Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Busch Gardens
Location	Tampa Bay, Tampa, Florida, United States
Coordinates	28°02′16″N 82°25′18″W / 28.0379°N 82.4216°W / 28.0379; -82.4216Coordinates: 28°02′16″N 82°25′18″W / 28.0379°N 82.4216°W / 28.0379; -82.4216
Website	www.buschgardens.com/bgt/
Owner	SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
Opened	March 31, 1959; 52 years ago (1959-03-31)
Previous names	Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: 1990s–2006, 2008–present Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent: 1976–1990s Busch Gardens Africa: 2006–2008
Operating season	Year-round
Area	335 acres (136 ha)
Rides	24 total 8 roller coasters 3 water rides
Slogan	"Make a Connection in a Whole New Direction"

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (also known as Busch Gardens Tampa and Busch Gardens Africa) is a 335-acre (136 ha) 19th century African-themed animal theme park located in the city of Tampa, Florida. It opened on March 31, 1959 as an admission-free hospitality facility for the Tampa Anheuser-Busch brewery on the grounds of the manufacturing plant.

After the manufacturing plant closed down some years later, Busch Gardens focused progressively on its tropical landscape, exotic animals, and amusements to draw visitors. Busch Gardens began charging admission as the entertainment became more complex, with extra fees for the thrill rides, such as the roller coasters for which Busch Gardens is now known. Currently Busch Gardens competes with other such parks in Florida and charges comparable fees. The park is operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, owned by the private equity firm The Blackstone Group. In 2010, the park hosted 4.2 million people, placing in the Top 20 of the most-visited theme parks in the US and in the Top 25 worldwide.^[1]

Themed Areas

Train cars from the Serengeti Express in the foreground with the Skyride in the background.

• The Serengeti Express (a replica steam train) runs along the back end of the park and makes stops at the Nairobi, Congo and Stanleyville themed areas. The train track was recently renovated, and its tracks have been changed.
• The Skyride transports guests between Crown Colony and Stanleyville.

Morocco

The park's main entrance is home to the Mystic Sheiks of Morocco brass and percussion ensemble. Treats can be purchased at the Sultan's Sweets and the Zagora Cafe. The Moroccan Palace, a 1,200 seat indoor theatre,^[2] is located here as well as the outdoor Marrakesh Theater. Gwazi is the major ride in this area.

• Gwazi, a 90-foot (27 m), 50 mph (80 km/h) dueling wooden roller coaster named after a mythological creature with the head of a tiger and the body of a lion.
• Gwazi Gliders, a small hang glider flat ride relocated from the Congo section's defunct Pygmy Village kids area.

Bird Gardens

The original section of the park that opened back in 1959. The area for the most part remains to be mostly gardens and animal exhibits/shows. A staple attraction that once stood in this section was the brewery. However, the brewery closed in 1995 and Gwazi now sits where the brewery was located. The traditional, educational bird show is currently being replaced with a newer, more entertainment-based show, including a number of mammals.

Sesame Street Safari of Fun

Former Land of the Dragons children's section of the park. Land of the Dragons was replaced by Sesame Street Safari of Fun on March 27, 2010. It contains all the attractions from Land of the Dragons which are now re-themed. It also contains four new attractions: Telly's Jungle Jam, an interactive play area; Rosita's Djembe Fly-Away, a swing ride; Bert & Ernie's Watering hole, a water play area, and Air Grover, a children's roller coaster.

Stanleyville

This section of the park is home to the park's water rides and SheiKra, which was the first and only Dive Coaster in the United States until the addition of Griffon at the sister park Busch Gardens Europe. The section opened up in 1973 with the addition of the Stanley Falls Flume. The African Queen Boat Ride opened in 1977 as Busch's version of Disney's Jungle Cruise. In 1989, the African Queen Boat Ride was transformed into Tanganyika Tidal Wave with the addition of a 55-foot (17 m) drop that generates a giant splash. The section remained unchanged from then until 2005, when SheiKra opened, and the surrounding area was renovated.

• SheiKra, a 200-foot (61 m) Bolliger & Mabillard floorless dive roller coaster with a 90-degree vertical drop. This is Florida's first Floorless Vertical Dive Coaster.
• Stanley Falls Flume, a log flume with a 43-foot (13 m) drop.
• Tanganyika Tidal Wave, a 20 passenger shoot the chutes water ride with a 55-foot (17 m) drop.

