Gatorland Zoo Is On Fire

[DemocratSinceBirth]

In Kissimmeee

Breaking...

[JCMach1]

1. Something of a landmark... not to mention the animals

:(

Hope it's nothing bad...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. It's The Original Orlando Attraction

eom

[JCMach1]

5. I can remember driving by as a kid when DisneyWorld was still a swamp

:(

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Do You Remember Six Gun Territory And Weeki Waache?

eom

[zonkers]

8. I don't. I do remember visiting the monkey jungle and some place with

underwater mermaids. This was about thirty years ago.

(I know you didn't ask me but....)

!!!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. The Mermaids Were At Weeki Waache...

eom

[JCMach1]

10. I lived not far from Ocala... Putnam county

Six Gun was Awesome ... also the old dolphin shows at Marineland...

Weeki-Wachee was also cool

[zonkers]

11. Was Marineland FL where they filmed the original Flipper? If you

are not far from Ocala, maybe you have been to Garlitz Drag racing Museum? A super cool place.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. Marineland Was On The Coat Around St. Augustine.

eom

[JCMach1]

16. State of Florida bought it a few years back...

I think it has reopened though... It was one of florida's first themed-attractions...

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Here's a link I found:

http://www.wftv.com/news/10249356/detail.html

Firefighters Called To Blaze At Gatorland

POSTED: 6:29 am EST November 6, 2006
UPDATED: 7:01 am EST November 6, 2006

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Early Monday morning, fire crews were called to Gatorland, the Kissimmee alligator theme park and zoo.

Heavy smoke and fire could be seen billowing from the gift shop area of Gatorland early Monday morning. It is unknown at this time as to how the fire started.

Fire crews were putting water on the blaze to keep it from spreading to other areas of the park. SR-441 has been closed down in front of the park from Hunter's Creek Boulevard to the Osceola Parkway.



Christ, that doesn't look good!:(

CNN now reporting it - it looks like most of the complex has smoke billowing from it!:(:(

[malaise]

4. CNN just showed the fire

It's massive and out of control. I hope all people and animals are safe.

[Skarbrowe]

7. That's awful! If I remember correctly you have to walk a bit to get to

the gators and stuff. Hopefully, this is just the buildings burning. Even that is awful! It's about the only attraction in the Orlando area that still feels like old Florida. I lived in Orlando and only made it to Gatorland one time. I don't think it was getting any where near the tourists that it used to get before the mouse came to town.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. What a shame

I know they've been struggling over the years to try to stay alive with all the mega-amusement parks in Orlando. A fire like this could very well be the end of them.

[Ian David]

14. Maybe Homeland Security was right about the petting zoos?

Better put extra guards on the Amish Popcorn Factory!

[Neecy]

15. This is very sad...

I lived in Orlando for about a year and I liked the Gatorland Zoo for the kitsch factor. It was a nice change from the screaming commercialism of the Disney complexes.

I hope they can rebuild - it would be a real loss to the area if they can't.