Cypress Gardens History and Future?

Cypress Gardens, Florida’s oldest park, has new owners and in a few days everyone will find out just what Merlin Entertainment has in mind. The announcement has sparked interest in much of the Central Florida population in just what Cypress Gardens will become, but to figure that out it is best to look at its past.


Cypress Gardens was opened by its founder Dick Pope in 1936 as a botanical garden and a few years later a ski show was added. The park operated for over 60 years under this model. While it changed hands many times, including being owned by Anheuser Busch for a few years, it remained solely a botanical garden with a world famous ski show. The park eventually closed in 2003 because of declining tourism.

In 2004, after a campaign to save the historic gardens, Kent Buescher bought the park and enhanced the concept by adding various attractions, eventually relocating the historic Starliner, as well as a water park. The park fell into financial decline from the expansions and soon was put up for auction where Land South Adventures acquired the park.


During Land South’s ownership the park fell into decline, adding to the water park but not enhancing any of the other attractions and soon completely shut down the park for a few months to remove the attractions themselves. Unfortunately the concept of operating as a botanical garden and Water Park did not improve the park’s reputation and in 2009 the remainder of the park shut down.

That brings us to today; Merlin Entertainment has purchased the park. What they plan on doing may soon be known but until then many are speculating they might build a “Hybrid” LegoLand on the property using the successful concept from California and adding the existing gardens. Some people are claiming this concept would not work at the property since it is land locked and legoland California is always adding something new, however the parkinglot could be used as expansion by moving the current parking to the overflow lot and building upon the old one, not to mention a lot of buildings could be relocated to make use of all the available land.


Granted Merlin also operates other amusement and theme parks around the world and may be transforming cypress gardens into a unique concept not seen before. Mind you what is known, the amusement park was sold, but the former attractions from 2004 are still listed as for sale, despite many being standing but not operating (SBNO) on at cypress gardens.