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Merlin buys Cypress Gardens, to be Legoland

Mixed views on this.

Anyone that has been there will tell you what the area is like, I know Mark did not feel safe.

In a way it is to far away from the main Orlando parks for them to really turn it around. There is just nothing there, I suppose you could say the same about BGA so they view is a bit floored lol.

I think they would have been better off getting some land near the main parks and building a new park. I suppose if they did turn it into a Legoland they would draw in more of a crowd but I do not think it will be enough.

They will need to run coaches from the main theme park part of Orlando to get people there, that is why I think not many people went not everyone gets cars.

There is a water park there as well which could be turned into a Lego one.

They know what they are doing though.

Its great news for the park though as it will save it.

Thats my vew on it.

I think they sold the rides the other year, well they put them up for sale anyway and stopped running them.
 
I think it's a good move.

My nan went to this park and loved it, which to me says that it is the perfect place for a legoland type park, with a miniature lego world and such.

I really don't know anything about the park, but I don't think it's location should be any more of a hindrance to it than BGA finds. BGA is ridiculously out of the way, but tonnes of tourists to Orlando still make the trek.

The problem with CG more than anything else is, I'm guessing, that people don't know it exists. I didn't see any ads for it whilst I was there...
With a company like Merlin able to pour funds into advertising, this problem is eradicated. Especially if it's advertising itself as a more relaxing alternative to the big parks and thus hitting a niche, which is how my nan perceived it and it's why she went and why (I'm guessing...) she enjoyed it.
 
Joey you would not have seen adverts for it as its only open at peak times now as a garden and water park, the rides stopped last year.

I never got to go on the rides there as they did not open them the day we went even though they said on the site they would be open.

Its the oldest theme park in Orlando, it was there before Disney etc.

I do like the idea of a legoland in Orlando though :)
 
Joey said:
The problem with CG more than anything else is, I'm guessing, that people don't know it exists. I didn't see any ads for it whilst I was there...
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Before the park closed they had billboards lining the highways into the Orlando area - lots of them! They also ran TV commercials like crazy & had brochures in every hotel in a 200 mile radius.
The trouble started when they decided to go for bigger rides & making it into more of an amusement park, rather than just the gardens & animals. Which explains why Joey's nan liked it so much, but leads me to be skeptical on what kind of success Merlin will have there.
 
Oh well in that case, maybe the place is just truly ****ed. :P

But Merlin are best known for things like Legoland, The Dungeons and Sea Life. Experiance, pretty scenery and animal exhibits is what they do, and it's a niche that Cyprus Garden's could continue to fit, only better with Merlin's cash. But with such great animal exhibits at Animal Kingdom, Seaworld and BGA... Maybe not.

Merlin have a weird fettish for parks with tough competition. The whole Legoland Windsor/Chessington/Thorpe triangle, where Chessie continuously looses out to Legoland, seems rather like that could happen with Cyprus Gardens.

How cheap was CG before it went completely to ****, compared with the surounding parks?
 
East Coast(er) General said:
Joey said:
The problem with CG more than anything else is, I'm guessing, that people don't know it exists. I didn't see any ads for it whilst I was there...
Click to expand...
Before the park closed they had billboards lining the highways into the Orlando area - lots of them! They also ran TV commercials like crazy & had brochures in every hotel in a 200 mile radius.
The trouble started when they decided to go for bigger rides & making it into more of an amusement park, rather than just the gardens & animals. Which explains why Joey's nan liked it so much, but leads me to be skeptical on what kind of success Merlin will have there.
Click to expand...

Cheers Jerry you explained it better than I could :)

I just done some google searches, the offical statement is expected on the 21st.

The park closed last week and was never expected to reopen, so it sounds like Merlin would have got it cheaper.
 
I managed to get to CG not that long before it shut down the rides (I went Dec 2007).

I quite liked the park, the gardens were really nice, the park-location rather stunning (on the edge of the big lake).

