Cypress Gardens Reopens
March 29th, 2009Winter Haven, FL – Cypress Gardens will offer lower ticket prices with separate access for the water park and botanical gardens when the attraction reopens in Winter Haven.
Bill Sims, Cypress Gardens’ new operations director, said the park is still on track to reopen March 28 and will operate its new Splash Island Water Park through the season ending Oct. 18. Visitors can expect cheaper tickets with more options, and the signature water ski show will return for opening day.
“You will see many changes and improvements with more to come,” Sims said Tuesday during a presentation at the Polk County visitors center in Davenport. “Remember, we’re a work in a progress.”
The new ticket schedule includes:
Daily tickets for Splash Island will be $23.95 each for ages 10 to 59 and $17.95 for children ages 3 to 9 and seniors 60 and older. Daily tickets for Cypress Gardens will run $12.95 for adults and $9.95 for young children and seniors. Tickets for both attractions will cost $29.95 for adults and $22.95 for children and seniors. Previously, daily admission to the site was $35 to $40.
Annual passes will cost $49.95 for Splash Island and $39.95 for Cypress Gardens. A combined pass for the 2009 water park season and 12-month access to Cypress Gardens will be offered at $69.95.
Current Season Pass holders will receive an extended expiration date to offset time lost to the park’s seasonal shutdown in November. Cypress Gardens is not offering refunds for customers upset at the removal of rides, officials said.
Splash Island will primarily be open on weekends, but will operate weekdays during June, July and August.
Cypress Gardens, which idled about 200 full- and part-time employees when it closed in November, has since rehired more than 90 and plans to eventually have a staff of 150 during the peak season, Sims said.
Sims, the former chief at Silver Springs in Ocala, said Cypress Gardens is better positioned with its new model.
He said the park was smart to remove its rides because of upkeep costs and intense competition from similar attractions in Orlando. Sims also said the park needed separate pricing to better market itself to fans of nature attractions or water parks.
“It’s a fact that the demographics are different,” said Sims, a former executive vice president at Cypress Gardens who worked for founder Dick Pope Sr. from 1970 to 1985.
“Most operations around the country are two-gated,” he added, mentioning the Wild Waters park that operates alongside Silver Springs.
The future of some Cypress Gardens attractions is still unclear.
The water ski show will return for opening day but additional performances will likely depend on traffic and demand, Sims said. The boat tours are scheduled to resume in the “near future,” and concerts and seasonal festivals have been announced with few specifics.
In any event, county tourism director Mark Jackson said Cypress Gardens’ return will be a boon during a weak economy.
“Leisure travel has really taken a hit with the economic climate being the way it is,” Jackson said. “The Gardens is vitally important.”
More at www.cypressgardens.com
