Gatorland is a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

and

wildlife preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, located along South Orange Blossom Trail south of

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

. It was founded in 1949 by Owen Godwin on former cattle land, and is privately owned by his family. Billed as the "Alligator Capital of the World," Gatorland features thousands of

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

s (including rare leucistic alligators) and

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

s, and many other animals. Attractions in the park include a breeding marsh with a boardwalk and observation tower,

zip line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide''Who Really Benefits from Tourism'', Publ. Equations, Karnataka, India, 2010. Working Papers Series. "Canopy Tourism"page 37/ref>Jacques Marais, Lisa De Speville, ''Adventure Racing'', ...

s, an

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

swamp vehicle tour, a ridable miniature railroad, alligator feeding shows, alligator wrestling shows, an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

, a petting zoo, and educational programs. The breeding marsh area of the park was used in the filming of the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

movie ''

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on a story by George Lucas. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jone ...

''. 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 Gatorland Express, known as ''Ol' Iron Horse Express'' prior to 2001, is a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

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 Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

. The original locomotive was retired in 2000 and put on static display, while a brand-new locomotive built by Custom Locomotive of Chicago was purchased and put into operation the following year. The new locomotive is the same model as the locomotive previously used at the former Green Meadows Petting Farm in Kissimmee. 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.

Gatorland White Gator Swamp

The White Gator Swamp, is an indoor area with a museum feel to it where guests can see the albino gators from the other side of a glass wall. In this enclosed area, there are signs that give facts about these gators including the origin of their white color, how they're different from other gators, and when they were first spotted.

2006 fire

Shortly before sunrise on Monday, November 6, 2006, a three-alarm fire broke out at Gatorland, believed to be started when a heating pad in one of the displays in the gift shop shorted out;

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

was not suspected. The fire was brought under control within several hours, but the gift shop was completely destroyed, and several walkways also burned. The fire killed a four-foot-long crocodile and two six-foot-long pythons. 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 the day after

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

. 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.

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 long and several stories high. It is available for riders tall or more. In January 2016, Gatorland made the zip line wheelchair-accessible.

Gator Spot

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.

Gallery

File:022306-gatorland04.jpg, Dozens of alligators in the breeding marsh File:LeucisticAlligator.jpg, Leucistic alligator File:Gatorland, Orlando FL (10475703163).jpg, The current Gatorland Express locomotive File:022306-gatorland02.jpg, Alligator feeding File:022306-gatorland05.jpg, Alligator wrestling

References

External links

*
Gatorland - Florida Like A Pro
{{authority control 1949 establishments in Florida Amusement parks in Greater Orlando Amusement parks opened in 1949 Roadside attractions in Florida Tourist attractions in Orlando, Florida Zoos in Florida