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First time I visited Cypress Gardens I was a young girl, maybe 9 years old and was in complete awe. Not only by the beauty of the botanical gardens but mostly by the ski show and all the good looking people and the fact that these people were making a living by water skiing. Or just by sitting on the grass in a hoop skirt waving to the crowds.
Over the last twenty years I’ve visited the park many times and seen a transformation each time. Read the rest of this entry »

I remember Cypress Gardens as a colorful place, with lush gardens filled with exotic flowers; pretty ladies in big hoop skirts sauntering around with fancy parasols and curled up hair; giant animal topiaries and acrobatic water-ski shows on the warm Lake Eloise. The time was the late 1970′s and though I wanted to check out the nearby mouse house, Cypress Gardens was more affordable and less crowded, I was told. I don’t remember being Read the rest of this entry »

It began as a 37-acre botanical garden, the Depression-era vision of real estate developer Dick Pope, Sr. Cypress Gardens opened in 1936 with 8,000 varieties of flowers from around the world and tropical canals that carried tourists in silent, electric-powered boats. An enthusiastic promoter, Pope advertised the park widely and the colorful “Visit Cypress Gardens” billboards became familiar landmarks along the highways of the east coast, eventually earning Pope the title “Father Of Florida Tourism.” The park’s famous water ski exhibitions began in the 1940s and exotic Read the rest of this entry »

Cyprus gardens adventure park and botanical gardens is located between Tampa and Orlando in the heart of Winter Heaven Florida. The original roots of this park date back as far as 1936 when it was first conceived. However, over the years the park has changed hands several times and undergone some major renovations. Then in 2009 the cypress gardens adventure park and botanical gardens was forced to close down due to the down turn in the economy and threats of terrorist attacks which finally had taken their toll on this once popular historical park.

However, Read the rest of this entry »

Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida was founded by Dick Pope and his wife Julie in 1936. They began by growing 8,000 different types of plants for tourist to see. In 1938 they added electric boats so that the visitors would be able to tour the canals. In 1940 water ski shows and southern belles were added. The southern belles were added to distract the visitors from noticing a huge dead vine. Over the year more attractions were added such as a boat driving dog, a skier with huge feet and more southern belles to roam the grounds and visit with the guest. Read the rest of this entry »