We went up to Orlando late last week to spend a few days with our sister-in-law, Laura, from Green Bay. She was down here visiting her brothers and stepmom.
We’re not big Orlando fans and weren’t sure what she wanted to do in the 48 hours we had together. Turned out she first wanted to go to Walmart. Go figure. In Orlando, Wally World stocks an enormous selection of souvenirs, much more reasonably priced than the tourist traps. So, we went to Walmart. Twice. Laura likes to shop.
The weather hadn’t been ideal for the 10 days she was in central Florida, but last Friday, the temperature was forecast to inch closer to 70 degrees than it had for a while. She asked if we wanted to go to Gatorland. We really didn’t. We have gators in the canal behind our house. And I’m not much of an animal enthusiast.
Laura raved about how her dad, when he was alive, loved Gatorland, and how she loved Gatorland as a child. She wanted to spend the day outdoors. And bonus! Until the end of January, Florida residents got in for half price. There weren’t many other options that appealed to any of us, so Gatorland, it was.
Traffic in Orlando is horrendous, but Google Maps directed us to Gatorland in just under a half hour. Parking attendants herded us to an auxiliary (read, far away) parking lot. Apparently Gatorland was popular on this beautiful January day. Offering to drop me and Laura off at the door, Randy asked to drive through the really close parking lot. Score! The parking attendant confessed there were 2 spots left in that lot and we were welcome to park in one of them.
We got to the ticket booth and wow! Score again! Veterans (me and Randy) got in free. Plus, they gave Laura a 20% military family discount on her $34.99 admission price. I was humbled and couldn’t get over the fact that military veterans were FREE admission. I gave Laura $15.00 to even the cost out a little.
The first impression walking into the park is the swampy smell. You get used to it quickly. The park, to its credit, doesn’t look or feel 75 years old. I imagine it would be easy for it to do that, especially with its old Florida vibe. Gatorland was opened as a roadside attraction in 1949. Today it is a 110-acre theme park combining Old Florida Charm with experiences, exhibits, and entertainment. And a robust social media presence.
Yup, there’s gators, so many gators. More than we saw in the Deep Hole in Myakka State Park a few years ago. There are little gators, big gators, and lots of in-between size gators. And they all just lay there, some on top of others. Not a one of them in the entire park looked anywhere close to being aggressive. I guess this is important because lots of folks who don’t really know much about Florida ask if we’re afraid of the alligators. They’re everywhere you find water down here, and there’s water down here everywhere. We aren’t afraid of them. Careful if we’re in a situation where we might happen to encounter one, but not really afraid.
There are lots of beautiful tropical birds in the park, including a whole lot of flamingos. Flamingos are an iconic symbol of Florida, but I’ve only actually seen 1 or 2 in the 5 years we’ve been down here. Gatorland had a whole bunch of them. They’re truly beautiful in person.
Just like around our canals in Rotonda West, there are lots of other kinds of birds everywhere around just living in the tropical environment. What surprises me is that the gators live in harmony with the birds. I thought, wrongly, apparently, that birds would be prey for alligators. But I’ve never seen a bird attacked by a gator anywhere in Florida. Maybe they peck at their eyeballs and that keeps them safe. I really should look that up.
There’s also a lot of what Gatorland calls “thieving birds” flying around too…crows, vultures, ravens. I only know about the “thieving birds” because Gatorland has the most interesting and fun signage I’ve every seen in any theme park anywhere. Their sign says you can lose a finger to these thieves. I applaud the person or team who wrote the park’s signage. You can get the gist of how clever it is by reading the park rules I cut and pasted here.
It really was the perfect day to be outside in central Florida. The temperature, about 73 degrees, was neither too hot nor too cold. We walked and walked, on boardwalks built over the gator habitats, up 7-story observation towers that doubled as zip line launch and recovery stations, across shell lined paths through animal environments that housed owls and red foxes, snakes, crocodiles, and capybara (the world’s largest living rodent, native to South America). Randy and Laura fed the little birds in the aviary (who landed on their arms, shoulders, heads, and shoes) from sticks covered in honey and birdseed. We rode the train through the complex. And of course, we browsed the gift shops.
Truth be told, I enjoyed Gatorland much more than I expected. Which isn’t hard because I didn’t think I’d enjoy it at all. The beautiful day, coupled with the well-designed park, focused on a great experience for the visitor, was the perfect way to spend time with Laura. She smiled and laughed and exuded real joy the whole time we were there. That made my heart happy as can be. I know some of our upcoming visitors would probably love Gatorland. I almost want to take them there just to give them the joy of the experience. It’s a long drive though. And to Orlando.
As the day wore down, after dark, Laura thought she wanted one last Orlando hurrah, to ride the Star Flyer, a flying swing ride on a 450-foot tower. She was a little nervous, and a little undecided, but when Randy agreed to ride with her. We headed over to ICON Park, less than a mile from our hotel. They bought tickets, emptied their pockets of absolutely EVERYTHING (they use a metal detector to check each rider!), gave me all their stuff to hold, and got strapped in for the ride which lasted about 2 minutes. After, Laura said it was a minute too long and twice as high as she would have liked, but she came away with bragging rights of having done it.
I loved the visit with Laura, I liked Gatorland and I’ve had enough of Orlando for another several years.
P.S. Randy’s having health issues. Please pray. I’ll share the details when he’s comfortable doing that.
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