Wild Florida – A Great Theme Park Break for Your Kissimmee Vacation
By: Ashley
After a few days of being surrounded by people and shuffling through lines, you might be ready for a break from the theme parks in Orlando. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE theme parks and thrill rides. I’m also a huge fan of seeing the wild side of things which is exactly what Wild Florida is all about.
Wild Florida is an wildlife park where you can experience amazing air boat rides through the head waters of the Everglades. Wild Florida was actually my first air boat ride, and I absolutely LOVED it! An air boat gives you the chance to put yourself out in the middle of the Florida swamp land. There is no better way to see the wild side of Florida than from the seat of a boat in the middle of the swamp! What does it look like when you’re riding on an air boat? I was able to grab a little video so I could share it with you! (It’s definitely a little loud, so you might want to adjust your volume.) Keep in mind, it’s some buzzing around in the boat and then stops along the way when your guide spots some cool wildlife!
In addition to AMAZING air boat tours through gorgeous Florida wildlife, Wild Florida has a great wildlife park: home for exotic animals, birds, and tortoises. I was extremely impressed with the clean and friendly feel of the wildlife park. All of the animals seemed loved and well cared for. I even saw an animal that was new to me! Have you ever heard of a Zonkey? You also have to make sure you check out some of the young alligators that you can even hold!
Once you have seen the animals, you can take a walk through the “Hawk Swamp.” This platform walk through the wetlands lets you have an up close look at life in the Everglades. I actually learned about “cypress knees.” Cypress knees are the unusual root system growth that occurs with Cypress trees growing in the swamps. Some think this is a way for the tree roots to gain extra oxygen since they are usually submerged in water. Others think this is more of a structure for support and stabilization. Either way, it just goes to show that there is so much for anyone to learn from our friends at Wild Florida.
As if the day at Wild Florida wasn’t exciting enough, they were able to cap off the day with a delicious meal. Sometimes you worry that at parks the food won’t really seem very fresh. With great meat options, my rib lunch was delicious!
If you’re going to be in the Orlando area, I strongly encourage you to check out Wild Florida. It is a place I would love to go back to with my family.
Experience Kissimmee brought me to Florida to experience Kissimmee in person. All opinions are my own, and no compensation was received.
About Ashley – Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and former teacher working to navigate through the mysterious world of Mommyia. Read more about her adventures at Momicles and follow her@Momicles2010.
Thanks for telling me about this Florida adventure. It gives me a good idea of what to do besides the other well known theme parks. I like the animals and the airboat ride sounds fun.
When I lived in Orlando I use to take the older children to this we had so much fun there!