Timeline: A rolling history of Central Florida’s attractions industry

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A warm climate and lush environment were early draws for the Florida tourism industry. The arrival of railroads, leisure travel and air-conditioning jump-started the Sunshine State ahead of the 1971 arrival of Walt Disney World.  A lot of travel stops have come and gone over the decades. Here is a brief look at Central Florida’s attractions, through the years.

• 1878: Glass-bottom boats are introduced at Silver Springs in Marion County.

• January 1936: Pope Sr. establishes Cypress Gardens, the state’s first theme park, in Winter Haven. It eventually is known for Southern belles, film settings and for being the “water ski capital of the world.”

Pope Sr. (from left), daughter Adrienne, wife Julie and son Pope Jr. take to the water in a Cypress Gardens photo, likely from the 1950s. (Orlando Sentinel file)

• Dec. 1949: Owen Godwin Sr. opens Gatorland as a roadside attraction on South Orlando Blossom Trail. Original name: Florida Wildlife Institute, which was changed to Snake Village and Alligator Farm before landing on Gatorland in 1954.

• Nov. 15, 1965: After months of secret land purchases and speculation, Walt Disney announces, from a downtown Orlando hotel, plans to build in Florida. Construction began in 1968.

• Oct. 1, 1971: Magic Kingdom theme park opens alongside the Contemporary Resort Hotel, followed by the Polynesian Village Resort.

Tourists mingle with characters at Magic Kingdom on opening day of Walt Disney World on Oct. 1, 1971. (Orlando Sentinel file)

• Dec. 15, 1973: SeaWorld Orlando theme park opens about 7 miles southeast of Magic Kingdom.

• Feb. 21, 1974: Circus World, which eventually features coasters named the Hurricane and Zoomerang, opens in Davenport. The attraction closed in 1986.

• July 1974: Church Street Station, a collection of bars, opens in downtown Orlando and thrives into the 1980s. Co-founder Bob Snow sold the property in 1989.

• March 1975: Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village opens at Walt Disney World. It expands and goes through several names including Walt Disney World Village, Disney Village Marketplace, Downtown Disney and Disney Springs.

• June 20, 1976: River Country, Disney’s first water park, opens near Fort Wilderness. (It closed in late 2001.)

A swimmer makes his way across the cool waters of River Country at Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness Resort in February 1989. (Orlando Sentinel file)

• March 13, 1977: SeaWorld mastermind George Millay creates Wet ‘n Wild, a water park on International Drive. In 1998, Universal bought the attraction, which shut down in 2017. (Universal’s Endless Summer Resort is on the site now.)

• Oct. 1, 1982: Walt Disney World introduces Epcot, its second theme park, a variation on Walt Disney’s original Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow concept.

• April 1987: Boardwalk and Baseball amusement park opens on the former Circus World site. It closed in 1990.

• February 1988: Arabian Knights dinner show opens in Kissimmee. It closed after a 25-year run.

Longtime Disney star Annette Funicello kisses her old pal Mickey Mouse on opening day of Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. (Orlando Sentinel file)

• May 1, 1989: Disney-MGM Studios theme park opens, with Disney CEO Michael Eisner edging out the arrival of Universal Studios Florida. It ushers in Eisner’s expansion plan known as the Disney Decade.

• May 1, 1989: Pleasure Island entertainment district opens at Disney World, adding several nightclubs to the resort’s lineup.

• June 1, 1989:  Typhoon Lagoon water park opens at Disney World.

• June 7, 1990: Universal Studios Florida theme park debuts.

• Nov. 8, 1991: Terror on Church Street, a year-round haunt, opens. The original closed in 1999, but another owner has a two-year run of Terror on the third floor of Church Street Exchange.

• July 1992: Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum, built to look like it’s falling into a sinkhole, opens on International Drive.

• 1993: Ripley Entertainment Inc. moves headquarters from Toronto to Orlando.

• Late 1993: Florida Splendid China, an attraction with one-tenth scale replicas, opens near Kissimmee. It operated for 10 years. (Now on the site: Margaritaville Resort homes and condos.)

Plunging straight down the side of Mt. Gushmore at Blizzard Beach gives Walt Disney World Resort guests the spine-tingling thrills of skiing up north. (Courtesy Walt Disney Co.)

• April 1, 1995: Blizzard Beach water park opens at Disney World.

• March 1998: WonderWorks, the upside-down-looking attraction, opens on International Drive.

• April 22, 1998: Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park opens with celebrities such as Stevie Wonder and Jane Goodall on hand.

• December 1998: Cirque du Soleil debuts its “La Nouba” show at Downtown Disney. It ran through 2017.

Crowds gather at the entrance of Universal's Islands of Adventure during the park's opening to the public on May 28, 1999. (Orlando Sentinel file)

• May 28, 1999: Universal Orlando opens Islands of Adventure park and Universal CityWalk, a shopping and dining area, adjacent to Universal Studios.

• July 1, 2000: Discovery Cove, SeaWorld’s day resort with marine animals and water activities, debuts.

• February 2001: Holy Land Experience, a Christian attraction with Bible-related activities and shows, opens near Conroy Road and Interstate 4. Trinity Broadcasting Network purchased it in 2007. The attraction closed in 2020.

• June 2003: Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner show opens near Interstate 4. It operated for five years.

• June 2006: Blue Man Group moves into the theater at Universal CityWalk. It closed with the 2020 pandemic shutdown. In 2024, another Blue Man show is announced for a new space at Icon Park.

• 2008: Disney-MGM Studios’ name changes to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

• Sept. 27, 2008: Pleasure Island nightclubs are closed as the area is absorbed into an area eventually known as Disney Springs.

Loggerhead Lane floats guests down a lazy river past exotic birds and exotic fish. SeaWorld's new water park, Aquatica, opened to the public March 1, 2008. (Julie Fletcher/Orlando Sentinel)

• March 1, 2008: SeaWorld introduces Aquatica water park.

• June 18, 2010: The first Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens at Islands of Adventure with Daniel Radcliffe and other actors participating in festivities.

• Oct. 15, 2011: Legoland Florida opens in Winter Haven on the former grounds of Cypress Gardens.

• July 8, 2014: Diagon Alley, the second installment of a Wizarding World of Harry Potter, opens at Universal Studios. The Hogwarts Express attraction connects the attractions in two different theme parks.

Team members welcome cheering fans into a confetti-filled Diagon Alley during the grand opening at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion, at Universal Studios Florida, in Orlando on July 8, 2014. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

• April 29, 2015: Orlando Eye, a 400-foot observation wheel, debuts on International Drive next to Madame Tussauds Orlando and Sea Life Orlando Aquarium.

• September 2016: The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions announces it will move its headquarters from Alexandria, Virginia, to Orlando, and it extends its contract for the IAAPA Expo to be held at Orange County Convention Center through 2030.

• May 25, 2017: Volcano Bay water park opens at Universal Orlando.

• Aug. 29, 2019: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge realm debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

• Nov. 2021: “Drawn to Life,” a new Cirque du Soleil show, opens at Disney Springs.

• May 19, 2022: Peppa Pig Theme Park, aimed at preschoolers, opens next door to Legoland Florida in Winter Haven.

The park entrance is shown during a media preview for Peppa Pig Theme Park on Feb. 16, 2022 (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

• March 2024: The COVID-19 pandemic leads to Central Florida attractions closing down for three or four months.

• May 22, 2025: Epic Universe becomes Orlando’s first new theme park in more than 25 years.

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