Gatorama Inc. — Attraction in Lehigh Acres

On our last free day in Ft. Myers, we were having trouble figuring out what to do because we had already done basically everything we wanted on our list EXCEPT something directly crocodile or alligator related. We had only seen a few tiny wild alligators on our whole trip, and those were all at the same place, so that was disappointing. We had gone to almost everywhere we could think of nearby to see alligators or crocodiles in the wild with mostly no luck. It was time to go directly to the source!

I scoured the internet and multiple SW Florida visitor guides and magazines looking for places with alligators. I didn't want any airboat places because we were boated out from 3 other boat tours. After much comparison and research, I'm so glad we went with Gatorama. It was the best deal of all the other places for animal encounters. You pay for each type of encounter in addition to admission, which might seem pricey to some, but it's worth it to me to get a chance to do them. Even if you don't participate in the encounters, you can watch whoever does. They try to gather everyone in the park whenever each encounter or show session is about to start, so it's a very inclusive and interactive atmosphere. I only wish we had gotten there earlier, since we started and got there later in the afternoon. Make sure to get there as early as possible to spend as much time there as you can because there are different sessions throughout the day with different animals.

I chose to sit on an alligator, which was done very safely with 2-3 staff members making sure each step was done properly. Their instructions were very clear. My husband did the uncle waders encounter with the baby gators, which seemed to have the most time spent with the animals. Lots of good photo ops. The gators' mouths are all taped closed for these 2 encounters. Too bad nobody did the face to face challenge with the giant alligator!

Towards the end of the day, I was waiting for the last keeper program based on the schedule in the shop, but nobody showed up, and all the staff looked like they were working on closing the place down. I got a peek at one of their clipboards, and the time listed was different and already passed. We asked the girl in the shop about it, and she gladly arranged for someone to meet us, which was a relief that they were willing to accommodate us towards closing time.

The only concerns I had are that the place is pretty far out in the middle of nowhere and requires taking long one lane roads along with lots of slow trucks that may or may not let you pass. Also, I thought admission came with a petting zoo experience, but I never saw it starting. Maybe I came too late for it? Otherwise, this place is a must if you're in the area, want to see alligators and crocodiles in containment, and also want to...

Great experience. To

If you're into nature and various exotic edibles, this is the place for you. Well I wish their prices were a little bit lower, it's a great experience and exceeded expectations.

Don't be fooled by the way the place is presented on the outside in the respect of it being fairly low key, this place is a legitimate ultra mini zoo.

We spent about 3 hours here which is a little bit longer than most people do but that's because I'm extremely fascinated with alligators and crocodiles and the way they present the gives you plenty of opportunity to experience them and do so both in a contained atmosphere but also one that feels like it's much more natural than many many other places I've been to.

There are two shows everyday at least during the winter season. What are them is for the Gators and one of them is for the crocodiles. The shows are the exact same for each so it doesn't matter what time you go. So go and visit during a show where the time begins best for you.

You have an opportunity to also feed the Gators which is for a fairly hefty cost but if you're really into that in terms of being right up close then it's worth the money because how many times you really get to do that. Also this place allows you to do this in a setting that feels a lot more natural than if you were in a place like Orlando.

If you're coming down to Florida to see Gators definitely come here and spend the $25 admission fee to get in. You can spend all day here if you'd like. I found that as somebody who wants to read every single placard to both educated entertain myself and see every single exhibit You're going to need 3 hours or so to do that.

The actual show is fairly short in that it's only about 15 minutes long but at least they don't jump on the top of the alligator and pull its head up like I've seen in many other shows. This kind of thing only makes the alligator look extremely uncomfortable and my guess is if you give the alligator choice to have somebody up on top of it and have its face pulled up in an unnatural way, The Gator would want no part of it. I'm glad I didn't see them do this here.

There's a fairly well produced fox business 30 minute show on this place that you can find on YouTube. It's called something like 'Strange...

6 months ago i would of gave a 5 star, today I dont even approve of a one star for this place. We went on a fieldtrip with my daughters school at the end of the school year and loved this place. She had the most amazing time!, So 6 months later it was her and her brothers birthday (birthday twins) and where did she want to go? Gatorama, I of course said yes, packed a cooler, and lunches, as it is a side road attraction, and we brought our food and drink LAST time, it wasnt a rule. As we bought our tickets, we spent 200 dollars on their extremly confusing website, and i said for that price i must of paid for the gators to be hatched correct? NOPE i double paid and when i asked the woman who was checking us in, she said nope that price is right and we didnt pay for the gator to be hatched and as she RUSHED us out the door, me and my husband were just beyond ourselves checking our the recipt to see what the hell we paid for, she came RUNING OUT THE DOOR and in a extremly rude tone - " WHOSE COOLER IS THAT? YOU CANT EAT OR DRINK HERE FROM THE OUTSIDE!!" so then my husband took the cooler out, and we finally got her to actually listen to us about overpaying, because honeslty 200 for a sideroad attraction doesnt sound right, but she couldnt or wouldnt help us, said we had to talk to management, and of course they werent there on a saturday, an extremly busy day for them but nope no management to be found. Here we are 5 days later with no refund and no one calling us back. Oh and the reason we couldnt bring ANY FOOD OR DRINK THAT DAY was because they had outside vendors, i could feed my 5 and 8 year old for 15 bucks a kid, and or adult, a hotdog meal from a cooler and a lemonade for 6-8 dollars from a cooler as well!! I dont see the reason for dictating what we eat and drink. I also saw FIVE people with coolers that day that they snuck into the park, but this woman was after us for having questions or concerns. The staff that handled the animals were very nice, hell its what made her want to come back, the man with blonde hair is very charasmatic and can tell CARES about the animals and the KIDS that come thru. We made the best of it, as my kids and I always do. We drove over an hour to revisit this place and sadly it will...