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We are so lucky to be able to visit Orlando Florida often! My cousin lives there, and her kids are around the same age as mine. They adore each other and we love exploring Orlando together. In the past, we all visited Legoland Florida (twice), Chef Mickey Brunch, the Orlando Eye, Aquatica and the Orlando Crayola Experience. So when planning this recent Florida trip, we were trying to think of something unique to do. My cousin suggested we try an Everglades Airboat Tour and I knew this was something my kids would love! We spent the day with Wild Florida and I am so excited to share my everglades airboat tour and gatorpark review with you!
Momma To Go would like to thank Wild Florida for hosting us at a discounted rate! As always opinions are all my own.
Everglades Airboat Tour
Wild Florida boasts being “in the middle of nowhere” but really, Wild Florida is only 45 minutes from the Orlando theme parks (and 30 minutes south of where we stay in Lake Nona). But at Wild Florida, you will feel like you are worlds away from the craziness of the amusement parks.
Wild Florida offers the opportunity to ride an airboat into a Florida swamp, and to pay a visit to the gator and Wildlife Park.
For our visit I booked a one-hour airboat tour at 12:45 on a Monday. We arrived around 12:15, paid, and then waited in the little holding area for our tour to be called. Our party of six was scheduled to ride with Captain Todd on an airboat that seats about 15 people.
The folks from Wild Florida will call your party up and help get you situated on your boat. Kids 5 and under are required to wear life vests and those are provided. Each guest can wear the noise canceling headphones, although it is not required (I wore them).
For the next hour, you will ride through the lake/swamp! We had such a beautiful day, I love being out on the water.
We cruised around a bit, then Captain Todd stopped in several spots to point out various wildlife and talked to us about what we were seeing. We saw different birds, frogs and of course, gators! We saw both baby ones and full on big gators. They were just swimming around, it was crazy how close you could get!
The hour did seem to go fast, but we saw so much, I would definitely recommend the hour-long tour over the other ½ hour option.
After our everglades airboat tour, we stopped for some snacks at the concession stand, The Chomp House Grille. The kids had slushies and ice cream, and we sat and relaxed for a bit. There was also a food truck on site, serving po’boys and funnel cake, including gator po’boys! You can also bring your own food and picnic at Wild Florida.
After our snack, we headed to the Gator and Wildlife Park. I was surprised at how much there was to see here. We definitely did not budget enough time to see all the exhibits! Admission to the Gator and Wildlife Park was included in the price of our airboat tour ticket. (Little cones of feed in the petting zoo cost a few dollars extra).
We spent over an hour walking around the Wildlife Park. Highlights included seeing more gators, the albino alligator, feeding the goats and the tortoise in the petting zoo, and of course a trip to the playground. We also saw a panther, lemurs, many exotic birds, an alpaca and some more animals that I honestly can’t even remember. We also walked through a cypress tree forest, which I thought was really neat.
With the boat tour, a snack stop and the Gator Wildlife park visit, we spent about 4 hours at Wild Florida. The kids loved it, as did the grown ups! We had a great day and were glad we chose this as our Orlando activity!
Here are some tips to help you plan your best visit:
- Call ahead to make reservations. Around 2pm I overheard someone arriving at Wild Florida and being told the next available boat tour was at 6pm!
- For the boat tour wear sunscreen, sunglasses, although we kept our hats in the car. I was too afraid they were going to blow away! BUT we were sitting in the sun for an hour, so you don’t want to get sunburn!
- You can pack a picnic, or pick up lunch/snacks at the The Chomp House Grille. Items were very reasonably priced. I would suggest packing extra water and drinks… the Florida heat will make you very thirsty!
- Parking is free, and the lot is close by. You can keep your snack and cooler in the car and check back when you need to refuel.
- There is no minimum age for the boat tour.
- Want to save money on your Wild Florida visit? Book your tour tickets here!
I love visiting Orlando and we had such a great day at Wild Florida. Have you been on an everglades airboat tour? Have you seen an alligator up close? What are your favorite Orlando activities?
