Gatorland

  

This was just too cute to pass up so Jeremy and Bonnita posed
for Gatorland as the gator looked deliciously at them.

Yes, thanks to wonderful Rochelle at Experience Kissimmee, we had a fabulous time at Gatorland.  It is an incredible family Park that kids of all ages will thoroughly enjoy from age 1 to senior.

Rialey waiting patiently for me.

The Gatorland  Park has lots of shade, which we really needed because the sun was so hot.  We arrived on Saturday and we were

Jeremy & Bonnita couldn't wait to enter

greeted with friendly faces.  I had to rent an electric cart because of my bad knees.  I think the others were envious.  The start of the park shows a big open mouth alligator and the kids loved posing in the alligator's mouth.

Rialey was all excited!

We began our adventure walking on a board walk which led to may different paths.  There was one wooden path that was between two water lakes for the alligators.  We just missed the show where the alligators jump for their chicken food.  However, we just kept rolling on.  The entire Park was very nicely designed and they had something for everyone like the zip line, alligators shows, various snakes, and albino alligators.  They even had a petting zoo with lots of goats who couldn't wait for the food they were hoping you'd buy to feed them.  The Park had good sanitation as well.  You were encouraged to wash your hands a lot, especially after feeding the animals. The only criticism we had was the gator shows were too short, could be longer but the Park prices were so reasonable!

Then lots more alligators appeared!

This was the first alligator I saw.

 To see an alligator in person is very exciting especially when this is not an everyday occurrence, which for us, it isn't.  Imagine they have been around since the Dinosaurs.  How they managed to survive all these millions of years is a mystery.

There was an large alligator skin on the wall which we all stood in a picture for.  I can't believe how large they can get!

The baby ones are so cute and yes, they bite!  It was those white birds with the long beaks that amazed me called Egrets.  They are right in there with the alligators of all sizes and steal the food from the gators.  I'm amazed they are not eaten!  Even the vultures were afraid of the gators, especially the really large ones.

Getting ready for Zip Lining!!

Kaelan

Kaelan and I didn't go zip lining so we followed along the path.  It was so high up and they zipped from station to station.  When we reached the 1st station, Jeremy decided he just couldn't do it and wouldn't go, even with encouragement.

No matter what, Jeremy wouldn't zip!

As we went along the path to keep up with the zippers, we saw amazing sights like these various alligators and vultures.  Some were caged in double thick wire fences & others separated with a fence and landscape.

This was my first one to see its' mouth open.

Some of the many gators we saw

 As I kept looking up at the zip liners, I didn't realize just how much sun my face was getting.  I forgot to put on sun screen and a hat to protect my face.  Bad idea!

Look at those choppers!

So happy they actually did it!

I wish I were able to zip line as well, but with my bad knees, I just couldn't walk the stairs.  Of course, I really am afraid of heights so I would have had to look out not down and think I could have done it.

Hey, look at us, aren't we good.

I was very proud of the three of them, at least they were rock'n ready to zip along.  Bonnita said Rialey didn't hesitate at all.  When it was his turn, he just jumped to go.  Layla was pretty brave as well.  Ok, so was Bonnita!

We bought dippin dot ice cream after they went zip lining.  First time I tasted this kind of ice cream and it is delicious!  Kaelan has a severe allergy to peanuts so we had to be careful that the ice cream was safe for him and we found a flavour he could eat.

I asked them how they felt as they were zipping from station to station and they said it was fabulous but very scary going across the wooden bridge. They wished I was up there with them.  They were so happy with themselves, as you can see in the pictures here. There are a lot of stairs to climb up so if you have a problem with stairs, either from your health or something else, this may not be the event you should attempt.  However, there are lots of other great things to do at Gatorland.  We didn't get to see the Wrestle Alligator show, unfortunately.

The scenery was beautiful as we walked

It was a journey of learning for both me and Kaelen and of course Jeremy as we walked along the zip line route.  We saw many different types of gators.  The Cuban Crocodiles were interesting because I always have a difficult time in distinguishing them apart, alligators and crocodiles.
I certainly didn't know they jumped and that they are the closest living critter to the Jurassic Park's Velociraptors.  Did you know that?
 

