The Shell Factory

3 stars for shopping. 4 stars for a place to have a beer, while my wife shops. It’s chotski paradise, if you like that stuff. Bars inside and out.

This place was on my list of things to do while in Fort Myers Beach. We had to drive about 45 minutes to get here but I was looking forward to it. How depressing was I when I got here and the nature park was closed due to flooding and the inside of the place is a complete failure. It’s old and dated and stinks. I am sorry I spent my entire morning trying to impress my kids when this place sucks big time.

The animals look a little worn out and under cared for. It was a little sad to see. It was pretty hot when we went but the animals still just looked depressed. The place was not as good as I thought from the advertisement. But the kids had some fun.

Unfortunately we went here for something to do while on vacation. Everything was extremely overpriced & the entire place had a «trashy» feel.

We stopped here in Nov. of 2014. We loved the gift shop. Not only was it the only place on our trip to Florida that I could find Orange Blossom Perfume, at any price; but i was also able to buy my daughter and daughter in law’s pearl necklaces that were beautiful, for a very, very reasonable price! I wish i could buy things from their jewelry dept. on line! We were on a time schedule when we stopped, so we only had time for the gift shop and lunch. Lunch was excellent and the children loved the décor inside it! This is vintage Florida and it brought back memories of when I used to visit 40 years ago. If you like history, take the time to explore this treasure!

Whoa impressed is an understatement. The shopping area is the same olé same olé, its nice to look around. However, the nature park blew my mind. I was not expecting anything like it at all! Sooo much better than almost any zoo ive been too– for $ 12, I would return again and again (ticket is good for two day pass) I feel it is very kid friendly. We will definately be returning to this gem the next time. Very big bird aviary w/​turtles, birds, lizards, peacock– petting fs with goats, zebu, hog. And soo sooo much more. I def recommend it as a family outing. All of the staff is friendly and very knowledgeable

There is a cute little zoo-​like area in back with a section for a petting zoo, which was really fun. Other than that, it’s mostly just a gigantic store that looks like it used to be a plane hangar.

A monument to tackiness. Loud piped music and fried food. Possibly fun for small children, but I wouldn’t take my nephews there because the retail store sells enormous dead corals, which is unconscionable. Coral reefs are dying worldwide; it’s almost like seeing elephant tusks or rhino horns for sale. We didn’t visit the animal park — didn’t want to pay the $ 12 for admission. There are so many other natural attractions in Lee and Collier counties (parks and beaches), I’d recommend giving this place a miss.

Had a great day and lunch at the Shell Factory. Recommend for anyone looking to have afun day. The birds were friendly and very social.

This place is a must for tourists, but is lacking for us locals, considering what it could be. Weak regular menu with scattered decent specials. Sporadic quality on «homemade» items.
With a little money, this place could be awesome instead of just ho-​hum.

A typical tourist trap. If you love shells though its a must see. If you know South of the Border this is the same but featuring shells. Make sure you bring cash though because you can’t buy ice cream there without it. Lots to do though. Great for the whole family !!

If I could give this place zero stars I would. Absolutely awful. The animals are in deplorable conditions and I pray that it will get shut down! This has to be the most depressing «zoo» I have ever been to. I left feeling sad on what was supposed to be a fun day.

Great tourist attraction for every shell related item one could possibly want on a vacation. Trinkets and clothes galore but I practiced some restraint knowing my suitcase is already going to be packed so tight that the USPS is going to have to foot some of the cost of getting belongings home.
Especially enjoyed the animal sanctuary part of the attraction. Saw many different wild animals in various forms of rehabilitation. A personal favorite was Humpfry, a mischievous cow, who much enjoyed messing around with his keepers’ trash cans. Very social little guy who enjoyed a good petting before heading back to torment his keeper. Admission to the sanctuary ranges from $ 12-​$ 8 depending on age. Always happy to support the cause of animals in need!

This place can be quite a fun day for a family with a few kids. Not only do they sell a wide variety of shells found all around the state of Florida. it’s also a sort of shell-​museum. While looking through the displays of shells, you can learn about the creatures that once inhabited them.
In addition to the shells and the extremely large gift shop, they also have a safari exhibit where you can view the taxidermic animals from Africa. There are also live alligators, buzz-​lines, bumper boats, a botanical garden, and much more to explore.
…and a word to the adults — There is a bar! So while the kids are bumping and splashing, feel free to sit back and sip a cosmo!

This place was horrible. I am in town visiting family and it was recommended as an afternoon activity for us to check out. The taxidermy room was disturbing, to say the least. There are so many animals there that are being illegally poached all around the world right now, and seeing them stuffed on display was upsetting and disgusting. The «zoo» was a group of animals living in atrocious conditions. I have to wonder if they’ll be in the taxidermy room eventually. The pirate history was cheesy and displays were in poor condition. The military museum was scattered and bizarre at best, and in one part, showcased a mannequin of a soldier in a trap, portraying an American soldier being tortured in Vietnam — hardly something I would ever want to try and explain to small, impressionable children.
I do NOT recommend visiting. If I could get the 2 hours And $ 12.50 I spent there back, I would.

