GATORLAND: Florida's Wildest Theme Park
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- When you think of Florida theme parks, you're most likely to first think of Disney and Universal. Perhaps even SeaWorld, Busch Gardens or Legoland may come to mind. Yet, people often overlook Gatorland, a themed zoological exhibit that offers a variety of experiences off of the beaten path. Today, I'd like to cover the history of the park, as well as providing an overview and addressing concerns about the ethics of running zoological exhibits for profit.
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As a Florida native- gators are really just giant stoners. If they’re well taken care of and the handler is aware of their stress level and safety precautions are taken, the gator does not care at all if you’re sitting on it. I don’t agree with forcing it out of the water though, that seemed a bit unnecessary. The gators jumping for chicken honestly seemed like a fun enrichment exercise, as it encourages natural behavior. Gators (mostly younger ones) also often like to lie all over each other in the wild, so no problem there. HOWEVER, old humor aside, my main issue is unnecessary breeding. Gators are no longer endangered, and are considered pests by many neighborhoods. Plenty of gators every year have to be removed and euthanized because tourists start feeding them. The gators living in the pond behind my house are super chill and never bother anyone, but these tourists keep renting houses here and throwing them marshmallows, meditating by the water edge and walking their small dogs without a leash… just asking for trouble. No one seems to understand that ANY body of water deep enough for a gator to be submerged can absolutely have a gator in it. Danger signs are literally assumed to be jokes! The gators that have lived here for years may have to be euthanized because of their negligence. Some of the small ones are adopted by local attractions like mini golf courses. But the adults are often euthanized as their relationship to humans is far too dangerous for them to be rereleased. Misinformation and a lack of public knowledge about gators is what leads to tragedies like what happened at the Grand Floridian a few years ago.
TLDR, I wish Gatorland focused more on taking in gators that have been removed from local communities and explaining to tourists why unhealthy interaction is death sentence for the gator in most cases, rather than just breeding more. I’m sure they must take in some, but really breeding is totally unnecessary unless they just want cute baby gators for tourists to hold… Meanwhile my local gator mama’s latest babies had to be removed and likely euthanized because some Canadian family started feeding them. :(
you sure they arent breeding them to make food out of them?
@@nox5555 You make a good point; there’s definitely a chance of that happening. however, I feel like purpose built gator farms are more reliable and efficient (not to mention cleaner) sources of gator meat.
@@StrawberryCelebi well having some contact to animals you eat is very important for children(and Adults).
@@nox5555 Oh I totally agree! Only thing is gator meat is really only used as a tourist attraction here in Florida. No one actually eats it on the reg that I know of. Gatorland sells meat and hides in its gift shop, but they don’t harvest their own gators. And I doubt a campy place like Gatorland has the ability to explain animal harvesting in a mature way anyway. Best stick to 4H fairs for that sorta thing.
Hey, I’m a native too, totally agree. They’re almost overpopulated but at least if they are hunted you have to use every piece of the gator. Wonder if the handbag will come back in style, jk. Still a problem due to all the swampland being renovated for houses. Who’s overpopulated who?
Having visited Gatorland a few times in my life, I will say that is a pleasant enough place to visit, and its focus on edutainment and wildlife conservation is indeed commendable. Then again this was the first place I ever tried grilled gator. As tasty as it is, I always thought serving gator at a place called GATORland was rather... unsettling? .3.
I thought it was a bit odd as well. To speak about the conservation of alligators and then to serve them...
I don't think it's an ethical issue, but it is a bit off-putting.
@@PoseidonEntertainment conservation is the matter of maintain the wildlife, nurturing its growth and harvesting an appropriate amount to ensure healthy growth without overpopulation. Preservation would be to be hands off and allow overpopulation of the species. Serving gator at the park feels to be a natural extension of its conservation activities, especially from a hunting background.
As for the gator wrestling, if you listen to old Steve Irwin interviews and current stuff out of his families zoo, handling crocs and gators like in the show, while stressing to the animal won’t cause it undo burden or harm. They are extremely tough and muscled creatures and take far greater abuse when they are in their natural envoriment from other gators
@@dominantwolf4593 some people care about causing unnecessary stress to animals for a few seconds of entertainment
@@curlypuff hug a tree hippie
@@dominantwolf4593 yes daddy
Been at this park in January 2020 before the world went into chaos. It’s perhaps one of the most Florida things in existence lol.
