Alaska Amazon Australia Brit. Manatees and citrus groves aside, there are few things more typically Florida than Gatorland, a 100-acre gator park celebrating its golden anniversary this year. The American alligator, after all, is the official state reptile. The area was cattle land when Owen Godwin Sr. opened the park in 1949. Now it is surrounded by subdivisions, fast-food restaurants and the corporate headquarters for Tupperware.
People come to Florida for a variety of reasons.
The park's 50th anniversary is also a testament to its resiliency in the face of competition from nearby Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Escape and Sea World. Gatorland is one of only three gator tourist parks left in Florida, according to Donna Ross, executive vice president of the Florida Attractions Association. To help ensure its survival, Gatorland recently joined 30 other smaller Central Florida attractions to pool advertising money, create joint discount programs and provide maps showing themselves off. If you go . . . The park is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the winter and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the rest of the year.