Boardwalk and Baseball

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Boardwalk and Baseball was a theme park built in Polk County, Florida, United States, on the east corner of the intersection of US 27 and Interstate 4. It replaced Circus World at the same location, and was owned by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (now Harcourt, a division of Reed Elsevier). It opened on February 14, 1987.

The park recycled many of the rides and exhibits of the original Circus World. The petting zoos were removed, the rides and shows were re-themed, and they built Baseball City Stadium on the site. There were several exhibits that borrowed artifacts from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. HBJ attracted the Kansas City Royals from Fort Myers, Florida, to make Baseball City Stadium their new spring training home and the site of their Class A Florida State League affiliate. The Royals also had a Rookie-level affiliate in the Gulf Coast League, one of two lowest level minor leagues in the U.S. (along with the Arizona League).

In addition, ESPN taped a game show, Boardwalk and Baseball's Super Bowl of Sports Trivia, on the site. The show aired in 1988 and 1989 and featured single-elimination tournaments of three-person teams representing U.S. colleges and universities. Chris Berman hosted the show. Washington State University won the 1988 tournament.

HBJ sold its theme park assets (which included SeaWorld and Cypress Gardens) to Busch Entertainment Corporation on September 28, 1989, and Busch closed Boardwalk and Baseball on January 17, 1990. Most of the park was demolished except for the stadium and one building that held an IMAX theatre (the very first building at Circus World). The Baseball City Royals (FSL) were sold following the 1992 season and moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, becoming the Daytona Cubs, where they remain to this day. The GCL Royals, whom had moved at the same time to Ft. Myers, returned to Baseball City in 2000, for their final three years in Florida, before being replaced by the Arizona League Royals. The Royals moved their spring training home and entire Florida operations department to Surprise, Arizona in 2003. The stadium and the theatre were demolished soon afterward.

Although the park was considered far superior to its predecessor, Circus World, Boardwalk and Baseball was predicted to fail by industry observers at the April 1987 grand opening. The park's standard carnival rides were considered no match for a Disney competitor. The Orlando Sentinel quoted both employees and industry experts who attributed its closure in 1990 to inept management by CEO Richard Howard. The park was quickly run into financial ruins within 18 months of its grand opening. At that point, employee layoffs and reduced park hours were used to try to cut costs. The park closed before sunset for almost the entire year, rendering the costly antique style gas lighting useless (that cost over 1 million dollars to install in 1987).

Howard spent millions building the ultimate baseball stadium for a Single A baseball team, yet invested almost nothing in new rides and attractions throughout the park's life. The park had the exact same roster of rides and attractions from opening day in April 1987 to its closure in 1990. Permits and plans for new roller coasters were made but never implemented. The fatal flaw of the park was a stagnant attraction roster and an advertising budget 1/15th of its closest rival (Disney) -- the only ride different from the previous Circus World theme park was the Grand Rapids flume. Had the new steel coaster that was planned been built, Boardwalk and Baseball would likely not gone down in history as the first corporate theme park to close (as many observers suggest in its Orlando Sentinel retrospective article. Afterall, The park was considered to have the only "real" roller coasters in the Orlando area (Disney only had junior coasters and this was a decade before Islands of Adventure was built). The Hurricane wooden coaster and Shuttle Loop coaster were significant roller coasters by 1987 standards. Yet, the $25 million dollar renovation made in 1987 didn't pay for a single attraction competitive with Disney.

A second Boardwalk and Baseball park was planned to be built beside SeaWorld San Antonio. However, financial difficulties prevented HBJ parks from building the second park. Busch still owned the property as of 1997 as it was reported they had a potential buyer, but the deal didn't go through. The site is currently being redeveloped as a residential complex.