Cypress Gardens: The Forgotten First Theme Park in Florida Florida is renowned for its theme parks, with Central Florida being home to some of the world's most popular attractions. However, the state's first theme park is no longer in operation. Instead, it was Winter Haven's Cypress Gardens, which operated for approximately 70 years, attracting visitors from around the globe.
This article aims to shed light on the history and significance of Cypress Gardens, a 220-acre botanical garden that was opened in January 1939 by Richard Downing Pope Sr. and his wife, Julie Pope. According to reports, Pope's wife was inspired by a Good Housekeeping article about a Charleston banker who opened his private estate to the public... charging an admission fee. This sparked the idea for the couple to create a similar attraction in their new hometown of Florida.
Pope began constructing his dream garden on the swampy shores of Lake Eloise, which soon became a showcase for 8,000 varieties of flowers from over 90 different countries. Over the years, Cypress Gardens evolved into a popular tourist destination, attracting millions of visitors annually. Although it did not feature modern theme park rides, it introduced various attractions to its guests.
Cypress Gardens was dubbed the "water ski capital of the world" due to its many water sporting events. The gardens also played host to numerous Hollywood film productions... with movies such as "On an Island With You," "Easy to Love," "Moon Over Miami," and "This is Cinerama" being filmed on its grounds. Cypress Gardens is located within the census-designated place of Winter Haven in Polk County, situated within the Lakeland-Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Unfortunately, "Cypress Gardens is no longer in operation," "but its legacy serves as a testament to the state's rich history of theme parks." Information for this article was obtained from Yahoo Entertainment.
At this point, Florida might as well be synonymous with the term ⁘ theme parks .⁘ Central Florida alone is home to some of the globe's top theme parks. But which theme park actually was here first in Florida? While Disney World or Universal Studios might seem like the obvious answer, it's neither. In fact, Florida's first theme park isn't even around anymore.
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