Gatorland

When visiting the greater Orlando area we can’t pass up a trip to the alligator capital of the world, Gatorland. A family owned and operated wildlife preserve/theme park chock full of alligators, crocodiles, birds, and so much more.

Stop and get a family photo in the ionic, historic gator mouth entrance.

I recommend purchasing tickets online ahead of time to expedite your entrance. Once through the gates you are first met with the juvenile gator pens. teaming with 2-4 year old alligators. Many bathing in the sun, and plenty vying for bait fish that can be purchased, then dangled over the railing to tempt some jumping/feeding action.

The group of gators we came upon next, were content to just relax and couldn’t care less about the chunks of turkey dogs we were tossing. Lazy but huge doggone monsters.

Don’t worry though, there are some hungry gators mere feet away, clamoring for your meat. Sufficient quantities of turkey dogs can be purchased onsite to keep you and these amazing beasts busy. Remember this location as you will want to return here to get a good spot for watching the Jumparoo Gator Show.

While waiting for this show to start, wander around and check out some of the sights. Gatorland is home to wild and domesticated birds alike. Many of which are living right along side, or on top of the alligators.

Egrets /ˈiːɡrət/ are herons which have white or buff plumage, and develop fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season.

Parrots, also known as psittacines /ˈsɪtəsaɪnz/ are birds of the roughly 393 species in 92 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions.-Wikipedia

The great blue heron was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae.[4] The scientific name comes from Latin ardea, and Ancient Greek ἐρῳδιός (erōdios), both meaning "heron".[5] -Wikipedia

The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. -Wikipedia

The Gator Jumparoo show pits Bubba and Cooter in fierce competition for your applause. Risking life and limb to entertain you with feats of amazing aerial alligator acrobatics. Dangling raw chicken halves from soon to be ghost digits.

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the Southeastern United States. -Wikipedia

These enormous leather bound meat destroyers are insatiable, and show fierce determination in their pursuit for fresh flesh. Raw chicken halves are on the menu, but if Cooter slips, he could easily end up desert.

This giant crocodile ended up this show’s victor.

The wood stork (Mycteria americana) is a large American wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was formerly called the "wood ibis", though it is not an ibis. -Wikipedia

On your way over to the alligator wrestling show, get up close and personal with some of the local birds. Be sure to stop off by our family favorite, the flamingos. Beautifully colored, and often looking deep into your soul.

The name "flamingo" comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo, "flame-colored", in turn coming from Provençal flamenc from flama "flame" and Germanic-like suffix -ing, with a possible influence of the Spanish ethnonym flamenco "Fleming" or "Flemish". -Wikipedia

Purchasing an add on with your tickets, allows you in on some gator wrestling of your own. Prove your dominance to family and friends for years to come, with intimidating photos, depicting your unbelievable feats of strength.

Take a ride on the miniature railroad, past the Nile Crocodiles, and into the Whitetail deer enclosure. Get a close up look at this beautiful antlered female. An abnormality according to Wikipedia that is known to happen in an estimated 1 in every 10,000 females.

This time around we did not have time to get up close and personal, hand feeding some giants in the alligator breeding marsh. If you get the opportunity, I highly recommend it. This time around we opted to zipline over the gator pens. This experience does not allow personal items such as phones, or cameras. Don’t worry about missing out on the memories though. The park employs expert photographers help memorialize your flight.

A one day visit to Gatorland is nice, but to experience all that the park has to offer, plan on making multiple trips. Check out their website for more information on hours and pricing, as well as a full list of the many attractions that we couldn’t cover during this visit.