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OTHER AWESOME FLORIDA POSTS:
A visit to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Many photos courtesy of the EventMarketingMaven
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This sounds like such FUN! We are going to Florida next week, will have to look into this!
awesome! Have a great trip!
Sounds so fun! I was recently in NOLA and really wanted to do a swamp tour but didn’t squeeze it in. This makes me wish I would have made time!
I have actually done one in NOLA – long time ago! I guess you have to go back! 🙂
Looks like you had a great time!! I’m not sure I could handle the boat ride!! I get so freaked out by gators!!
Omg this looks amazing this is on my list of trips I would love to go on. Thanks for sharing I will pin this for when the time comes.
I’ve always wanted to do something like this! It looks like a blast!!!!
I have lived in Florida my whole life and have yet to do this! Definitely want to and this looks like a fabulous one!
we go to orlando every year, but we have never done this. Maybe next year!
Thos Albino Gators look so unreal!
I know!
So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for visiting us! Come back soon
This looks so fun!! I’ve never seen an albino gator before! Definitely going to plan this for our next Orlando trip!
This looks like so much fun! When I go to Florida next time I have to look into this! Thank you for sharing and the tips.
Wow! Hahah that’s all I can think of 🙂
It sounds super scary but great. I haven’t done it, but something similar. I went to the Amazon in a part of Peru and saw a cayman!
oh wow, im not even sure what that is!
I’ve heard about this! Your pictures make it look so fun! Might have to plan this on my next trip to Orlando! Thanks for the share 🙂
I have always wanted to ride an airboat! It looks like so much fun (although a little noisy). Is it scary to be so close to the alligators though?
I wasnt scared, but they do say they can jump really high!
Alligators trigger my fears and wonders at the same time. What an amazing creature! I love animals and wildlife. This sounds like such a fun activity to do! I will keep this in mind for when I visit Florida again.
My kids would love this! We travel to Orlando frequently and I’m always looking for new things to do outside of the theme parks. I love that this is so close to Orlando!
it really was! I had driven to Orlando from NY, and I didnt want to do something that was far off… it was perfect!
We go to Florida pretty regularly, but I still haven’t seen anything passed Miami and Orlando. But my mom is always talking about visiting the Everglades and I’m a sucker for wildlife spotting – would definitely love to head down there.
Lovely photos, brought back memories ! When people think of Florida, they often picture a swampy, sunny terrain filled with unique wildlife 🙂 and it’s true. The wildlife is incredible, you can’t just take a boat tour to view crocodiles and dolphins anywhere or go hiking with the chance to see turtles and alligators along the way !
yes! We saw dolphins on another tour we did!
Those albino gators!! Didn’t know things like that existed haha
I thought they were fake at first!
This looks like so much fun! I have always wanted to do an airboat tour. I may just have to book this one when I go to Orlando next year. 🙂
Albino Alligators?? Is that really a thing? WOW. You’re so lucky to live in such a vibrant place, England doesnt quite compare – a little more sleepy perhaps 🙂
How fun! Looks like you guys had a great time! We would totally do something like this if we were in Florida.
Sounds like an awesome day trip! I love airboats, so would have a blast here. We held a baby gator on our tour of the New Orleans swamps, they’re definitely interesting animals!
that awesome!
This looks like such a fun day! I’d love to take an airboat tour in Florida! The state has so much natural beauty and wildlife!
This looks like such a fun family trip. Good tip on calling earlier because my kiddos don’t have that kind of shelf life, Great post!!
Angela
Wow that looks like an amazing tour! What an experience..
This looks so fun. And those albino alligators! Would love to do this when I head to Florida. Great post!
I’ve always wanted to explore the Everglades! And an airboat tour sounds like an incredible way to do that!
Looks like a lot of fun. Was there anything between you and those albino alligators? It looks pretty scary.
yes! They were behind the glass!
This looks SO fun!!! Wondering if the screaming in the video was from joy or fear! haha