Welcome to CypressGardensPhotos.com!

• Well, that's it. No more rides, no more coasters or Starliner, no more Island in the Sky, no more animals, no more concerts, no more topiary gardens, no more kiddie rides. Just a waterpark and a ski show. Thanks Landsouth. You suck. I hope you all choke on your lakefront condos.

• Sound the alarm! CG is liquidating its rides!
  Now, this could go one of two ways.

1. They're just eliminating the less popular rides and plan to keep going with fewer, but more used rides. (I noticed there were a few duplicates that are being dropped, like the Jalopy Junction, but they're keeping the similar Super Truckers.)
2. They're selling off the park and turning it into housing. This is a land development company that bought the park after all. There's nothing a company such as this likes more than LAKE FRONT PROPERTY. Rumors are that they'd keep the water park and the Botanical Gardens would be safe due to the deal with the state of Florida.

Unless we hear something soon from these yahoos, you probably should make plans to visit one last time to say goodbye.

• CG has announced reduced hours for September. This means they'll only be open Friday, Saturday, & Sunday. That probably makes sense considering there's often more employees in the park than visitors during these months.
• The Megabounce was finally removed after all. Looks like it will be replaced by a scrambler.
• The train track is down and the train should be ready to go again.

• I hear that Star Haven Park has been updated.
• The Mansion's renovations are complete. Now they've got to decide what to do with it.
• The Ice Show Theatre was closed in April for "renovations."
• When Radios Were Radios is to become an animal research building or something to that effect. The radios have been moved over to the model train store.
• The firetruck has been moved to the entrance dome.

• Finally have a trailer for the movie H20 Extreme that was filmed at Cypress Gardens back in November. Check it out.
• The board is all grumpy about the lack of communication from the new owners. How about a press release once in awhile about what's going on over there?

• Not much going on. Unless you count the fact that some of the rides are being removed. Bye bye to the Inverter and the MegaBounce. I guess the Disc'O will be next.
• The Ice Show building was closed. Not sure why exactly, but it's being discussed.
• I've added a new "Moved Rides" gallery as this is a trend that appears to continue.
• Discuss the ride removal here.
• Read the Post of the month!

• Happy New Year!
• Looks like Cypress Gardens is getting a new management team and dumping Kent Beuscher. Discuss.

• Well, I've finally given this site a true domain name. www.CypressGardensPhotos.com should be memorable enough! I'll probably keep the old domain name for a good while yet though.
• Hope everyone is having a nice Christmas season. You may have noticed the photos are down for the moment. We're having server issues, but they should be back in a few days. Server is back!

• In case you missed it, there's a movie being shot at Cypress Gardens this month. It's called H20 Extreme. It stars John Schneider (Smallville, Dukes of Hazzard), Chris Carmack (The O.C.), Agnes Bruckner (Blood & Chocolate), and Rider Strong (Cabin Fever.)
• Anyway, I got to be an extra today. Here's the photos I took, plus the story of my day in this message board thread.
• Here are some other stories: Polk Online Story, Orlando Sentinel Story, Bay News 9 Video.

• The park was sold to the Land South Holdings group for 16.8 million. Kent Beuscher has been retained as the park's CEO, so there probably won't be a lot of changes made.

• Well, by now most everyone knows that Cypress Gardens is to be sold. I would like to thank Kent Buescher for all he's done for CG and am sadded by this news. Read our discussion about the sale here.

• Added the 2007 Interactive Map which includes the Starliner & Bugsville.
• Now that the Starliner is done, there's not a lot of stuff to report. Although we do have Phobia and Christmas to look forward to.
• The train is still down and probably won't be back up for 2007.
• Galaxy Spin's sign has been moved from way up high to the entrance. You now pass under the sign like for the Starliner and Triple Hurricane.

• I've finally had my first ride on the Starliner! And I've got my "now opened photos" too. Check out the Entrance, Lift Hill, Turn Around, Return, Miscellaneous stuff, and Aerial photos. You can also look at the Starliner Gallery and sort by newest to see it all.
• Well, the Starliner was scheduled to open on June 30, but was postponed. Be sure to go on Thursday, July 12 at 10:30am for the Grand Opening and ribbon cutting!
• It's almost done! Click the link for the latest Starliner photos. The entrance is done, the ramp is done... Just some paint, landscaping, and testing and we'll be riding it!

• Starliner construction continues! Click the link for the latest photos. Dates keep changing for the opening of the coaster. They're shooting for late June, but after testing and inspection, it'll probably be closer to July.
• The train is going in under the Starliner! What a cool ride that will be! Check out these shots! Shot1 Shot 2 Shot 3
• Looks like they're taking down the Yo Yo. I wonder what that's all about?
• Added some shots I took of the Bugsville Show. I hope they improve it as time goes by...

• Starliner construction continues! Click the link for the latest photos.
• They've begun assembling the Bugsville play structure. See some of the red rings here.
• Looks like we finally know where the Bugsville show will be! It's taking the place of the Star Haven Commissary. Here's some photos.
• The Bugsville Sign is officially up. We'll let you know when/if they install any more themeing. Also the Bugsville Theatre is done.

• Starliner construction continues! Click the link for the latest photos.
• All of the kiddie rides have been moved. The Junior Rampmaster boats were the last to be completed. See all of the moved kiddie rides in the Bugsville gallery.
• Work has restarted on converting the Adventure Arcade into a Sports Bar. Not sure where it's going exactly with all the new carpeting, but we'll see. Message Board Thread here and some photos of the new carpeting/construction here.
• Got my first photo of the CG Buzzby!

