Gator Beach FAQ

Absolutely nothing. Gator Beach is a free alligator park and therefore we don’t charge any admission. The only things we charge for are gator food, gator photos, and merchandise. (That’s one reason we’re the World’s Greatest alligator Park)

Gator Beach typically opens when Fudpucker’s Opens it’s door for business at 11AM. Gator Beach will typically close around the same time as the restaurant. Call 850-654-4200 for current Gator Beach times.

The cost to have your picture taken holding a gator is $15

The cost to feed the gators is $5 for a bag of Gator Food.

No, Service Animals are not allowed in Gator Beach.

As for Fudpucker’s policy on Service Animals, we drafted it to comply with all elements of the ADA customers and their service animals have full access to the entire building and grounds of Fudpucker’s, with the exception of the live alligator exhibit.  The ADA addresses certain exemptions for service animal access as follows (see Question #26 in the attached “Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA” published by the U.S. Dept of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section):

Q26.       When might a service dog’s presence fundamentally alter the nature of a service or program provided to the public?

A.            In most settings, the presence of a service animal will not result in a fundamental alteration.  However, there are some exceptions.  For example, at a boarding school, service animals could be restricted from a specific area of a dormitory reserved specifically for students with allergies to dog dander.  At a zoo, service animals can be restricted from areas where the animals on display are the natural prey or natural predators of dogs, where the presence of a dog would be disruptive, causing the displayed animals to behave aggressively or become agitated.  They cannot be restricted from other areas of the zoo. 

Our company policy on Service Animals is three pages long, but it has a specific section relating to Gator Beach, as follows:

Restricted Areas: Alligator Exhibits

Fudpucker’s is responsible for the health and well-being of its guests and its staff, as well as a number of live alligators residing in an open area located on premise that is licensed as a live alligator exhibit (“Gator Beach”).  Due to the fact that alligators are natural predators of dogs, an alligator at Fudpucker’s may react to a Service Animal in a manner that could cause harm to itself, or to customers or staff in close proximity to it.  Furthermore, since dogs are a natural prey of alligators and are typically not trained to interact with them, there is a risk that a dog may react to being in close proximity to alligators in such a way as to cause harm to itself, its handler, surrounding customers, and/or Fudpucker’s staff.  Accordingly, due to the potential danger to Fudpucker guests and its staff, as well as to its alligators, Service Animals are restricted from entering Gator Beach. 

As a matter of law, Service Animals can be restricted from animal exhibits where the animals on display are the natural prey or natural predators of the species of Service Animal and where the presence of the Service Animal would be disruptive, causing the displayed animals to become agitated and/or to behave aggressively. 

When you arrive at Gator Beach today, you may not have seen any of our team members handling an alligator, but they have many duties and at any point in time one of them may be doing something with an alligator immediately out of view of our customers.  Whether it be pulling an alligator from the pond, taping an alligator’s snout so it can be held by customers for a photo shoot, handing a taped alligator to a child in the photo booth, or dozens of other things, we have to be prepared for the unintended consequences of anything that may occur throughout the day.  Having a prey animal within any proximity of these alligators can trigger a reaction that could be very dangerous.  Accordingly, we have to err on the side of caution.  I hope that you can understand our reasoning and can respect that we must look after the well-being of all those who work and visit Gator Beach.

All of our alligators are purchased from alligator farms. They are raised in farms for their leather and meat but instead we choose to keep our alligators for educational purposes.

Most of our alligators in the main pond are between 2 and 6 feet long. We also have smaller baby alligators and yearlings.

Gator Beach is used to accommodating large groups of people visiting our park. If you have a particularly large group (20+ people) calling ahead is greatly appreciated so that we have time to prepare and give you the best experience we can.

For school groups, field trips, and large private events, we ask that you schedule a few days ahead of time by sending us an email at https://gatorbeach.com/contact-us/, or calling 850-654-4200 to coordinate the event.

You can find information on the Gator Experience VIP Tour at this following link: https://gatorbeach.com/vip-experience/