Wild Florida plans drive-through safari with giraffes, boar, other exotic animals
A gator and airboat park in south Osceola County will expand by more than six times its size to add a drive-through safari that will bring visitors nose-tosnout with giraffes, wild boars and other exotic creatures.
The $2.5 million expansion at Wild Florida in Kenansville should help grow nature-based attractions in Central Florida, which already includes dozens of parks and attractions.
That growth has been fueled, in part, by a young generation of experience seekers, said Sergio Alvarez, a UCF assistant professor of tourism.
“Millennials are shaking things up,” he said. “They are changing the types of products that are desirable.”
Specific numbers on naturebased tourism in Central Florida are scarce, but tourism leaders say its popularity of springs, lakes and other attractions has grown.
Younger people “are looking for a legitimate experience with nature,” Alvarez said. “Young people, when they have their dating profile and social media apps, everybody has a travel picture of beautiful, scenic and natural locations.”
For Wild Florida, which will add 75 acres to its 13-acre park for the new feature, it’s an opportunity to offer something different and rare in Central Florida: a place to see animals from your own car.
Wild Florida cofounder Sam Haught says the land acquisition has been in the works for some time.
When it opens next summer, It will also ease some parking issues, meaning some visitors will not have to walk as much as a mile to get to the park on busy days. Haught said the ownership group has not yet determined how much it would cost, other than to say his goal is to keep it affordable.
The park has seen increased attendance every year since it opened in 2010 and expects to surpass 150,000 visitors this year for the first time.
“It’s not a situation where we are saying, ‘Let’s acquire the property and hope people will come,’” he said. “They are already coming.”
Visitors will be able to drive their own car down a two-mile trail or use a buggy provided by the park, with animals separated from each other by fencing.
The safari area will include a zipline over a grazing area, according to an illustration of the park shared by Wild Florida.
It will be stocked primarily with animals Wild Florida can find through industry channels, whether by reaching out to facilities that have closed or exotic animal sales.
Along with giraffes and wild boars, the new area will include white-tailed deer, zebras and watusi. A large man-made pond will have alligators, as well.
“It’s unfortunate that these animals are out there, but they need a home,” Haught said.
The attraction will become just the second in Florida to offer customers a chance to drive through areas stocked with animals.
Lion Country Safari in downstate Loxahatchee, which opened in 1967 and is known as the country’s first cageless zoo, features lions, rhinos and other creatures on its 3-mile path.
Alvarez hesitates to call Wild Florida’s pending addition “ecotourism.” However, he says it could be a money-making effort for the park.
“Ecotourism is when you go to Africa and see the animals there,” he said. “It’s not even Epcot, which is more ecotourism-like. But I would think there is a market here.”
It was the popularity of ecotourism that pushed Justin Buzzi to start his own business about two years ago.
He had been turned away from natural springs as a visitor because the lines were too long and they quickly reached capacity early in the day.
So he quickly took out a business loan and set up Get Up and Go kayaking Apopka. The company provides customers a chance to paddle along Rock Springs in clear boats that offer a view of the river bottom.
“People are looking for something that is relaxing, something in nature out of the norm,” he said. “They are looking for something different, and the springs around here offer that.’’
That’s what drew Tristian Smith, 29, to Buzzi’s business.
“I try to find new places that aren’t Disney World,” Smith said. “Now I’m trying to find more local things to do.”