Cypress Gardens with young kids?

[katie111]

Has anyone been to Cypress Gardens recently? We're going to be in Orlando President's week with DD5, DS4 and DS 10 months. We're going to do Seaworld, Universal & Epcot just for a day as the kids have already been to Disney several times. I was thinking that since I think its going to be a very busy week, Cypress Gardens might be a nice alternative to the crowded big parks as from what I've read it doesn't get too crowded. I know the rides are smaller carnival type rides but my kids usually like those type of rides where they know what to expect. Is the place clean? Will the water park be open in Feb? Is it worth spending 30 bucks a ticket on?

 

[mareed]

We went Dec 2006 and we enjoyed it. The kiddie ride area seemed to be pretty big, actually. My 2 DS's were too big for most of the rides there, but I think they'd be perfect for 4 & 5. There was also one of the big slides you ride down on a mat, and they loved that, as would your kids, I'd think. My boys even enjoyed walking around the botanical gardens because they got to search & collect small lizards (which we also have here at home, so they're used to them). There's an area to walk through and see animals, but we ran out of time for this, but I think it would be good for your kids. We all enjoyed the water ski show, and the ice skating show.

Here's a picture of the "bigger" ride in the kiddie ride area that they loved!

The platforms went up and down as the fire trucks went around in a circle and they sprayed lighted "fires" on the middle platform. When we were there, there was not an attendant at each ride, and we had to go to the one we wanted, and then as other people joined us, an attendant came over and opened the ride. Not very enthusiastically, but it got the job done!