things to do. Upon arrival, you will see the ever so famous
Alligator mouth that used to be the main entrance up until 2006 when a major
fire sparked and destroyed a major part of the opening of the park. Once you
walk into the park, you have the option to see shows, take a wild zip line
adventure or just view the wildlife.
Starting with the newest attraction, the Screamin’ Gator Zip line, you
take a heart stopping seven stories, across 1,200 feet of high flying fun over
the park’s main attractions or if you dare, take the night tour. Next up, you
can wind down and catch one of the famous gator wrestlin’ shows and even have
the chance to hop on the back of a live gator yourself or hold a big boa for a
once in a lifetime photo op! The fun won’t stop there as you cheer on one of
the star alligators in a Gator Jumparoo where the alligators compete for their
lunch. To take a load off, you can hop on the Gatorland Express Train and ride
around a large portion of the park.
 |
| Courtesy: gatorland.com |
If action and
adrenaline are more of your thing, you definitely should check out the Trainer
for the Day program. This is a heart pounding glimpse into the life of an
alligator trainer, meeting some of the smallest alligators then progressively
moving on to meeting the largest crocodiles and gators in the park. You will
get the chance to get hands on with different reptiles and creepy crawlers and
have an experience that you will never forget. If you’d rather not get too cozy
with the animals of the park but still like to venture behind those gates, no
worries! There’s also the Adventure Hour package that gets you into the
Alligator Breeding Marsh, allowing a behind the scenes tour putting you within
feet of hundreds of alligators that you can feed. If you’re going to be around
after dark, take the Night Shine tour and experience “Real Florida”. You will
get to walk in darkness with a flashlight and some food across the wooden
walkways, with only bright red glowing eyes on you and get a real education of Florida
wildlife.
For the little ones in
the family, be sure to stop and play at the Gator Gully Splash Park and
children’s playground. Once you’ve let the kids run around for a bit, next head
over and see the giant tortoises’ and Burmese pythons that are on exhibit.
There are many other animals you can checkout throughout the park such as
turkey, owls, emus and even an aviary where birds will come and sit on your arm
for a treat out of your hand! Allie’s Barnyard Petting Zoo is another great
opportunity to get up close and personal with animals of all kinds. Throughout
the entire park there are food and beverage options ranging from Cuban
sandwiches to smokehouse style foods.
Your trip to Gatorland will only
be complete though, if you see the extremely rare and world’s largest
collection of Leucistic alligators (a total of 4 at the park). Also known as
albino alligators, there are about 15 that are even known to exist in the world
and with white skin some have pink eyes and others have blue eyes. These gators
are extremely strong and mean and most don’t live through their entire
adulthood because of the genetic mutation. No matter what you choose to do during your
visit at Gatorland, you will be left with nothing but amazing memories and
photos to look back on and smile about for the rest of your life!
