Cypress Gardens Theme Park to Close

Cypress Gardens Theme Park, known as "Florida's First Theme Park," will no longer be a theme park at all. The park has announced that it will be closing for the winter and when it reopens in the Spring it will have an expanded water park and the original gardens, but no rides or animal attractions.

Rumors to this effect have been circling for some time like buzzards, but now the park has made the news official. The park will close for this year on November 17th, so there is a week left to visit the rides on property before they are removed.
The park also plans to move the entrance to the park back to where it used to be, and create parking for guests that is closer to this entrance.

It also sounds like the "expanded" water park is not set in stone yet, as the article mentions that new attractions won't be finalized until December.

Sad news for fans of the park, but it never seemed to really 'work' as a theme park/animal park/botanical garden/water park. Simplifying should hopefully let the park stay open for the long run, at least I hope, it would be a shame to see the 72 year old attraction completely close.