After reading the review by the person who wanted to take some better photos I felt compelled to mention that we also had poor interaction with some of the employees at the garden. This was back around 1999 but it sounds like some things have not changed.

My fiance` and I got engaged at Bok Tower about a month and a half ago. The experience was wonderful. The gardens were beautiful, the people were helpful and friendly...everything went perfectly. Well, while we were there on that day my fiance` asked one of the "welcoming" staff if we could bring a friend back and take engagement pictures. They said that was fine, no problem at all. We went back a little over a month later with our friend (who, yes, has a nice digital camera but who is not a professional). We were dressed nice and when we got to the gate we asked the woman if taking pictures was still ok. She looked at our clothing, stepped back and said, "Is this for a wedding?" and we replied no that we had just gotten engaged there but we wanted some better pitures than the ones we had taken. She then got very rude and said, "Not in those clothes. You are taking professional pictures in those clothes and that will cost you $150." It just went down hill from there. We insisted that no they weren't professional and that we had asked and called and had already been told it was fine. We asked if we could go in and get it straigtened out, and if we stayed and took the pictures we would come back and pay our admission fee. She refused. She said we had to pay before we went in but that we only had an hour and a half so we had better hurry up. So...flabbergasted we paid and went in. On our way up there she called a little guy named Joe who met us at the front and said, "Our you the folks taking the professional pictures? Because if so you will have to leave. It cost a hundred and fifty dollars to take professional pictures here." We and our friend insisted that we were not taking professional pictures that we just wanted some better pictures than the ones we did ourselves. He looked at my friends camera and said, "Only professionals have cameras like that" (by the way he is speaking of a camera that can be bought at any Best Buy or Curcuit City). He then threatened to call security on us (although he was the only one yelling). We left with a bad taste in our mouths, we did get our money back, and we never even got asked if we would pay the $150 to have the pictures taken...which we would have. I will be calling supervisors. So needless to say Bok Tower needs to start some mandatory customer service training for employees, set a vistor dress code since you can not wear anything nicer than jeans and a tee shirt, and you can't have a nice camera that is anything near professional grade.

is you like to be in touch with nature this is the place, peaceful, no rush, no to many peoples, we visit this place several time is lovely, also the mass for easter is very nice, we also recomend leu gardens in orlando ,fl

This beautiful sanctuary will always be a very special place to me. This valentines day my boyfriend took me here and proposed (I had told him about my visit as a child and he remembered :.) The garden is about as close as you can come to heaven on earth. There are breathtaking sights around every corner. It is absolutely the most serene, tranquil, romantic place in Florida. Very well worth the drive from Orlando...must see to appreciate!!

As newcomers to Florida, we were lucky enough to have neighbors that have visited before and asked us to join them in a trip to Lake Wales to visit the Bok Sanctuary. We loved the beauty of the plants,the flowers, the wonderful view at the point and most of all the breathtaking Bok tower. The detail work and beautiful coloring of the tower are just spectacular. We visited the gift shop and of course had to take home some sovenirs. We also took many pictures and had to look at them over and over again when we returned home. You must see this tower to believe how beautiful it really is. Can't say enough about it...just wonderful. We are so grateful to our neighbors for sharing this wonderful experience with us. We in turn look forward to sharing with our family and friends when they visit us here in Florida. Would we recommend to others?...absolutely!!! Jack & Marie Macholz

Bok Tower is a wonderful place to go if you are looking for a quiet. inspirational place to go for the day. Even though it was winter, the place was beautifully kept. The carillon recital was great, and it seemed like great attention to detail was given throughout the park. I went alone, but I would definitely take my wife down for the day for both of us to enjoy!

This was such a peaceful, gorgeous place. The flowers are absolutely amazing and the whole atmosphere is wonderful. We live about 40 minutes away, but if I lived closer, I would definitely purchase the annual pass and go here just to walk, picnic, etc. Definitely worth your time and quite inexpensive, too.

This was the most Beautiful place, flowers, butterflies .It was a very relaxing day.The weather was great, not too hot. Wheel chairs can move freely and they also had wheelchairs for those who did not bring one.

We liked everything about it. It was very relaxing and beautiful. The squirrels are very friendly. One ran up my husbands pant leg trying to get away from another squirrel. It was so funny. hanks for a wonderful experience.