It looks like one of Florida's oldest theme parks is about to get a ton of money poured into it.
QuoteBy Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
4:25 p.m. EST, January 15, 2010
The owner of Legoland has purchased Cypress Gardens, the venerable Polk County attraction that shut down last fall.
A spokeswoman for the buyer, British amusements operator Merlin Entertainments Group, said Friday the purchase includes the current Cypress Gardens theme park, the Splash Island water park and the adjacent botanical gardens.
The sale closed Jan. 7. The price was not disclosed.
Merlin is the second busiest amusement company in the world. Its holdings include Legoland theme parks, Madame Tussaud's wax museums and the London Eye.
Rumors have been circulating for months that Merlin would like to open a Legoland in Florida, which would be its second U.S. location. The company currently operates four parks themed around the toy building blocks in Carlsbad, Calif.; Germany; Denmark; and England.
Spokeswoman Julie Estrada said Merlin has been working with Polk County and Florida officials on new business plans for Cypress Gardens. Details are expected to be unveiled at a news conference Merlin has scheduled for Thursday.
The acquisition expands the presence of private-equity colossus The Blackstone Group in Central Florida's theme-park industry. Blackstone, which last fall purchased SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment for about $2.5 billion and co-owns Universal Orlando with General Electric Co., holds a majority stake in Merlin.
Once famed for its botanical gardens and Southern Belles, Cypress Gardens has struggled over the last decade, enduring multiple closures and a bankruptcy.
The 73-year-old Winter Haven attraction has been unable to compete with Orlando's much larger, more modern theme parks.
Cypress Gardens' current owner, Land South Adventures, spent $17 million to buy the park at a bankruptcy auction in 2007, betting it could revitalize the park through a combination of scaled-back attractions and cheaper tickets.
The bet failed, and Land South abruptly shuttered Cypress Gardens in September, saying it could find no way "to keep the park running in its traditional form."
A representative for Land South on Friday referred all questions to Merlin.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/os-cypress-gardens-merlin-20100115,0,1252259.story
Cyrpress Gardens has a lot of potential. I was born and lived in Polk County until I was eight. Best of luck.
I really think it would be much more successful if they'd merge it with Marineland Aquarium and reconstruct it at I-295 and I-95, on Julington Creek! Then turn the original site over to the state and/or county for preservation as a local park.
Hey, Location, Location, Location!
OCKLAWAHA
Quote from: alta on January 16, 2010, 08:53:47 PM
Cyrpress Gardens has a lot of potential. I was born and lived in Polk County until I was eight. Best of luck.
What city?
I have been several times to Cypress Gardens but that was back when I lived in Lakeland about 15 years ago! Me as well as the kids enjoyed it...........everyone had a grand time!
Quote from: thelakelander on January 16, 2010, 09:55:40 PM
Quote from: alta on January 16, 2010, 08:53:47 PM
Cyrpress Gardens has a lot of potential. I was born and lived in Polk County until I was eight. Best of luck.
Lakeland
What city?
There was recently a ton of money poured into it when Wild Adventures bought it. My firm worked on a new water park as part of its revival and expansion.
Its to far out of the way and any "buzz" created by the new owners will soon fade away unless they move it closer to the interstate system.
It has to have its own niche. The Wild Adventures concept was doomed from the start. There are already a ton of water parks and places with small amusement rides in Central Florida. Hopefully, Legoland will bring something new and unique to the table.
(http://www.foodmuseum.com/images/fhcLWlastsupper.jpg)
MASTERPIECE GARDENS, The Great Mosaic and nice train ride and a million parrots.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/3904337292_f5d277a08d.jpg)
RAINBOW SPRINGS, had a cool Monorail System
(http://jhammer.blogs.ocala.com/files/2009/10/CavernsFrontBroCrop1.jpg)
Does it even need a caption? GONE!
(http://www.orlandowelcomecenter.com/images/Park_Map2.jpg)
Everything to the right of the river and the upper left 1/4, is now GONE.
(http://media.timeoutnewyork.com/resizeImage/htdocs/export_images/623/623.x600.ft.fp.theater.mermaid.jpg)
They're about extinct today.
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/postcard/pc2057.jpg)
GOD do I miss this place.
