Winter Haven, Florida: Cypress Gardens - Classic (Gone)

We were sad when the "Water Ski Capital of the World" closed -- but Cypress Gardens is back on the map.

The news fell on Florida like a ton of tiny plastic bricks. Cypress Gardens, known for its water ski shows and Southern Belles, will be turned into Legoland Florida in 2011.

Cypress Gardens, Florida's first theme park, has once again found itself out in the weeds. An iconic home of water ski shows and Southern Belles in uncomfortably warm dresses, the park operated steadily for almost 70 years.

Three couples traveled this week for 2 hours to visit Cypress Gardens, Florida. It was the greatest disappointment you could imagine. We checked their website ahead of time and it boasted a "daily schedule" and an electric boat ride and also a 45 minute boat along with a Splash Park and, of course, the botanical gardens. Well, forget it...the only thing open was the botanical gardens...no boats, no daily schedule of shows, no Splash Park, and to add insult to injury, they wanted to charge us $9.95 (senior discount) to go into the restaurant to eat lunch. They, of course, were assuming that we would also walk around the gardens. This was a 2-hour one way trip and we could even eat lunch there without having to pay an entrance fee. At least, we were allowed to use the restrooms. However, the restrooms at the entrance were closed. You had to wait until you were driven into the Park on a shuttle train in order to use the restroom!

Your write-up of the Park would make one think it is not worth visiting ... that's it's all washed up. It is still fantastic. My husband and I visited with our 96lb Lab, Bubba, for "Dog Days of Summer" at the attraction's water park. That's right, they opened the water park up to the dogs (and their owners, of course) for a day for the doggies. This was great since our furry pals can't swim in our many lakes for fear of alligators. It was a great day. The staff was gracious, the public grounds were immaculate. When we left in early afternoon the rides were in full tilt and they still feature concerts there on certain weekends. They have cut back their schedule to F/S/S only, but will probably step that up when the season picks up.