Spirit of the Swap/Wild Florida/Gatorland in a day

[elliecjno1]

Hi all!

On one of our non theme park days, we're thinking of going out on a 60 min airboat ride with spirit of the swamp, then the rest of the morning at Wild Florida Park (main draw there being the sloths & lemurs) & then the afternoon at Gatorland - they're all 20-30 mins from each other so not too bad at all.

My question is, what is the earliest they take you out in the morning on the airboats? Also, my friend said you wont need more than a few hours at Gatorland - is this still true as she went a few years ago? If not, we can always move it to another day.

Thanks

[Floridarules]

Yes you could do Gatorland in an hour really. We received free tickets on out last visit and tbh was a little
Underwhelmed. I went as a child and remember it being better than it currently is.
It’s a little run down but Definately the place to go to see gators-there’s hundreds!😳

[elliecjno1]

Originally Posted by Floridarules

Yes you could do Gatorland in an hour really. We received free tickets on out last visit and tbh was a little
Underwhelmed. I went as a child and remember it being better than it currently is.
It’s a little run down but Definately the place to go to see gators-there’s hundreds!😳

See more...

Thank you! That's what I was hoping to hear (not the run down bit) but that it wasnt huge! lol

[ianc]

Since Wild Florida does airboats and has gators, is it really necessary to do the other 2 as well?
Personally, I dislike gators being held in captivity when they occur naturally everywhere there is water and you can see them in the wild (for free), and spotting them is more fun.
I haven't done Wild Florida, but did Kissimmee Swamp Tours twice last year (April and October) who are further down the same road - both times not only saw gators in the wild but even stopped by a group of baby ones - too young to be scared of the boat, like the adults, so didn't swim away - the capt knew where to find them.

[Northtim]

We did Wild Florida at Christmas, enjoyed the airboat ride and then there was a decent sized park to wander around with loads of alligators and other animals like the Lemurs etc.

The wildlife park was OK but I felt many of the cages and enclosures were too small. I don't know if the others are any better but doubt you need to do all three.

If doing Wild Florida get there early and pre book the airboat, it was a busy day when we went. Fortunately we were there early and parked nearby but when we were leaving there were cars parked on the roadside way away from the park.

[elliecjno1]

Originally Posted by ianc

Since Wild Florida does airboats and has gators, is it really necessary to do the other 2 as well?
Personally, I dislike gators being held in captivity when they occur naturally everywhere there is water and you can see them in the wild (for free), and spotting them is more fun.
I haven't done Wild Florida, but did Kissimmee Swamp Tours twice last year (April and October) who are further down the same road - both times not only saw gators in the wild but even stopped by a group of baby ones - too young to be scared of the boat, like the adults, so didn't swim away - the capt knew where to find them.

See more...

Originally Posted by Northtim

We did Wild Florida at Christmas, enjoyed the airboat ride and then there was a decent sized park to wander around with loads of alligators and other animals like the Lemurs etc.

The wildlife park was OK but I felt many of the cages and enclosures were too small. I don't know if the others are any better but doubt you need to do all three.

If doing Wild Florida get there early and pre book the airboat, it was a busy day when we went. Fortunately we were there early and parked nearby but when we were leaving there were cars parked on the roadside way away from the park.

See more...

I've now booked Spirit of the Swamp as they have smaller 6 person boats they take out rather than the bigger ones in the Wild Florida photos I've seen so that was the reasoning behind doing that one over Wild Florida.

Going by what you've said I may actually give Wild Florida a miss, I think the main draw there was the Sloth or Lemur encounter we were looking at doing but if its likely to be really busy etc we may just go off shopping for a few hours. As for Gatorland, it had been recommended to us so thought it must be worth a look, suppose depending on what we see on the boat we may give that a miss too. Thanks for the info! Much appreciated!

[thefourDs]

Spirit of the swamp was one of the highlights of our holiday. It was so good! I’d recommend getting the first airboat of the day as the gators are not disrupted. We went last last August when it’s hunting season as you aren’t likely to see as many but we saw lots. It’s such a good experience!

[Mumtotwo]

Another vote here for Spirit of the Swamp, really enjoyed the experience with them. We went early in the morning and we got to see plenty of wildlife.

[macadoo]

Wild Florida wasn’t that busy when we went in August but the airboats and sloth experiences get booked up early so would need to get there early to book or book in advance. The park itself wasn’t that busy. The kids really enjoyed feeding the gators there. If it’s still free this year I’d definitely stop by there if you’re nearby.

[oeamon]

for those of you who have done spirit of the swamp how would they accommodate 10 people if their boats only hold 6. do they have more than one boat or would we have to to do two trips