Gatorland Florida is one of the Largest Alligator Farms I've Ever Seen!Gatorland Florida
Orlando, Florida 32837-6699 Gatorland Website (opens a new window)
Gatorland Florida offers tons of different activities. Including night tours, being a trainer for a day and an adventure hour where you can get really close to the gators. Or, you can just walk around and check things out. Open from 9am-6pm daily and the parking is free! If you get there early you’ll beat the crowds and you'll be able to get some great photos. Although any time of day would be good. You can easily spend a few hours here taking in the shows, walking around looking at the alligators or chilling in the water park. You can buy a pass that includes a variety of different activities. It’ll be worth it if you plan on doing everything. Otherwise just buy each thing individually. Gatorland Florida is not very expensive compared to other Orlando Florida attractions. Prices are $23.00 for adults and $13.00 for kids. Children three and under are free! Be sure to check out the
Orlando Entertainment Book
for coupons. Sometimes they offer a buy one get one free admission! Also be sure to check the Gatorland Florida website because they often have offers posted there.
So what can you expect to see at Gatorland Florida?
Alligators! Big ones, little ones, huge ones and everything in between! You walk along planked walkways and the water is actually right underneath!
There’s lots of signs throughout the park explaining different aspects of the environment and animals. With fun and quirky information made to make you think and smile. There’s a lot of fun things to do at Gatorland. Obviously looking at all of the amazing animals is a top choice. The land is a converted swamp that they sectioned off for these guys. It’s kind of cool to see the almost natural alligator habitat. If you love reptiles you’ll love Gatorland Florida! If not you may want to stick with some of the other Orlando, Florida attractions. Gatorland Florida is great for both kids and adults. You’ll learn about alligators and crocodiles and what their habitats are like (hint: think swamps, canals, rivers, lakes or pretty much any other body of water in Florida.) Gatorland Florida is very slow paced. You will not get rushed through this attraction. Everything is leisurely and at your own pace. There’s no rides like the other Orlando Florida attractions. Just down home Orlando, Florida fun!
There’s babies all the way up to the largest alligators I’ve ever seen (minus the ones that are dreamed up by Hollywood.) Chris and I were walking along and we saw this giant alligator just chilling in the water. His beady eyes staring back at us. I took a piece of my hot dog (you can buy them for a few bucks from the vendors to feed the gators) and aimed right between his eyes.
I imagine if you went to Gatorland in the beginning of the day they may be a little more receptive. There’s some birds that hover around the alligators just waiting to snatch up any morsel of food they can get. If you’re not careful you may find a few of them stalking you. If you want really hungry gators check out the bridge behind the petting zoo. These gators must get forgotten about because they're willing to eat the dogs (hot dogs not real dogs... hee hee).
Is there anything else to do at Gatorland?There’s several things you can do at Gatorland Florida. Including checking out the bird sanctuary. At first Chris and I were a little hesitant to enter the area where all these birds reside. But boy am I glad we did!
For a dollar we were able to get a little popsicle stick filled with bird seed. This made the birds want to be your best friend. At one point I had like nine birds on the arms and hands!
Sometimes they would get a little rowdy and start fighting over the seed. But that’s actually what made it kind of funny. There were just a bunch of parakeets and then there was one really pretty colorful bird. It gave me a kiss (blushing). You have to shuffle around instead of walk while in the aviary. Otherwise you risk stepping on one of the little birds. We hung out in there for about a half an hour and just had a great time! We also got to take in a show at Gatorland Florida. There we learned about alligator behavior. Such as if an alligator is chasing you should just simply take a step back. They are very near sighted so I guess stepping back keeps them from seeing you. This’s weird advise because I’ve always heard that you should run in a zig zag motion if an alligator's on your tail. I’ve lived my entire life in Florida believing this’s what I should do if I come across one of these creatures. So now I’m just straight up confused on how to treat the situation. Luckily in all my years living in Orlando, Florida it hasn’t really been a problem. We also learned a little about alligator behavior. Did you know that you can hold the jaws of an alligators mouth shut with your two hands? They have very weak jaw muscles. But very sharp teeth so I wouldn’t recommend trying this! The shows aren’t too long and offer audience participation. The same two guys do all the shows but they are fun and friendly.
When you sit on the gator’ back and pose you can buy the photo directly from the Gatorland Florida staff. Or, you can just snap a few pictures yourself. Another show with the alligators happened in the main area. The guys took some chickens and dangled them in front of the alligators. They had us (the audience) split into two sides and cheer for our team. Then which ever teams alligator jumped and grabbed the chicken first won. I was half expecting the alligators to jump six feet out of the water. Living in Florida you hear all kinds of stories about the ability of these animals. But in reality they only jumped a few feet. But it was entertaining any way.
Another attraction at Gatorland is the small petting zoo. With a few llama, sheep and goats. You can buy some feed for them and they’ll eat from your hands. You can also see a couple of huge turtles that you can pet.
*Make sure to bring towel or a change of clothes if you want to enjoy the water park.* Walking around in wet clothes and shoes is never fun.
Also on the list of things to do is checking out albino alligators. These particular animals are housed in their own separate place. They look kind of sad though (as if I can tell what an alligator's thinking) because they live separately from one another and also from all the other alligators. I guess that’s what you get when you’re different.
Is there anything to eat and drink at Gatorland Florida?There's a small snack bar that you can get decent food and drink at.If you like to drink beer there’s a limit to how much you can buy. I guess Gatorland Florida doesn’t want you to get silly and fall in with the gator. Although their so full of hotdogs they may not even notice you. If you’re up for it you can even try some gator nuggets if you’ve ever wondered what alligator tastes like.
Don’t forget before you go to get a picture of the alligator in the front. This has been a land mark in Orlando for over 50 years! (Although it looked a little different before a fire destroyed part of it.)
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Last time we visited this alligator farm it was mid afternoon. So most of the alligators were just lounging in the sun, pretty much on top of one another.
I got close and landed it on his head. Unfortunately, these alligators have hot dogs tossed at them all day long. So they show very little interest in them.
If you want to take a load off you can ride a train throughout the park to see everything from the comfort of your seat.
