When Walt Disney was planning Disneyland in the 1950s, he sent out a lot of people to look at different entertainment venues to get ideas about what worked and what didn't work and why and report back to him. Apparently, one of those trips was taken by his older brother, Roy O. Disney to visit Cypress Gardens in Florida.
The flamboyant Dick Pope (Richard Downing Pope, born in 1908), who founded Cypress Gardens, was in charge of the Central Florida Orange Festival that year and arranged for the appearance of the Disney costumed characters. The rental cost was a sizeable fee of $8,320 for the length of the event.
Pope discussed a surprise visit in an interview with Orlando magazine publisher Edward Prizer in 1976:
“Well, on about the third day of the exhibit, Roy Disney walked into my office and introduced himself. And I said to myself, 'Oh my gosh, I can't afford to pay him his $8,000 right now. He'll have to wait until after the event when we have taken in some money.
“What he really wanted was to see the gardens and the shows. And when he'd done that he came in and began to ask me some questions—technical and financial questions. I answered some of them and sent him up to see our bookkeeper for his more detailed questions about financing.
“Three or four days later he came by before he left and asked if he could call his brother Walt. I got up to leave the room and he said not to leave, that I might enjoy what he was going to say.
“He said, 'Walt, you know that project we've been talking about so long? Well, there's a fellow here by the name of Pope who's got a tourist attraction 100 miles from nowhere way up in the woods of Central Florida. All he's got is some flowers and waterskiers and he's bringing in 1,500 to 4,000 people a day. We'll discuss the project when I get back.'”
Soon afterward, Disneyland was announced. Roy was impressed that people were happily paying good money to just walk around a garden, stop for photos with costumed characters, ride in a boat along the serene waterways and watch an entertaining show or two.
Pope's friendship with the Disney brothers grew because he was so enthusiastic and open especially about increasing tourism in Florida. Later, when Walt was looking at property in Florida to build the Florida Project, Pope reminded Walt of the story. Roy denied it had happened that way, but Walt agreed with Pope that it was how he remembered the story, as well.
Walt told Pope that it was always a struggle to teach Roy about the value of esthetic things and that Cypress Gardens was never just flowers and waterskiers but gorgeous flowers and fantastic women on waterskis.
Cypress Gardens was the No. 1 tourist destination in Florida, prior to the opening of Walt Disney World.
Created in Winter Haven by entrepreneur Pope, who was known for being a terrific Florida tourism promoter, Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936, and officially closed on September 23, 2009, when it became part of Merlin Entertainment's LEGOLAND Florida park that opened in 2011. Originally, it was 16 acres, but eventually grew to more than 200 acres.
In the days before Disney changed everything forever in Central Florida, and before there was Interstate 4 to direct the tourist flow away from central Polk County, Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven and Bok Tower in Lake Wales were the No. 1 and No. 2 of Florida's “Big Three” tourist attractions. Silver Springs in Ocala rounded out the the top three.
In 1963, Cypress Gardens was tied with the Grand Canyon as the No. 1 tourist destination in the United States.
U.S. Highway 27 was the main route through the state, and it brought tourists almost to Cypress Gardens' doorstep as Dick Pope had planned when he bought land on Lake Eloise surrounded by majestic cypress trees for a pittance.
With his wife, Julie, he built a quaint mix of botanical gardens that grew to more than 8,000 varieties from 90 different countries, beautiful young women attired as Southern belles in hoop skirts who graciously interacted with guests, and elaborate water ski shows which resulted in the park being billed as the Water Ski Capital of the World. Fifty water skiing world records were broken at the park.
In 1936, Pope began charging $0.25 cents for admission to the botanical park he and his wife had coaxed from 16 acres of Polk County swamp. Actually, Pope knew nothing about flora but, thankfully, his wife did. In 1938, he added electric boats for guests to leisurely tour the beautiful landscaping.
Over the years, Cypress Gardens grew to include a Topiary Trail, a Butterfly Conservatory with more than 1,000 butterflies, the Biblical Garden that featured plants named in the Bible, a variety of wild animal shows, an elaborate model train layout, and much, much more that captured the gracious spirit of Old Florida and avoided a carnival atmosphere present at other Florida entertainment roadside venues.
Pope's tireless marketing efforts led to Cypress Gardens appearing on the covers of hundreds of magazines and in newspaper photographs across the country, often including top celebrities enjoying the park like Esther Williams, Bette Davis, President John F. Kennedy, Johnny Carson, and even Elvis Presley. Pope helped establish the “fun in the sun” personality of Florida and built up tourism after World War II.
