In Orlando, the heart of much of Florida's tourism and tackiness, the Mystery Fun House drew visitors from 1976 through 2001. Located at 5767 Major Blvd., the attraction was located on prime real estate, just across the street from entrances to Universal Studios. In its final years, entrance was between $4.95 and $10.95, making it one of Orlando's more affordable entertainment options, compared with the big theme parks. The fun house's facade was evocative of a classic haunted house, with an exaggerated mansard roof. On the front of the facade, a giant magician raised his finger and winked as visitors approached. Inside, the fun house's amusements included a rotating room, a ball pit and mirror-based illusions.
One of the more unusual of the lost attractions, the Black Hills Passion Play ran from 1952 through 1998. It was a staging of the passions of the Christ in Lake Wales, Fla. The attraction served as the winter home of the same production which ran in the town of Spearfish, in South Dakota's Black Hills, from which the attraction takes its name. The attraction's manager, Josef Meier, also portrayed the role of Christ throughout the play's run of over forty years. In 2002, another enterprising actor and manager re-opened the venue, though it had to close again in 2005 due to damages from Hurricane Charlie.
Futuristic Xanadu opened in the 1980s, offering visitors a glimpse of the future. The attraction, located off Highway 192 in Kissimmee, was one of three sites, including others in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Essentially, Xanadu consisted of a singular feature: "futuristic" houses built out of polyurethane foam in unusual organic shapes. The houses were energy-efficient and inexpensive to build. Inside, visitors could glimpse unusual technological devices. By the mid-1990s, all three of the Xanadu attractions had gone under, with the Kissimmee location was last to close.
The Circus World theme park was located just of U.S. 27, east of Interstate 4, in Central Florida. A project of the owners of the Ringling Bros. Circus, the attraction opened in 1973 and continued running until 1986, when it was bought out and transformed into a Boardwalk and Baseball-themed park. Over its run, Circus World featured a wooden roller coaster, a diving show, a petting zoo and carnival rides.