My favorite part was going to the bird feeding exhibit (the birds are just so cute) and seeing the alligators themselves.
The parakeets? I thought about going in there but the line was quite long.
@@PoseidonEntertainment it was a short line when I went. It’s fun seeing them walk on your arm and feeding them.
I like the park's attempt at mixing education with thrill seeking. It's a great way to appeal to the general public while then sparking interest in preservation efforts. Tough to balance those two factors, but commendable when done right.
I think that it's the right direction to take the park to keep it relevant and appealing among its competition. I was surprised by how many people from the UK were there when I went. I didn't think it could really reach anyone beyond locals, but it seems to have been successful.
@@PoseidonEntertainment really? That's interesting. Guess for international visitors it's a chance to get up close with an animal they never get to see otherwise.
6:15 Anyone else find this clip absolutely hilarious? I just like how the gator got startled over another diving into the water. The chain reaction just makes it funnier
I remember gabriel iglesias taking about this place “I don’t speak spanish, but you’re gonna love this park”
Since you just Uploaded ,let me tell you that your Videos are top notch, it's clearly visible much effort you put into your research. Greetings from Germany
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
When I went to Gatorland my experience was very humble.
The one thing that I remember the most in the pit where you can take pictures with an alligator the host and the trainers often switched alligators when they noticed that the animal may be heading down the road of being stressed.
They also mentioned this to the crowd and they were very verbal about the fact that this is something they do for their visitors so they can have a truly magical experience with a wild animal but they do let the crowd know that it is a stressful situation to the alligator regardless and they on some occasion have refused got attraction because the animals seem too stressed out with the number of people.
Also a lot of the funding that they receive from the crowd goes to preserve the animals.
It is true that Gatorland is not perfect but they do try and they do care about these animals.
I happen to talk to one of the trainers and she said she loves these animals and she doesn't do it for the paycheck she does it because she loves these animals with all her heart.
She also noted that they name all their alligators and most trainers have been there a long time know every single alligator by name specifically.
So in conclusion they do take care of their animals and they do try they're very best to take care of these animals.
You should talk about more zoos and aquariums on your channel. Since zoos and aquariums do a lot for conservation. Florida might just be the best state for Zoo fans too, since a lot of great animal attractions are found in Florida.
I love Gatorland. It's a really fun and interesting park that does what it does well. I get that it's not for everyone but I enjoy it.
I cant belive you actually talked about this... I love this place and Im glad somebody else at least knows about it
I wanted to do something a bit different. Disney and Universal bring in the views, but I like to add variety to the channel.
i think your takes are super reasonable. some aspects seem questionable but overall doesn't seem harmful
I went here as a little kid! I remember the Gatorland Jumparoo, the gator wrestling show, and feeding the birds; my brother and I loved this place! I was so excited to see you covering this lesser known theme park; I’d love to see more videos about smaller theme parks and attractions in Florida!
Thanks for the balanced review. It's my favorite park and they do take care of the gators and help train people on gator safety
Absolutely love Gator land. We have been going here since I was little(33 years) so I'm sure that's part of it lol. Our last visit was October 2021 and it was just as fun as I remembered. And now my kids love it as well. I love the water area they added!!! Such a fun and needed thing for the Florida heat. My son also absolutely loved the monster truck thing he did.
I do agree they could modernize some aspects for sure
Great content as always 💜
I went there July 24, 2021. This was something my husband wanted to do so bad. He really loved it. We did a fewding of tge gators in close quarters and includes a picture. I recommend this.
This video actually swayed me to potentially visit in the future. Gatorland, seemed to me to just be another roadside attraction that misrepresented animals for profits. No better than the mini-golf courses in Florida with live gators loaded into tiny pools. However, if they would change the name back to the alligator Institute, remove the photo ops, "wrestling" shows and cheesy depictions of "killer" gators I would be much more likely to visit.
I wasn't even aware that there were courses out there featuring gators, but I agree in that it sounds exploitative. Living in Orlando though, I can't say that I've ever encountered anything like that. Am I missing the obvious or is this generally done elsewhere?
@@PoseidonEntertainment I’ve seen these at pirates cove and the likes, often with machines to buy pellets to throw at them.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Well I don’t know how well the gators are treated at these places but they are everywhere across St Petersburg, Tampa, and in some places in Orlando.
