A Wild Look Inside 9 Abandoned Orlando Theme Parks

Listen, we talk about some WILD things that go on around Disney World.

We’ve seen some strange and weird things at Disney World in everything from food to merchandise but sometimes we’ve just got to think bigger than that — like abandoned places. Sure, we like to talk about Disney secrets a lot here but, did you know that there are abandoned places inside Disney World, too? Let’s take a look at a few AND some abandoned theme parks around the area that you may have never heard of before!

While we’re probably mostly familiar with the major theme parks that call Central Florida home currently, there’s also a good chance you’re not as familiar with the ones that aren’t around any longer.

Orlando and the rest of Central Florida have been a theme park destination for decades popular with tourists looking to spend some time in the warmer weather and taking in the the Florida vacation vibes. Let’s look at a few of the little-known theme parks that could have been where your grandparents went on vacation!

Bongoland

According to an article by ClickOrlando, Bongoland first opened its doors in 1948 to showcase life-size dinosaurs to the world in Port Orange, Florida.

The whole park spanned 12 acres among centuries-old oak trees, towering palm trees, and native Florida plants surrounding the botanical garden. Here you would see dinosaur statues on display like a T Rex, Ground Sloth, Dimetrodon, and Stegosaurus while visiting the grounds.

Today, this area operates as the Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens — a roadside attraction off Old Sugar Mill Road in Port Orange. Florida has done its best to preserve not just its sugar mill ruins, old machinery on display, and surrounding native greenery, but also its large dinosaur displays made out of thin concrete and chicken wire. Some of the details on the structures are still visible to this day, albeit, fragile and crumbling. Despite their best efforts to protect and preserve the large dinos created by artist M.D. “Manny” Lawrence, several have fallen with time.

If this intrigues you enough to plan a visit, Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens (Botanical Gardens of Volusia) accepts visitors from 8 AM – 5 PM daily (except for Christmas and New Year’s Day.) There is no admission charge to come by and tour the property, however, donations are accepted and appreciated.

Water Mania

According to Florida Memory, this theme park was situated off Highway 192 in Kissimmee which borders the Orlando area. Water Mania’s park originally opened in 1987 as quite the spectacle for its time featuring wave pools, and state-of-the-art slides, all while attracting a steady average of 500,000 visitors per year.

While no one’s truly certain of the reason behind the popular water park’s closure in 2005, according to Abandoned FL, Water Mania (by extension the Larson family which owned the park) released a statement notifying patrons about the sudden closure just weeks in advance in late August 2005 and assured season passholders their admission would be honored through the remainder of its validity at one of the park’s competitors, Wet ‘n Wild. The water park sat abandoned for the better part of a year before eventually becoming a Golden Corral and mini-golf location.

Circus World

Circus World first opened its doors to the public in 1973 and was located about 30 miles outside of Orlando in a sleepy town called, Haines City. According to Orlando Weekly, the Feld family (who also owned Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the time) debuted Circus World as a theme park with the hopes of combining “live shows and amusement park rides with a new winter quarter for the circus.”

In its prime, the park was home to an impressive 27,000-square-foot building that strikingly resembled a giant circus tent, a carousel, a Ferris wheel, a wooden roller coaster, a polar bear show, a lion tamer, flaming high diver, elephant performances, rides, and plenty of goofy clowns. If you visited the park during its peak era, you too could even attempt a walk across a tightrope or learn to trapeze through the air.

Despite its good intentions, things weren’t easy keeping Circus World in operation. The park was sold several times and eventually decided to take its final curtain bow in  1986 under (then-owners) Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich. Interestingly enough,  the attraction was rebuilt and opened as Boardwalk and Baseball in 1987, before ultimately being torn down.

Very little remains in the memory of Circus World to this day, however, what is remaining is held with the State Library and Archives of Florida.

Boardwalk and Baseball

Speaking of Boardwalk and Baseball, that park “stepped up to the plate” so to speak with the closing of Circus World in 1987 according to LAL Today.

This brand-new theme park hoped to take a swing at Disney World’s latest addition, EPCOT in its debut. Boardwalk and Baseball located in Haines City, Florida offered a whopping 32 rides, including the ever-popular Hurricane roller coaster.

However, that swing at keeping up with EPCOT turned out to be a strike-out when the park couldn’t meet the same standards as Disney World and closed its doors. The park was abandoned indefinitely until it was completely demolished in 2003 a full decade and more years after closing its doors.

