Orlando: Wild Florida Airboat Tour with Gator Park Tickets

My sister and I dropped by in April 2022. That trip was a solid 10/10. We went for just about every upgrade possible. We checked out peacocks, the cockatoo chatted, did the sloth experience, held Fluffy, saw gators lounging by the banks of the gator park, cruised through the safari, fed the giraffe, painted with it, and wrapped up the day with an airboat ride. We saw tons of gators, cruised through marshes and an area with cows, and spotted loads of birds. Our last trip set the bar high for this one. We didn’t see any peacocks this time. We did see a lot of gators in the enclosed area, but it seemed like the water was higher than before, so more were submerged, with only a few on the banks. Some animals were out, but many were in the partially enclosed boxes and hard to see. Half my family missed the sloth. I managed to walk around the enclosure and see it through the glass. I did enjoy some of the updates to the park. I didn’t remember seeing the outback area last time. The airboat ride was a letdown this time. So much so that I pulled up pics and videos from our previous visit. I thought we must have done more last time since we did a longer tour, but looking at the time stamps, nope. We packed so much into 30 minutes last time and so little this time because it wasn’t really a 30-minute boat ride. More like 30 minutes door to door. We were supposed to check in early, which we did, then report to the pavilion 15 minutes before boarding. They started calling groups at 2 PM. We were the second group called. It took about 5 minutes to walk to the dock and board the airboat. We had a quick safety briefing and left the dock around 2:07 PM. We skimmed along the edge of the area with froth and saw a gator within 2 minutes of leaving the dock, which was the only gator we saw. We went through marshes, but for most of the ride, we were along the edge of the marsh. If you think of the dock as being at 6 on a clock, we did a semi-circle up to 3 and 12 and back, stopping around 3 for our airboat driver to talk about some birds for a minute before heading back to the dock where we were offloading by 2:30 PM. I can confirm that because I have video of someone leaving on a personal airboat at 2:33 PM, and we were almost back to the pavilion at that point. It should be advertised as a 20-22 minute ride, not 30 minutes. If this had been my first experience, I probably wouldn’t have come back. Which is a bummer. We brought family with us who just moved to the area two weeks ago. It could have been a spot to bring visiting friends and family, but they were underwhelmed too.

I used to live in Florida. Sadly had to move out of state (for work), but whenever I go back for vacation, I ALWAYS visit Wild Florida. I always take the 30-minute airboat tour and then spend at least a couple of hours at the animal park. I always feed the birds and gators, because, why not, right? I want the full experience! The animal shows/presentations are always super informative. The staff is always wonderful, patient, and accommodating. Did you know that if you want to buy stuff in the gift shop, they'll pack and ship? Well, you know now! My dad who lives in CA wanted an alligator head and they packed and shipped it to him (for a fee, of course). Their gift shop has grown over the years, and they have tons to offer! The food there is good too. Snack items (ice cream and such) are a bit pricey though. The airboat rides are always a hit and the drivers are very informative. I LOVE Wild Florida and I can't wait for many more visits when I move back to the Orlando area.

Our airboat guide was very informative. We spotted a mother alligator guarding her nest. We saw another 2-3 year old alligator looking for a sunny spot. We noticed many birds including a blue heron. My daughter is terrified of bugs, so she wasn’t thrilled with the amount of bugs around. It’s hot and humid, so expect bugs. Make sure to wear sunglasses and use sunscreen. After the tour, we went into the park and were excited to see lemurs, capybaras, and sloths. We even saw an armadillo bumping into a sloth, which made the sloth climb the cage. The exotic animal show was cool and we got to touch some of the animals featured. We were glad we stayed for the gator show and feeding show because they shared important info about alligators and crocodiles. We only planned to take the airboat tour and do a quick walk through the park, but ended up spending over 3 hours here. My kids loved going through the aviary and feeding the birds. My husband enjoyed feeding the alligators.

I usually shy away from zoos due to my doubts about animal care, but I was really surprised to give this place a shot after a recommendation. They wouldn’t let the animals perform unless they wanted to engage, and the info they shared with guests about gators to help protect them in the wild and appreciate creepy creatures like snakes was a nice touch. The staff seemed to genuinely care for the animals, and the animals looked content (most were rescues with real reasons for being there rather than just for tourism, which felt authentic). The food and drinks were great, especially the smoothies & shakes in those cute collectible cups! Such a lovely detail. The airboat ride was also nice, giving the gators enough space to swim away if they wanted. Fantastic job, Wild Florida! As long as you keep caring for your animals first and foremost, this will be the ONLY animal park in Florida I’d recommend to my clients and will keep visiting myself in the future.

We did the Ultimate Adventure experience that included 4 animal encounters (sloth, capybara, lemur, and porcupine), airboat ride, and safari drive in addition to the park entry. Lunch and a milkshake were also included. What an awesome day out for our family (including two teenage boys - 14 & 16). The animal encounters were a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us coming from Australia and the price compared to what we pay for animal encounters back home was very reasonable. The airboat tour was also fantastic (although it was the scariest part of the day for me - I think coming from Australia where our crocodiles want to eat everyone was always in the back of my mind). It was such a great day that provided a welcome break from the hectic pace of the theme parks. Would definitely recommend to everyone visiting Orlando.