(http://inlinethumb49.webshots.com/17648/1012068084015487657S600x600Q85.jpg)
Six Guns Terriroty gone in 83.
Quote from: Jason on January 18, 2010, 10:42:49 AM
There was recently a ton of money poured into it when Wild Adventures bought it. My firm worked on a new water park as part of its revival and expansion.
Its to far out of the way and any "buzz" created by the new owners will soon fade away unless they move it closer to the interstate system.
Moved to a Jacksonville location it would have the same successful formula employed by "Frontier City" in Oklahoma City, OK. What started as a smallish collection of carnival rides along Route 66, grew into a powerhouse theme park that now manages the 6-Flags group.
The founder decided the WEST BOUND side of 66, (Today's I-44) would be ideal to capture all of the Disney Bound, California traffic, BEFORE THEIR POCKETS WERE EMPTY. As he said, "On the way to Disney, they are looking for a good time, loaded with cash, time to spare, looking to spend. On the eastbound side, they are washed out, broke, and thinking only of home."
I don't think any amount of BUZZ is going to save the gardens short of the State Park Service. Unless that BUZZ is as big, or nearly equal to Disney in it's Niche, it won't fly Wilbur. Sea World, Universal, NASA, MGM, are the biggies. Even Busch Gardens isn't much more then our own Zoo with amusement rides (something the zoo once had, back when it WAS a big tourist-amusement park draw... and before we, AS USUAL, gave it up). In all seriousness, moved to the area South of I-295 and 95, in the headwaters of Julington Creek, would cause every car headed to Disney on I-10 or I-95 to drive right by the door.
This is easy math, but I'm afraid the new owners are going to starve due to location. Just ask, Masterpiece Gardens, Rainbow Springs, Ocala Caverns, Silver Springs (on it's last legs), Weeki Wachee, Marineland studios and aquarium, Six Gun Territory etc... Niche or not, if your not in their path today, you won't even catch the mouse droppings. OCKLAWAHA
My dad grew up Largo and has told me about Six Gun Territory. Was it open until 1983?
Thanks for all the great finds Ock. Especially the Silver Springs map--brings back memories of visiting there in the early 80s.
There is a full chapter in the terrific book "Dixie Before Disney" by Tim Hollis (I saw it at San Marco Bookstore last time I was there, FWIW) on the springs attractions in FL. Six Gun Territory and other lost parks such as Floridaland and Cape Coral Gardens are covered in other chapters.
Yeah, it closed in 83 for the development of a "new" Woolco Plaza. Woolco was the big box spin off of Woolworth's Five and Dime Stores. They upset K-Mart for a season, then got buried. By the time it closed, Six Gun was looking more like a REAL ghost town! Sad. Cross the highway into Silver Springs on any pretty day, and there will be 14 cars in the parking lot built for 4,000.
RAT!
OCKLAWAHA
Quote from: Ocklawaha on January 18, 2010, 11:46:20 AM
In all seriousness, moved to the area South of I-295 and 95, in the headwaters of Julington Creek, would cause every car headed to Disney on I-10 or I-95 to drive right by the door.
If its relying on mouse droppings, a Jax site is worse off than Cypress Gardens which is only a 20 minute drive south of I-4 via US 27. Most of those driving to Disney/Central Florida are using I-75 and the Turnpike, so they are bypassing the First Coast altogether. Hopefully, they are not because if they are, then yes, success probably won't happen regardless of location.
Anyway, these guys have deep pockets, a history of success and have been looking to enter the Florida market for a while now. They'll be announcing their plans for the site later this week. It will be interesting to see what they have cooked up.
Interesting to watch, but it ain't going to fly... NO FREEway, no direct physical transit connection with the rest of the state.