I can’t get that Fluffy stand up out of my mind xD
„I don’t speak spanish but you’re gonna love that park!
What?
@@PoseidonEntertainment
ua-cam.com/video/Y15NbKDqvsI/v-deo.html
I was overjoyed when I saw this video and can't wait to share it with my cousins. This was a favorite spot to visit when we were kids and came to Florida to visit our grandmother. Brings back some wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing..
Oh god I've been here!! I was eight on vacation with my parents. I remember the gator pits and seeing the shows with them. They had glass cases with snakes and stuff too. I also remember my dad taking a picture over an alligator. Don't remember the forest area or the train? But they had a petting zoo where you can feed tortoises I think. A giant tortoise bit a massive chunk out of my mam's leg when she had her back to it! She's fine now ten years later, but she still holds a grudge against tortoises in general.
There's a place in St. Augustine called the Alligator Farm that's similar but much smaller. Apparently it opened in 1893.
really cool to see you cover a park like this since it's different than what you normally cover
Disney and Universal bring in the views, but I don't want the content to become stale by just focusing on those. Perhaps less people watch stuff like this, but I enjoy the variety.
@@PoseidonEntertainment i honestly really love getting to hear about things i otherwise wouldn't know about
“Sexist” humor? I had to roll my eyes at this one. Men and women have teased each other for millennia. It’s only now that we’re getting all offended over the silliest little things. I think it’s time to relax a little bit.
Nah, it's clearly derived from sexist attitudes. With generations of people who married each other because they thought it was what society expected of them, I understand the resentment. Still, the sexism is clearly prevalent throughout jokes like these and it's time to move beyond that.
Lol I agreed with his overall point there and I thought it was apt when he referred to it as “boomer humor” but I agree, I thought the sexist comment was dumb. Zoomers today like to joke about women’s body counts and men not having any bitches, you’re really gonna clutch your pearls at boomer humor being sexist? Give me a break
@@PoseidonEntertainment ❄️
Gator wresting is something thats been done since native florida times. Its an art thats been cultivated over centuries, but its a pretty normal sight in Florida.
Would love more content like this! Thanks for showing some small park love.
Yeah for sure. I'm not sure when I'll do something like this again, but I would like to diversify what I cover.
“I don’t speak Spanish, but you’re gonna love this park!”
😌👌
Since hearing about gatorland some years ago I've made it clear to my loved ones that I'm not accepting any proposal that happens anywhere else. This may or may not just be a ploy to make someone have to take me to gatorland. I'm glad to see this video breaking it down and helping me get a feel for what I could possibly expect there.
Although I live in FL now I'm from Seattle. When people from the north come to Fl they want to see a gator. I've been to Gatorland a couple times and have taken my company from WA so they could see the alligators and a swamp. We all enjoy the park. The people working there are so nice and very entertaining and the price for the tickets was a nice surprise. 🐊
It's a nice slice of "Florida" in the middle of suburban development without traveling out to the swamps. Odd, but it works.
Gatorland slaps, went there once as a kid that lived in Orlando for the first 13 years of my life. I’m 24 now and it was an absolute core memory
as always an amazing video i am torn on this park for the reasons you stated However i do believe the good out weighs the bad , just not by as much as i wished it would
I agree. I only learned of the gator wrestling when I started to do research for the video, but I did get a really good impression of the park otherwise.
I remember being to Gatorland, overall I'd say it's a great park! I would have enjoyed the trip more if it weren't for a terrible period cramp I got while there, but hey, that's not the park's fault. I will forever remember it as that cool place with the crocodiles that you could feed. But also as the place where I had the worse cramp so far in my entire life.
Gatorland looks awesome overall and I'd love to go someday. Thanks for making a video about it as otherwise I'd probably never would've heard of it. I agree they should get rid of the "gator wrestling" portion, but other than that I have to say I'm impressed with the level of care and enrichment it looks like they have for the animals.
Veeeeeery late to the party, but a quick rule of thumb for animal attractions is whether they are Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited. AZA members are rechecked every three or so years and have an ever evolving set of standards they must adhere to. Florida is full of AZA accredited sanctuaries and zoos worth checking out!
I went here as a kid all the time. I can’t wait to watch after work!
It's interesting how little it has seemed to change, even looking at footage and photos from 50 years ago. Still, I suppose zoological attractions don't really need to change too often to stay fresh.
