You Know All About Disney World, But Here Are 15 Of Florida's Best Kept Secrets

by N/A, 10 years ago | 2 min read

There's a lot more to the sunshine state than Disney World and retirement homes.

Travel florida Non-Premium

1. Florida is bigger than England.

It's 15,409 square miles bigger than England, but a lot of it is swampland.

2. Miami's Opa Locka Airport once functioned as the CIA’s base of covert operations against Guatemala and Cuba.

3. The South Florida Museum is home to the world's largest collection of fossilized poop.

4. South Florida is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist.

5. No matter what Florida city you're in, you're never more than 60 miles away from a body of salt water.

6. It was home to an extremely old palm tree.

"Senator" was the name of a 3,500 year old palm tree in Longwood, Florida until a meth addict climbed up the tree and ended up burning it down.

7. People really do love Walt Disney World.

You're not allowed to scatter ashes at Walt Disney World, but people still try to do it. Typically on the Haunted Mansion ride. Workers are on the lookout for suspicious piles of dust and will come in and clean it up.

8. It was once the lightning capital of the world.

NASA discovered that Rwanda was the true lighting capital. Nine people every year are killed by lightning strikes in Florida.

9. It's illegal to disturb the manatees.

The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act ensures that anyone caught disturbing the endangered animals can be fined up to $500 and sentenced up to 60 days in jail.

10. The state song is a nod to Florida's retirement communities.

The state song is called “Swanee River (Old Folks at Home)” and the retirement industry is the second most profitable in the state behind tourism.

11. There's an inactive rocket testing facility there.

In the 1960s, NASA built a rocket testing facility in Homestead, Florida, but left it intact after the project ended.

12. Ponce de Leon gave the state its name.

He called it "La Florida," or the flowery place.

13. Sarasota, Florida is home to an Amish beach resort.

14. Florida was a Spanish territory for 280 years.

15. There are tons of invasive species making their homes in the Everglades.

Boa constrictors, non-native plants, pythons and eight-inch-long snails can be found there.