• Ok folks. The moment you've all been waiting for. Starliner construction photos! Also, check out this snap of the Starliner turnaround blueprint!
• Four of the kiddie rides have been relocated and are operating! A fifth (the Upsy Daisy gliders) will be up and running in a few days. After that, the Junior Rampmasters (boats), the Trotters (horses), Super Trucks, and the Gear Jammers (firetrucks) will be installed.
• Finally got some shots of the Wild About Wildlife show.
• The Starliner is in the "tearing up the ground" stages! Read the Starliner post on our Message Board for more info.
• LOTS of work being done on the kidde rides relocation. Check out the Bugsville Construction!
• While watching the crews build the firehouse, I saw Mr. Beuscher walking through the park. I took the opportunity to introduce myself (again, since I met him at the Galaxy Spin opening). He said he remembered me (which is probably true, since I'm so memorable. wink-wink) Anyway, I told him about this site and thanked him for the progress at Cypress Gardens. I told him how excited we all were about the Starliner and wondered if he could tell us the happenings. He said they had some permit problems (as we knew) and that they were in the process of pouring the concrete supports. I mentioned how I never got a chance to ride the Starliner in Panama City. He went on about how much fun of a ride it is and that he can't wait to see it rebuilt. He said it was still set to open in early June. I then thanked him for talking with me and re-mentioned the website address. Hey, if he can remember me from the Galaxy Spin opening, hopefully he can remember the website address too!

• The Website looks pretty much the same, but it's all new! All the photos have been databased so they're easier for everyone to view (and easier for me to add and modify!) Check out all the new galleries and our awesome Search feature on the left sidebar!
• Other than a few orange nets and outlines cut in the grass for Bugsville, there's nothing going on with the Starliner yet. I understand they're waiting on one last permit.
• I've learned that the tentative opening date for the Starliner is June 9. We'll see if they can make that date!
• A couple of photos (sorry if they're blurry) from the new Sports Bar being built inside the Arcade.
• Added photos of the new Bungee Bounce and Climbing Wall.
• Here's some shots of the new Guest Services where the Carnival Games are supposedly going.
• On April 1, Cypress Gardens will try to set the record for the World's Largest Easter Egg hunt. The winner will get a scholarship to Polk Community College!

Latest news as of January 2007

• I talked with some of the Kiddie ride ops today. One said the engineers were touring the area and he expected them to start moving the rides any time now. Another said he thought they were going to move the Wave Runner for the Starliner, but I highly doubt it.

Latest news as of December 2006

• Nothing started on the Starliner or Bugsville yet. We expect they'll get started after the holidays.
• I've found another aerial view of the completed park. I've also used this image to remake my Bugsville and Starliner concept! (It's been updated too, so be sure to refresh the image.) If they do it like I've designed, it is possible to put in 13 rides! (And even more if they wanted!)

Latest news as of November 2006

• Just added some photos of the Starliner car. Not much else to see on Nov. 11, especially when it was dark! Also, I've added a new Gallery for Bugsville with the first two photos of the sign. I imagine I'll be moving a lot of photos/adding photos in the next few months! Oh, and the Wild West Show is back (again.)
• Good news! The Starliner has been announced to be ready by Summer 2007! (Orlando Sentinel story here,(and another one),Lakeland Ledger Story here, (and another one here.)) Also the kiddie area will be relocated and called Bugsville. I had a feeling this would be the case. Here are some photos from the announcement!
• Ok, so CG declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in April to protect itself until it works out it's money problems. But Kent is says they should overcome those problems by early summer (click the Starliner link above.)

Latest news as of July 2006

• Went to see the fireworks on July 2. Check them out in the Ski Show Gallery.
• Added a few more shots of the Island in the Sky.
• Again, I got lucky and recorded another Cypress Gardens commercial!
• Got some night shots of the Ferris wheel, mega bounce, and others. Look in the Adventure Grove and Boardwalk sections.

Latest news as of June 2006

• Not a whole lot to report construction-wise. The kiddie rides haven't been moved nor has the Starliner. And there hasn't been any progress on the 6th water park attraction, the kiddie slides (called the Tonga Slides on the map.) Also haven't seen any progress on the Splash Island "Tiki Garden" either. Literally NOTHING going on.
• Got a whole new Gallery devoted to the Cypress Belle. My wife and I went on the dinner cruise back in March.
• I got lucky the other day when my DVR recorded a Cypress Gardens commercial!
• Added some more Botanical Gardens photos. They're doing walking tours now.
• My wife and I are pretty sure we heard fireworks going off Saturday night. But it was pretty late for it we thought (about 10:30 pm.)
• Of course, we guessed that the family of the kid who was hurt on the Hurricane would sue. Haven't heard anything about that yet.
• Probably the photo to end photos of that crazy fountain!
• Moved the Park Map to it's own page.

Latest news as of Feb. 2006

• There was an accident on the Triple Hurricane on Feb. 25, 2006. Apparently, some kids dared their 13 year old friend to stand up during the ride. He fell and is now in the hospital.
• Just added some scans of a news paper insert. Quite informative! It mentions some mega steel coasters coming in 2007!
• Not a whole lot to report. The ferry boats are now running between the Nature's Way dock and the Ski Show area. But only on weekends. Also the Cypress Belle is also going out for dinner cruises on the weekends.
• Hopefully we'll be seeing some Starliner construction soon!
• Added some shots of the Ice Show. Go to the Jubilee Junction link to see them.
• Added some more shots in Natures Way. Check out the Tamarin!
• Found some great aerial photos of the park while under construction and of Splash Island in Nov. 2005 from www.aerophoto.com!

Latest news as of Nov. 2005

• The biggest news of late is the boat ramp near the Botanical Gardens is almost ready! Wow, that was a surprise! The Paddleboat is docked there too. You can find more photo in the Ski Show Gallery.

• The only other new thing of late is that the Funnel Cake cart in the Boardwalk was moved closer to the arcade. Check out this shot.