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Erik & Smisty's Florida Oddventures


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I thought they built a kids water play area a few years back? Did you guys see anything that looked like it?

 

No, no suggestion of anything even remotely like that.

 

Thanks for keeping me from spending $12.95! I owe you two beers at Epcot!

 

Not much of a drinker. But you can buy me 5 Wonderbars in the Canadian Pavillion, if you like.

 

 

I demad they open a dinoshark exhibit when the movie is finally made.

 

Wait, I thought that had aired already. Dave?

 

 

Did your dino's lack bung holes & genitalia? Ours did.

 

Believe me, if these things had had genitalia, every photo would have featured them.

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First off. Obviously another great update. Thanks!

 

An now, kids, it's time for "Touch and Tell!" (Just don't tell your parents!)

This. This made me laugh!

 

This little guy is deadkennedysasaurus, though some people guess that he actually preferred Minor Threat and didn't really mind the suburbs but maybe not.

Then you throw this out! A Dead Kennedys reference. A Suburbs reference. Then... a Minor Threat reference! YESSS!!!

I actually own and run a Straight Edge clothing company called "Out Of Step XXX", and I got the name from Minor Threat.

 

Lovin' these Florida updates. Thanks again!

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Thank you Thank you Thank you for visiting Dinosaur World. EVERY time I'm on my way to BGT, I always comment on visiting Dinosaur World, but just never seem to... My partner works in Jurassic Park (Discovery Center) at IOA and he and his team were planning an, out of the way, team building trip to Dino World... I'll be sure to show him this... Thanks again. Great work... Keep on Oddventuring...

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An now, kids, it's time for "Touch and Tell!" (Just don't tell your parents!)

This. This made me laugh!

 

And...it looks like I misspelled "and." I blame Misty. I'm usually so tired of uploading photos by the end, that I wind up posting the update without thoroughly proofreading the captions. Then she reads it and tells me where I screwed up. Looks like she missed that one. Bad Smisty!

 

Minor Threat is awesome, and very easy to get into because they only had, like, one CD.

 

I've always felt that the only kind of music I really don't care for is middle of the road stuff. If I'm gonna listen to rap, it's going to be Public Enemy instead of MC Hammer.

 

Thanks, as always, for the kind words.

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We like mini golf. A lot. It doesn't have to be new, or even particularly well-kept. In fact, very often, old funky courses are more fun than newer ones. It's kind of like a really bad old movie, where there's joy in the fact that someone somewhere actually thought that what they were doing was a good idea--but were very, very wrong.

 

On the other hand, not all bad movies are fun. Sometimes, bad is just bad.

 

Grand Prix Tampa

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There are quite a few activities at this family fun center, but we're just here for the mini golf.

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Indoor, a standard-issue arcade.

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The party room looks nice. That's good.

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Um...are those McDonald's cups in the claw game? What kind of crappy prize is that??

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Pricing for the various activities. There are two 18-hole mini golf courses, and each one is $7.25 (no discount if you play both).

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The "scorecards" are actually just blank pieces of paper. And the courses themselves do not appear to have any sort of name or names.

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Well, this looks pretty. (Of course, it was a pretty day.)

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The holes don't look very exciting, though.

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The go-cart course doesn't look too exciting, either. Then again, I'm not really that into go-carts, so I might just be sounding like one of those people who think that roller coasters that don't go upsidedown must automatically suck.

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Well, okay, that's kind of cute.

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More boring holes, but at least there's something else to look at.

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On the other hand, you do get a great view of the freeway.

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So, some areas are nice, some are ugly, and all are boring. Got it.

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Monkey!

 

(In the background, hanging from a tree.)

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The 18th hole on the left-side course. Even when there's something cool, you pretty much just putt straight up the middle of it.

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I have no idea what all the metal pipes sticking up all over the place are for. They look like capped off water lines. Maybe they just wanted to add some water fountains later on, but weren't sure where.

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If you don't putt straight up the middle, you find yourself retardedly behind this weird metal block.

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See the lighthouse up ahead? Kind of looks like the last photo, doesn't it? Run down is one thing, but boring and repetitive is hard to forgive.

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Last hole. Putt straight. Or whatever.

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Grand Prix Tampa's nameless mini golf. You can do better.

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^Dinoshark was indeed on two weeks ago. It will be shown again in April.

 

dt

 

I fail so hard. I meant sharktopus is supposedly in production, but I got it confused with dinoshark.

 

^ That miniature golf course looks terrible, however your captions are reallllly funny.

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That miniature golf course looks terrible, however your captions are reallllly funny.