Cypress Gardens became a popular setting for commercials, television shows, and films. Miss Floridas and Miss Americas made it one of their stops after being crowned, since it was a terrific photo opportunity and guaranteed to draw large crowds. Cypress Gardens appeared in more than 500 newsreels and 75 short promotional films.
The Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) annually gives out the Dick Pope All-Florida Grand Golden Image Award for best PR program in the state.
“He set the stage for the exposure of Florida worldwide,” said Jo Farmer, executive director of the Osceola County Convention and Visitors Bureau when Pope died in 1988. “That was his claim to fame. There wasn't any place in the world you could go and not hear about Florida. He pretty much wrote the book.”
At the same time, Dick Nunis, who was then-president of Walt Disney Attractions, said, “Dick Pope Sr. was a great Floridian and one of the outstanding men in the entertainment world. He will always be known as Mr. Florida. He will be truly missed by the people and will be remembered as one of the pioneers of entertainment in this century.”
When Walt Disney announced the construction of Walt Disney World in 1965, Pope was supportive, believing that anything that brought more visitors to Florida was only going to help his business and the other Florida businesses. Pope took out an ad in the newspaper and appeared in a short film shown on local Florida television stations welcoming Disney World.
“When reporters worried that Disney would undermine the tourism business in their respective towns,” Pope said, “Walt pointed to a full-page ad we had bought welcoming the Disney organization to Florida. It said that Disney was the best thing to happen to us since sunshine.”
The immediate effect of the opening of Disney's Vacation Kingdom was a massive increase in tourism.
Cypress Gardens reported that by June 1972, just nine months after the Magic Kingdom had opened, that business had increased 38 percent already with expectations for the summer months to be “something that Florida will long remember”.
Cape Kennedy stated that visitors taking tours of the space facility increased more than 27 percent in just the first four months of 1972. During that same time period, St. Augustine recorded a 29 percent increase in visitors. Even Silver Springs, with its gentle glass-bottomed boat tour, saw an increase of visitors of 28 percent within the first quarter of 1972.
Increased tourism (and the sales taxes) resulted in the general revenue fund for Florida to show a surplus of $207 million by the beginning of the summer of 1972. The Legislature used almost $100 million on long-delayed building programs and still kept a working $50 million working surplus fund.
Comptroller Fred Dickinson Jr. enthusiastically stated, “We've only seen the beginning of this whole upswing. We have just begun to realize the effects of Walt Disney World and when the full impact is felt, even the most optimistic predictions will fall short.”
There are many technical and lengthy documents statistically reporting and analyzing the full economic impact but suffice it to say, the bottom line was that Walt Disney World's impact in the Orlando area that first year was much greater than anyone had anticipated. As they say, a rising tide lifts all the boats.
Orlando Mayor Carl T. Langford publicly stated: “I think it's the greatest thing that's happened since the city got its charter 100 years ago. The benefits greatly outweigh what few problems are caused. I don't believe there's a mayor in the United States who wouldn't be delighted to have Disney World open up outside his door.”
Of course, all of that expansion also brought an increased crime rate including drugs (Only four drug arrests had been made in the entire year of 1966 but in the beginning months of 1972, there had already been 256 drug related arrests), and other crimes ranging from theft to prostitution. In addition, there were also increased property taxes and traffic challenges.
However, Disney spokesmen pointed out that those negative aspects were more a reflection of the changing times rather than the presence of Disney in Florida.
In truth, the opening of Walt Disney World could not be directly blamed for the increased ills plaguing Orlando. The Disney Company was highly diligent in screening and monitoring all its employees. However, the Disney inspired prosperity did attract a criminal element and a variety of social misfits that like in the California Gold Rush of 1849 flooded into the area looking for quick riches.
However, over the initial years after the Magic Kingdom opened, travel patterns began to change significantly. People took shorter trips and because of the gas shortages of the early 1970s, focused on just going to Walt Disney World without venturing south to explore Cypress Gardens or other options.
Tourists no longer continued on down to Miami, but stopped in Central Florida to enjoy Walt Disney World and then traveled back home.
Yet, the always optimistic Pope still proclaimed the value of Disney in Florida in 1976:
“It's fantastic. Maybe 60 percent of our visitors go to Disney first. And I don't blame them. Disney's made Florida the No. 1 vacation spot in the world,” stated Pope. Our business is up every year. And how can you fail with people who are happy? I think as long as we show Southern hospitality, they'll continue to come.