I agree that I-75 carrys the bulk of ALL traffic coming into Florida. (which is WHY I'm against SEHSR routing an Atlanta-Jax train via Jessup or Savannah, believing Macon-Cordelle-Valdosta-Jax the superior route) I think Cypress Gardens as well as a "MARINELAND JACKSONVILLE (Aquarium) would make it here because I-95 is the second heaviest travel route to Florida. Add to that, AIR, Amtrak, Bus and Cruise Ship connections (charters and tours) can be operated out of JIA or the Stations. We have 3 more things that Cypress Gardens doesn't have at any price. 1.5 Million recreation starved residents who would quickly adopt the park as "our own Disney". A beach growing in popularity during Spring Break, and the US Navy, where ANY operator is guaranteed a 30,000+ population between 17-30, in addition to the normal population ratios. While it's true Marineland HAS a nice beach, there is nothing left of the restaurants and the beautiful Quality Inn that sat there, obviously JAX, The Buccaneer Trail, and St. Augustine blow that away. Anyone discounting that effect need only visit our bases where "The Travel Office" maintains a complete DISNEY-UNIVERSAL-NASA-SEA WORLD TICKET AGENCY!
Hell the only thing missing is STREETCAR
See also: http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/pdf/TransReauthTotal.pdf
If it doesn't sound like a discussion, and instead it sounds like OCK is pitching JAX for a location of a major theme park... UH?
Cypress Gardens North?
BUY LAND SOUTH OF I-95/I-295 which also takes all southbound traffic from I-10, US 1, 301, 17
SLECTIVELY CLEAR AND PLANT 200 ACRES
CREATE A SKI LAKE
EMPHISIZE THE NATURAL WETLANDS
BUILD A RIDE PARK
... OH HELL, and circle the whole thing with a train.
I'd even offer Wild Adventures in Valdosta a deal they couldn't refuse. I don't see this as a "need to be a city" or to compete with Orlando, rather it is a quality of life issue that would help keep the kids at home.
Marineland Jacksonville?
BUY LAND NEAR DOWNTOWN CONVENTION CENTER/RIVERWALK/HOTELS
BUILD A STATE OF THE ART AQUARIUM
RESEARCH FACILITY TIED TO WATERFRONT WHERE VISITORS CAN WATCH
ADD A SHOW TANK AND SMALL STADIUM
TIED TO SKYWAY AND STREETCARS
MARKETED UNDER THE FAMOUS MARINELAND NAME!
OCKLAWAHA
Sounds like a very cool idea...i've never been to the actual Legoland, but the Lego superstore in Chicago is amazing. Could only imagine an actual theme park. ;D :D
What ever happened to this guy
http://www.mooneyhan.com/
I noticed the web sight is dated 2010 so he is still updating it
In speaking of theme parks, the proposed South Georgia theme park "Steamboat City" sounds like it's dead.
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2010-01-17/story/glynn_theme_park_idea_never_got_rolling
Boy Mister Mooneyhan has some grandiose plans for jacksonville.
QuoteBoy Mister Mooneyhan has some grandiose plans for jacksonville.
He sure does, 5 years of development no less.
Not sure I'm feverishly awaiting the release of "The Last Manatee" but if it means production studios in the greater JAX area I can probably choke through it...
I wonder if Mister Mooneyhan has spoken with Russel Crowe he's a fan of Jacksonville and if memory serves me correctly he mentioned the film history of Jacksonville when he came here for his rugby thing.
I am so glad that someone bought Cypress Gardens, hopefully it will continue its notoriety, success, and reputation as a Central Florida tourist and entertainment attraction. Yea Cypress Gardens!
"HU"
I hope this is real and not some pie in the sky dream or with his case moon in the sky.
QuoteI am so glad that someone bought Cypress Gardens, hopefully it will continue its notoriety, success, and reputation as a Central Florida tourist and entertainment attraction. Yea Cypress Gardens!
Me too, "HU." My grandmother took me there just about every summer when I'd go to visit her and I loved it. I hope they bring back the water skiing shows, this time with creepy LEGO people! One can dream...
QuoteI wonder if Mister Mooneyhan has spoken with Russel Crowe he's a fan of Jacksonville and if memory serves me correctly he mentioned the film history of Jacksonville when he came here for his rugby thing.
I never heard any of this, interesting. It couldn't hurt to have a "big name" actor lacking reservations working here. Thanks for the info samiam.
QuoteI hope this is real and not some pie in the sky dream or with his case moon in the sky.
Only time will tell. Seems pretty lofty for it to not be serious (or at least serious in his mind). If he's hoping to get City funds for any of this he picked a bad year to bark up the wrong tree.
