Gatorland Orlando, Florida: A Theme Park Review of the Alligator Capital

Gatorland is a 110 acre-theme park and wildlife preserve located in central Florida. Gatorland is an interesting park that besides its main attraction of alligators, also contains an aviary, petting zoo, observation tower, and a boardwalk around a swamp. Gatorland is an interesting tourist attraction that should be visited at least once by visitors to the Orlando area.

We visited Gatorland in February 2009. After reading several reviews online, we learned that the park does not require a whole day to see everything. Most visitors only stay for about two hours but we did end up visiting the park for over four hours. We had no problem with the admission price of $22.99 per person but budget-minded visitors might find that a bit steep for a couple hours of entertainment. Discounts and coupons can be found at their website listed below.

Gatorland has numerous free shows throughout the day. Our favorite show involved gator wrestling. The host/wrestler was hilarious with his jokes and provided lots of interesting facts about alligators. For a fee, visitors can get their picture sitting on a bound alligator after the show. We passed on that opportunity...sorry it was just a little too touristy for me. Plus I felt sorry for the alligator even though it was obviously well taken care of by the staff at the park.

What we enjoyed about the park the most was the boardwalk that passes through a swamp. Whenever I visit Florida , I always hope I will see an alligator in the wild. I've never been lucky enough yet but at least at Gatorland I came pretty darn close. The swamp was full of alligators just swimming and lazing around. We felt like we were in the middle of a natural swamp and completely forgot (for at least a couple of hours) that we were in the middle of a city. We spent most of the day just strolling the paths and walkways throughout the park, enjoying the animals in their almost natural environment.

As with all theme parks, Gatorland has numerous gift shops and concession stands. The best souvenirs they sell are wax alligators. Anyone remember Mold-A-Rama machines? Gatorland has two working machines that create wax molds of alligators and gator wrestlers for a very reasonable $2.00. I felt like a kid again as I watched the machine churn out a green wax alligator. As the nostalgic memories washed over me, I grinned like a fool and fed two more dollars into the machine. After all, two alligators are better then one.

In summary, Gatorland is a very nice theme park. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in seeing alligators and enjoying a nice afternoon in a Florida swamp.