Florida Guide > Other Parks
The old ones can sometimes be the best ones!!
During a recent visit to our villa on the SR27, we decided to head off South, down the SR27 to see what we came across. About 15 minutes South of the I4 interchange, but still on the SR27 we saw a sign for Cypress Gardens. We followed this and very quickly came to the entrance. A decision was made to go and give it a try.
Being seasoned Florida explorers, we had our swimming trunks in the back of the car, so taking these with us, off we set to the turnstile booths. Great news, ‘seniors’ of 55 years and over, get a reduction. Every little helps, as they say. Cheaper than most other Parks, we were already warming to Cypress Gardens, but still not quite sure what to expect. As we walked in, reading our Park map, we decided we would try to do it all, and set off in a clockwise direction. Very soon we were tempted this way and that, but by the end of the day, we had certainly managed to fit most, if not all of the Parks many attractions under our belt.
Cypress Gardens opened back in the 40’s, and is still going strong. It has a very relaxed and peaceful air to it. The first thing we saw was the Water ski Show. This was spectacular, even if you aren’t a great fan of water skiing, as the stunts are great, the skill of the display team, stunning, and it maintains a slightly Olde Worlde feel to it. A Hang glider makes a surprise appearance too. Plenty of barefoot skiing, and lots of comedy too.
From here, we took a short walk into the ‘Park rides’ area. There are around 40 rides to choose from, and they range from very easy, gentle rides, through bone shaking roller coasters, to serious swinging, twisting and dropping you suddenly types of ride. In other words, there really is something for everyone. The Big Wheel is of the traditional type, with great views from the top.
Several of the rides had us laughing hysterically, and this seemed to be a feature of the day. We all felt we got a great ‘fun factor’ out of our visit.
There is also a unique ‘Sunshine Sky Adventure’ ride in the park, which slowly rotates as it goes skywards, giving you a great panoramic view of the Park, and the surrounding countryside. Several types of roller coaster pleased the livelier members of our party, and for the more sedate, a beautiful walk through the well-maintained gardens, and the Butterfly House, gave everyone a treat.
Food choice was good, and reasonably priced. All the usual platters and combos were available.
The one outstanding feature of this Park was the amount of laughter, from all ages, that seemed to be contagious.
We stumbled across the ‘water park’ side of Cypress Gardens towards the end of our visit, and this consisted of a ‘lazy river’ feature, and two or three water slides. Of varying angles and length. Again, it struck us how many people were having a great laugh, and seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
When we finally left the Park, staff were on hand to say ‘goodbye’ and reminded us we could come back for a second visit free.Another bonus.
All in all, a really ‘fun’ day out for all age groups, reasonably priced, with staff who clearly enjoyed their job, and wanted you to enjoy your visit.
Hope you have the same experience if you pay Cypress Gardens a visit.
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