Meteornotes Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 ^I disagree. This coaster barely drew any riders in its old location. Why on earth would it suddenly now be a "must ride" attraction that will magically make hoards of people visit this park? It won't. Any park that will let people in for free with any other park season pass is a park on its last legs. This place could maybe survive if they spent a lot of money and built some sort of major attraction or two that are not offered anywhere else nearby. But at this point I doubt they have the cash to spend on a new soda machine, let alone major attractions. The only way this place could become new condo space faster is if Six Flags already owned the property... dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 As cute as I thought this park was, It suffers from two major problems. It is way off the beaten track. Even with the Starliner, it will have no signature attraction. It realy needs something to make people want to drive 80+ miles out of their way to visit. I sure hope his insurance settlement is huge, as he seems to be digging himself into a large hole with no sign of getting out in the next year. Kind of a late 90's 6 flags mentality. Very dangerous as he doesn't have the equity to bargain off like the 6F chain does. With that said, I hope they do succede. I realy liked the park. I would love to take my kids there next Christmas to get the multitude of Kiddie Credits. Anyway, just my 2C's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_teisco_delrey Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 "A Bugsville Adventure? Hmmm sounds kinda like a certain show I saw at another park. What could that be? Maybe they'll have a promotion like "A Day of One Thousand Dreams". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Sorry haters! CG is going to come out of Chapter 11 soon... (I don't understand why you people WANT to see it fail...) Buescher said the park should overcome its bankruptcy status by early summer. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061109/BREAKING/61109015 Anyway, what's this "4-story" building for the kids supposed to be (mentioned in the Orlando Sentinel story)? Shoot, there aren't many 4 story buildings in all of Winter Haven! I'm guessing it's some kind of open air play structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 As cute as I thought this park was, It suffers from two major problems. It is way off the beaten track. Even with the Starliner, it will have no signature attraction. It realy needs something to make people want to drive 80+ miles out of their way to visit. Huh? CG is only about 35-40 miles from Disney. (Although Google should send people down 27 instead of going through Lake Alfred...) And it's in between Disney and Busch Gardens. I travel that route all time and it takes about 45 minutes. If you're already traveling 400 or more miles to visit the mouse, it's not that long a drive to visit Florida's first theme park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Funny how everyone's quick to write this place off due to the lack of major thrills "needed to compete." If I'm not mistaken, Cypress Gardens has survived for 70 years......35 of those being in direct competition with a certain mouse. Oh, and yeah, that Busch park is nothing to sneeze at either. So for those who say it can't possibly compete, I'm anxious to hear your theory on how it has survived for the past three and a half decades. I liken it to Lake Winnie in a sense. LW is almost directly between SFOG and a steadingly growing Dollywood. It only has one 40 year old woodie, a wild mouse, a wacky worm, and is open a fraction of the time that CG is, yet I don't recall LW being in trouble. Many small parks find a way to survive by understanding their niche market. I don't think CG is any different. I bet 90% of the people who visit to ride Starliner will have no idea it used to reside in the redneck riviera. To them it's new, and that's all that matters. It's not like Busch adding the biggest and baddest B&M on the planet, but it will undoubtedly help CG in some capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterJunkie Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 I for one, being a Winter Haven local, am looking forward to the changes for the park. I cant always go to Disney or the other parks, and CG is only about 10 min from my house. I found that I didn't go much do to the hefty price for parking, even as an AP holder. The Publix was always busy because of this.. I was torn about renewing my pass, and I do believe I will renew now. Even a few more thrill rides, like the coaster will make me happy. The area is growing, they are adding a small shopping venue out front, including restaurants. I believe the pass holder thing is to maybe get someone who would never dream of going to CG, a second thought being its free to see...just my idea on that one. Good Luck CG!!! You can pull out of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOA Freak Posted November 9, 2006 Author Share Posted November 9, 2006 Geez, why do you people hate Cypress Gardens so much? It's the same as every other small park in America. I see no reason to single it out just because it's in competition with Disney. IMO Cypress Gardens is a great park with fun for all ages. I don't remember anyone bashing it went it was only Gardens, so why bash it now? Also they said that by next summer they will be out of bankruptcy if you can actually read newsletters. So I see no reason to say it will be gone by 2008. And what about Boomers in SE Florida, it only has one good woodie and the park is located in the middle of nowhere, yet I hear no one bashing it. Apparently not many of you guys like flowers. Thank you Greg, ECZSmith, CoasterJunkie, and BeemerBoy for your beleif in Cypress Gardens. As of now I no longer want ot be part of this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Hey Cypress Gardens Fan Boys! Pay Attention! Guy is right, you just proved it yourself! 40 miles each way = 80 miles off the beaten track round trip math geniuses!!!! Nobody wants to see the place fail, but we're just being realistic. As for the 4 Story Structure, yeah, it's a play place. Even if they put the Insect O Slide in, I still don't need to go back anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Sorry. I must have missed where he said "Round trip" in his post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 You didn't miss it, you're just hellbent on defending the park at all costs, there's a difference! Sigh, why aren't there any Wild Adventures Fan Boys watching out for that park and complaining that Cypress Gardens is taking all of that parks money! If Cypress Gardens did so well for 70 years without all these additions, why keep pushing the issue now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Well, someone has to defend the park from haters. I thought this was a place to celebrate theme parks, not bash them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 OMG! Do you actually read anything we write? Did you see our TR where we said how improved the park was??? It's not bashing when there are articles being written about how the park is in serious trouble, and then there are press releases like today's where you see why! Glad you'll be at Cypress Gardens forever, shorter lines at the other Florida Parks for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBannedKid Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 She isn't bashing it, shes being realistic...as she stated in a previous post. I have no knowledge of the park so I can't really add much other than that. EDIT: But of course she posts before me, making me look like a bigger idiot than before. Sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 How did Cypress survive for 70 years? Well, it didn't! In case you missed it, people weren't going there anymore after about 60 years and the park eventually died. You can blame it on the terrorist attacks, global warming, AIDs, overpopulation of sea monkeys, whatever! The point is, waaaay back in the 1970s and even the 1980s there was only Disney, consisting of 1 or 2 parks, and all the other local stuff. The more Disney (and later Universal) added, the less time people had to venture to the local places during their week long vacations. Cypress survived for so long because of the old people who just wanted the peace and quiet of the gardens away from all the touristy stuff and the tourists who came once or twice to see the nature. But with more time at Disney, they stopped coming. Passholders kept it barely alive in the 1990s and its not too expensive to maintain local gardens and model railroads. Now we've got the gardens for the old people, but they now gotta put up with the whiny kids, rides nearby, and the more theme park like atmosphere (including paying to park). Many retirees down there stopped supporting the park when they refused to honor the old passes from closing year. Being 35 miles out in the middle of West Jabip isn't going to draw the tourists from the Orlando area too much. If they want a few kiddie rides, there's also Magical Midway, Fun Spot, and Old Town much closer to provide them with a cheap fix. Waterpark-wise, there's plenty down in Orlando, so that's not going to draw people in either. What the park needs is a stand out attraction to make people notice. A 200 foot tall hypercoaster would draw people in, as there isn't one of them in Florida. Then add a different sort of spinning coaster, a simple launched shuttle loop or something, and you'd have a collection of coasters unique in Florida. Getting a roller skater and an unthemed spinning mouse much like Disney has isn't doing themselves any good. After all that, presto, the place has some thrills for the teenagers, lots of rides for the little kids, gardens for grandma and grandpa, and mom and dad can take in a concert on a Saturday, as they're big Creedence fans! I don't want to see the park fail, but getting the stuff they are isn't going to be the big draw-in they need. Face it, all these rides cost money to maintain, a heck of a lot more money than a bunch of native plants does on their own, and that only lasted them so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Elissa, I already know you hate CG, you've said so in other posts. And I think one reason is because you think it's taking $$ from Wild Adventures. Weather that's true or not, it's pretty sorry of you and/or others on the board to wish CG to fail. Shoot, in your original trip report you & Rob talked how you expected it to fail and you'd get to see the Disc-O at WA! http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=169 Good thing it's still connected to the trailer so when this park fails, they can just roll it on down to Wild Adventures! I'm realistic about the park. And it's doing better than it ever has. It's too bad there are so many haters out there. But hey, if you don't like it don't go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 I'm realistic about the park. And it's doing better than it ever has. It's too bad there are so many haters out there. But hey, if you don't like it don't go. Wait, lets try that again.... I'm realistic about the park. Its STILL funny!! When has a park realistically EVER accepted any old season pass from any old competing park? Sure, it would be a good way to get people into the park if the park is amazing and wows everyone into coming back again and again, but its not going to happen. Sure the gardens are nice for the nature people, but they don't normally buy season passes to amusement parks for the flowers alone. Ride wise, the park has nothing outstanding, and very few things other than kiddie rides. The best ride in the park is the spinny raft ride! If nothing else, the pass deal sounds like they're screaming "look at us, please please please come visit. We'll LET you in for free! We're just desperate for attendance of any sort!" (then they can claim next year that the attendance has gone up even more this year) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippyTrick09 Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Sigh, why aren't there any Wild Adventures Fan Boys watching out for that park and complaining that Cypress Gardens is taking all of that parks money! \ I was actually going to comment about that, but I decided I would get over run by the CG fanboys, being that I'm the onyl WA fanboy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Great post Derek. Although it doesn't matter. The Cypress Gardens fanboys will just argue whatever anyone here has to say to death. No matter what...they are right, and if you even remotely say something slightly negative about the park, you are wrong. Like Elissa said, they obviously didn't read our last report, which was positive. And they obviously have no experience whatsoever about theme park business, or business in general for that matter. I don't want to see the park fail either. Hell, if they can add a credit or two to Florida every couple of years, I'm all for it! But you can't deny that the discussion of the park's future is 100% valid. And GCGreg guy...we never said we "wished" it to fail, we said we "expected" it to fail. Please stop putting words in our mouth just to try to prove your point. Because you really don't have a point! You are arguing for the sake of arguing, and just basically being an ass. You're basically just creating a flame war, which isn't allowed here. Stop being an ass otherwise you'll get banned just like the other CG fanboy that was being a dick. --Robb "There is no reason to be a dick in order to support your local park." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 No matter what...they are right, and if you even remotely say something slightly negative about the park, you are wrong. I've never said CG was a perfect park. But it's not 1/2 as bad as some make it out to be. --Robb "And there is no reason to be a dick in order to support your local park." Alvey Which post was *I* a dick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippyTrick09 Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 ^WATCH IT! I smell someone's account being deleted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 ^WATCH IT! I smell someone's account being deleted! Deleting an account for supporting a theme park where I've said nothing wrong or hateful to anyone? I guess disagreeing with the admins is all it takes to get banned then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Which post was *I* a dick? Are you kidding? Do you read your own posts? Look at the attitude in your posts compared to how other people here treat each other. If you can't see that, then I'm sorry....but you're kind of being a dick. --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 I'm indifferent in the whole Cypress Gardens issue if you ask me. Its good the park is having good attendance, I'm fearing CG is heading down the SF road with the constant additions eventually leading to a massive debt. BTW Greg, I'd prepare for a bantron or something. That post saying "When was *I* a dick?" was a trap. Just a heads up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippyTrick09 Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 ^WATCH IT! I smell someone's account being deleted! I guess disagreeing with the admins is all it takes to get banned then. Pretty much, yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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