Gatorland

Gatorland is a 110-acre (45 ha) theme park and wildlife preserve in Florida, located along South Orange Blossom Trail south of Orlando. It was founded 72 years ago by Owen Godwin on former cattle land in 1949,[1] and is privately owned by his family.

Gatorland
Gatorland entrance
Date opened1949, 72 years ago
LocationOrlando, Florida
Coordinates28.3557°N 81.404°W / 28.3557; -81.404
Public transit access #108
Location
Websitewww.gatorland.com

Billed as the "Alligator Capital of the World," Gatorland features thousands of alligators (including rare leucistic alligators) and crocodiles, and many other animals. Attractions in the park include a breeding marsh with a boardwalk and observation tower, zip lines, an off-road swamp vehicle tour, a ridable miniature railroad, alligator feeding shows, alligator wrestling shows, an aviary, a petting zoo, and educational programs. The breeding marsh area of the park was used in the filming of the 1984 movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

The park is known for buying and rescuing nuisance alligators from trappers that would otherwise be killed for their meat and skin. Gatorland also manages the live alligator display at the Gaylord Palms resort in Kissimmee.

Gatorland Express
The original locomotive used for the railroad attraction in Gatorland
Gatorland Express
Roundhouse
(not open to public)
 Gatorland
Off-road vehicle transfer
(via short walk inside park)
Bus transfer
(via short walk outside park)
Animal enclosure

The Gatorland Express, known as Ol' Iron Horse Express prior to 2001,[2] is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge[3] railroad attraction inside the park, which first opened in 1961 and was originally built by the Allan Herschell Company. The park claims that the Gatorland Express is the first amusement attraction in Central Florida. The original locomotive was retired in 2000 and put on static display, while a brand-new locomotive built by Custom Locomotive of Chicago[4] was purchased and put into operation the following year. The new locomotive is the same model as the locomotive previously used at the nearby Green Meadows Petting Farm.[5] An additional fee is required to ride the railroad and prior to the 2011 opening of the zip line, it was the only non-animal-related attraction in Gatorland.

2006 fire

Shortly before sunrise on Monday, November 6, 2006, a three-alarm fire broke out at Gatorland,[6] apparently started when a heating pad in one of the displays in the gift shop shorted out; arson was not suspected.[7] The fire was brought under control within several hours, but the gift shop was completely destroyed, and several walkways also burned.[8] The fire killed a four-foot-long crocodile and two six-foot-long pythons, but spared the other animals.[9][10] During the day, the birds that are displayed in and around the shop were moved to the aviary at the back of the park and were not injured.

After inspectors confirmed that there was no structural damage to the various walkways and displays at the park, Gatorland reopened less than three weeks later, on the day after Thanksgiving.[11] The gift shop and main offices were rebuilt as a two-story concrete block building, incorporating the repainted historic concrete alligator's mouth, and opened on May 22, 2008.[12]

Zip line ride

In the summer of 2011, Gatorland added a zip line that travels across a pool of alligators and past several of the existing attractions. The ride is approximately 1,200 feet (370 m) long and several stories high. It is available for riders 37 inches (94 cm) tall or more. In January 2016, Gatorland made the zip line wheelchair-accessible.[13]

Gator Spot
Gator Spot entrance at Fun Spot America Orlando

Gatorland opened Gator Spot at Fun Spot America Theme Parks' Orlando park in the International Drive tourist area on May 11, 2015. The $1 million attraction allows visitors to hold, take photos with, and feed alligators. The main attraction is a leucistic alligator named Bouya, a white gator with blue eyes.[14]

  • Dozens of alligators in the breeding marsh
  • Leucistic alligator
  • The current Gatorland Express locomotive
  • Alligator feeding
  • Alligator wrestling

See also

References
  1. Schneider, Mike (September 12, 1999). "Gatorland still brings in tourists after 50 years". Spartanburg Herald Journal. South Carolina. Associated Press.
  2. The Original Gatorland Express
  3. Arizona & Pacific Railroad - Gatorland
  4. "Train Rides Unlimited". Archived from the original on 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  5. Playground Magazine - All Aboard
  6. "Gatorland goes up in flames". Gainesville Sun. Florida. Associated Press. November 7, 2006. p. 1B.
  7. "Heater blamed in Gatorland fire". Ocala Star-Banner. Florida. Associated Press. November 9, 2006. p. 3B.
  8. Reed, Travis (November 7, 2006). "Gatorland burns". Lakeland Ledger. Florida. Associated Press. p. A1.
  9. Aguayo, Terry (November 7, 2006). "Florida Fire Damages Gatorland Theme Park". New York Times. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  10. "Gatorland could reopen in weeks". Gainesville Sun. Florida. Associated Press. November 8, 2006. p. 4B.
  11. "Gatorland reopens, but mouth still closed". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. Associated Press. November 25, 2006. p. 10B.
  12. "Gatorland Media » Blog Archive » From Tails to Tales". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  13. http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/on-the-town/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2016/1/29/gatorland_wheelchair_accessible_zip_line.html
  14. Dineen, Caitlin (May 5, 2015). "Gator Spot quietly opens to the public". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
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