Florida’s theme parks and attractions have evolved over the years -- and multiplied.
The “Old Florida” tourist experience often focused on history, culture and natural wonders.
While some of those experiences are still around today, many have closed to make way for progress.
News 6 anchor Bridgett Ellison took a look back at Florida’s most famous lost attractions with a local expert.
“Florida must lead the nation in lost attractions,” Dr. Jim Clark said.
In one of his latest books, “Lost Attractions of Florida,” Clark documents some of the state’s first tourist attractions.
“The big attraction in Orlando was a tree called The Senator out in Seminole County. People would come from hundreds of miles away to see this giant tree and that was (early) tourism in Orlando,” Clark said.
Big Tree Park in Longwood opened in 1927 with The Senator as the main attraction.
Touted as the largest and oldest bald cypress in the world, it was estimated to be 3500 years old and stood approximately 125 feet.
In 2012, what was left of the iconic tree burned down as the result of arson. A large stump can still be seen at the park today.
Many of the first popular attractions involved Florida’s natural beauty, such as lakes, botanical gardens and springs.
But roadside wildlife was also a draw that people would stop to see. From bears and ostriches, to alligators.
“Ostrich races used to be big in Florida. Did you know you can ride an ostrich?” Clark said.
In the 1960s, Clark said, Disney set off a surge of new Central Florida attractions.
“The thinking was people would spend one or two or three days at the Magic Kingdom and then have another four or five days of vacation. So let’s build a park for that time and so there were dreams of parks,” he said.
The sites of many former attractions are home to new developments today, still drawing visitors and tourism dollars to Florida.
The sites of many former attractions are now new developments. Cypress Gardens is considered the state’s first theme park and the garden portion still sits nestled in the rear of Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven. The Polk family opened Cypress Gardens as a way to attract visitors and revenue to the area in 1936. The park changed owners and expanded several times over the years. It was featured in many old movies for its world-famous water ski shows, but the park eventually closed in 2009. Legoland Florida opened on the property in 2011 and kept the gardens preserved in their park.
Splendid China, a park dedicated to Chinese culture, opened in Kissimmee in 1993. The park closed in 2003 and Margaritaville Orlando Resort opened in the area in 2019.
“They (Chinese investors) spent millions of dollars, imported scores of performers from China. It was a first-class operation, but it simply couldn’t make it. But the real estate was very valuable and it’s Margaritaville today and thriving. So often things didn’t make it in their first incarnation and then came back to be valuable,” Clark said.
Orlando’s iconic Wet ‘n Wild Orlando waterpark opened in 1977 and closed in 2016. That property is now home to Universal Orlando Resort’s Endless Summer Resort.
“Yes, Wet N’ Wild was a very popular attraction, both for locals and for tourists. And it was kind of one of the overflow things where you could say, hey, let’s spend a day there. It wasn’t as expensive as Disney. That’s the other thing about some of these. They priced it so that, hey I’ve spent most of my money at Disney World, I only have a few dollars left. Where can I go? And the answer was Gatorland or Wet N’ Wild,” he said.
Gatorland, opened in 1949, still welcomes visitors to this day.
The western-themed park, Six Gun Territory, opened in 1963 in Ocala and now the area is home to a shopping center bearing its name, Six Gun Plaza.
“They’d have the shootout every day on Main Street,” Clark said.
As popularity waned, newer parks opened, or new roads affected the traffic, the flow of visitor dollars would control which attractions could last and which would close. The early attractions, whether they stood the test of time or not, made lasting memories and paved the way for new ideas and more growth for state tourism.
“Just kind of how sad (some of) these places are gone forever. There’s still people in my generation who can remember coming down to Florida to see the big tree, The Senator, it was called. But we are a fading breed and people are not going to remember places where you can buy a baby alligator,” Clark said
Learn more about Clark’s book here.