Samiam,
Mooneyhan Entertainment Group is registered to a house at the beach. It has annual revenue around $43,000 and one person works there.
http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_ch78zk
If you do a little Google action you'll come up with a super big project in Tennessee that was to take the place of Opryland that closed in 1997. Note how lofty it sounds. Note too how it sounds like the Jacksonville Beach project.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117488229.html?categoryid=18&cs=1
They even hired an architect, 11-9-98, but after all these years the architect has not posted a picture of the completed project.
http://www.bastienarchitects.com/11-09-98_nashville.htm
All those companies listed under the Mooneyhan Entertainment Group were once listed in Tn. They are all now closed.
http://tnbear.tn.gov/ECommerce/FilingSearch.aspx
I wouldn’t expect too much from the Mooneyhan Entertainment Group.
Quote from: samiam on January 18, 2010, 02:56:41 PM
I wonder if Mister Mooneyhan has spoken with Russel Crowe he's a fan of Jacksonville and if memory serves me correctly he mentioned the film history of Jacksonville when he came here for his rugby thing.
If accurate, I wonder if he's a potential backer for the Norman Studios preservation/museum/film exhibition project. In "The First Hollywood," the book that came out last year on the silent film industry in Jacksonville, there's an extensive discussion about how Norman preservationists had tried and failed to get a Hollywood name behind their work. Bill Cosby was approached because of his admiration for the Bill Pickett films that were produced at Norman, but he declined.
The actress Laura Dern has several links to jacksonville films as well as Russel Crowe
http://feedingamerica.org/partners/entertainment-council/laura-dern.aspx
^ There is a laundry list of Hollywood names that have ties to this area... everyone from the Murray Bros. to John Travolta and a plethora or big money sports stars in the PGA and NFL.
We don't need actors/actresses, we need producers. The actors follow the production companies.
Just a tidbit I found on Jacksonville's film history..
http://www.theinsider.com/news/1167622_Before_there_was_Hollywood_there_was_Jacksonville
A cool list of famous people from Jax.... almost all are NFL players?!
http://www.famouswhy.com/Born_Where/Location/Jacksonville/1/1.html
I love legos!
I wish I still had some. I needa go to Lego land and get me a bunch to keep me occupied when bored. XD
There's a huge Lego Store at Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista. Many fancy Lego sets, and gazillions of loose Legos - to buy by the piece.
Im almost scared of this answer but, how much is a single piece?
No clue. Just looked at all the cool sets, and wished I had a "child" I could justify buying for!
Went to Six Gun Territory, Silver Springs, Marineland, the Old Jail, Fountain of Youth, Alligator Farm, Cypress Gardens, Citrus Tower as a kid. Never made it to Weeki Wachee but sure thought it would be neat to see those mermaids!
By the way, anyone here been to Chalet Suzanne, Lake Wales (restaurant and inn with its own airstrip and world famous for its funky inn rooms and gourmet soups)(http://www.chaletsuzanne.com/) or Chez Bruchez, Daytona Beach (once rated by the NY Times as the best French restaurant on the East Coast)?
(http://www.chaletsuzanne.com/images/office.jpg)
More pictures of "Old Florida" tourist attractions and sites near Jax circa late 40's to 1950 from "Florida Today, 1950 ( http://www.archive.org/stream/floridtodaywithp00huntrich#page/n0/mode/2up):
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0055.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0073.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0099.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0113.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0127.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0133.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0035.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0157.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0181.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
(http://ia331329.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/1/items/floridtodaywithp00huntrich/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2.zip&file=floridtodaywithp00huntrich_jp2/floridtodaywithp00huntrich_0183.jp2&scale=8&rotate=0)
Chalet Suzanne is still there but its now surrounded by tract housing, apartment complexes and a mall. Btw, no one has mentioned Bok Tower Gardens. Its still going strong.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Bok_Tower.png/329px-Bok_Tower.png)
QuoteBok Tower Gardens (250 acres, 1 square kilometer) is the popular name for a site containing botanical gardens, a carillon tower, and several other facilities located on the grounds of the Historic Bok Sanctuary at 1151 Tower Boulevard, north of Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It is a National Historic Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Historic Bok Sanctuary is open daily and an admission fee is charged. It comprises the gardens, the Singing Tower with its carillon bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower sits on Iron Mountain, one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (90 m) above sea level.[4]
History
The gardens began in 1921 when Edward W. Bok, editor of the popular women's magazine Ladies Home Journal and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who would found the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1924, were spending the winter beside Florida's Lake Wales Ridge and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill (298 feet above sea level, 91 meters).
