Silver Springs State Park — Attraction in Ocala

This is a very beautiful park; but do not try to plan your events here. There was no consistent communication between us and the staff, which caused tons of confusion regarding how staff would handle signage, seating, parking, and other core aspects of running our wedding.

The staff here needs a lot of work. We just got married here but we had to go through at least 3 different wedding planners. They tried to lie to us saying there was no paper trail for our original date dispite the fact we still had the original contract, which caused us to lose our original wedding date and making us change it.

They would not accomidate for my grandparents who are both disabled and had to walk a very far distance to the wedding area, dispite the fact that they own over 15 golf carts for their staff to run around the park in.

They tried to tell us that we were not allowed to have outside catering, even though they had a resturaunt that wasn't even open yet; that was planned to open just a little under a week before our weddding date. After our discussion with the park manager, which no longer works there, and the regional general manager, they allowed us to outside cater.

On our wedding day, we've gotten reports that our guests were lost and the staff would not show them to where the seating area was for the ceremony. There were no signs put up telling our guests where to go, dispite the fact they told us that signage would be available to avoid these issues. We were also forced to pay for the staff to serve food and water, dispite the manager saying they would take care of it.

Finally, at the reception area, it was hotter than the surface of Mars. Granted, it was a hot and humid day, but the only things that were helping us get cooled off were the East and West wings of the "mansion" that were very cold on the inside, and also it was thankfully a breezy day that day. Outside stood only a single tiny little box fan to cool off our ~80 guests that were there that day. Most people were dancing only for the first 30 minutes or so, but afterwards everybody either just sat down for the rest of the event or stayed within the east and west rooms due to the heat. This caused a lot of awkward moments were the DJ was doing his best to get everybody on the dance floor again, but nobody budged due to the weather.

I could go on and on about all of the little things that were happening in the background that were causing issues, but at that point I might as well start writing a book.

In conclusion, don't have your wedding or any event here. This is a nice park for a day walk or maybe a boat tour, but not for anything else. The staff will more than likely not give you what you want, and even if they do, they'll more than likely lie to you about previous negotiations and make you pay for it.

Silver Springs State Park. Great for a day, but not for OUR day. Please pick anywhere but here to get married or run...

MOST AMAZING PADDLING IN FLORIDA!!! ...according to this Floridian ♡

... but everything before we finally got on the water was a train wreck! I feel bad for the employees who are kind and trying to navigate a ridiculously complex process!!! They don't DESERVE to be put in this stressful situation just because lawyers have taken over the process! I feel bad for customers who are burning up in the heat with frustration by the time we get onto water that we are not allowed to cool off in!

Word to the wise: Don't treat this like a paddling adventure where you get all your equipment and provisions staged with your personal belongings, ID, etc. locked up in your automobile and approached the line READY TO PADDLE. 😀

They will send your butt back to your car to get your ID, your money, whatever, and once you have gathered all of this stuff then you're going to have to make another trip back to your car to lock up everything again.

So I plan to take everyone to this beautiful location!!! I intend to come back year after year, but I do not intend to be pissed off and hot with frustration by the time I get on the water.

In order for the experience to run smoothly, the link to the waivers needs to work - it didn't work yesterday! If we spend 15 minutes of our personal time in our air-conditioned car or home reading the numerous attestation and agreements in the waiver, I, for one, would be less angry. I would be irritable bc the waiver is too complicated. Do they expect people to read paragraphs of fine print??!!!! I expected to be given a house by the time I answered a mortgage worth of questions!!!

Lastly, we paid $45 total for 3 of us to be picked up and taken back to our cars. Apparently, there was a staffing problem, and only one van was running while several of us waited almost an hour in the heat, tired from paddling for 4 hours. Put your patient hats on! The guys that WERE working yesterday didn't deserve impatience. It was not THEIR fault!

As I started this review, I highly recommend this paddle!!!! Do your very best to get everyone in your party to SOMEHOW sign the waivers ahead of time to avoid the crowd, heat, and complications Check in, pay, etc. before unloading your vehicle Go back to your vehicle and secure your belongings New restrooms are there for your convenience (we missed them and unfortunately used port-a-potties) Don't drink much before you go bc you are prohibited from getting out of your vessel to pee At like the 2 mile point, there is a place to get off and use the restroom, but the port-a-potties looked like they had not been cleaned since before the existence of alligators!!!! Yuck!

ENJOY...

Where can you show up in the middle of a Saturday afternoon with no reservations, at a spring no less and still be able to kayak? This place!!! helpful staff and close by parking enables you to either bring your own kayak or canoe from home or rent from park. Grabbed a two person on top for under $80 for the day. The park itself is gorgeous you begin your adventure surrounded by trees on both sides of the river the water so clear you can see the bottom (where the sea grass hasn’t filled in). It’s nice and shady in there so you can take your time paddling and observing various turtles, fish swimming right by your vessel. Shortly you’ll find yourself emerging out in the open portion of the river. You can hang a left back towards the boardwalk, visitors center etc. or let the water itself push you along eastward. Going this direction you rarely need to exert much just steer. Theres plenty of wildlife to observe most of the birds seen used to visitors and barely budge from the various perches. Literally a dozen plus different fish to see as well the water stays perfectly clear all the way to the end. There’s a spot with a small ramp where you can pull off get out and stretch a bit even enjoy the cool water for a bit. Well marked with benches & restrooms. Then you settle back in and ride the currents for a few more miles til you reach the sign for Ray Wayside park. Hang a left hop on out and their shuttle will return you back to the park to finish your day. One last note - yes there are monkeys roaming the grounds. Mostly active during the cooler times so be sure to look up. This was a great way to spend a hot summer day. Lots of natural Florida beauty and a few odds n ends as well....