Splendid China, Kissimmee, FL | 1993-2003

Splendid China was certainly a sight to behold when it opened in 1993. According to LAL Today, this theme park was owned by an agency of the Chinese government, designed as a near-exact replica of Splendid China in Shenzhen, China (near Hong Kong.)

The park was intended to spotlight the incredible Chinese architecture and culture with the hopes of attracting tourists to visit internationally. Splendid China met a similar fate to several abandoned places we talked about earlier and just could not compete with Disney World’s success. This beautiful park closed in 2003 after only 10 years in service. It remained abandoned until it was demolished in 2013.

Disney’s Discovery Island, Kissimmee, FL | 1974-1999

Not many people realize Discovery Island at Disney’s Animal Kingdom wasn’t the first for Disney World. The previous version of Discovery Island debuted in 1974.

According to Abandoned FL, the previously named Treasure Island closed down and reopened in 1978 under its new name — Discovery Island. Along with the name switch, Disney also dropped former references to pirates (when it was being used as Treasure Island) and decided to take a different approach this time focusing more on the island’s natural, botanical settings, and wildlife conservation. The existing aviaries were expanded and were provided a breeding facility in hopes of raising the populations of rare and endangered birds.

The park’s head curator, Charles Cook, was often seen posing for print materials circulated by Disney and giving interviews on camera about their ongoing conversation efforts. Disney felt it was important to be transparent about the care the animals were receiving on Discovery Island, so they talked about it publically, and often, and attempted to educate folks whenever possible.

In 1981, it seemed the hard work had paid off for Disney when they became recognized as an accredited zoological park by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums. The park was also credited as the home for the last Dusky Seaside Sparrow before it died in 1987.

In the years that followed, employees of Disney at the time were investigated for mistreatment of animals housed on property and officials stepped in to take a closer look. While Disney did make credible changes to their staff and treatment of the animals, their public relations took a massive hit and lost trust with the public. Ultimately, Disney has never admitted to any wrongdoing (nor was charged with anything) and decided to close the park shortly after the opening of Disney World’s 4th main gate park — Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Discovery Island may seem like it’s shrouded in mystery, but if you think there’s anything worth looking at there, there really isn’t. Very little remains on the island that’s useful where it has sat abandoned for so long and isn’t safe for public visitation. This has made it a popular destination for urban explorers and trespassers looking to catch a glimpse of the island in person, however, Disney (and we) strongly urge against that out of safety.

Disney’s River Country

Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon aren’t the only water parks ever to call Disney World home. Allow us to (briefly) introduce to you, Disney’s River Country water park.

According to LAL Today, River Country opened its gates nestled within the hearty woodlands of Disney World and Bay Lake in 1976. Originally, this area of lake water filtered water to Disney World’s rides and neighboring pools along the Seven Seas Lagoon. It was also a pretty popular watering hole to splash around in during its prime!

Here’s where it failed. This water park was only capable of hosting a maximum capacity of 4,700 guests. Disney also noticed a downswing in attendance with the addition of other theme parks around the property and decided to get to work building water parks capable of more. River Country was abandoned following the opening of the new water parks and all of the original structures were just left to be until construction began on an upcoming (and now benched) Disney World hotel named Reflections.

Cypress Gardens

Quite possibly the oldest theme park in Central Florida was Cypress Gardens. This destination opened in 1936 in Winter Haven featuring its famous botanical gardens and quickly claimed to be the water skiing capital of the world.

This park met a similar fate when trying to keep up with the nearby powerhouse in  Disney World, and went through a slew of issues including dwindling attendance and several new ownership changes, before ultimately deciding to close for good in 2009. What remains of Cypress Gardens today can be seen at Legoland, where you’ll still be able to visit the former park’s botanical gardens.

Jungleland Zoo, Kissimmee, FL | 1995-2002

You might have known Jungleland Zoo in Kissimmee for its 126-ft alligator statue, however, the zoo also hosted many exotic animals and big cats according to Abandoned FL.

Surprisingly, the park did really well but finally met its demise with ongoing facility issues which were said to include significant drainage issues and wood rot. The park also garnered some negative attention in 1997 when a 450-pound lioness escaped her cage and was missing for 2 days before being found. Most recently, a German-themed park named Krush Brau Park built its first phase on the property completed in 2022.

We’re always interested in the strange and unusual in Orlando! Be sure to check back in with us at All Ears for the latest in news and more!

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How many of these abandoned theme parks did you visit? Tell us all about them in the comments below!

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