 

Thanks. I was sort of on the fence as to whether to cover it at all, since I had so little good to say about it. But, hey, I paid for it--I should at least use the opportunity to warn others.

 

Something good next, though it may take a few days to get it all sorted.

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Is this mini-golf place off I-275? I'm trying to remember which one this is. If that's the location I believe it used to be a Malibu Grand Prix which was much better.

 

Yes, the freeway in the background is I-275. Interesting to hear that it used to be well-regarded.

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^ And on that note....

 

Gatorland bills itself as "The Alligator Capital of the World and Orlando's Best Half Day Attraction." Admission is normally $22.99 for adults, but they're currently running a $9.99 special for Florida residents. That was all the incentive we needed.

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Yes, Gatorland. Started in 1949 by a man named Owen Godwin, and still privately owned by his descendants.

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A few years back, a fire destroyed the main gift shop and their trademark gator-mouth entrance. Thankfully, they rebuilt it.

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Every sign at Gatorland is full of win.

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Yes, there are alligators (at least two of whom are getting it on).

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...unless you're James Bond.

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I'm not much of a show guy, but you have to make exception for something called "Gator Jumparoo."

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Having said that, the show was just okay. Too much comedy, not enough hand-biting.

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If you're afraid of alligators, don't worry. They have snakes, too!

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This sign only contains three words, yet is redundant. I love it.

 

The only way it could be better is if it just said, "Danger: Danger."

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Danger: Giant Tortoises!

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The smaller turtles gather for early morning prayer.

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'Gator Gully' contains slides for the kids...

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...as well as this cool-looking water play area...

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...and a gift shop, for purchasing dry clothes and such.

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Alright, where are we?

 

Ooh, a train!

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So, apparently, there used to be a train, and then there wasn't, but now there is again.

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It's $2.00 to ride the train, but you can ride as many times as you like for that price.

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We like train rides.

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One of the former names for Gatorland was Snake Village, according to the train driver/spieler. "But they changed it because it turns out that people are afraid of snakes."

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After the train ride, we make our way on foot into the jungle.

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More awesome signage.

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This gator once plucked a plane right out of the sky.

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Observation towers make anything more cool.

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Pretty good view.

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Smisty poses with one of the swamp denizens.

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Lots of birds out here, too.

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Time for lunch at Gatorland's finest eatery, Pearl's Smokehouse.

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SeaWorld doesn't let you eat Shamu, and Disney doesn't serve mouse--but at Gatorland, gator is most definitely on the menu.

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I had the gator sampler. The ribs were okay, but the gator nuggets were somehow both dry and fishy.

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Man, how cool would it be to have someplace where you could just build a pathway and call it an attraction?

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Snake.

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Huh. Good thing it stopped there and didn't mess up the pathway.

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Turtle. (Yeah, I know. I've got nothing. Sorry.)

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This, on the other hand, is a random fake snake. I don't know why.

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How about another show?

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This one involves guests coming down and pretending that they can beat a gator in open combat. (Of course, its jaws are bound. Hardly fair.)

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...disturbing image?

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Gatorland also has a petting zoo. No gators in it, though.

 

And also, today is Thursday.

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Cow.

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Erik's mom makes a new friend in the aviary.

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Much of the front part of Gatorland features covered walkways, which is nice.

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Yes, it's a (mostly) white alligator.

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What's up next, Misty?

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That...doesn't seem right.

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Here, for an extra fee, you can get your photo taken with some critters. Or, if you're cheap, you can just take a photo of some random stranger and post it on TPR.

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The free photo op is more my style.

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"From the gang called Parrots With Attitude!"

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Wanna feed some gators??

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Great! You have fun with that.

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Flamingos. And, um...vultures, I think. (I think there's a dead guy in that canoe back there.)

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This is my favorite sign ever.

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You remember the big Gift Shop Awards show, right? It was on NBC.

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The newly rebuilt and greatly expanded gift shop.

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I was kind of hoping for a "I didn't survive Gatorland" shirt, myself.

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Gatorland. It's practically the reason this thread exists.

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OH... I got a little excited when I first read the title of this section. :0) BUT... I wasn't disappointed. I remember old photos of my family (before I was born) visiting Gay TR land... well back in the day it was just Gatorland. I guess now the alligators have come out of the closet, which is cool.

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^ HAHA! I was fooled by the Gay TR too - very clever wording, Erik!

 

I soooo wanted to go to Gatorland and Silver Springs when we were in Florida, but we just didn't have enough time. Thanks for the awesome report!

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The FL resident deal almost makes it worth driving down to Orlando, next week. Still don't think I want to deal with Easter break insanity, though.

 

Well, it's good through May 2nd. So maybe you can still work something out.

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