Thursday, December 24th:
We invited Dean and his leading lady to join us for our day’s adventures, but they had plans of their own: following Jake’s raving about the great deals he had found earlier in the week, they were heading to the Nike Clearance Store to do some shopping before returning to their condo at Indian Rocks Beach. We were, too, were leaving Orlando behind for most of the day: we had reservations for a one-hour airboat tour at Wild Florida in Keanansville. After showers and some chit chat over a pot or two of coffee, we all decided to have breakfast together before splitting up and picked Ponderosa in Kissimmee.
Jake actually had been itching to give Ponderosa’s buffet a try in Orlando, ever since we had been to one in Syracuse a few years earlier (where he was obviously quite impressed, considering he wanted to return). He was curious to see if the Florida locations were as good as those in the North.
It was very, very quiet in there that morning.....I would say under 10 people in the entire restaurant when we arrived (it did pick up a bit as time wore on). The buffet, however, was nicely stocked and the restaurant itself was very well staffed. We were seated immediately and three men wasted no time in filling their plates from the multitude of breakfast options.
Their buffet wasn’t quite as expansive as Golden Corral’s (lacking more of the non-breakfasty stuff that GC offers, things like chipped beef in gravy and fried chicken) but there was still a TON of choices. If it’s a breakfast food, they had it. Eggs cooked every way imaginable, breakfast meats and potatoes presented in a variety of forms, and quite possibly the BEST buffet waffles and French toast that I’ve ever eaten

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That blueberry sauce was heavenly

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Jake was thrilled to learn they had an omelet station, and even happier to note that the chef who staffed it was VERY generous on the ingredients. They put so much “stuff” in the omelets, they turned out HUGE!
In addition to the standard breakfast fare, they also had quite a substantial selection of cakes and other desserts (which I initially thought strange, but perhaps lots of people have dessert for breakfast when they are on vacation in Orlando?

). We didn’t have any (my sweet tooth was more than satisfied with the syrupy French toast and fruity waffle toppings) but they looked really tasty. Dean did take one for the team and tried some sort of peanut butter mousse at my bidding (it looked like PB flavoured whipped cream ... "let Mikey try it, he'll eat anything") and he said it was really yummy. But...for breakfast??
Overall, we were pretty impressed with this location. The buffet was clean and well maintained, buffet items were fresh and refilled promptly, and our server was simply excellent....drinks were refilled very promptly, plates were cleared away, and anything we needed brought to the table appeared within seconds of requesting it. We had signed up for the Ponderosa email club before travelling, and had a coupon for one of our breakfast buffets for free (a $9.99 value). Our total, then, for three buffets and two bottles of juice (Jake had water) was $26.28 including tax, plus tip.
Golden Corral is still our preferred breakfast buffet, but this was very close in quality and value

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In the parking lot, we exchange hugs and Merry Christmases and went our separate ways. Dean’s fiancé wanted to check out the adjacent souvenir shop before they proceeded to the Nike Clearance Store, so we gave them detailed directions on how to get there, then piled into the Equinox to begin our commute to Keanansville

. We weren’t 100% sure how long it would take to get there, so we thought it was best to leave a little on the early side to ensure we’d arrive well before our 11:30 am airboat tour.
The commute to Wild Florida really was quite easy, though admittedly a good distance from Orlando. I want to say it took us about 45 minutes to make the drive, but it may have been a little less. Their website directions were spot on and super easy to follow, plus the GPS has no problem taking us right to the front gates. There were no tolls, no traffic, and it was a very peaceful journey. We were remarking, though, as we drove through miles of farmland and ventured further and further from the city, that it seemed we were driving to the middle of nowhere!!
It was rather amusing, then, that we spotted this sign as we pulled into the parking area:
Ha ha! So they, too, knew it felt as if we had driven to the end of the earth to get here!!
We parked the Equinox and made our way to the main building at the entrance. On the way, we passed the large truck that facilitated ranch tours:
I filed the tour away in the back of my brain.....it could be a great idea for a new experience on a future trip!
The main building functioned as the check-in point for the ranch and airboat tours, and was a remarkably large themed gift shop. We handed our confirmations to the young ladies at the counter, who verified our reservations (booked and paid months and months before, at a 20% discount using a promotion code that I found online) and encouraged us to enjoy the animal park while we waited for our tour time to arrive. Admission to the exotic animal park was free with the purchase of an airboat tour, but could also be purchased separately if airboats or ranch buggy rides aren’t on your vacation wish list.
Outside of the main building, there was a large picnic area for guests to enjoy, with a few of these fellows “roaming” about:
(Authentic as they looked, they were just for show
.....though these were the only animals we saw at the park that weren’t real!!)
The entrance to the animal park was just adjacent to the picnic area, so that’s where we headed.
Through the park, the animals were grouped together by species or country of origin. We visited a variety of beautiful birds first, some who were caged and others who were roaming about on yet another hot, humid day.
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he! Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be ha ha ha!
This guy was HILARIOUS! We were strolling past the cage when, perfectly clearly, we hear
“Hello! How are you?”. It stopped us dead in our tracks, as we were the only ones in that area, and it was both loud and as crystal clear as if the words were spoken by an adult human. Jake walks slowly back to the bird, and inquires with a raised eyebrow... “what did you say?”. And the bird very clearly replies: “
Hello! How are you!”.
I was excited to find they had an entire section dedicated to my favourite Florida animal: the alligator!
Of course, the area came with the requisite visitor warnings

:
This section features a TON of alligators of every age and size. Some were swimming in the pond, others were lounging on the banks.
The entire park had some great informational signs in each of the areas, so as you had the opportunity to meet the various animals you could learn a little more about them too.
I could have spent all day in this area alone, indulging in some alligator love. But, there was still a whole lot more to explore....so we trundled onward

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To be continued....
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