I loved the shaded walkways but I did a bad thing and followed the other who went zip lining without sunscreen and a hat, so I ended up with severe sunburn on my face and an allergy reaction to the sun.  My face swelled up like a balloon!  It took about two weeks to heal and I learned a valuable lesson - use sun screen and wear a hat!

Some other beauty we saw as we went through the zip line path, just incredible!  Gators, crocodiles, egret birds, farm animals at the petting area, ducks, vultures, bulls with large horns, white dear, yes you heard it, white and peacocks.  What an amazing Park.

 

Petting area, the goats loved being fed.

Just look at all the vulture nests.

How they all live in harmony is beyond me.

A white dear, incredible! First time I saw one.

A white dear!  First one I saw and I didn't even know there were white dear, did you?

 These beautiful birds were so pretty to look at and two of them were cleaning each other.  It was so sweet. 


But just look at the two on the right, aren't they just the cutest thing?!




Snakes, there were lots of snakes, safety stowed in proper cages, behind glass and thank goodness!

They had a number of snakes that were poison, including the rattler.  That kind of gave me the shivers.

These little blue gators were so sweet.

In the store where you can purchases items, there were baby blue alligators.  Beautiful!



I loved the little gators you see as you exit the Park and of course the Egrets stealing the food!

But what really took our attention was the stealing birds called egret.  They would stand there in their long legs and reach down with their long beaks and steal the food put in for the little gators.

Actually, when they were doing the gator show, they were there as well, stealing from the really big gators!  Even the vultures were afraid but not the egrets.

The train ride is worth taking.  It rides around the park allowing you to see the many different animals it houses, including the white dear above with other animals.  I loved the three white parrots that greeted us as we lined up for the train.

Rialey, Kaelen and Layla, they really enjoyed the train ride.

Now this is the place to go when the day is getting to a close, you're hot and just want to get out of the sun and cool off.  The water park area was wonderful!  The kids had a water fight, and ran around the water area while we just sat in the shade and watched them with smiles on our faces.
The drier costs $5 dollars so the kids just leaned against the drier and felt the warmth of the sun on them and they were dry!

Standing on the side of the big drier.

Enjoying the shade while the kids played in the water area.

Now for the next to last pictures to show and tell you about.  We saw albino alligators and what amazing, truly amazing critters they are.  The smaller one was scratching itself and it looked so cute, just like my cat scratching itself.  The larger one looked like he wanted to say to us, "what are you looking at?"  Their enclosures were very small but I believe they have larger ones they go into as well.  Kaelan couldn't help but pose with the big albino gator as if his hand was in the gator's mouth.  Watch out Kaelan, he's coming for ya!

So cute scratching himself.

 

The last event we watched was the Alligator jumping for food.  I had never saw this before but then again, I only ever saw an alligator in 1975 at Cypress Gardens but Gatorland was wonderful for seeing and learning all about the different critters and animals they have.  It is truly a fabulous place for the entire family.

 The first part of the act, two "boys" come out and act up and try to feed the gators when they aren't supposed to, then the main guy comes back....  Finally the two "boys" go to the end of a walkway out and they have chicken they hold high for the gators to come and grab it and they grab it!  What I also liked about the show, you can see below, there is an area for wheelchairs and kids so their view won't be blocked.

This big guy came lumbering out to lay on the warm desk to get the sun.

Bonnita finally got a change to ride my scooter and she loved it!  Very reasonable, only $25.00 to rent plus tax.

Here he is lying, basking in the sun while the egret & vulture looks around for food.

I hope you enjoy our Gatorland adventure and experience.  I highly recommend this Park.  We thank the Experience Kissimmee Team who sponsored our tour.  There is lots of food, gifts and shows to see.  We didn't get to see the gator wrestling but possibly another time for sure.  Please leave a comment for me as I love to get feed back on my blog posts.

Thanks again folks!
Bye for now,
Debbie, family and friends