Billy and I took Myles to Gatorland Saturday, a place we've talked about going for a year but never got around to until we heard about their Florida Resident special that included $9.99 tickets. Since Myles is still technically under 3 (meaning he's free) and tickets are usually over $20 each, we decided it was now or never.
We hyped up the trip to Myles the entire week, leaving his teachers telling me all about how excited he was as he talked about it day after day. And then...at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, we arrived.
"Sorry folks, we're out of parking," we were told by the less than friendly parking attendant. "You'll have to park across the street in the pizza shop's lot."
WHAT?!? Full? We're talking about Gatorland here!
Then we saw the line literally wrapped around the building. And the cops directing traffic. "Sorry Myles, they are closed," I lied. I am NOT one for crowds and there was no way I was battling all of these people...for Gatorland none the less. But when Myles started whining and almost broke into all-out tears, we caved. After all, he'd been looking forward to this for a week and if we didn't go that day, we knew we'd probably never go. This was his day.
In the end, I'm glad we went. The park was actually a lot nicer than I expected. It blew away the pathetic Dinosaur World. It even beat out the Central Florida Zoo. We saw hundreds of gators, including four rare albinos. We visited the petting area and looked at the snakes. We watched the Gator Jumparoo show (craning our necks around the people in front of us) and the Gator Wrestling show. We had a nice day.
My only issue was, of course, the crowds. Gatorland is not built for that many people. Every show was standing room only, you had to wait in line to take pictures with the gator (see above), and the train (which we bought the wristband for) featured long 45-minute waits all day. We never rode it. Even food was hard to come by and we ended up having to walk across the street to a local Cuban place around 1:15 for nourishment.
I definitely recommend going but it isn't worth more than the $9.99 price. Maybe when their attendance drops (which I assume it did March 1), they'll offer the special again. If they do, just be sure to go during the week! And you may want to pack a lunch.
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3 comments:
What a great picture!
I hear ya on the crowds...I hate them too. Glad it turned out to be a good day though.
P.S. Stop by my blog to pick up your award!
We went last month too, and it was way better than I thought. I live right around the corner from the place, and drive by it often, but it was the first time we actually went.
We had so much fun! Even with the crowds! I can't wait to go back when V is a little older so he can really enjoy it.... glad you had fun...
We went recently, too, to take advantage of the price cut and were stunned by the crowds. My son, almost 12, still loves that place, though. So it was worth it.
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