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Home / Type of trip / Attractions / Florida alligators: Boggy Creek Airboat Rides and Gatorland

Florida alligators: Boggy Creek Airboat Rides and Gatorland

October 1, 2013 by Gretta Schifano 10 Comments

Boggy Creek Airboat Ride. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Boggy Creek Airboat Ride, Florida. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Boggy Creek Airboat Ride

Alligator meat tastes best ‘cooked slow’ according to Tyler, captain of our boat. He works as a Nuisance Alligator Tracker as well as a Boggy Creek Airboat Ride captain so knows a thing or two about Florida’s famous reptiles. The State is home to around 1.6 million alligators and my son hangs on Tyler’s every chirpy word as he tells us all about them. We’re on a flat-bottomed airboat on West Lake Toho (short for Tohopekaliga), headwater to the Florida Everglades. I’m with my husband and son while our teenage daughter is in bed recovering from Too Much Disney. We’re staying just outside the glorious artifice of Walt Disney World yet a half-hour drive has brought us to a stunning natural environment and it feels like another world.

Ever cheerful, Tyler steers our airboat across the lake. Airboats are propelled by a giant fan mounted above the water so can travel in depths which are too shallow for normal boats. When we get some way into the lake Tyler cuts the motor and there’s nothing but silence and acres and acres of water beautifully reflecting puffy white clouds and a blue, blue sky. There’s not much chance of our spotting an alligator as it’s far too hot – apparently it’s easiest to see them at night – but it’s a gorgeous and serene place to come to anyway. Tyler tells us that he swims in the lake regularly even though there are around 8,200 alligators in it. He says: ‘Gators don’t harm cows or people’. I reckon the alligators must know a thing or two about people and are all in hiding: the hunting season starts the following day.

Gatorland

Later with the teen in tow we head over to Gatorland: an alligator theme park which opened in 1949. The teen is bored as soon as we get there and wants to leave. My husband and son are enthralled by the pools of entwined reptiles and want to see everything, especially the shows.

There are many different alligators and crocodiles to see here, including two dozing white alligators. They’re so still and so unusual looking that my son asks: ‘Are they real?’ We don’t brave the Screamin’ Gator Zip Line which whizzes the fearless across pools of alligators and crocodiles. The children’s water play area looks fun but is closed by the time we find it, late in the afternoon.

Up Close Encounters is the first show we see and is mildly entertaining. Two guys introduce the audience to some dangerous creatures (a giant spider and some snakes) interspersed with jokes my son loves such as: ‘Where does a snake bite you? The feet. Who’s wearing flip-flops? You’re going to die’. The Gator Jumperoo show is packed with people watching alligators jump up out of the water to eat pieces of meat suspended above their pool.

Gator Wrestling show. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Gator Wrestling show, Gatorland. Copyright Gretta Schifano

I pity the creatures in the Gator Wrestling Show. A dozen or so large alligators are in a pool of water below an area of flat, sandy ground. The man with the mic explains that alligator wrestling started when cowboys were herding cattle across the plains. Cattle would be eaten by alligators at water holes, so cowboys would have to wrestle the alligators out of the holes to protect the cattle. As we watch, a cowboy then wrestles an alligator out of the water by its tail, sits on its back and ties its mouth shut. This seems pretty mean but the next part is worse. People who have paid to do so go and sit on the alligator’s back and have their photo taken. We don’t.

[yo-widget href=”http://yonderbound.com/activities/united%20states/orlando/adventure-at-gatorland/act3545″]

Family travel lowdown

Our tickets were free or discounted for the purposes of this post thanks to the support of Visit Orlando. Tickets for Boggy Creek Airboat Rides cost $26.95 for adults, $20.95 for children age 3-10. Tickets for Gatorland cost $24.99 for adults, $16.99 for children age 3-12, under-3s are free. There’s an additional charge for the zip line.

 

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Related

Categories: Attractions, USA
Tags: Boggy Creek Airboat Rides, Gatorland

About Gretta Schifano

I'm a freelance journalist and blogger specialising in family travel with teenagers, trips when parents manage to travel without their kids, and 50+ travel. I also write about vegetarian travel, parenting teenagers, adoption, SEN, ADHD and anxiety. My work's been published by the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet and others. I've lived and worked in Italy and Spain and am now based in rural south-east England with my husband, adoptive and birth kids and our dog. I previously worked as a social action radio producer for the BBC.

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Comments

  1. Christine says

    October 5, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    I’d love to go on one of those air boats – Miami Vice style!
    Christine recently posted…My video entry for the Center Parcs family blogger challengeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta says

      October 6, 2013 at 8:47 am

      They’re great, but you definitely need sun cream and insect repellent on board.

      Reply
  2. Cakesphotoslife (Angie) says

    October 5, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    Looks like a great trip xxx
    Cakesphotoslife (Angie) recently posted…Bank Hall Autumn #CountryKidsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta says

      October 5, 2013 at 7:43 pm

      It really was!

      Reply
  3. Emma says

    October 5, 2013 at 9:24 am

    Hope you had a great time in FLA. My inlaws live there and I always love looking in the paper as to where gators have been found! 😀
    Emma recently posted…All Things Gourd…My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta says

      October 5, 2013 at 7:44 pm

      We had a really great time – your in-laws live in a pretty cool place!

      Reply
  4. Jaime Oliver says

    October 5, 2013 at 9:24 am

    WOW this is fantastic i would love to see and Alligator!
    Jaime Oliver recently posted…Crazy Golf Oliver StyleMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta says

      October 5, 2013 at 7:46 pm

      This is definitely the place for you to go to see some!

      Reply
  5. Wild Florida says

    October 1, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    Great post and next time your in town please check out Wild Florida Airboats & Wildlife Park (wildfloridairboats.com). We are Orlando’s Only 1/2 day airboat attraction with a beautiful ride through undeveloped swamps and marshes that make up the Headwaters of the Everglades. After the tour and included in the price of your airboat ticket, guests can explore our amazing wildlife park full of everything from Alligators to Zebras! Also, don’t miss our delicious bbq with smoked ribs, chicken, pulled pork and even fried alligator. We promise an experience you’ll never forget!

    Reply
    • Gretta says

      October 1, 2013 at 7:16 pm

      That sounds like a great attraction. There’s so much to do in Florida, it’s unbelievable.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida | Mums do travelMums do travel says:
    November 16, 2013 at 5:32 pm

    […] Florida then the excellent Busch Gardens or Disney’s Animal Kingdom are the places to go, or Gatorland if you’re into […]

    Reply

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This is a personal blog written and edited by me, Gretta Schifano. Sometimes I’m given products or sent on trips to review, but I always make this clear and give my honest opinion. See my About page for full details.

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