Gatorland Visit - Florida

It's been a long time since I did a destination review, but after my son and I visited Gatorland on Sunday, I knew I had to share about our experience! I was surprised to learn that it opened in 1949! I couldn't even wrap my head around that tidbit.

If you're a Florida resident keep an eye out for their deals. We thought we were getting 50% off our tickets. What we didn't realize was, EACH person has to be a resident. My son couldn't buy my ticket with 50% off since I'm not also a resident. That was disappointing, but live and learn!

We arrived about an hour after they opened and it wasn't too busy! We opted for the Greater Gator experience, which was only $42. With that you get: all-day admission, unlimited train rides, gator chow, and meet-a-gator. The "gator" above used to be the original entrance!

Of course, the first thing you see when you enter Gatorland is ALL of the alligators in the Jumparoo area. It looked like you could feed the alligators with a fishing pole, but we didn't wander too far into that area because there were a lot of people there. I played a little game with myself... do I die or live? Wandering around Gatorland, there are crocs and gators at every turn. Oftentimes, I wouldn't notice them and I would say, "I'm dead," after Jacob pointed them out.

There's an alligator that's missing its top jaw. Jawlene was rescued in 2023 and seems to be doing great. She gets to share space with an albino red-eared slider turtle named Nellie Wafer! They're kind of the perfect pairing because they are close in size! lol

While we could've taken the park train at some point, we never did because it was pretty easy to walk around and see each of the animals spots. I was actually surprised to see that they had more than just alligators, crocodile, and reptiles! Believe it or not, they have giant tortoises, a bobcat, a cougar, a variety of birds, a petting area (mostly goats from what we saw), and capybara. 

If you have children, there's a splash pad area for them to cool off. I may have tried to cool off by dipping my toes into the water. Lemme tell you, it was a crazy, hot day! Towards the end of our day it started raining. And I mean downpour! Thankfully, Gatorland has a lot of covered walkways and spots to take shelter in. We happened to be ready to eat so we took the time to grab some food, which was affordable and good portions!

We went to the afternoon show of meet-a-gator. A gator wrangler (not sure what the technical term would be) is in an arena with a small, watery moat around him. They try to use different alligators for the show and the meet-a-gator so they have rest periods. The show taught us more about alligators and then we got in line to meet one. We each "sat" over the alligator (which had its mouth taped shut) and had the photo snapped. Honestly, it goes so fast (for the humans) that it's over and done with before you have a chance to truly "experience" the moment. Not a complaint at all, but it just happens really fast.

When you get your gator chow, you realize it's 5 large pellets that are black and sorta stinky! They're rather large and you can feed any of the alligators throughout Gatorland. It's so interesting to watch after you throw the food to them. I think because their eyes are on the top of their head, they can't always see where it lands. You almost have to throw it into their mouth for it to be eaten immediately. Otherwise, it'll float for a bit before it's found! 

There are opportunities to hold critters and have photos taken with them at an extra cost. You can go ziplining over crocodiles as well as rock climb. There's an opportunity to go off-roading in a monster vehicle for 15 minutes! You can sign up to be a trainer for a day or do a nighttime visit. I didn't realize you could have an encounter (for $15) with a capybara! We watched for a few minutes and it didn't look like you really got to interact with it, so we passed. They're SO much bigger in person than I expected.

While we were there, a family had booked an Adventure Hour. Things took a turn when one of the alligators, I think it's name is Bite Tyson or something like that, snatched Savannah Boan's fanny pack. She and a couple of guys were tracking him for a couple of hours in the breeding marsh trying to get it back. He wasn't having it. He had a prize and was keeping it. At one point, probably over an hour into trying to get the fanny pack back, he wandered over to the trail where we were able to actually see the fanny pack. We also heard the crunch that was more than likely her phone! He then swam away with it. We don't know if she ever got it back.

If you want some peace and quiet (for the most part) I would highly suggest the swamp walk! It's an untouched part of Gatorland. It takes about 10 minutes to walk it and it's completely worth it. There are several different spots to stop and read a fact or detail about the area.

One might think that you won't spend a lot of time at Gatorland. I'm here to tell you that's not the case, especially if you have little kids. I mean, everything takes a long time with little ones, but there's plenty to keep their attention to make the tickets completely worthwhile! Also, be prepared to take a LOT of photos. I was shocked at how many I took. There were just some really cool things to see and experience at Gatorland!