Cypress Gardens
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Cypress Gardens is a theme park near Winter Haven, Florida (about 20 miles east of Lakeland) in the United States. It was conceived and built by Dick and Julie Pope. In the early 1980s they retired and passed the park on to their son Dick Pope, Jr.
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History
In the 1980s book publisher Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich (HBJ) decided to aggressively get into the amusement business by buying up SeaWorld, Circus World (in 1985), Stars Hall of Fame and Cypress Gardens (in 1985). They got out of the business just as quickly and sold most of the parks to the Anheuser-Busch Corporation in 1989.
Busch was most interested in the SeaWorld parks as they closed Circus World immediately. Busch continued to operate Cypress Gardens until April 1, 1995 when a group of the park's managers led by Bill Reynolds purchased the park.
Under Bill Reynolds (now president and CEO) the park operated until April 13, 2003. The park was closed due to declining attendance due to the drop in tourism after the September 11th, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attack.
During this time the park was owned by First Gardens L.C. of which Larry Maxwell was the majority share holder. This is the company formed by the former park managers.
On February 22, 2004, a rather complex deal to save Cypress Gardens was signed. The land was placed on a conservation easement preventing it from development. Kent Buescher's Adventure Parks Group, owner of Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia purchased the park and it has reopened as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.
Attractions
Cypress gardens has over 20 rides and attractions.
Roller Coasters
- Triple Hurricane
- Okeechobee Rampage
- Fiesta Express
- Swamp Thing
External links
- Cypress Gardens official site (http://cypressgardens.com/welcome.asp) (uses Macromedia Flash)
- ACTWON Un-Official Cypress Gardens site (http://www.actwon.com/cg/ap) with photos, news, history and more. With links to Wikipedia and No paid advertising
- Wild_Adventures -- Wild Adventures (http://wildadventures.net/welcome.asp) Cypress Gardens owner Kent Buescher's safari and water theme park located in Valdosta, Georgia (uses Macromedia Flash)