Gator Country — Attraction in Winnie

My friend and I went and it was very disappointing. Based on our research, we thought there would be alligator interaction or wrestling. There was miscommunication with the gift shop person and the interns about where the show was at. One of the male interns made it sound unclear if a show was going to happen at the scheduled 4 o'clock time. The female intern joked with us about jumping in and volunteering to wrestle, and that they used to have competitions a long time ago. The show was actually these two interns talking and them barely feeding the alligators using a pole. We went back to the gift shop/ front of house lady to ask questions and let her know about our concerns/ or disappointment. She told us things were AI generated when I showed her our research, and that a long time ago she had brought her son to something at Gator Country where they could wrestle. The gift shop lady said they don't normally offer refunds and called for Eddie again. (We never asked for refunds. ) She called for Eddie and kept acting like she didn't want to even interact with us about our concerns. When Eddie got there, he acted like he was out of breath and very concerned that someone was hurt. When we tried to let him know the misleading info on the website, he launched into a long winded convo about how his alligators are ectothermic and we came during a cold day. "He can't make his alligators do things." We tried again to let him know about the website and Google maps, and he said, 'It does say it's weather permitting, and most people understand about the animals. " He asked if we were able to hold an alligator, and we said no, that wasn't explained to us. The gift shop lady kept interrupting to let us know she explained everything because that's her spiel, what she always says. He tried to placate and "smooth things over, to make things right" (his words) and gave us a free admission for a party of 4, and that hopefully we would come back when it was warmer (as the pass expires at the end of next year).

We were there for maybe 30-40 minutes. We didn't raise our voice, we didn't ask for a refund, we didn't ask to speak to a manager. We wanted to let them know our disappointment and that there was a lot of miscommunication and misinformation. I unfortunately would not be back or recommend based on the weird interaction with employees. Please don't waste your...

Alligator rescue facility that houses gators that were rejected, illegally domesticated, injured, and/or messed with in the wild. You can learn a lot from the staff and volunteers, and teenagers have the opportunity to volunteer and learn more about wildlife rescue. The indoor rescue portion houses reptiles, amphibians, and even a chinchilla. Animals are retired from handling after a while, which is respectable. The alligators seem to have a lot of chances to eat each day, and my only recommendation would be to reduce the amount of feed given out with tickets to slow their consumption down. However, the pellets are small and only a portion of their diet and they take a long time to successfully grab one so it may not be as much as I think. I’m always wary of how much food animals get but I’m also very thankful there are places giving them a place to live and educating the public on how to treat wildlife. There can be a mixed message often when you can feed wild animals at the parks but if you encounter them on your open it isn’t ok, but here there was a lot of signage and verbal messaging reminding people of the cost of feeding wildlife in the wild.

There’s also food on site, including gator nuggets. We didn’t order any, but there were ample options.

There are also a lot of tortoises and a feeding opp with them.

Unlike several other places I’ve visited, animals here seem to limit themselves and move on if they aren’t hungry which I think is cool.

The gift shop is modest with really nice options.

Bathrooms are throughout and...

Being a visitor from out of town, this place was one of the best attractions we went to during our three month stay in the area. It was perfect for all ages, with plenty of excitement for both young and old alike. We went towards closing, which is perfect. Id recommend going arround feeding time. This allows you to actually see the ridiculously sized gators they have there in action. The interns (staff) were excellent! They made the show fun, entertaining, and actually hilarious! They even took our phones up close and got pictures litterally feet away from the 13+ foot long gator! They treated my girlfriend and I with respect and answered all of our questions. Great animal exhibits. Id recommend bringing a hat/sunscreen and a water bottle. Also, they'll ask when you purchase your wristbands if you'd like to tip the interns. Usually asking for tips prior to service being performed bothers me so I didnt leave one. I really regretted that. They went out of their way to make sure each guest there had a unique and fun experience. Definitely deserved a large tip. Over all, you'd be remiss not to...