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TR: Silver Springs, FL
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Surf Dance Chris
May 18, 2013, 8:07:05 PM5/18/13
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Finally made it out to Silver Springs in Florida today. Unfortunately,
the park is basically closing as an amusement/animal/show park and
becoming a state park in October, according to employees. Much of the
park has already closed and by next week most of the park will be
closed. We were warned both at the parking lot and ticket booth that
the park under construction and some items may be closed. We had no
idea that it was this extreme. The park is offering FL residents 50%
admission (which makes it only $10 instead of $19.99). The park seemed
very uncrowded. No idea how crowded the park had been in the past,
whether this was normal or not.
So what was open and what wasn't?
Well, the glass bottom boats was open. This was awesome! I never rode
a glass bottom boat anywhere and thought it was really good. We rode
this twice, each with a different guide/driver.The ride is about 20
minutes long, and seeing the springs and caves and things under the
water was really cool. They run a few boats at a time. Never a wait.
We ate at the diner by the front of the park, typical theme park food,
I had a hot dog combo, and my friend had cheese fries. There was also
an ice cream shop open, but only for dip n dots and and some brownies
and similar sweets. The gift shops in the front were open, with most
merchandise at 40% off, 25 % for towels. There was also a history of
Silver Springs exhibit in one of the buildings which was nice to see.
The pizza restaurant was closed and some other buildings were empty.
We ventured to the bird show, which was pretty good, very enjoyable
and humorous as well. The stadium was about 1/3 filled. There is a
nearby carousel of different animals on the outside, horses on the
inside. I rode a rhino. There's also a nearby petting zoo, with only 3
of the enclosures being used (there was probably about 10 enclosures
total).
We also rode the safari ride, which we were warned by our driver about
the lack of many animals, and that is when we found out the ride and
the rest of the park other than the boats are being shut down after
next week. The ride itself was okay, a driver narrated safari which
had only 2 groups of animals- lammas (5) and monkeys (about 10?). The
rest of the animal areas were abandoned, and the animals had already
been moved to other parks. The ride was very enjoyable considering,
the driver kept us entertained, but it was sad that all this would be
gone very soon.
We saw the bear exhibit, which was decent, saw 2 bears. The gift shop
in that area was open, 40% off everything there, too. Interesting
note: You actually have to enter the safari ride through the gift
shop, unlike most places where you exist thru the gift shop! In the
nearby area was also a kid boats ride and kid play area which were
both still open.
That's about it of things that were open. There was a lighthouse ride
(Zamperla Samba Tower or similar ride) which was closed. The area to
the right of the glass bottom boats, which leads to an island with
other animal exhibits was completely blocked off.
I ended up buying an ornament and a postcard. There were also magnets
and other Silver Springs branded merchandise available.
I'm glad I got to see the place before it pretty much closed in its
current version. Had a good time with a good friend despite much of
the park already closed or unused. Anyone ever been there-- how much
did I miss that was there in the past? There were no real maps
available to see how much I missed.
-"Surf Dance" Chris
the park is basically closing as an amusement/animal/show park and
becoming a state park in October, according to employees. Much of the
park has already closed and by next week most of the park will be
closed. We were warned both at the parking lot and ticket booth that
the park under construction and some items may be closed. We had no
idea that it was this extreme. The park is offering FL residents 50%
admission (which makes it only $10 instead of $19.99). The park seemed
very uncrowded. No idea how crowded the park had been in the past,
whether this was normal or not.
So what was open and what wasn't?
Well, the glass bottom boats was open. This was awesome! I never rode
a glass bottom boat anywhere and thought it was really good. We rode
this twice, each with a different guide/driver.The ride is about 20
minutes long, and seeing the springs and caves and things under the
water was really cool. They run a few boats at a time. Never a wait.
We ate at the diner by the front of the park, typical theme park food,
I had a hot dog combo, and my friend had cheese fries. There was also
an ice cream shop open, but only for dip n dots and and some brownies
and similar sweets. The gift shops in the front were open, with most
merchandise at 40% off, 25 % for towels. There was also a history of
Silver Springs exhibit in one of the buildings which was nice to see.
The pizza restaurant was closed and some other buildings were empty.
We ventured to the bird show, which was pretty good, very enjoyable
and humorous as well. The stadium was about 1/3 filled. There is a
nearby carousel of different animals on the outside, horses on the
inside. I rode a rhino. There's also a nearby petting zoo, with only 3
of the enclosures being used (there was probably about 10 enclosures
total).
We also rode the safari ride, which we were warned by our driver about
the lack of many animals, and that is when we found out the ride and
the rest of the park other than the boats are being shut down after
next week. The ride itself was okay, a driver narrated safari which
had only 2 groups of animals- lammas (5) and monkeys (about 10?). The
rest of the animal areas were abandoned, and the animals had already
been moved to other parks. The ride was very enjoyable considering,
the driver kept us entertained, but it was sad that all this would be
gone very soon.
We saw the bear exhibit, which was decent, saw 2 bears. The gift shop
in that area was open, 40% off everything there, too. Interesting
note: You actually have to enter the safari ride through the gift
shop, unlike most places where you exist thru the gift shop! In the
nearby area was also a kid boats ride and kid play area which were
both still open.
That's about it of things that were open. There was a lighthouse ride
(Zamperla Samba Tower or similar ride) which was closed. The area to
the right of the glass bottom boats, which leads to an island with
other animal exhibits was completely blocked off.
I ended up buying an ornament and a postcard. There were also magnets
and other Silver Springs branded merchandise available.
I'm glad I got to see the place before it pretty much closed in its
current version. Had a good time with a good friend despite much of
the park already closed or unused. Anyone ever been there-- how much
did I miss that was there in the past? There were no real maps
available to see how much I missed.
-"Surf Dance" Chris
Surf Dance Chris
May 18, 2013, 9:28:14 PM5/18/13
to
CanobieFan
May 19, 2013, 1:33:04 AM5/19/13
to
>. There was a lighthouse ride
> (Zamperla Samba Tower or similar ride) which was closed.
Ah, the lighthouse ride isn't Zamp. Its a Larson built ride called a
> (Zamperla Samba Tower or similar ride) which was closed.
Star Dancer. I've only come across two in my travels. The first one
was at Coney Island the year after Astroland closed but before Luna
Park opened. And the second and only one I rode was Silver Springs'.
It was kinda odd..... Like a taller samba tower but the cars didn't
spin.... And it was spring loaded so the whole thing would kinda,
bounce, once it reached the top of the tower and again when it would
lower back down. (And most times this happened you would hear screams
from the riders)
Surf Dance Chris
May 19, 2013, 11:43:54 AM5/19/13
to
a similar ride. It was SBNO and had a sign say it was closed for
maintenance, but, like most of the park, everything was closed for
"maintenance", or "construction" or "future enjoyment", etc. It seems
like Palace is cutting any cost possible just to finish out their
contract technically and doesn't care at all about the place, and
don't care if anyone even comes.
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