Gatorland

Scott and I went to Gatorland last week, mostly to see the white alligators and to take advantage of the $9.99 Florida resident tickets. I like it there - it's definitely worth 10 bucks. This time we didn't see any of the shows, didn't ride any gators (sadly, the link to the slide show seems to no longer work), and didn't toss any hot dogs. We took lots of pictures and fed the birds. Most of the photos are up on Facebook, but here's a few:

The white, or leucistic, alligators are in a dimly-lit habitat with glass walls. There's four of them, each in their own little pool. It's a nice display, but terrible for taking pictures. This was my best attempt.

Scott assures me this isn't what it looks like. Even still, the photo makes me giggle!

Best action shot of the day. Sadly, I can't claim it as my own. We were the only people in the aviary, and the lady who works there came in and took my camera.

When the photographer becomes the subject. By the way, these little guys are heavier than they look!

I love this guy, content to sun himself, and calm enough for a perfect reflection in the water. It was COLD that day, so we didn't see a whole lot of alligators actually moving. Most were either snoozing on the ground or mostly submerged in the water.

Oh No!

I guess it's a good thing we went to Gatorland when we did!

A massive fire at one of Central Florida's oldest attractions, Gatorland, engulfed the park's gift shop and damaged other surrounding offices and structures, including the well-known alligator mouth entrance Monday, according to Local 6 News.

(photo and text courtesy of local6.com)

This picture is the best I've seen. That, of course, is the giant gator mouth you have to walk through to get into the gift shop. Well, had to walk through...

They say that the only animals killed were the creepy-crawlies they kept in the gift shop. And the firefighters did a great job keeping the fire from spreading down the old wood boardwalk through the primary gator enclosure.

As much as I thought Gatorland was a cheesy little roadside attraction, it was something I enjoyed. I hope they're able to rebuild and reopen.

Further Thoughts on Gatorland

Gatorland smells. Although, given that it is primarily a reptile park sitting on a swamp, it could smell worse than it does. Gatorland also appears to have a shortage of performers. Follow me here:

Our first stop of the day was the gator wrestlin' show. The two performers (stuntmen? whatever - the dudes in the jeans and khaki shirts) were Brandon and Kevin. Kevin, by the way, is the smart@$$ who was poking the alligator in my previous post.

After the gator wrestlin', we went back to the front of the park for the "Gator Jumparoo." This show had a different host, who introduced two brothers who wanted jobs as gator wrestlers. The brothers were Bo and Cooter, but they looked an awful lot like Brandon and Kevin with denim overalls and straw hats.

After the jumparoo, we went and fed the birds, and then we went to the Up Close Encounters show. Guess who was there, this time wrangling rattlesnakes and scorpions. Yep, Brandon and Kevin.

These are the only three shows in the park. So after the last show, we figured we had seen the last of these guys. And then we got on the train... and Kevin was narrating our train trip! Really, I was starting to feel like a groupie!

By the way, if anyone reading this ever goes to Gatorland, keep an eye out for this guy. He only has one foot. I rather like the idea that he tried to steal a chunk of hot dog from an alligator and that's how he lost his foot. Don't feel sorry for him though - the birds here to quite well stealing hot dogs and other foods from little children.

What Could Possibly Be Unsafe?

We went to Gatorland today with Beth and Pete and their girls. I had never been, and was really excited about seeing another facet of the Central Florida tourism economy. Gatorland is pretty neat - the have gator wrestling, gator jumping, gator breeding, baby gators, gator feeding, gator eating (gator nuggets and ribs are on the menu) and some non-gator activities as well.

Beth bought everyone's tickets, and bought the "deluxe" ticket, which included admission, unlimited train rides, gator feeding, and your very own opportunity to "wrestle" a gator. So here's what we learned about junior gator wrestling: it's fool-proof. They tape the mouth shut, you straddle it, you hold the head up and smile for the picture, and you climb off.

I watched the girls do it, I watched Pete do it, and then it was my turn. Well I got down on my knees, grabbed the mouth, smiled for the picture, and then the gator got loose! He shook his head and the next thing I knew, I was riding the alligator towards the concrete moat! The trainer guy declined to help me, and got up and walked out of my sight line. But he was talking on the mic the whole time so I knew he was still there. And I thought it was funny, thinking "I can't even wrestle a taped-up gator!"

It wasn't until about an hour ago when I looked at the pictures Scott had taken that I saw the trainer guy behind me, with his foot suspiciously in the air as if he had been prodding the gator making it move! Scott claims to have seen nothing, because he was too busy taking pictures.

What you see below are my other family members performing their jobs properly, and me screwing it all up (the pics of me are in reverse order), and a picture of Scott with his friend the bird.

Well, that's the most exciting part of the Gatorland trip. We did have fun doing other stuff, but dinner is ready. Speaking of dinner, you know what they give you to feed the alligators? Cold hot dogs! I guess Scott got a hot dog craving, because that's what we're having!