I was checking online one day and found discounted tickets for Silver Springs - buy 1 adult get 1 adult free - so it peaked my interest. Upon googling Silver Springs and checking it out I was super excited to go. They have glass bottom boats. I have heard of those and had always wanted to ride on one, but have never had the opportunity. So the next Saturday I packed up Duane, the kids and one of Jasmine's friends and we were off. The boat rides were very educational and informative and the entire park was just beautiful to look at. We rode on three different rides that feature the glass bottom boats and each one is a little different. One of them took us to an Owl preserve where we got to hear about some of the wildlife that is saved and rehabilitated in Silver Springs. The one thing that I thought was the most interesting was that the spring pumps out over 550 million gallons of water a day - they said it was enough to give everyone in the world two glasses of water each day. They also have a safari adventure that takes you through some of the Ocala National Forest.
In addition to the boat rides they had an animal area. We were able to feed giraffes, miniture horses, gators, and other barn yard animals. They have a cougar, flamingos, a Florida Panther, a Kodiak bear that weighs over 2500 lbs!! and a 5,000 lb tortoise that was the size of a dog house.
While walking to the giraffe area they have off to the right a "Good Luck Palm". The saying is if you are photographed while standing in the palm, you will have 5 years good luck. The kids asked for like a hundred pictures, but not sure that I believe that it works.
I think one of the items that Cody enjoyed the most was all of the shows. In various areas of the park they would have 20-30 minutes shows teaching you about different animals. We learned about gators (he got to go up and pet one) and snakes, we got to see them feed them.
In all Silver Springs was a very enjoyable day that didn't by any means break the bank. They also have a water park too so you can enjoy nature and the animals and then go over and cool yourselves off on a hot day. They have season passes for both parks and all the concerts for under $50 per person.
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