The Re-opened Cypress Gardens and Splash Island Water Park

Cypress Gardens, the oldest theme park in Florida has had a chequered history. When it opened in 1936 this beautiful botanical garden was the brainchild of Dick and Julie Pope. Sadly, its popularity declined over the years, and it became harder and harder for the park to compete with the likes of Disney and Universal.

Eventually, in January 2008, it was taken over by Baker Leisure Group, of Orlando Florida and shut down for renovations in November of that year. A new opening date has been set for March 28th, 2009. It will be interesting to see if Cypress Gardens will survive into the next decade.

The whole concept of the park needed to change, as it was becoming too expensive to run in its present format. It was decided to remove the animals which were part of the zoo experience, and to sell the rides, concentrating on the gardens and an expanded water park. All of the animals have now been re-homed. About half of the roller coasters have been sold and removed from the park but some, including the Triple Hurricane, remain in place, but are not available to the public. This will help to keep costs down, and with the intense competition from theme parks they would have found it difficult to compete as far as roller coasters go – most of them were just too tame for roller coaster experts.

When it reopens, Cypress Gardens will return to its original format, focusing on the beautiful botanical gardens and topiaries. There will also be an expanded water park, Splash Island, which has a number of new attractions with more major developments in the pipeline. Its new name will be Cypress Gardens and Splash Island Water Park. Over 60, 000 annuals have been planted to add to the parks beauty. There will also be a return to the famous ski shows, and the electric boats are being re-modelled. The parks famous Southern Belles will also be appearing, and there will also be a chance for little girls to become Southern Belles for the day, wearing the traditional hoop skirt, white gloves and carrying a parasol.

Splash Island, which has a Polynesian theme, offers several thrill water rides, including Polynesian Adventure which is a huge four storey water play structure with loads of interactive features. There are platforms to climb, with rope ladders, slippery slides, spinning water wheels and water cannon. The 42 ft high Tikki Head sends more than 300 gallons of water cascading over unsuspecting bathers every few minutes. Tonga Tubes is an amazing twin tube slide complex. There are more than four storeys of tubes which twist and turn before delivering you into the pool below.

For the brave, or perhaps the foolhardy, there is VooDoo Plunge, where you can climb to the top of a 60 ft platform before choosing between two lightning fast speed slides. You can either experience a heart stopping drop or you can try the twisting and turning tube slide. For those who want a less intense experience there is the Paradise River lazy river which snakes its way around the water park, but if you want to cool down then the 20, 000 sq ft Kowabunga Bay wave pool is the place to be.

The park will be offering separate tickets to the gardens and the water park, as this would allow two distinct marketing opportunities – to those who are fans of nature and to those who enjoy water parks. Admission to the gardens will be $12. 95 for adults and $9. 95 for children and seniors. The Spash Island admission is $23. 95 and $17. 95.