DAY SIX - GATORLAND

Day six, we slept in some, figuring that Gatorland wouldn't be too crowded and we didn't need to get there early. But we were surprised that we had to park in the overflow lot, and they were relatively crowded. There were school field trips there as well.

The whole little park was really pretty nice, nicer then we expected. They had lots of signs up about not  letting kids get away from you, and not letting them sit on the railings or stand on benches. They might fall in and get Eaten!

This is one example of the  way the park was laid out. They had natural ponds, and also the man made ones with wrap around boardwalks. These are the small/medium sized gators here.

There are some turtles in with the smaller gators, they were all climbing over each other. But the gators were really good to each other. I guess as they get older they can get more aggressive. Also, the gators they get who are scheduled to be killed as "nuisance gators" from other parts of the state arrive pretty territorial and aggressive.

See the bird on the roof? They gets tons of egrets, herons, vultures and other birds. The big ones can land in the water and get the gator snacks, before the gators can. So the birds get spoiled and fat and hang around.

Tanner likes pictures where he runs out and I take a photo of him in the setting. I don't like these photos as much.

Gator wrestling! Before the show they explained why gator wrestling even began in Florida. According to the dudes cowboys had to clean out gator holes in the dry season so cattle could drink the water (Florida's whole economy early on was based on cattle farming). So they learned how to drag a gator out of a pit and then I suppose kill it. But they didn't mention that part. The show was really funny, these guys used lots of canned jokes they have told a hundred times, but they put some effort behind it and it was funny. I appreciated it. This guy also wrestled his alligator well. He demonstrated some things about their physiology, strengths and weaknesses.

Gators jaws are super strong when they close, but weak when they open. He can use his chin to keep the gator's jaw shut.

For lunch I treated Tanner to gator bites, a hot dog, and one of his favorite drinks, Bud Light Lime.

Food was way overpriced, I hate that. I didn't like the gator, it tasted fine but the texture was chewy in an odd way that I didn't like. Tanner thought it was just fine.

Gatorland gets a lot of other creatures left on it's doorstep as well. So they had a show with tarantulas and snakes.

This is the huge breeding pond. It was pretty.

Gators just hanging out, big ones.

Birds love to nest all over the property. The gators keep other predators away, like raccoons and such. And while there are lots of humans we stay on the paths and the birds are left alone.

Gator jump-a-roo show. Obviously gators jump for food. The guys who did this show had to clip on to a safety line inside the balcony. So if the gators do bite them, they can't drag the whole man into the water. Scary.

Gatorland is somewhat famous for their white gators. They are not albino but lucistic. It is a genetic anomaly and unlike gators that are albino, these gators are robust and healthy. They were born in a west coast zoo and gatorland got three of them. This is the most white gators together anywhere in the world. These three also happen to be really aggressive, and are in their own little cages.

This used to be the front door when it opened in the 50's. Super cute photo opportunity.

Before we went back to the resort that day we drove up and down I-Drive. It's a big long road that has a bunch of attractions, such as Titanic: The Experience, Wonderworks, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Wet n Wild, Sea World and Universal.  

This is a restaurant called Tu Tu Tango I wanted to stop at. We had some appetizers and drinks. It is set up like an artists colony, with in house artists working in different mediums. There was an older woman working with clay that night, we watched her work and some customers chatted with her. All the art on the walls is for sale. It was super fun. They have tapas style food. It was a little overpriced.

On the way back to the resort there are HUGE souvenir stores, many of which are really loud and ugly looking. We chose this as an example.

There were chain restaurants and buffets all over Kissimme and Orlando. Tanner wanted to try a Cici's Pizza. We see the commercials on television all the time at home but don't have one in Seattle. It was literally built into this huge mountain with fake blue waterfalls. It was the edge of a gaudy mini golf course. The whole thing was crazy.

Different kinds of pizza. The place was a disaster. It was crowded, loud, weird and the food wasn't any good. We were NOT expecting anything, and were still disappointed. Oh well. Tanner got to try a buffet on his vacation.

We drove around the resort taking photos, so we could give you a photo tour of the resort. Then we went back to our room and went to bed.