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1. Circus World

Circus World

Image via Jim Hill Media

Located just north of Haines City, Circus World was originally intended to be the winter header quarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1974, an enormous, 27,000 square foot building that was designed to look a circus tent opened. Inside, guests could find an IMAX movie theater, and other attractions soon joined this: a carousel, a wooden roller coaster, a ferris wheel.

Circus World was intended to be a serious rival to Walt Disney World. At the time, the Barnum & Bailey Circus was opened by toy manufacturer Mattel - a firm that (theoretically) had more than enough money to fund the $60 million theme park project, which was announced in September 1972. Disney was worried enough to mention the park in its own announcement of a major expansion, saying that it would offer more than "SeaWorld and Circus World combined".

Circus World (2)

Image: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory

Circus World (3)

State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory

Some of the plans for Circus World were extraordinary. At one stage, its backers promised that it would include a spectacular signature hotel, standing at 19 stories tall and shaped like an ELEPHANT. However, it turned out that Mattel wasn't willing to pony up $60 million after all, so many of the most exciting elements were dropped.

There were still some impressive attractions on offer, though, including the Roaring Tiger roller coaster - reputedly a favorite of Michael Jackson.

Circus World (4)

Image: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory

Circus World (5)

Image: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory

Despite competition from Walt Disney World, the park's line-up continued to expand during the early 1980s. It began to struggle, though, and was sold to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1986. It was shuttered and reemerged as Boardwalk and Baseball, one of 10 lost Florida theme parks that you can read about in our recent article.

 
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Comments

I remember Circus World had painted concrete walkways that when freshly washed and wet in the morning were the slipperiest law suit waiting to happen ever.

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