I'm a Florida native, I used to go here and monkey jungle when i was a kid, besides Disney and Epcot. Gatorland never appealed to me.
I haven't heard of Monkey Jungle. Is it still around?
What’s your opinion on seaworld and busch gardens? Do you mind doing videos on them in the future?
Also any opinion on Disney waterparks?
Thanks for making such great videos and raising awareness of how terrible and unenjoyable disney is to visit nowadays especially with the 3 hour plus waits for mediocre attractions
I have eventual video ideas for all of those in mind eventually. I really need to build up my film library for Busch and SeaWorld before I do that though. Same with Disney's water parks. Both could be ideas for this summer.
Gators sitting on each other is pretty normal for them. They do it in the wild.
I've been to gatorland once despite having lived here for 5 years,but it was fun,and my favorite part was seeing the birds riding on the gators
Great video as always. I actually visited not too long ago and I’ll add that you won’t spend more than 3 hours there. It’s a pretty small park, but we didn’t have the swamp walk open at the time.
I did about the same. Still, I can see people spending even less time there in the summer though. The heat is brutal, even with it being a nice day when I went to film.
It started as just a zoo where you pay to see animals, but its become so much more. I love and support Gatorland because most all their animals there are rescues. Gators are bred there, yes, but the panthers, the owls, and a few of the gators are all rescues who could not go back into the wild. They give a save haven to problem gators who were slated to be put down but instead got a second chance, like Chester the dog eater who the state wanted to have killed but Gatorland fought to give him a home instead and this actually changed laws in Florida for problem animals like gators to be sent to a sanctuary instead of being put down. They are doing a great job and do a lot about teaching the public about our Florida wildlife.
I visited for the first time a year ago, and I agree with everything you said. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, but the gator photo op rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t know there was a wrestling show, but I hope that goes away soon.
I'm obviously no authority of animal care, but I at least liked how the handlers seemed very intent on keeping the gator safe during the photo op. The animal itself also seemed rather unconcerned with everything going on, almost relaxed.
Unpopular opinion: I’m not necessarily opposed to the alligator wrestling show. HOWEVER, I think they should make it an infrequent thing. Like, maybe they could only host the alligator wrestling show once or maybe twice a week? I like that they seem to be taking care to not physically hurt the Gator, but I think that doing the shows at the rate they currently are ma6 stress the animals out. If they do it infrequently though, and, most importantly, continue to be careful as to not physically harm the Gator, I don’t think it’d be an issue.
Also, they could may the infrequent shows more of an education demonstration rather than a “wrestling match”. Perhaps they could add some dialogue on how the seminoles used to “wrestle” gators to get their hides and meat, and how later people wrestled gators for sportsmanship
Universal studios and Gatorland are both synonymous for me because every time when I went to Florida as a kid I went to both of these parks and I had family in Florida so I had gone many many times lol ☯️
Thanks for the video. I enjoyed this because it was different from all the other commonly covered parks. I went there over 40 years ago when i was a small child. I have a picture of my dad and I holding a python that was taken there.
I was taken to a cheap Gatorland alternative as a kid. It was fun and highly educational. I'd like to visit the real one someday.
Before I moved to Florida I always thought this place was in the middle of nowhere. It's only a few miles from where we bought our house in a town called hunters creek.
Also I pet a capybara which was freaking awesome.
That "Ethics of this aside1" is doing a LOT of legwork here.
Growing up in Orlando in the 60's a trip to Gatorland was a treat. I'm really sorry that I haven't been back. Also really glad they still have the train.
Well, the good news is that it seems to have changed little beyond just expanding. Looking at photos from then, the central gator area looks almost exactly the same but with a new updated look rather than the teal painted roofs.
Love this place. I have been there a good 10 times and it is always great to be back
I haven’t been to Gatorland in sometime since I lived in Orlando and my elementary school days but I always have fond memories of that place. Actually wouldn’t mind going back soon.
This unlocked a very repressed core memory for me haha. Can you do Lion Country Safari?
I first heard of Gatorland when comedian Gabriel Iglesias talked about it. I’m fascinated by it but also have a very deep fear of alligators because they’re a recurring theme in my bad dreams since I was a kid, haha.
Gatorland is in the subconscious of every Central Floridian due to the catchy commercials and billboards on I4. I never actually went though but my brother did in a school field trip.
