Thanks and air boat rides

[Sue & Co.]

Firstly, thanks to all of you who replied to my rpevious thread, following your advice we've saved around £700.

As well as Disney and Universal we hope to take a day (or part of) to go on air boat rides. Has anyone done this and can they recommend anyone to use (or to avoid)?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

We've used Boggy Creek Airboats and had a nice time. About 30 minutes drive from WDW, and they're a friendly bunch. More details here.

Regards

Rob

 

[signtalker]

Another vote for boggy creaks, they have a little coffee place to grab a quick drink if needed also, its a nice place to just stand and look over the water whilst you wait.
if you look on their website, theres also a coupon for a couple of dollars off!!.
It only lasts for half an hour or so, but you do get VERY close to nature.Well worth the effort.

Jules

 

[juliebro]

We too recommend Boggy Creek, but would suggest that you go early during a weekday, rather than weekend. We went late Sunday morning and only saw 2 baby gators, and no full-size ones at all. I think this was due to the number of locals taking their boats out for weekend fishing trips. The wildlife had been disturbed by the numbers of boats on the lake. Last time we went, 2 years ago, we went earlier in the day, and avoided the weekend. We were able to see lots of gators - some a bit too close for comfort!

 

[SimonV]

Boggy Creek now have two full-time and contrasting locations. Their East Lake Fish Camp base on East Lake Toho is their biggest and best-organised, with the benefit of the fish camp restaurant for a fab breakfast (or lunch, or Friday buffet, or Saturday buffet, etc!), while their newer site at Davenport Park (all the way down Poinciana Drive, some 30 mins' drive south of Highway 192) is more out in the wilds and natularistic, and there seems to be more wildlife there just now. It is a great area to explore and they are really developing Davenport Park into a lovely area.

I can also recommend Gator Ventures at Black Hammock Fish Camp on lovely Lake Monroe (in Seminole County, just off exit 44 of the Greeneway). here, they run 1-hour tours to one side of the lake or the other, and I have never seen so many gators (and so many BIG gators) on an airboat ride. The whole look of the place is also different to Lake Toho (more creeks and inlets) and the birdlife there is just amazing (in their thousands). It is harder to find, but also boasts a rustic, Florida-style restaurant and bar, and is run by an eccentric, Americanised Frenchman, who loves to show off the lake. Well worth trying for a different perspective.

 

[IceQueen]

We had a wonderful day out of Orlando which included a trip to the Everglades, Seminole Indian Country and then a trip out into Gulf of Mexico on a luxury yacht and then a 2 hour beach / dinner at the Vanderbilt Hotel in Naples. The airboat ride was included in the proice and the whole coach opted to take the optional swamp buggy ride at $14 per adult and $12 per child. A good way to get an airboat ride and also escape from the theme parks for the day.