“You know, there was a period that we didn't, but I think that's gone by the board, largely due to the fact that when Disney opened they hired girls who walked around telling people where things were and they talked to people. And then those people started talking to other people.
“And when you get people talking, you get them happy, and then you've got it made. They'll come back again and again. And they'll tell other people about it.
“Disney's guest relations' policies influenced the industry as has its guidelines for family entertainment. One thing you can count on them for, and we at Cypress Gardens believe it is the one fundamental part of the business, is good taste. When you have that you have a force that assures you of continuous profits.
“The lifetime of an attraction is putting in new things. It's constant growth that makes success in the business and with Disney you'll see not only the ordinary tourist, but an increase in the number of business people who come to Central Florida. Why does a lady go to a furniture store? To see what's new and E.P.C.O.T. will have the same effect on the business community when it opens soon.”
Pope was quite the showman and used to wear suits that were banana-colored, coral-colored or lime-colored. One of his frequent outfits was a turquoise suit, trimmed in pink, worn with bright white shoes. He would wear bright red jackets with checked ties.
He had many nicknames including Mr. Florida, Mr. Water Skiing, Grand Poobah of Publicity, Maharaja of Muck and the Swami of the Swamp. He sometimes dressed in a swami costume and stated “I predict a great future for Florida”.
Pope was inspired to create Cypress Gardens when his wife showed him a magazine article in a 1930s issue of Good Housekeeping magazine about a South Carolina banker charging people $2 each to view the landscaped gardens around his mansion home. In three months, he had made $36,000. Pope consulted with photographer Robert Dahlgren to make sure Cypress Gardens was laid out in such a way that no matter where a tourist pointed his camera, the view would be appealing.
Bill Sims, who worked for Pope for about six years in Cypress Gardens' marketing department, stated in 1988, “Fifty years ago rural Polk County was rural. The 1964 New York World's Fair officials contacted Pope to help boost sagging attendance at its Florida pavilion. Florida was at the bottom. They contacted Pope and asked, 'How can we solve the attendance problem?' He said, 'We need to put on a waterski show.' The idea worked. The Florida pavilion went from almost dead last to being one of the top.”
In 1985, the Pope family sold the business to publisher Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ) for $23 million. After some major improvements, HBJ sold it to Busch Entertainment Corporation (BEC) in 1989, who built more shops, and amusements. In 1995, BEC sold Cypress Gardens to the park's own management team who were unable to compete with the other Central Florida attractions, especially since they were almost an hour's drive from Walt Disney World. The park officially closed in 2009.
LEGOLAND Florida opened October 15, 2011, and one of its sections incorporates most of the historic botanical gardens and, in fact, that section is named “Cypress Gardens.” Some of the topiaries and Southern belles gave way to brick structures of those items. Even the water ski shows now feature block characters. Yet, this odd combination has allowed one of Florida's most significant Florida tourism icons to survive.
Disney has had a long relationship with LEGO as well. In 1999, LEGO released their first licensed toy line with Winnie the Pooh Duplo subtheme. Mickey Mouse was introduced in 2000 followed by other Disney characters over the years.
As late as 1983, Disney was still in discussions with LEGO to help fund the proposed Denmark pavilion that was to be located where the Norway pavilion is today. In fact, LEGO was so close to signing that Disney went ahead and built the outdoors bathrooms for the Danish pavilion to be available at the October 1982 opening, since the infrastructure was in place and it would be more expensive to build it later.
When Disney was contemplating a fifth theme park for Walt Disney World, one of the proposals was a LEGO area aimed at young guests and themed to Disney animated environments, like the fictional sultanate of Agrabah from Aladdin (1992).
Disney was looking at the Splendid China theme park that had opened near Walt Disney World in 1993, featuring miniature replicas of historic Chinese buildings and was looking to steal any tourists that went there. Once Disney saw that the new theme park was not doing well, it shifted its focus to other proposals, including one that would have been a park of thrill rides themed to Disney villains.
Florida attractions, like Weeki Wachee Springs (opening in 1947 with beautiful live underwater mermaids), Gatorland (opening in 1949 with the opportunity to see alligators up close and personal), and many other smaller roadside enterprises were entertainment venues that capitalized on Florida's natural and untamed environment. However, Cypress Gardens was the most popular, especially with families.
Dick Pope learned a lot about how Disney ran a park and just maybe Disney learned a little bit from him, as well.
