Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Talk of the bay

Cypress Gardens exceeds annual goal in five months

By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published June 13, 2005

The reborn Cypress Gardens Adventure Park continues to confound the skeptics.

Rebuilt by Georgia entrepreneur Kent Buescher with the addition of a full plate of carnival rides, the Winter Haven tourist attraction zoomed past its first-year attendance goals by April, its fifth month. The folksy Buescher, who also owns Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Ga., projects the park will draw 1.5-million people through its first full year. That's twice the 750,000 he cautiously forecast to bankers last fall. The park got off to such a fast start that Buescher last week named George Vitello, a theme park veteran who had been his director of revenue in Valdosta, as his Florida park's first full-time general manager.

The appointment is a sign Buescher thinks Cypress Gardens has stabilized to a point where he doesn't need to fly in for more than a few days a week.

"Attendance by far exceeded all of our expectations," said park spokeswoman Alyson Gernert, confirming the park is headed toward profitability its first year.

Buescher planted plenty of seeds for Vitello to nurture into reasons for park patrons to make return trips. A water slide section of the park is supposed to open in July. A Halloween event called Phobia is being developed. The park's holiday Christmas Wonderland decorations are coming out of storage, and trucks are delivering the pieces for the park's second wooden roller coaster, which is supposed to be put together by next spring.

Buescher bought the Starliner woodie coaster from the condo developer who several months ago closed the Miracle Strip amusement park in Panama City. Cypress Gardens officials decline to reveal the price.

"They were really anxious to get rid of it," Gernert said.

[Last modified June 10, 2005, 19:30:04]