Bok commissioned noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to transform what then was an arid sand hill into "a spot of beauty second to none in the country". The first year was spent digging trenches and laying pipes for irrigation, after which soil was brought to the site by thousands of truck loads and plantings began. The Olmsted plan included the planting of 1,000 large live oaks, 10,000 azaleas, 100 sabal palms, 300 magnolias, and 500 gordonias, as well as hundreds of fruit shrubs including blueberry and holly.
Attempts were made to introduce flamingos to the sanctuary several times, which is why early renderings of the tower show flamingos at the reflection pool rather than swans. These early efforts were unsuccessful, however, as the flamingos were not native to central Florida and could not survive the winters that were cooler than those of southern Florida where they may be found.
Under construction for over five years, Bok Tower Gardens was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge on February 1, 1929.[5] Edward Bok died in 1930, and was interred at the base of the tower.[6]
Gardens
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. designed the meandering gardens of Bok Tower Gardens to feature acres of ferns, palms, oaks, pines, and wetland plants. The plantings also include bunya-bunya trees, camellias, tree ferns, creeping fig, yaupon and dahoon holly, Asiatic jasmine, justicia, crinum and spider lily, monstera, wax myrtle, date and sabal palm, papyrus, philodendron, blue plumbago, and horsetail rush (Juncaceae). The site is a refuge for more than a hundred bird species, the most prominently featured of which is the group of swans, who tend to stay near the reflection pool.
Although the gardens provide an assortment of native wildlife including birds, reptiles, and butterflies, the gardens also are well known for a large population of squirrels that exhibit no fear of humans and often can be hand-fed.
Tower
The Singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens. The tower was built at the highest elevation of the site, south of a reflection pool that allows the water to reflect its full image. A 60-bell carillon set within the 205-foot (62 m) tall, Late Gothic Revival tower that was designed by architect Milton B. Medary. Construction on the tower began in 1927 and was completed for the dedication of the gardens in 1929, when it was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. The tower is 51 feet (16 m) square at its base, changing form at 150 feet (46 m) high to an octagon with 37 feet (11 m) sides that include sculptures designed by Lee Lawrie. The tower is surrounded by a 15-foot (4.6 m) moat that serves as a Koi pond. It is built of pink Etowah marble and gray Creole marble, mined in Tate, Georgia, and Florida native coquina stone, from Daytona Beach, Florida.
Although the tower's interior is not open to the public, it contains the Anton Brees Carillon Library, said to be the largest carillon library in the world.
Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that houses a clavier, or keyboard, that is used for playing the carillon bells. Recitals are given daily from the 60-bell carillon set.
Pine Ridge Trail
The Pine Ridge Nature Preserve and Trail is an ecosystem typified by an over-story of Longleaf Pine and a dense groundcover of perennial grasses that includes a nature trail that extends for three-quarters of a mile, a bog garden, an open glade, and a sand hill forest community.
Pinewood Estate
8 acres (32,000 m2) of the Gardens include the Pinewood Estate, which features a twenty-room Mediterranean Revival mansion. This mansion was built between 1930-1932 by C. Austin Buck, vice-president of Bethlehem Steel Co. in Pennsylvania, as a winter residence. Its original name was "El Retiro", and it has been restored to its 1930s appearance. The sanctuary features several events at this mansion during the year. Guided tours of the 20 room Mediterranean-style mansion are given daily.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_Tower_Gardens
I have been to the Frances Langford Outrigger Resort in Jenson Beach on the Indian River (now defunct).
Also, does anyone have access to a copy of the WPA guide to Florida?
I was able to see a copy in the Captiva Public Library years ago, it has a great section on
Jacksonville.
QuoteWent to Six Gun Territory, Silver Springs, Marineland, the Old Jail, Fountain of Youth, Alligator Farm, Cypress Gardens, Citrus Tower as a kid. Never made it to Weeki Wachee but sure thought it would be neat to see those mermaids!
