Weeki Wachee Springs

First I'd like to start out by saying that I'm a complete wanderlust and outdoors girl.  I seriously need to step outside at least 30 minutes in the day or I get a horrible headache. I really love the outdoors and basking in nature.

As of a few years back I have fallen in love with Florida's Springs and have made it a goal to try and visit all of them. ( I think there's over 900 of them 👀)so wish me luck!!!  Well, just like her mama; my big girl Ariana loves the water and she loves mermaids.  I recently bought her some cute mermaid beach wear and a sweet mermaid tail which she carries everywhere with her because, Oh..you just never know when you might end up in front of a body of water where you might have the urgency to throw on your tail and swim (kids right?) So naturally when I found out that there was a Florida Spring where mermaids inhabited the area I knew I had to go as soon as I could! I mean take her, take Ariana as soon as I could. ( not that I wanted to swim with them or anything like that) -> which you can't by the way, I tried. 

So here are the details of our Visit to the Weeki Wachee Mermaids and my recommendations if you plan on Visiting them as well.

 First off... LOCATION:  Weeki Wachee is located in central Florida in a town called Spring Hills.  It is about 2 hours north from Orlando,Florida and almost 6 hours north of Miami, FL.  

The most important thing I can tell you about this spring is that you cannot purchase tickets before hand and the park reaches capacity very fast at which point they don't let anyone else in  until some park goers have left.  This sucks!!! Especially if you drove hours to get there!  We live in Central Florida so it only took us a two hour drive to get there. We were on the road at 7am to be there at 9am (this is when the park opens) and when we got there the line was formed at the entrance and extremely long!  Luckily it did move fast and we did get in :) 

The price of admission is very affordable and every attraction inside is included in the admission price.  Our main reason for the trip was to see the mermaids so as soon as we walked through the gates we headed to the underwater theater.  The play was titled "The little Mermaid" and well it was loosely about the Disney movie with its title.  It was funny and cute  and the mermaids did a few nice tricks and ballet aquatics which was very nice.  They also did a very cool bubble curtain between scenes which I though was beautiful.  Alani my little soon to be one year old loved the music and bubbles.  Ariana however was intently paying attention to see if she could get any clue as if these mermaids were real or not.  Her decision was that they aren't but when she gets older she wants to be a Weeki Wachee Mermaid.  There's a second show called "Fish Tail" which we didn't go see because we headed straight to the spring area soon after the first show.  

Mermaid Photo Op after show by the Gift shop (Mermaid Kourtney)

Due to the amount of people there and because we headed to see the Mermaids first, the spring area was packed and there was barely any lounge chairs , huts or trees with shades left for us to throw our towels on or under.  We did find a spot really close to the spring in the sand and we brought in our stroller which provided all the shade Alani needed.  Ariana did not want to leave the water so she didn't need shade just a lot of sunblock!!  The hubby and I took turns going in with her and although we tried our best to convince her, she did not go on the huge slides that lead right into the spring...maybe next time.  

We did enjoy a nice egg hunt in the water because we were there on Easter weekend.  So check their website for any events that might be happening the week you visit.  We did and were prepared with our own baskets ;)  

The next thing we did was pack up all our things and go on the river boat cruise which is a 20 minute boat ride in the springs where you can see into the crystal clear waters and admire their trees and birds in the area.  In the springs there are fish, turtles, snakes, alligators, and manatees.  We saw everything but the alligators.  (According to the Captain after their alpha male was killed (for making his way more than once to the swimming area !!!!)  the smaller ones went up river and haven't been seen since!  Poor things right? or poor people who were swimming and noticed a 10 foot gator nearby?...(not sure how to feel about the poor gator it was His home.)  If you want to see more of the springs renting a canoe or kayak is the way to go.

We really had a great time basking in all the nature of this spring and meeting real life mermaids!  hope you enjoyed our pics and one last thing....These springs...they're freeeeeeeezing!  I mean the water is so cold when you get out it feels warm and nice! The waters are pretty much 74 degrees all year round!  Very therapeutic though...not one muscle in my body aches after I leave the springs waters.   Hope you all have time to visit by yourself or with your kiddos there's plenty for all to do!