Cypress Gardens Adventure Park kicked off on January 2, 1936. Who could have known that it would become a showplace for 8000 different varieties of flowers from over 90 different countries? It was a theme park and electric boats were available to see the eye catching botanical gardens.
Gradually it became the most prominent attraction famous for its spectacular water ski shows, eye-catching lush green gardens, and for its hot and attractive Southern Belle models. A numbers of movies were also shot in this garden. In the early 1960s, a boat was also introduced for customized photography. After that, it became a renowned spot for shooting television commercials. A couple of other things were also added with the passage of time which includes an ice skating show.
In 1983, the Rotating Island in the Sky ride was also added. Cypress Gardens Adventure Park was one the most prominent attractions in Orlando through 1950-1960 and it also earned the creator title of "Father of Florida Tourism." The competition was increased with the opening of magnificent resorts like Walt Disney near the park in 1971. The pope transferred this park to his son in 1980.
The signature elements of the park are below:
- Water Ski shows: Many of the water skies firsts’ were performed here. It also achieved the title of “Water Ski Capital of the World" because many water sports records were made and broken in this garden The first water ski show at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park was performed in 1941. Unfortunately, it was a bit of accident.
- Southern Belles: Southern Belle was one of the signature elements of this park. This tradition started to distract visitors near the entrance when in 1940 Mrs. Pope instructed female worker to wear a specific sort of dress and flirt with visitors. From there on this tradition developed and developed almost out of necessity.
The whole properties including gardens were bought by a group of mangers in April, 2003. Under his authority, the park remained open for tourists and locals till April, 2003 when it was closed due to September 11 terrorist attacks.
After that the renowned Adventure Parks Group bought this property and changed its name to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park which was previously known as Cypress Gardens. Meanwhile, an expanded water park named Splash Island was also added to this park.
The park is closed until this day from September 23, 2009 and plans to reopen on October 21, 2010 by Merlin Entertainments as Legoland Florida.