**Note, this review is solely for the shopping section of The Shell Factory and does not take into account The Nature Park or The Fun Park sections of the complex… it was too cold for that schtuff. :-) **
What do you do when you’re visiting your parents in Florida & a record-​setting cold snap hits the area… You check out tourist traps, of course. This place oozes «Americana Tourist Trap» like many other places in Florida. Do you need a specific shell? They have it. Do you need a poorly tie-​dyed Florida t-​shirt? They have it. Do you need a personalized Florida keychain to take back to a loved one? They have it. Need random décor to decorate that condo you just bought in a vintage beach’y style? They have it. Need to giggle at animatronic pirates or get your Christmas fix in July? They have it. Need to challenge your pops in an old-​school video game arcade? They have it… do you get where I’m going with this?
The store is located in a Large, built-​in-​multiple-​additions building, which is organized by themes (clothing, shells, décor, nightlights, holiday, etc). It was a cold day, and the place was PACKED full of people. Thus, there were some pretty long checkout lines that I found a little bit frustrating for the 1 – 2 small items I picked up. Prices were moderate to high for bulk-​produced (mainly in China) souvenirs, in my opinion. The 2 – 3 staff members I interacted with were friendly, enough, considering how packed the place was that day.
The most intriguing (& somewhat disturbing) aspect of this place is the «museum/​specimen» sections. They have a fossil museum room, a shell specimen room, and a terrifyingly morbid Taxidermy room of all sorts of formerly-​living animals (No joke, the first thought I had was in relation to why they might have a zoo on premises was for the purposes of eventually stuffing the animals…). The taxidermy did offer several uncomfortably awkward «selfie» moments though…
Overall, for what this is (Read: Tourist Trap) it’s ok. It’s not something I would choose to return to if in the area again, but it was worth a couple of hours waiting for the cold weather to move out…

Ok someone must have read my review the fist one. I also met the owner very friendly and down home and found out my son in law and owner know each other. Well I went back the help was friendlier. And was willing to help me out and I made some purchases. One employee took the time to take my picture with my friend in the sharks jaw. It turned out great.

Old time Americana — with lots of variety. I’m going to buck some of the reviews here:
This place is a throwback to the days when US 41 was the main thoroughfare — vs. I-​75. I’ve been here a half-​dozen times over the last 10 years, and my kids (now aged 18 and 13) still like it — as much as they did at age 9 and age 4. Here’s what draws us back:
— Wide variety of local memorabilia in many connected rooms
— Big collection of mounted or taxidermized animals
— Small game room for easy, non-​crowded fun
— Zoo area — like a small zoo — with ability to feed the farm animals (playground and picnic area inside)
— Boats to take out on the small lake
— Small mini-​golf area
— General small upgrades each year (taxidermy area is spruced up, dinosaur area added, new zipline, etc.)
Don’t expect a Busch Gardens, fancy arcade, full out zoo, thrill rides, etc… expect a wide variety of americana as it was in the past… and… don’t miss the hermit crab races!

As a new resident of the area, I went in with an open mind in regards to this adventure. We went through the zoo, the shop/​museum and walk around to see what else we could find. In my opinion it is rundown, dirty and overly depressing. They need to scale back the attraction and do a few very well. Unless you enjoy rundown zoos full of sad animals and creepy gift shops this one is a pass.

The short and sweet summary: The Shell Factory has tried to be a jack of all trades which has resulted in them mastering none. It’s a good place to visit once for the experience, but for the amount of money we spent all together I don’t think we would go again. If you want more details about our experience, read on.
My husband grew up in FL and had memories of visiting here from his childhood so after finding a Groupon we decided to take the kids. This place is kitschy and interesting. And there’s plenty to see. The website is pretty vague about the set-​up, and the place is huge! They boast about being the largest gift shop in the US… and yes, if you’ve never been there before you might get lost. The gift shops, four free «museums», arcade, ice cream and fudge shops (and a USPS post office and a Subway) are all part of one building vaguely separated into distinct areas. The «museums» have some cool stuff but really aren’t much to write home about. And some of the bathrooms leave something to be desired as far as hygiene is concerned. The arcade appeared OK but poorly ventilated and stuffy after it filled up with people.
The Nature Park and Fun Park are behind the main building. The kids loved the Nature Park and by far the best aspect were the two aviaries. All of us (including our youngest — a toddler) were able to hand feed cockatiels and doves. My husband even got to hold a couple of the cockatiels as they ate from his hand. They really need to add hand sanitizer stations outside of these though. The rest of the Nature Park is somewhat mediocre but the kids also loved feeding the koi and seeing the dinosaur statues and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. The animals have my sympathy though as their enclosures seem too small and they’re all caged, no glass so pics are harder to take. And one of the gators was injured and seemed to be at death’s door. :-(
We wanted to do the bumper boats but at around 3 pm they had a sign up stating they had to charge for the rest of the day and thus were out of commission, much to our disappointment.
After this we did a round of putt putt. The putting greens were covered in plant debris, and the course is somewhat convulted. Some of the boards on the boardwalk were in need of repair — hopefully no one ends up injured if one of them breaks under a customer. There’s also a flowering bush at one point which attracted many honey bees. But for the most part it is stroller friendly.
.