Been to all of those, except Six Gun Territory, plus Bok Tower. It's been a long time since any of them - maybe time for a grand tour of the remaining old tourist attractions. :)
Re: Marineland
Remember the little (male)poodle in a tutu that rode a surfboard pulled by a dolphin?
How about the electric eel in a tank with a voltometer?
Marineland was the Branson, Mo. of aquatic performers.
I remember the eel, not so much the poodle.
At Silver Springs, remember being thrilled to see a set of Sea Hunt ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051311/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051311/) ), a favorite TV show of mine at the time.
I remember as a kid going to Silver Springs and being told that Sea Hunt with Lloys Bridges was filmed there. I was thinking "Cool. The dude from Hot Shots".
or "Airplane" ... ::)
the trainer from Seinfeld.....
STJR, thank you for scanning all of those images. It's always a treat to see things like that. I wish I had a copy of the 20s-era "Jacksonville Today" magazine that's on display in Currents of Time at the MOSH.
Anyone ever go to some of the other lost FL attractions not yet extensively mentioned in this thread...Floridaland? Circus World? Rainbow Springs in its later years, with the leaf monorail? Cape Coral Gardens?
Never got to see any of them but I love reading about them.
Quote from: Charles Hunter on January 20, 2010, 09:05:50 AM
or "Airplane" ... ::)
I was only 10 at the time, so I didn't know what Airplane was. Now, I can appreciate the humor.
Oh, I'd love to see Legoland characters doing the Famous Water Ski Show! :D
I LOVED Circus World as a kid. Didn't it change hands to "Boardwalks and Baseball" after? I believe I went there once and it was fun, but no Circus World.
Quote from: copperfiend on January 20, 2010, 11:41:51 AM
Quote from: Charles Hunter on January 20, 2010, 09:05:50 AM
or "Airplane" ... ::)
I was only 10 at the time, so I didn't know what Airplane was. Now, I can appreciate the humor.
Wow what a downer y'all, reading this thread makes me think I picked a bad day to stop methamphetamine's.OCKLAWAHA :o
Ock never takes methamphetamines at home...
Quote from: brapt on January 20, 2010, 12:00:28 PM
I LOVED Circus World as a kid. Didn't it change hands to "Boardwalks and Baseball" after? I believe I went there once and it was fun, but no Circus World.
Yes. ESPN used to have a game show originating from Boardwalk and Baseball.
Its official...Cypress Gardens will be a Legoland
http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=52371
QuoteLegoland Florida: Merlin Entertainments reveals details of new Winter Haven park
Central Florida will be home to the world's largest Legoland by the end of 2011, Merlin Entertainments Group said Thursday.
The park, which is planned for the former site of the historic Cypress Gardens, is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs. The historical gardens will stay intact, according to Nick Varney, Merlin's chief executive officer.
Varney announced the details of Florida's newest theme park at a news conference attended by government and tourism officials, including Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
Varney kicked off the event by calling Legoland Florida's "worst-kept secret," referring to the fact that details of today's announcement leaked out Wednesday, after an email surfaced confirming that it was indeed Legoland that was coming to Polk County.
Legoland, Varney said, "is without question one of the strongest brands in the world."
The Florida park is Legoland's second U.S. location, after Legoland California in Carlsbad, Calif. The addition of a Legoland in the Sunshine State is part of a broader push into the U.S. for Merlin.
"We see it as a big development market for us," Varney said.
Merlin Entertainments said it plans to make a "substantial investment" in the Polk County attraction. Governor Charlie Crist went further, saying the company will put hundreds of millions of dollars into the project.
In exchange for building a Legoland in Winter Haven, Merlin Entertainments will receive $5 million in incentives from Polk County over a 10 year period, plus road improvements. The package includes $150,000 per year for job creation and $350,000 per year in marketing support, sources said.
"Obviously in these challenging economic times, these jobs are fabulous," said Florida Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/os-legoland-florida-park-20100121,0,1659229.story
I wish them the best. They are the experts but I'm still skeptical that the location will pay off.
they've made Legoland Cailifornia work...between LA and San Diego...and its at least 30 miles south of Disneyland
Yeah, but the Cali location is right off of I5 which is an 8 lane freeway and is only about 30 minutes from San Diego.
Hopefully the conversion will in some way incorporate the gardens and pay homage to their importance in Florida tourism history.