Goodbye Cypress Gardens

Cypress Gardens opened  in 1936 as Florida's first tourist attraction when Dick Pope, Sr and his wife showcased their botanical gardens. It became famous for its beautiful gardens, Southern Belles and water ski shows and was called the "Water Ski Capital of the World" because over 50 world water skiing records were broken there.

Sadly, its demise, like many other original Florida tourist attractions, began in the 1970s when it had to compete with Disney. Once the Popes retired and transferred the park to their son, successive owners would unsuccessfully keep the park at the necessary attendance levels. The first owner outside the Pope family was book publisher, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich who bought the park in the early 1980s and operated it until it sold the park to Anheuser-Busch in 1989. A group of the park managers, led by Bill Reynolds, then bought the property in April 1995 from Anheuser-Busch and operated it until April 2003 when the park closed suddenly, putting 529 people out of work with three days' notice.

The Friends of Cypress Gardens, founded by Burma Davis Posey, immediately incorporated and saved the park by enlisting the help of members in the United States and 27 other countries and raising 13,500,000 dollars in three and a half months. This group then sold the property to The Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization, who sold a conservation easement over the entire property to the state of Florida with the 30-acres gardens portion sold to Polk County.

Adventure Parks Group bought the balance of the property subject to the conservation easement and reopened the park as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in November 2004 complete with a wooden roller coaster and other midway-style rides and  the adjacent Splash Island water park followed in 2005. Unfortunately, the estimated $30 million in damages from the horrific 2004 hurricane season led Adventure Parks Group to file for bankruptcy in September 2006.

Land South Adventures bought Cypress Gardens at a bankruptcy auction October 16, 2007, temporarily closed the park in November 2008, then reopened in March 2009 as two separate parks.Splash Island was expanded but the animals and many of the midway rides were gone from Cypress Gardens. Sadly, on September 23, 2009, the company announced the park was closing because they were unable to "keep the park running in its traditional form."

Merlin Entertainments, the world's second largest them park and attraction operator, bought the park in 2010 and announced it would become Legoland Florida with an October 2011 opening. It has been reported that the gardens will be incorporated into the new park ... this Florida native and history lover certainly hopes so.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

A trip to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights in December included the day's admission to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

This Disney theme park has an interesting history and began in 1985 when Disney and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) entered into a contract that gave Disney the rights to use the MGM name and logo for a back lot studio. Disney planned the theme park around a working production facilities for movies and television, as well as, a satellite animation studio. However, MGM filed a lawsuit in 1988 against Disney stating that it violated the original agreement. Thus, when the theme park opened adjacent to the production facilities as Disney-MGM Studios in 1989, the only connection to MGM was the original licensing agreement that allowed Disney to use the MGM brand name, lion logo and specific MGM content in The Great Movie Ride attraction. Disney later filed a counter suit and won the right to continue using the Disney-MGM Studios name on film product produced at the facility, but was prohibited from using the Disney-MGM Studios name in marketing pieces promoting it as part of the Walt Disney World Resorts.

 

The theme park was re-branded as Disney's Hollywood Studios in January 2008, while keeping the glamor of the 1930s and 1940s Hollywood, including The Great Movie Ride, as part of its persona. Hollywood history buffs will also enjoy The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, The American Film Institute Showcase and Walt Disney: One Man's Dream.

Like all Disney parks, this one offers something for everyone and is focused on Disney magic and entertainment. Live action and stunt shows, thrill rides, backstage tours and parades are all based on familiar movies and television shows in this unique park designed to look like a giant movie set.

The Shell Factory

The Shell Factory, located off US 41 in North Fort Myers, is over 70 years old and a testament to perseverance. Despite being damaged by Hurricane Donna in 1960, nearly destroyed by a fire in 1980, ignored after the completion of I-75 detoured traffic away from US 41 in the mid 1980s, and in the clutches of bankruptcy in 1997, it remains as a historic tourist attraction thanks to Tom Cronin, a local businessman, who looked to preserve a piece of Florida history by saving the Shell Factory and improving upon its original stature.

The Shell Factory has always been a mega attraction for its massive collection of seashells, as well as, for its many shops of jewelry, Florida Style casual wear, Christmas items, collectibles, shell craft items and souvenirs. However, multimillion dollar renovations have added to the family entertainment experience with bumper boats, miniature golf and a nature park consisting of hundreds of animals, a petting zoo and a 7,000 square foot aviary with tropical landscaping and colorful birds.The renovations have also brought back some of the Shell Factory’s original flavor with a Florida souvenir and sweet shop, an old-fashioned fudge shop and an ice cream shop.

A steak and seafood restaurant, an outdoor bar, a post office, a Subway eatery, as well as, the largest free private Natural History Exhibit have also found a home at the Shell Factory. The Shell Factory remains in a constant flux of change while giving respect to the past, celebrating the present and looking to future.

The Shell Factory is open seven days a week where their motto is “At the Shell Factory we guarantee a warm welcome, magic moments and a fond farewell.”

Gatorama

Gatorama, located on US 27 between Palmdale and Moore Haven, is one of Florida's original roadside attractions still operating today. Even more amazing is the fact that it is still operated by the same family of native Floridians into the fifth and six generation.

This 15-acre attraction makes its home in a natural hammock with a covered 1,000 foot walkway and a lengthy wooden bridge. The walkway meanders past baby alligators, bobcats, ducks, geese, panthers, raccoons and peacocks while the wooden bridge brings visitors up close to the many alligators and crocodiles. Gatorama is open daily, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Smallwood Store

Tucked away in the mist of the 10,000 Islands and west of the Everglades, a red wooden building sits atop piers to keep out rising flood waters during tropical storms and hurricanes and to preserve a part of Florida history.

Chokoloskee Island, at the end of Highway 29, is home to both fisherman and the historic Smallwood Store. Ted Smallwood opened his store in 1906 where it served as an active trading post until it closed in 1982. His granddaughter has since reopened the store as a museum and gift shop. Many items in the exhibit areas of the store date back to the early 1900s and tell the story of Florida's early pioneers.