Going Out to Congo River Mini Golf

**Parking your Transportation**

Congo River Mini Golf is its own little piece of property on
Colonial not too far east of Alafaya. It’s very hard to miss the sign while
driving, however, there is only one entrance and it is much easier to reach
when heading west on Colonial rather than east. The parking lot is behind the
mini golf course and is very small. Despite this, it is typically never full
and parking a motor vehicle there shouldn’t be an issue. If it is full (Friday
nights at 9pm especially), the parking lot next door at the Chili’s is much
bigger and also typically has spots open. As for bikers, there are no bike
racks in the Congo River parking lot, but there are a few in the plaza next
door where the Chili’s is as well. These bike racks are in the inner section of
the plaza behind both Chili’s and Congo River spread throughout the plaza.

**Paying for Your First Round**

Once you’ve parked, you can enter the Congo River grounds
and pay for your game(s). The payment area is to the immediate left of the
entrance from Colonial and is on a wooden walkway above a bunch of closed-off
water where there are baby crocodiles and turtles that you can feed if you put
coins into a vending machine for food. You can pay for one mini golf game or
multiple rounds through if you feel like it and you can also get your hands on
a score card and a pencil/pen for free to use while playing. Adult tickets cost
$13.49, children 9 and under cost $11.99, and children 4 and under can go in
for free. Once you’ve paid, you get to pick out a gold club and golf ball of
your choice. Each ball and club is part of a set of multiple different colors
and you don’t need to match colors if you don’t want to. The colors available
for both are black, pink, red, light blue, dark blue, green, yellow, orange,
and purple. You pick these up to the left of where you pay for your night just
before heading in for your game.

**Figuring Out the Course**

Each course is slightly different and increases in
difficulty and complexity as you go through. There are various obstacles in
your way on each course that become somewhat more intrusive each time you move
forward through the 18 holes. These obstacles start out as simple rocks in the
ground and eventually escalate into vertically-curved courses, forks in the
road, and holes that lead to an extended course further down your path. It may
seem confusing at first, but the path you follow with each successive course is
fairly linear so long as you follow the direction the course ends. This will
take you up and down sets of stairs, into a fake tunnel, and across a bridge
over water. As you’re going through, you will most likely run into someone else
playing as well, whether they are in front of you or behind you. If they are in
front, it’s best to play a bit slowly (especially if they have a larger number
of people playing than you do) so you don’t keep catching up to them and having
to wait for them to finish their course. You can also go on ahead of them if
you want, but then you miss out on a course or two doing so. If they are behind
you, it’s best to see if they want to go ahead of you so they don’t end up
waiting behind you and (in some rare cases) getting frustrated with you/your
group. Once you reach the end of the course, you send your golf ball down one
final hole that returns it to the main payment building which is now right in
front of you since you’ve completed the circle around the entire course of 18
holes.

**Misc.**

If you only paid for one round and want to go again, the
employees from the booth you originally paid at will be in sight and able to
charge you for more rounds if you wish. At which point, you go around again and
can get a fresh score card as well. If you’re done for the night, you return
your golf clubs to the employees at the station and can give them your score
card to display or to print out for you. If you don’t want to do that and if
you don’t want the card anymore, there is a trash can right there for you to
throw it out. There is also a vending machine right there if you are thirsty
after a full round of mini golf. If you’re done for the night, you can head out
from where you came in and find your transportation wherever you left
it/wherever it is picking you up.