I don't recall ever seeing any of those, though I lived in Tampa for most of my life. Perhaps it didn't reach that far.
This year in may, our band and choir went on a trip to Florida to perform at Disney. Before we went we had the option to vote for locations to visit. There was of course Disney world and Universal studios, but one option was Gator land. I campaigned so hard to convince people to vote for it, but was unsuccessful. Still mad about that, and will probably be for some time to come.
Well if you get the chance again, maybe the video will convince them lol
Just yesterday I was having a discussion with someone, about, IF EPCOT Center/EPCOT had not been built in the 80s and was going to be built NOW, what would EPCOT be?
The person suggested we would have "Disney's Florida Adventure", basically something resembling something like Gatorland and a mix of a Florida version of DCA 1.0.
When I was writing the script, I was thinking of something along those lines. I thought of throwing in a joke comparing DCA to Gatorland, but I couldn't think of anything that seemed funny.
I love gatorland and as a native floridian I promise you that the gators are fine
I love Gatorland, as a Florida native it is the most "Florida experience" there is haha
As someone that pretty regularly goes freshwater fishing in south Florida, it's not uncommon to see that many gators all sunning together like that. Sometimes there are so many you can't even see that ground. So anyone that complains about seeing so many in one place like that, simply doesn't know the reality of gators in the wild.
Went there. Had alot of fun. Sat on a gator too. The zipline, while fun, jumping off the towers was the scare. Its not designed for shorter people. As I arrived, I could not stop myself and always started to go back. I also had to jump off step stools in order to get enough momentum. The park, the gators are great. Loved the train.
I'm definitely interested in going back and trying to the zip-line. I like the place enough that I bought an annual pass, so I'll probably try that next time for sure.
I love animals so this is something I’d be interested in. It’s certainly no San Diego Zoo but it’s seems fun
Oh, and yes, we went to Gatorland (and Six Gun Territory ) as kids...pre Mouse House
Gosh I remember Gator land, and also parrot jungle.
I've never heard of Parrot Jungle. What exactly does it entail?
@@PoseidonEntertainment I only remember it from when I was like. . .8-9. But I remember these boardwalk type walkways through misty trees, and obviously quite a few different birds on those open perches. I can't remember much. I remember there were some kind of monkeys as well and probably alligators.
I bought my favorite gecko plush from there haha.
Kudos to them for going from roadside attraction to conservation. Im in Quebec City and would love to go there.
I remember PBS would play advertisements for this place (I live in east Texas) I asked my mom if we could go, she said nah lol
It's the best roadside attraction I've been to. Most are low quality, sketchy, and exploitative. But not really Gatorland
I grew up in Florida and honestly these animals are (normally) super chill. Certain individuals aren't as sociable as others and as long as that's taken into consideration, they should live long and happy. Like someone else said, harassing them isn't cool. With that said, I feel toward Gatorland similarly to how I feel toward most aquariums and zoos in that keeping animals locked up at all is questionably ethical. Regardless, I'm somehow fascinated by animals I already coexist with and Gatorland is still a pleasant place to me.
PS Gator is delicious...
Went there as a kid
Wow! I didn't know Gatorland was still open. I assumed it died with a lot of the non-major attractions on I-drive/OBT/192. Neat!
I-Drive is thriving in many areas and I think it's going to see a huge boom in tourism soon. In conjunction with "gentrifying" itself and now being located right between Universal's two parks and their new one, I can see it growing significantly within the next decade.
I visited this park many years ago. I enjoyed it and I'd recommend it to anyone visiting the Orlando area.
Definitely worth a little side trip if someone is looking for something different.
Really hope I can go there someday. Nice video!
What an unexpected video. Not that I'm complaining, I'm a croc and gators fan (I watched a ton of Steve Irwin back in the day) and have always wondered whether this place was worth checking out.
I've been trying to diversify the content of the channel this year. I still like speaking about Disney and Universal, but I like to change it up occasionally.
I'd say compared to most non-zoo animal parks this looks at least well kempt, the animals don't appear distressed, and if they can afford to feed that many animals then fine. I've been to far worse exotic animal places in my life.
That said, I do agree about concerns with the photo op. "I'm going to wear out this animal until it can't fight back" maybe isn't the best approach to handling an animal multiple times per day.
