Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States owned and operated by Busch Entertainment Corporation, a division of Anheuser-Busch. One of the parks is in Williamsburg, Virginia and the other is in Tampa, Florida.
Locations
Busch Gardens Africa
Busch Gardens Africa (previously called Busch Gardens Tampa Bay) opened on March 31, 1959, and has an African theme. The park was originally tagged "The Dark Continent". The theme park is one of America's largest zoological institutions, with more than 2,700 animals. Attractions include: Rhino Rally, Montu, Kumba, Scorpion, Gwazi, Edge of Africa, and SheiKra, a vertical dive coaster which opened in 2005. The theme park is some distance away from downtown, in extreme northern Tampa, bordering the town limits of Temple Terrace.
Busch Gardens Europe
Busch Gardens Europe, formerly known as Busch Gardens Williamsburg, opened on May 5, 1975, and has a European theme. The park was originally tagged "The Old Country". Attractions at this park include Curse of DarKastle, Alpengeist, Escape from Pompeii, Apollo's Chariot, Loch Ness Monster, Big Bad Wolf, and, new for 2007, Griffon. The new coaster has bragging rights in that it is the tallest dive coaster in the world. The park is divided into seven sections, each themed to a different European country.
Closed Parks
The Busch Gardens parks in three other cities have closed:
- Pasadena, California (1905-1937)
- Van Nuys, California (1964-1979)
- Houston, Texas (1971-1972)
Trivia
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- The Busch Gardens parks were spoofed in The Simpsons as the Duff Gardens, in an episode entitled Selma's Choice.
- Both parks were renamed at the start of the 2006 season to reflect the themes used throughout those parks.
See also
Anheuser-Busch owns several other parks:
- The SeaWorld parks in San Diego, California,
San Antonio, Texas and Orlando, Florida
- SeaWorld Orlando
- SeaWorld San Diego
- SeaWorld San Antonio
- A fourth SeaWorld formerly operated in Ohio
- Discovery Cove, an exclusive, reservation-only park in Orlando
- Sesame Place, a children's play park themed after the long-running public broadcasting
show Sesame Street
- A second Sesame Place formerly operated in Texas.
- Water Parks: Adventure Island (waterpark), Water Country USA, and Aquatica.
- Grant's Farm, an animal reserve park in St. Louis, Missouri, on land formerly owned by Ulysses S. Grant
External links
- Official website
- Official website of the Busch Entertainment Corporation
- History timeline from the Anheuser-Busch website
- Fan websites:
- Roller coaster database entries for Tampa and Williamsburg
- Busch Gardens Escape (unofficial fansite)
- Busch Gardens Tampa Guide (unofficial fansite)
- Busch Gardens Van Nuys Site photos
- An Enchanted Park: Celebrating the Centennial of Busch Gardens, a Pasadena Museum of History exhibit on the original Busch Gardens in Pasadena, California
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