So I could see a Legoland park working on that plot of land OK.

The "location" with regard to tourist-central Orlando is obviously a big issue - however if they get their PR right (glossing over how far away it is) and get their infrastucture right (regular buses from I-Drive to the park for example) then they should be OK! (hope so)
 
If I remember right it was about 90 min drive from WDW, you were led to think its was just off the freeway and it was not.

BGA is only down the road time wise and I think most people went there.

Joey CG was not that cheap either it was $30 each and $5 to park, and as I said when we got there we were informed due to staff problems no rides would be open. We did complain and got out parking money back but that was all.

If there is a Legoland maybe some other things will open in the area as well, but as David said they are really going to need to get their PR right and lay on buses.
 
I'm not a big fan of Legoland's, so I'd just be pleased if they got the rides open and invested some more in the park to make it a top attraction for the area.

Its a very nice looking park, it would be a disaster if they filled it Lego!
 
I hope they keep the woodie I never got to ride it and it did not look to bad.

I think the only way they will get people there is to change it to Lego tbh.
 
This has come in at a bit of a shock for me, I wouldn't have put them in for buying a park such as this in America.

This makes me think whether they may also buy Terra Mitica, I know its doubtful for them to buy two parks within the same month, but I wouldn't put it past them!
 
Screaming Coasters said:
Don't they already own Legoland in Cali?
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Yeah, but Cypress Gardens is in florida on the otherside of the states :P But yeah, they do lol. Merlin are quite desperate to crack America too so this isnt totally surprising but I do think this is a very strange move.

I can't decide whether or not this will actually work. I just don't know if people are going to be inticed enough to come away from Disney and Harry Potter and so on to visit a Lego park...... (if it is to be a Lego park of course...)

My reasoning is based solely on the current Lego parks which pretty much all have the same ride line ups and so on. Would a lego park really have enough to get people down there? Perhaps someone in the US who knows a bit more could say. I know that I would only do it for a cred hunt and probably never return until something new arrives.

Nevertheless, its another string to the ever growing Merlin bow (whether I like it or not). I just hope they dont get into the Six Flags flow and buy lots of parks to then have to sell them again because they cant cope with so much so soon....
 
-lofty- said:
This has come in at a bit of a shock for me, I wouldn't have put them in for buying a park such as this in America.
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I dont think this is too much of a surprise to be honest. It gives Merlin a chance to become a part of the 'big hitters' in Florida.

I wish them well, I just hope they dont use Lego....
 
The difference between this and BGA, (besides BG being a large park with 3 amazing coasters) is that, for tourists, Tampa is a much better place to spend time of a vacation as opposed to Winter Haven, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The closest thing to really do is Bach Tower, which isn't anything amazing.

Tampa, however, is close to some amazing beaches, such as Clearwater Beach, and is a good sized city.
 
Merlin are owned by Blackstone correct?

Blackstone own Busch and Sea World as well don't they?

Could see a new ticket come through for all 3 parks... And maybe a few coaches from Sea World to it like they do to Busch already...

They can certainly do something with it, just a case of what they do with it...
 
Blackstone also hold a major share in the Universal parks so if you work it all out now they have more parks in Orlando/Florida than Disney.

The flexi ticket already had BGA, Universal, IoA, Sea World and Wet and Wild so maybe they will add this other park on. But I have a nasty feeling this cheap ticket will go and be the same price as Disney which is $100 more.

If they make it Legoland though I hope they dont just install the same rides they have in all the other Legoland parks.
 
marc said:
If they make it Legoland though I hope they dont just installed the same rides they have in all the other parks.
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I totally agree, if they do it will be upsetting for me.

On another note I would hate it to be a Legoland park anyway, seems a good idea, but obviously I would like to see more of a thrill park or something like Universal or Busche Gardens anyway, but I don't really know the size of the area, so I don't know what's possible, but I guess we've seen some great rides in small spaces.
 
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