With no fancy roller coasters or drenching water rides, this mom-and-pop park harkens back to Old Florida. It's small, it's silly and it's kitschy with, you guessed it, plenty of gators. A splintery wooden boardwalk winds past the hundreds of alligators in the breeding marsh and you can buy hot dogs to feed them.
Allow time to see all the rather tongue-in-cheek shows, charmingly free of special effects, dramatic music and spectacular light design. At the Jumparoo Show 10ft-long alligators leap almost entirely out of the water to grab whole chickens from the trainer. After the Gator Wrestling Show you can choose to get a photo of yourself sitting on a gator. Up-Close Encounters involves mysterious boxes holding animals the public has sent to the park. The trainers are too scared to open them, so they drag audience members down to help. The Screamin' Gator Zip Line (per two hours $70, including park admission) features five zip lines over the park. After a day of gators, head across the street to the excellent Private Island Ice-Cream . Parking is free.
