815 - Gatorland with Savannah
A Mediocre Time with Tom and Dan
Tom Vann & Dan Dennis
4.9 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2025
⏱️ 131 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- Jeff's Bagel Run sponsorship, including bagel flavors and custom cream cheese spreads (hot sauce cream cheese)
- Ordering via Jeff's Bagel Run app; also offers cookies and coffee
- Friday Free Show at Gatorland near Gator Lake with guest Savannah
- Savannah's social media popularity and frequent fan questions about Tom and Dan
- Moe Dewitt's VIP program at Gatorland, Dan's late arrival, and Christmas card photos
- Savannah's career shift after leaving radio; moved to Cocoa Beach for son's skateboarding, worked at Rusty's, surfed
- Unexpected passion for reptiles; childhood love for catching snakes and lizards
- Opportunity to join a snake and lizard TV show in California; spontaneous cross-country move
- Traveling to skate parks, hospitality from strangers, sleeping in the Jeep, pulled over by Texas State Troopers
- Flooded skate park in Mississippi; using a shotgun shell as a thimble to fix Jeep top
- Working at a reptile zoo in California; appeared on Conan O'Brien's show, where a snake defecated on Conan's desk
- Lack of female-led alligator/crocodile shows in media; pitching one without success
- Long effort to create a Gatorland-based show; struggles with industry gatekeeping
- Seven-year attempt to work at Gatorland; initial rejection, eventual surprise hiring
- Early struggles at Gatorland; coworkers refused to help, leading to solo content creation
- Transition from radio to YouTube; generational gap in media consumption
- Challenges in social media consistency, scheduling, and content planning
- Learning alligator safety; Savannah's son skeptical of her expertise
- Gatorland's 75-year history; Lamar the 13-14 foot alligator as a favorite
- Naming alligators after celebrities; Ryan Reynolds, Lightning, Metallica
- Alligator vs. crocodile behavior; social media clips of reckless interactions
- Gatorland rescues nuisance alligators from farms/hunting camps
- Savannah's international Gatorland work (Belize, Australia, Jamaica, Mexico, Cuba)
- Couch-surfing upon return from California to land Gatorland job
- Spontaneous Cuba trip to find crocodile scientists with no Spanish skills, relying on a bird watcher's help
- Running out of money, drinking unfiltered rainwater, bonding with locals
- Returning with Gatorland's team to support Cuban crocodile program, forming Gatorland Global nonprofit
- Gatorland spans 125 acres, housing 2,000+ alligators and crocodiles; ranked zip-line attraction
- Tom feeding an alligator for the first time; hesitation in throwing food
- Maisie's preference for pork; gators also preferring pork over chicken
- Introduction of aggressive gators disrupting feeding order; Gatorland's discipline method
- Alligator growth slowing with age but continuing for life
- Alligators can survive two years without eating; Gatorland provides a "bougie" life
- Feeding wild gators makes them nuisances, leading to relocation
- Gators recognize trainers and social hierarchy; some respond to commands, others don't
- Leucistic alligators at Gatorland, their rarity, and special care needs
- Jawlene, the rescued alligator missing her top jaw; viral rescue story
- Learning to eat despite injury; media attention making her more famous than theme park mascots
- Jawlene estimated to be five years old but small due to malnutrition
- Attempts to fit her with a prosthetic jaw; wouldn't be functional long-term
- Public perception of dangerous animals vs. cute ones in conservation efforts
- Shark vs. alligator fear; media's role in misrepresenting threats
- Savannah camping at Gatorland, almost dragged into water by a Nile crocodile
- Gatorland's train ride, swamp buggy, and exotic bird rescue
- Meeting Felix the donkey and Big Mike the cow
- Savannah's desire to live at Gatorland; favorite animal interactions
- Savannah's Fairvilla Megastore connection; Bill Murphy's mariachi party
- Goats in the petting zoo; joke about them eating beer cans
- Gatorland accommodating even the wildest animals rather than removing them
- Dan and Savannah's Taco Bell "Mexican Fiesta" tradition
- Tom jumping on a moving train like a hobo; conductor recognizing them but letting it slide
- Group reflecting on Gatorland's old-school Florida charm and fun atmosphere
**Social Media:**
[Website](https://tomanddan.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tomanddanlive) | [Facebook](https://facebook.com/amediocretime) | [Instagram](https://instagram.com/tomanddanlive)
**Where to Find the Show:**
[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-mediocre-time/id334142682) | [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2FtZWRpb2NyZXRpbWUvcG9kY2FzdC54bWw) | [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Comedy/A-Mediocre-Time-p364156/)
**The Tom & Dan Radio Show on Real Radio 104.1:**
[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-corporate-time/id975258990) | [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2Fjb3Jwb3JhdGV0aW1lL3BvZGNhc3QueG1s) | [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/podcasts/Comedy/A-Corporate-Time-p1038501/)
**Exclusive Content:** [Join BDM](https://tomanddan.com/registration)
**Merch:** [Shop Tom & Dan](https://tomanddan.myshopify.com/)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This Gatorland special is brought to you by Jeff's bagel run. |
| 0:04.4 | Tons of Central Florida locations. |
| 0:06.4 | In fact, tons of Florida locations and up the East Coast, they're blowing up. |
| 0:10.9 | Yeah, these are the bagels you want to get. |
| 0:13.0 | Hand-baked and boiled every single day. |
| 0:15.6 | You can't sleep in because you might miss the bagel of the day. |
| 0:18.3 | Did that rhyme? |
| 0:19.0 | I think that rhyme. |
| 0:19.9 | Anyway, hand-stirred cream cheese is like your roasted jalapeno or my daughter's favorite, |
| 0:25.2 | made with Jason's mom's hot sauce. |
| 0:27.3 | It's called hot sauce cream cheese, and it's phenomenal. |
| 0:30.1 | Those spreads are made daily, and they have fresh ingredients. |
| 0:33.3 | That chive and onion spread is my favorite. |
| 0:36.2 | You're a bagel man now, you told me. |
| 0:37.7 | I never was a bagel man until Jeff's bagels. |
| 0:40.4 | And I was like, this is the best bagels ever have. |
| 0:42.2 | Because you're some running fuel. |
| 0:43.4 | You put a carb up, and then you go running down the road. |
| 0:45.8 | It's awesome. |
| 0:46.6 | They have custom bagels all the time. |
| 0:49.4 | A jalapeno cheddar bagel. |
| 0:52.0 | I mean, that's regular salt bagels. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tom Vann & Dan Dennis, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Tom Vann & Dan Dennis and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

