Founded in 1936 by Dick and Julie Pope, Cypress Gardens became the birthplace of performance water skiing in 1941. Over the decades, the park has gone through a tremendous amount of changes. Initially, Cypress Gardens was run by the Pope family until 1985 when it was purchased by book publisher Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich (HBJ). Just four years later, Busch Entertainment Corporation, a subsidiary of Anheuser Busch Companies, purchased Cypress Gardens, Sea World, and Circus World. Cypress was spun off in 1995 to a private partnership led by Bill Reynolds. Declining attendance forced the park to close in April 2003. A year later, the park was purchased and reopened by Kent Buescher, owner of Wild Adventures in Georgia. Land South Adventures, LLC, purchased the park in 2007 after it was hit by three hurricanes and filed for bankruptcy.

In November 2008, the park was closed for a major renovation. The park reopened in March 2009 with a water park and the original botanical gardens, but the animals were gone and the roller coasters and rides were in the process of being removed. The entire park closed yet again in September 2009. After months in limbo, Cypress Gardens was sold to Merlin Entertainments and later reopened as Legoland Florida in October 2011. Like the other Lego parks, its name is often capitalized as LEGOland Florida or LEGOLAND Florida.

One coaster has opened since my last visit. Glacticoaster opened in February 2026 and is a launched indoor coaster with rotating vehicles. It was built by ART Engineering. Here are the three coasters tjat closed when Cypress Gardens closed, and the one that has recently been removed from Legoland. (See pictures below for details.)