As a point of clarification, they don't wear out the alligators. Trying to exhaust an alligator is actually very dangerous to alligators because they build up lactic acid that their bodies can't process. If they did that they'd be losing alligators regularly because of their shows but that isn't happening. They socialize the animals to the point where they don't stress as easily and then they wait until the alligator isn't displaying a stress response before they precede. It's sort of the opposite of "wearing them out."
That said, if you still feel uncomfortable with the idea of the handlers touching these alligators for entertainment or socializing them then that's fine. It's really a personal judgement call and I don't know that there is any way to objectively make a 100% certain determination regarding the morality involved with animal captivity or animals for entertainment
@@zacg_ That's interesting information. In trying to be fair, I attempted to do a bit of research on gator handling, but I never found anything out there like this. I assume I was looking in the wrong places. If you have any sources on this though, I would be interested in seeing more.
@@PoseidonEntertainment to be honest, the comment regarding lactic acid build up with stress is pretty common knowledge within the pet trade. I also work in human healthcare and it's pretty common knowledge in the study of any aerobic organism that lactic acidosis is the result of tissue stress and that acid-base chemistry is vital for understanding and maintaining homeostasis.
That said, if you want an article that takes you through the physiology regarding the effects of stress on crocodilians there is an older article from Australia in 1985. Again, it's an older article because the effects of lactic acidosis from stress aren't really breaking news today. You can look up "Blood Gas Tensions And Acid-Base Regulation In Three Salt-Water Crocodile, Crocodylus Porosus, At Rest And After Exhaustive Exercise." Hopefully that takes you through the effects.
As for avoiding stressing alligators and crocodiles through socialization, this is more common knowledge within the pet trade. Animal socialization, especially with reptiles can be a complicated process but can be demonstrated by experienced handlers. Some animals like Ball Pythons and Bearded Dragons tend to display very little evidence of stress with handling but crocodilians stress far more easily so exposure therapy and training are essential to helping them become more comfortable with human interaction.
If you want to see some videos that talk about this topic I recommend Clint's Reptiles and New England Reptile Distributors (NERD) on UA-cam.
I know this isn't a perfectly scientific response but this is UA-cam and not an academic journal so it's what I can do off the cuff. I hope that helps.
Again, none of this means anyone has to like using animals for entertainment. Frankly, there are some people who argue that keeping any animal in captivity is animal abuse and they don't even like humans keeping dogs. It's really a difficult issue to discuss in any kind of objective way and intuition and emotion will always play a role in how people examine this topic.
Speaking of raccoons there was a group of them by the swamp wall and I managed to shape a few great photos of them. It was a nice little distraction imho
Gator friend here :-) I absolutely love alligators and enjoy kayaking into swamps to observe them. Gators are naturally shy animals that like to be well camouflaged. They’re not aggressive to adult humans unless you stress them out or unless other humans have fed them.
That being said, Gatorland poses some MAJOR ethical issues. For example, there was a small glass exhibit featuring a massive gator where guests could press their faces up onto the glass and bang on it. This poor gator just had to endure it, he had no place to hide. It was really upsetting to witness.
Additionally, the entertainment aspect of showing gators lunge out of the water to eat chicken on a string or that guests can buy hotdogs to throw at the gators is fully unethical. In Florida, we have a saying that “a fed gator is a dead gator.” You shouldn’t be feeding gators, especially not for entertainment, this trains them to shed their shy nature and become extremely aggressive.
Last point…you can buy gator meat in the park. That’s literally the opposite of conservation.
All in all, Gatorland priorities entertainment over education, which is disappointing because the destruction of Florida habitats for construction is displacing a lot of gators, leading them to uncommon places (like the ocean or suburban neighborhoods) because they’re searching for food. Because of places like Gatorland, people will start to think they can throw meat at gators or taunt them. This will lead to an increasingly aggressive gator population…which leads to more killed gators.
This is a sad cycle.
hey, could you make a video about hellendoorn(the netherlands)? it has great history!
im from the netherlands too and would love to help gatering information.
thanks for another cool video!
I've stopped receiving notifications for your channels for some reason 😕
I do however circle around every couple of months to binge watch all your videos I've missed
Went to Gatorland a few years ago because it was rainy and we were trying to fill a day. We were okay with everything until the show part. It was just too much. We walked away after the first few minutes. Wasn't too bad other than that.
While growing up in Florida I never went to Gatorland, I did go to Everglades Holiday Park quite a bit for airboat rides and the alligator wrestling. PS. the whole running zig zag away from an alligator is stupid, since alligators don't really run rather they jump or lunge.
