Gatorland

WHAT IT IS

You enter through the mouth of a giant concrete alligator. It has been that way since 1962.

Owen Godwin opened it in 1949, well before the theme parks, and the family still runs it. There are 2,000 alligators, a breeding marsh with a boardwalk, a zipline over the water, and staff who wrestle alligators for a living and will explain exactly why that is safer than it looks. A 1980s fire destroyed much of the park; the concrete jaws survived and were rebuilt around. The gift shop sells jerky.

HOW IT SCORES

NEARBY