We spent a very enjoyable day at this attraction in spite of a few rain showers. The boat trips and shows are covered so it wasn't really a problem. There are animals, snakes, birds, alligators, crocs, and shows built around these. The boat trips and the jeep trips are about 30 minutes each, the shows are shorter, and all of it is covered in your admission. Parking is $7 extra. Teenagers looking for video games will be disappointed - this is a nature park. Althought this is an old attraction, it is well kept up very very nice, clean restrooms, shops etc. The employees and tour leads were extremely nice and had an interest in doing their jobs well. While the admission seems a little pricy, remember it is an all day attraction. Check the entertainment calendar - it appears they have some very popular entertainers scheduled.

We came here to escape the themeparks while visiting Orlando. I love seeing nature so I thought this would be a great trip.
It is a long drive from Kissimmee, we were expecting this but the drive is quite dull with not much to see or stop at. The roads are mostly Tolls so make sure you take plenty of change!
On arriving we were shocked to pay $7 for parking (Disney only charges $10 afterall & it's good for all parks on the same day). We had $5 off coupons so we saved a bit there (available in most hotel lobbys in Orlando). Still it cost $29.99.
No food or drink (except water) is allowed into the park, they are vigilant about this, checking bags & refusing you entry. This was very disappointing for us as we had brought a picnic expecting to eat somewhere in the park. We had to leave it in the car & go back out when we were hungry. There are tables outside near the carpark to use. You need a handstamp to get back in too.
The glass bottom boat rides are excellent & the water is truly beautiful. You see lots of fish, turtles, alligators & monkeys as well as the springs welling up. The guides are knowledgeable too.
However, the rest of the park is truly odd. First they play piped music throughout the park. It's awful, it's supposed to be a nature park, why on earth they feel the need to do this I don't understand!
Second; the animals are in tiny caged areas & are not native to Florida (except for some alligators). the wildlife safari is a joke most of them are caged. It seems an unnecessary addition to this beautiful area. I felt quite uncomfortable watching panthers pacing their prison & an Alaskan bear sweltering in the Florida heat without any shelter provision.

Subject: SILVER SPRINGS
Location: OCALA FLORIDA
Title: WATCH OUT FOR THE RUDE ATTITUDE OF WOMAN AT ADMISSION!!
ID#: 8135977

I just returned from a trip to sliver spring florida last week. Overall, the experience in the park was good, just as my husband remembered it as a child, but i have a major problem with the woman who takes money at the entrance. We picked up a brocheure in orlando because we had been there a week. We decided to do silver springs on the way back home. the brocheure has a $5 coupon for admission and planned on using it. We did mention it to the sweet man at admission and later realized it was not honored. We were at the other end of the park by then and decided to mention it on the way out of the park. We have a family of 5, and this is a $25.00 savings. On the way out, my husband stopped to mention the problem to the lady in the admission booth. Needless to say, she was very rude and short! She said we had we had to mention it at the time of admission. When we explained nicely what had happened, she again responed very rudely! We do own our own business in North Carolina, and we would never talk to customers the way she talked to us. She wouldn't hardly acknowledge us!, It would have been fine not to honor the coupon, if it was explained to us with concern and by someone who acdted a little interested. She most certainly was not. Silver Springs, please if you are reading, be advised that you have a really impersonable rude lady taking care of people at the gate!

I visited this park a couple of times when I was a child. I remember enjoying it. So finally, after many years, I was able to visit it again recently. It was a Sunday. There was hardly any cars in the parking lot, and they charge $7 to park.. a bit ridiculous I think for this park. Upon entering, I had a coupon I had downloaded from the computer for $8 off the 34.99 admission price. I noticed it was only good for the day before..why they would put something only good for a specific day on their website astounds me. And of course, the elderly man taking the money wouldn't let me use it. So we used my friend's $5 off coupon she got out of a tourist magazine (I believe). Well, be prepared. You may use it for up to 6 people, but you have to pay with the same credit card, or all cash. You can only use it for one "group" entrance, not individually. Onto the park: we immediately went to the first boat ride (Glass bottom boats), since we had only 3 hours. All 3 boats were returning to the dock at that time-but when we got seated on the boat, we waited almost 30 minutes for the ride to begin-they waited til the boat filled up with people-a waste of time for us. The ride was good, interesting, the water is beautiful, the captain did an okay job of explaining things, making the jokes etc. Started raining-asked another elderly person which shop had an umbrella for sale and was told they don't sell them at SS, just ponchos. Off to get a poncho, which I opened-heck, I am not paying for it unless I can see it first. A young woman told me that they do sell umbrellas-so, many of the workers have wrong info. So I bought the umbrella, and another elderly worker glared at me because of the open poncho.. which I switched with another customer, so in the end, there was a returned, closed poncho bag! Onto the next ride-a safari ride thru the wilds! Well, actually, around a dirt road in the semi-woods, fields, whatever. We waited on this too, but then asked to start the ride, said we wanted to see everything before it closed. The guy driving was from Carrollton, MI-very, very nice indeed. We saw the giraffes and bears. Off to the next boat ride. Captains microphone broke during this ride. You see the monkeys on this ride, pretty cool. More of the river, more forests. Some cool fish, especially the gars. We then raced over to the other side of the park, to get onto the last ride-another boat ride. Same spiel by the captain, same jokes. The fort is visible here, and a few other things. We also got to see the alligators and a few birds-like a Cockatoo. We had been informed by EVERYONE that the park closes at 5 PM, but all rides stop at 4:45 PM-yep, that makes sense. We just made it to the last ride a 4:45 PM, and at first did not think the guy was going to take us-but then several other people arrived too, so looks like he had to. That is about all the park has to offer, except a few more animals to view-which we could not because of their wasting our time. We were able to visit 2 shops-if you go, go to the safari ride shop-very friendly people in that one. The park has many elderly people working at it, and I think that is great, but MANY were quite rude and did not have correct information. I was very disappointed in that. There are also a couple of kiddie rides available. The gardens were disappointing for me also. More flowers would be nice. I consider the price much too high for what you get, especially if you do not have a coupon, discount etc.! And make sure if you do have one, it is up to date. But with parking fees, and the entrance fee, I would suggest going somewhere else. It is a quiet park, and easy to get around in, so a couple of positives there.