1:04 99% sure that’s the walkway where the video of a panther running directly by a woman was filmed.
Did they put up the rails in the Swamp Walk in the past 20 years? I remember going as a kid in the early 90s, and distinctly remember there being no rails. Also whenever you bring up Gatorland to my mom, she'll talk about how she was terrified the gators would jump up and bite me and my sister, cause there were no rails.
I wouldn't know, but it wouldn't surprise me. I get the impression that guest theme park behavior has gotten worse over the last few decades, so it wouldn't surprise me to see people jumping into the swamp.
Im against roadside zoos but I admit that I really enjoy this place. And for a roadside zoo, it probably doesn’t get better than this
I agree I usually avoid roadside zoos like the plague as they generally don’t agree with the concept of private for profit full size zoological facilities.
This is because they generally aren’t held to the normally reveries and ever increasing standards for animal welfare and care that proper AZA non profits are.
However, you still do occasionally see roadside facilities that hold themselves up to these high standards of their own volition and they do commend a deep respect from me when I see this.
And generally speaking I thought that the animal husbandry at this facility was done well and was fairly high quality.
While I would have loved to see a more modern naturalistic take to some habitat spaces, I also acknowledge that the park is currently undergoing many of these changes as we speak.
And the animals all appear to be in great condition for the respective species I saw. Meaning that while these habitat spaces might be made to be better, it is not as if they are re ineffectual at providing what the animals need
I took no issue with any of the things you did. Seems like they are responsible, and I'm not offending by silly jokes. That being said, this kind of thing doesn't personally appeal to me, though I'm sure my kids would like seeing it.
As with Taylor below, I am a native Floridian. We grew up with alligator wrestling in Native American Indian shows. I can now suggest a hard pass on these. Although we don't know if this stresses out the gators, how would we react if a dog or other mammal were disturbed in this way. Ditto the tired jokes and mother-in law style humor.
Would love to hear your thoughts on how the Star Wars area and themeing today compare to the past. For example I remember the old Star Wars weekends being absolutely amazing and so cool. I had to go every year to see everything and with the like of galaxies edge I just feel like if you’ve seen it once you’ve see it forever.
Have you watched his galaxy's edge video? He talks about how he prefers the original trilogy theming as opposed to the new one. I got to experience Disneyland during season of the force and it was amazing especially with tons of original trilogy merchandise, original trilogy costumes and trivia on display, and getting to meet Darth Vader was awesome. ua-cam.com/video/DDJkZLxCB_E/v-deo.html
I look forward to going here on my next trip to orlando, always wanted to go but never found the time. The gator handling doesn't really bother me, they don't seem to be abusing the animals, just handling them. This place seems more alike a farm than a wild encounter (no predators/well fed) and i've found on the farm that some animals are more accepting of being handled with regular exposure to people. Also, i'm a horrible person cause I do like feeding the baby gators hotdogs at the mini golf places, and it's totally got me interested in gatorland
Is feeding allowed there?
I really don't see how the "I hate my wife" style of humor is that much of an issue compared to the possible ethical concerns towards the treatment of animals. Plus no one really laughs at that kind of humor except only ironically. Also what could one do to "modernize" the humor in the park exactly? I'm rather curious.
Simply remove it? There are plenty of ways to explore humor without bitter sexism.
@@PoseidonEntertainment
So the rest of the humor in the park is perfectly fine? What was the point bringing up how the park needed to modernize it's humor, when that was the only thing you brought up? Also "bitter sexism?" The "I hate my wife" joke is literally the most memed on old-timey joke that I can think of. Unless you are on Facebook, no one takes those jokes seriously.
Yeah i mean i think the boardwalk area could be a bit more roomy but from some other comments on here it seems like gators like to lay on and around one another, so Its not a super pressing issue, but i do think it would be nice for the gators there to have an extra rock or two, and mabey some reeds/ vegetation just to give the gators a nicer area, overall this place seems more ethical than seaworld and other wildlife theme parks, and i dont think the boardwalk is a huge problem as long as the gators can get to other parts of the park (like the marsh) easily.
I think having the gators jump to get some food is okay considering that it probably provides good mental and physical stimulation for the gators, and they dont seem forced to do it, it seems very voluntary for the gators wich is good.
