Floridaland - Osprey FL

Address: US-41
City: Osprey
State: FL
Zip: 34229
County: N/A
Number of visits to this page: 6061
Disclaimer:

Please note that location entries may feature older photos or post card views that may not represent the current appearance, features, addresses, phone numbers, or contact names of the attraction. This site is intended to be a historical as well as current record of various attractions but it is not always possible to have up-to-date information due to the vast number of locations featured here. We ask you consult the propietor for current information.

General Information:

Floridaland was an amusement/marine park that had many different attractions as described below. I went here as a kid and I had some old 8mm home movies so I included those here. I am in the kid in the red shirt and the other kids are my siblings and cousins who live in Florida. Mainly the movies show some animal exhibits, porpoise show, Native American dancing, and beach fun. The park was opened in 1964 and more attractions were added over the years until it closed in 1971. Disney World came along and most of these smaller parks in Florida closed down.

From Sarasota History Alive:

What tourist attraction in Sarasota County promised you “Everything under the sun?” It was called Floridaland. Floridaland West, Inc. announced on April 3, 1964, that an extensive tourist attraction center was going to be built on 50 acres just south of Blackburn Point Road, between U.S. 41 and Sarasota Bay. The promoters of the park said that more than one million dollars would be spent in initial investment and that it would be a family type tourist park. They predicted over 200,000 visitors in its first year. Floridaland opened on Christmas Day 1964 with an attendance of over 5,000 people.

Floridaland was really 10 small theme parks in one place. Its advertisements promoted 10 big attractions promoted at one admission price, $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for kids. These included a western ghost town, a billy goat mountain, porpoise shows, a deer park, Indian village, exotic gardens, Floridaland tour train, covered wagon rides and a stern-wheeled riverboat. The two main attractions were the western ghost town and the porpoise shows. As shown in the above photo, the western ghost town, complete with a saloon, bank, general store and undertaker. The 1965 Sarasota Visitor’s Guide stated that “Floridaland western ghost town is the wildest in the South. Hourly shows are held in the Golden Nugget Saloon with pretty can-can girls stepping high. In the streets, the sheriff thwarts a bank holdup and bravely makes desperados bite the dust.”

The Porpoise Pool attraction was located near the intercoastal water way. The pool had trained porpoises and sea lions that performed in shows throughout the day. The porpoises had become favorites of the pubic and to take advantage of this, Floridaland arranged a long distance call between two porpoises. The Herald-Tribune reported on May 14, 1965, that the world’s first “porpoise to porpoise” long distance call was made by Moby Dick, star of the porpoise show at Floridaland called Keki, one of the performing porpoises as Sea Life Park in Hawaii. Moby Dick “talked,” in high pitched tones, for five minutes to Keki over a specially designed phone. Other attractions were the miniature tour trains taking visitors through 40 acres of tropical gardens, through Deer Park and Billy Goat Mountain. At Deer Park you could stop and feed the tame deer and look at performing animals. Ducks played drums, chickens played baseball and a bunny-kissed his girlfriend “until she blushed.” Billy Goat Mountain had Rock Mountain goats and sheep roaming over high bridges.

In July 1967, Holiday Inn opened a 100-room hotel complex at Floridaland. Holiday Inn was supposed to spearhead further commercial development of Floridaland. Although Floridaland continued to promote itself as the perfect family attraction, by late 1968, attendance was beginning to drop. In hopes of attracting more visitors, the New Floridaland opened in November 1968 with new rides, longer shows and a new orchid garden. The new attractions did not help. By the fall of 1970, the western ghost town was closed during off-season, the skyride had closed and the owners feared the opening the new theme park in Orlando called Disney World. Floridaland announced that its early summer schedule would run from April to July 2, 1971. It never reopened for the winter season. Floridaland was one of may tourist attractions in Florida that throughout the 1950s and 1960s advertised Florida as the perfect vacation destination.

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Floridaland - Aerial
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Floridaland - View Master Reel Set
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Floridaland - Aerial Map
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Floridaland - 1971 Aerial
1971 Aerial
Floridaland - Apr 8 1971 Closing
Apr 8 1971 Closing
Floridaland - Dec 1964 Opening
Dec 1964 Opening
Floridaland - Aug 23 1966 Wild West Show
Aug 23 1966 Wild West Show
Floridaland - Dec 1964 Porpoises Arrive
Dec 1964 Porpoises Arrive
Floridaland - Dec 9 2020 Retrospective Article
Dec 9 2020 Retrospective Article
Floridaland - Feb 26 1969 Sky Glider
Feb 26 1969 Sky Glider
Floridaland - Feb 5 1969 Article
Feb 5 1969 Article
Floridaland - July 1965 Porpoises Sick
July 1965 Porpoises Sick
Floridaland - Jun 1967 Holiday Inn Added
Jun 1967 Holiday Inn Added
Floridaland - Mar 1965 Gator Wrestling Attraction
Mar 1965 Gator Wrestling Attraction
Floridaland - May 28 1969 Aerial Act
May 28 1969 Aerial Act
Floridaland - Nov 16 1964 Opening
Nov 16 1964 Opening
Floridaland - Nov 6 1971 Land Status After Close
Nov 6 1971 Land Status After Close
Floridaland - Oct 1 1967 Article
Oct 1 1967 Article
Floridaland - Sep 1968 Article
Sep 1968 Article
Floridaland - Sept 16 1970 Close
Sept 16 1970 Close
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