Wheeeeeeeeoooooo.
That as fun, wasn't it? Being 5 feet away from big ole gators, tossing them chunks of raw meat. Turning your back on them for a picture. It might be time to slow it down just a bit.
And luckily, just across the path from the gator feeding area is their Gatorland Express train, which was just pulling into the station. We wandered on up through the queue area and found just a few seats left, right in the front behind the engine.
The ride was nice - probably around 10-15 minutes to make a loop around the breeding marsh and along/behind the Rasslin Ring and boardwalk area. The driver had a microphone attached to the PA system in the cars. I could tell he was talking and giving all sorts of information about the park and the animals, but being right behind the engine, we couldn't hear a thing over the noise of it. Ocassinaly people behind us would sort of laugh/chuckle/groan, so I knew he was tellin' puns. And I missed them.
After the train ride, we decided to head over to the observation tower in the marsh to get a birds eye view of the area.
OK, well, maybe not THAT bird's eye view. I can pop up on my tippy toes and get that bird's view. Sigh. I guess W.C. Fields was right. Never work with children or animals.
As you can see, while I was dilly dallying taking pictures of the local flora and fawna, Bambi and Evan had ascended to the 2nd level of the tower already. Overachievers.
The top offered a wonderful view of area. And for as many gators as were still crowded over by the
Line of Death waiting for other tasty looking tourists to throw them meat, others were still swimming around, waiting for one of those tasty looking birds to come for a little swim.
Then off to the south, we spotted this guy:
He was just sort of sitting there in the middle of the pond , almost like he was wait for some food to just drop out of the sky, right into his open mouth. Which might seem odd, until you look up and realize, "oh, he actually
is sitting there in the middle of the pond, waiting for some food to just drop out of the sky, right into his open mouth."
Yes, for $70 you can ride Gatorland's new Screamin' Gator Zip Line. 5 lines totaling 1200 feet, and one 125 foot long suspension bridge, span the park. You zip over gators & crocs at up to 30 MPH, with nothing keeping you from them but a nylon harness and a steel cable. No, I didn't do it. Yes, I wanted to. The $70 seemed a bit steep to me at the time, but as I was fact checking their website for this TR, I see that also covered your park admission for the day. All of a sudden, that doesn't look too bad. What do you think, Bambi. Should we do this in August?
After checking out the observation tower for a little bit, we started heading down.
And all of a sudden, it hit my kids again...
That incessant need...
That burning desire...
That uncontrollable urge...
...to dance.
The gators were cute and all, but just not in that fuzzy, cuddly sort of way. Luckily, Gatorland also has a small petting zoo.
For a buck or two, you got a container full of goat pellets (no, the kind that goes in the front end, not the kind that comes out the back) to feed the animals. The coolest part about it was your container was actually an ice cream cone. After you finished feeding the pellets, you broke up the cone and feed that too! No waste! Environmentally friendly! Let's all hug trees!
Oh, sorry. I got a bit carried away there. But it really is a cool idea.
Along on down the boardwalk from the petting zoo, Gatorland had a little photo op set up. Madison and Evan begged to do it. Literally begged.
"Pleeeeeeeease Daddy? Pleeeeeeeeeese Mommy?"
As soon as we gave in (yeah, we're suckers like that) Madison stopped and went dead silent. Then uttered the phrase that still gives her mother shivers to this day.
"But I get to hold the snake."
Have you ever seen a happier little girl than one with a snake wrapped around her neck? I didn't think so.
This one was just funny:
By now we had seen just about all of the park (They actually bill themselves as "Orlando's Best Half Day Attraction!"). There were a few other places that we didn't get to - the aviary, the flamingo pond, the snake & reptile show - but it was getting to be mid afternoon and it was getting hot. Florida in July - who would have thunk it? Well, unbeknownest to us, Gatorland has what they call the "Gator Gully Splash Park". We didn't bring any swimsuits along for the kids, but we did have a change of clothes in the van. So, to demonstrate to our kids just how cool we are as parents, we turned them loose and allowed them to play.
Madison, apparently, approved.
Now, do me a favor and look closely at these two photos. What Evan is demonstrating is a technique known as the "Nasty Little Brother" Turning the water gun on your sister...classic move!
After announcing "One more run through the tires" five or six times, we finally exited through the gift shop (shocker!) and out to the van. We changed the kids into dry clothes and headed back to Grandma & Grandpa's house.
UP NEXT: This day isn't over yet! The fun is just starting!