I think the main problem would be gator wrestling and forcing the gator out of the water wich can definitely stress it out, also the boomer humor wich while im not personally offended by it is outdated and dumb, like “ah yes wife bad haha” just aint a funny punchline anymore lol. Granted Im not gonna assume malicious intent, and its nothing to boycott the park over, just something that should be replaced eventually.
aw i miss cypress gardens :(
I would love to see a video on wild waves in Washington state
I've never heard of it, but I'll check it out.
@@PoseidonEntertainment it’s a half water park half theme park in Washington near seattle one of the highlights is it’s wooden coaster thought it would be interesting to hear about a park of this weird size where it’s big but not huge thanks so much for the reply I love your videos
@@PoseidonEntertainment honestly, I don't think you'd find Wild Waves really fits your genre. Your videos generally focus on themed experiences and Wild Waves is a sad uninteresting amusement park with a decent water park and unimpressive dry park. I'm originally from the PNW so I know and I'm not just trying to be mean. The Seattle-Tacoma area deserves a better park. That said, if you are interested in the few parks in the North West, I think you'd find Silverwood in Idaho as well as Enchanted Forest in Oregon to be worthy of discussion. Silverwood is similar to the two big Herschend parks and it has an interesting history. Enchanted Forest is like a tiny low budget version of Efteling.
Wasn't GatorLand the place in the documentary gore film FACES OF DEATH where the sky diver parachuted right into the middle of the main gator pit?
Woooord a new Poseidon vid
So it is
We went to Florida when I was 11.
The only thing I remember about Gatorland, is that my dad made us drive all day looking for the park... We eventually just gave up and went to the NASA place.
Well sounds like you were in the wrong part of the state 😂
Wow, it really does feel like ur passionate about theme parks when u put the spotlight on a smaller, humbler theme park like this one
I'm interested in pretty much all themed entertainment as long as its executed well. I've done my videos on Efteling and Phantasialand and a few other small detours from Disney and Universal. It's important to me to add a lot of variety between videos, so I enjoy covering other parks and attractions now and then.
@@PoseidonEntertainment u know I recently went to a Hard Rock Cafe for the first time and was ultra impressed. The theming was really neat, especially since i love rock and roll. But what impressed me the most was the food. I kid u not it was one of the best meals i ever had. I had the Surf and Turf burger with some bacon cheese fries and it was fantastic. It makes me wish theme parks had food that good. It was theme park prices too, but very much worth the money. So yeah I myself am beginning to get very interested in themed entertainment outside of theme parks. Large part thanks to you.
i went there as a kid and it definitely icked me, especially the chicken one. it just seems mean to make the fat little fuckers jump. they're adorable little guys, just let them munch
I think for some fun reason to keep the Gator and Crocodile theme, there should be a video on Iron Gwazi, I don’t know, just had it in my mind
Perhaps, but I haven't had the chance to ride it yet. I'm thinking of doing a larger SeaWorld and Busch Gardens video though, so I'll probably incorporate it in there.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Alright, that sounds great
@@PoseidonEntertainment maybe the video could be called the Reimagined Parks of Seaworld and Bush Gardens
I went there in 1992
I went to gator land in oct 2021 and had a great time. I thought the boomer humor was hilarious and I also thought the show you missed was great. Maybe I just have poor morals idk lol
When handling exotic animals, it always brings up concerns of treatment. The gators may not be harmed, but it's still off-putting.
I've been here twice with my family. We have multiple children from 18-30. We HAVE done the zipline and the swamp ride and enjoyed them immensely. Pulling the gator out of the water is no more stressful than pulling a boa constrictor out of its tree or an aquarium. This hand wringing over the way the animals are treated here is more of the same woke horse hockey we are bombarded with daily by the intellectually bereft. This is a statement coming from a whole food plant based diet eating family. Go to this park see for yourself. The animals are very relaxed and content. The confinement areas are well designed and kept and whatever you do feed the Budgies. They are a blast. Support something pro family and pro military instead of an over priced theme park.
Do you plan on doing a video about disney losing their governance status in florida?
I'm not really sure if I should. Midway to Mainstreet has so thoroughly covered so many different aspects about the relationship between Disney and Reedy Creek, that there's nothing I could really add in that regard. Also, the whole thing is clearly theater and I doubt Disney will lose its self governance. I'll be interested to see how events play out, but nothing will really come of it.