Cypress Gardens

Cypress Gardens was an American theme park near Winter Haven, Florida, that operated from 1936 to 2009. Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park, Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie. Over the years, it became one of the biggest attractions in Florida, known for its water ski shows, lush gardens, and Southern Belles. It became known as the "Water Ski Capital of the World" because many of the sport's landmark firsts and over 50 world records broken there. Numerous movies were filmed at the park, including portions of This is Cinerama, the first feature filmed in the wide-screen format, and a string of Esther Williams films and TV specials in the 1950s...