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Cypress Gardens Closing...


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http://www.theledger.com/article/20081109/NEWS/811090288/1410?Title=Cypress_Gardens_to_Close__Reopening_With_Expanded_Water_Park_Planned_for_March

 

Cypress Gardens to Close, Reopening With Expanded Water Park Planned for March

 

By Rick Rousos

THE LEDGER

 

 

Published: Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 9:38 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 9:55 p.m.

WINTER HAVEN | Cypress Gardens will close beginning Nov. 17 and plans to reopen in March after an expansion of its water park.

 

The rides and animal attractions will be permanently closed but the botanical gardens and the ski shows will stay, park officials said Sunday night.

 

“It is obvious the park cannot successfully function as four parks in one. We have some exciting new plans that everyone will be thrilled to see come March,” co-owner Rob Harper said in a prepared statement.

 

Cypress Gardens has about 200 hourly workers, most of them part time, and 15 full-time salaried employees, said Brian Philpot, the other owner.

 

About half of the workers were told of the closing and renovation plans Sunday evening and the other employees were to be told today.

 

Cypress Gardens has a big wave pool, a “lazy river” and a swimming area for kids that includes five slides.

 

Philpot said Cypress Gardens will choose, likely in December, between a variety of options to expand the water park area of the park.

 

 

Its been reported for a few weeks now that people have been coming to the park and getting prices on the rides...and they have dropped the admission price numerous times..it was just $5 again today to get in...Shame really. Wonder where the animals will get sent to.

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No way it will survive as gardens/a water park either. Who is going to go to their waterpark with 5 slides even if it is cheap (under $20) and take a day out of their vacation when you have Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Aquatica and Wet N Wild all in the area.

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Atleast I got all but one credit there (Starliner). I think it will open again with rides in time. Right now is a bad time for anything with the economy the way it is. It is not like this is the first time it closed.

 

I think the park could open again with a pay per ride system with a low entrance price for just getting in. Also, charge for gardens.

 

With the area it is located in, that is the only way it could ever survive. It has potential for aniche market if the price is right.

 

Atleast that is my opinion.

 

The only reason I went was because I only had to pay for one ticket out of 3 when I went. Otherwise, the price was really a little high.

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^At first I too thought it could last. Central Florida could probably support a nicely done small theme park as a destination for locals (something like a larger version of Castle Park here in CA).

 

Then I saw all the TR's and knew this park was not it.

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I think the sad thing was when people wanted to go to Florida, they want to do Disney, Universal, the Busch parks, and so on. I don't think many people knew about it (Cypress Gardens). If I knew more about the park, I might've predicted it, but I do not own a crystal ball. So who will bailout next?

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It's still a bit too far away from the major Central Florida attractions for the tourists to decide to venture there for a day but as far as locals,they might visit it occasionally but the major parks are still too close to skip them and go frequently to Cypress Gardens,kinda ironic,don't you think?I don't really know what their plans are,but they don't sound too impressive,keep the gardens and make a bigger waterpark.Last time I went to Cypress Gardens we somehow ended up walking by the waterpark area even though it was closed off and it took us about 2 minutes to walk it,they would have to seriously improve and increase it for people to consider going there instead of the waterparks 45 minutes up the road.I kind of liked what they had going there,I remember getting passholder newsletters for the park,even though I wasn't a passholder,have no clue how they got my name,but I liked that they had concerts and I liked the rides area,especially that MegaBounce,I could ride that all day!!If that park was down here in theme parkless South Florida it probably would be able to get more visitors.

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Let's blame Starliner!

 

In all seriousness, it does suck for a park to close, but I never got how they thought this park was going to be successful.

 

Let's see, Hard Rock Park, Celebration City, now Cypress Gardens - 2009's shaping up to be a great year.

cg2_350.jpg.dcd48d3a5f297f65dea9ddae967278d9.jpg

This picture has haunted me since the first day I saw it.

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I tried to go there in 2007, everything I read said the park was fully open. When we got there the park was open but the rides were shut, they said this was a last second thing. I did email them to complain but just got back a rude email. If this happened to other people its no wonder why people did not bother to go.

 

I still think they could have got people to visit had they made more effort, after all people do drive to BGA from Orlando.

 

I do not think it will work as a water park either, Disney have 2 Sea World has 1 and BGA has 1 so why would people want to travel to Cypress Gardens for one when they did not go there when there were rides?

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It will be interesting to see the park's assets liquidated, considering that many (if not most) of the flat rides are trailer-based. I personally predict that that Okeechobee Rampage and the Swamp Thing will be sold to other local parks with Galaxy Spin and Fiesta Express being sent to traveling fair circuits. As for Triple Hurricane, I can't see it being rebuilt anywhere else, so I doubt it will be salvaged. Starliner, I believe still has a chance of staying in its current location, but I could be wrong.

 

The only thing I really that was any good in the park was the Shock Drop tower, so I'm not mourning the loss of this park in any way.

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If I remember correctly, the gardens are protected, so as long as the title is the way it is, they will always be there. And the title is, the land is also protected to be a theme park and nothing else at this moment. Taht saying, if someone with money wanted, they could probably get it changed.

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I just hope the Starliner is saved .. It would look good at one of the smaller Orlando attractions, but I doubt any have room .. FunSpot near Old Town may ... but who knows .. send it to Texas!

 

I had such a blast on that ride in Feb .. the rest of the park was kinda "meh".

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The Starliner is a decent ride, but I'm not sure that it's "classic" enough to warrant being "saved" again.

 

Cypress Gardens is too far off the beaten track to work as a theme park--making it a state landmark might be its best hope.

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Wow, I was pretty shocked when I saw this on the front page. I thought the park would continue to survive somewhat. Well that sucks for me granted I've never been to Cypress Gardens...although it didn't seem like I was missing much. Still would've been nice to visit at least one time. Oh well...

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Hang on...wait for it...wait for it...

 

WE TOLD YOU SO!!!!

 

You know parks should really hire us as consultants. We would save some people a TON of cash!

 

--Robb

 

I remember having the discussion with Robb in Orlando last year, i gave it two years to survive back then but that appears to have been optimistic...

 

Dave "ah well, at least I have the credits" Wilson

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I had a good time there back in 2006 and hoped to get back when they finally put starliner up. My dad and I were able to walk around the park and do every ride with no wait one after another. There couldn't have been more then a couple hundred people in the park tops.

 

But the employees were great, the gardens were beautiful, and I had a good time there.

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I went out of my way to see it last year, and I rather liked it. There were a few areas that seemed a bit neglected or unfinished. But, on balance, it was a very pretty park with some okay rides.

 

Though it's hardly a surprise, it's still unfortunate that it has to go.

 

Shameless plug: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42142&highlight=

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