Cypress Gardens was THE premiere tourist attraction in Central Florida up until Walt Disney World opened. There was a short Indian Summer after that for the park but even after they built a straight shot 4 lane highway from US 27 to the park's front gate it suffered mightily after all the other attractions opened around Orlando and went through several different owners before giving up the ghost. With it now being a Legoland it should recover I hope. I wonder if the electric boat ride through the botanical gardens is still there. Of course, the pool shaped like Florida built for this movie was big in 60's when I lived around there.

After struggling for years and then closing, Cypress Gardens has been recycled as Florida's Legoland.

Ms. Williams often found herself performing hazardous physical stunts that many of today's actresses might categorically refuse to do, such as being carried aloft on rickety platforms or clinging to a trapeze for precision dives into obstacle-strewn water.

Nobody ever accused Esther Williams of not earning her paycheck.

My parents and I were at Cypress Gardens in July or early August of 1953, when I was 7, and I can remember the wonder I felt at watching the girls skim over the water. I learned to water ski when I was about 13 or 14 and always wanted to be one of those girls. Never made it! But it sure was fun to watch them.

Have seen many a clip of these Esther Williams scenes, but seeing this one static and close makes me think: My God, this is a watery train wreck waiting to happen! Over on the left, two guys have their lines crossed, skis are pointed in all directions, and everybody is pretty darn close together. How they filmed these things without ending up towing a tangled mass of ropes, bodies, and skis I cannot imagine.

The spectacular skiing sequence was choreographed by Berkeley.

Dad was a performer and water ski instructor there at that time. It is hard to tell if he is in this image, but I will send him a link, and see what he thinks.