Congo

Python, the park's first roller coaster. It was also Florida's first inverting roller coaster. It was removed in 2006.

This section contains two of the park's more popular rides. In November 2006, Congo underwent major renovation, including the removal of the park's classic Python roller coaster.

• Kumba, meaning roar in Swahili, is a 143-foot (44 m) steel sit-down roller coaster with seven inversions. First built in 1993 by Bolliger & Mabillard, it still remains a popular ride today. The ride was repainted in 2010.
• Congo River Rapids, a water ride that simulates raging whitewater rapids. The ride opened in 1982.
• Ubanga Banga Bumper Cars, a bumper cars ride.

Jungala

Opened on April 5, 2008, Jungala is a 4-acre (16,000 m²) family attraction featuring up-close animal encounters, rope bridges to explore three stories of jungle life, and a water-play area for children. Also located in this area are two family attractions: Jungle Flyers, a zip line that offers three different flight patterns above the treetops of the new area, and Wild Surge, a shot tower that launches guests above a waterfall. Another attraction is Tiger Trail, which is a walkthrough with tigers where there is also a glass turret where you can look out right in the middle of the tiger enclosure. Stiltwalkers perform and interact with guests in the heart of Jungala during several parts of the day.

• Jungle Fliers, a zip line ride.
• The Wild Surge, a Moser family launch tower ride.

Python, an Arrow Dynamics looping coaster patterned after the original Corkscrew at Knott's Berry Farm, previously occupied the site occupied now by Jungala.

Timbuktu

A section themed after the malls and bazaars of Africa. This section opened up in May 1980. The Phoenix was built in 1984 and remains a popular ride to this day. The section was renovated in 2003. Important rides added during this facelift included the Timbuktu Theater, which replaced the park's Dolphin Theater with an indoor 4-D movie theater. In 2004, Das Festhaus was transformed into the Desert Grill, and the park's family-friendly Sand Serpent wild mouse roller coaster opened, replacing the Crazy Camel flat ride.

• Scorpion, a steel Schwarzkopf-designed sit-down roller coaster with one vertical loop.
• Sand Serpent, a steel wild mouse roller coaster.
• Phoenix, an Intamin Looping Starship themed as an Egyptian cargo vessel.
• Sesame Street Film Festival 4-D a 3-D short film starring characters from Sesame Street. The film is shown in the Timbuktu Theater jointly with Pirates 4-D.
• Pirates 4-D a 3-D short film about Pirates starring Leslie Nielsen. It was closed in March 2010 to make way for Sesame Street 4-D, but returned on August 5, 2010 and will be shown in the Timbuktu Theater jointly with Sesame Street.^[3]
• Sandstorm, an orbiter ride with three arms that spins riders around.
• Caravan Carousel, a carousel with horses, camels, and chariots.

Nairobi

Alligators and crocodiles can be observed here up close. In Curiosity Cavern, guests can view mammal and reptile exhibits. Visitors to Nairobi can view injured or abandoned newborns at the Nairobi Field Station Animal Nursery. The areas also contains Myombe Reserve, a tropical rainforest that is home to Western Lowland Gorillas and Common Chimpanzees. The major ride here is Rhino Rally, an unpredictable off-road safari that ends spiraling its riders down a raging river. The river portion of the attraction was eventually abandoned due to repeated vehicle breakdowns. The main train station at Busch Gardens is located at Nairobi. Another popular attraction here is the Asian Elephant exhibit, which is also featured in the Rhino Rally ride.

• Rhino Rally, a Vekoma River Adventure ride, Riders board inside modified Land Rovers through the park's Serengeti Plain habitat, interacting with animals.

Crown Colony Plaza

Crown Colony House

Crown Colony is the smallest section of the park. It features a restaurant, the Cheetah Hunt roller coaster, and the Skyride station. 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Busch Gardens, so a museum was set up, featuring a timeline of pictures, costumes from previous shows, and old maps of the park. It also has a preserved Python roller coaster seat. The meuseum is still there today.

• Cheetah Hunt - the park's first launch coaster, created by Intamin. Debuted in 2011.

Egypt

Bedouin tents and authentic handicrafts and art create an Egyptian marketplace feel. Guests can visit a replica of King Tutankhamen's tomb with the excavation in progress. The primary attraction of the Egypt themed area is Montu, an inverted steel coaster.

• Montu, named after the Egyptian Falcon God of War, is a 150-foot (46 m) steel inverted Bolliger & Mabillard roller coaster with seven inversions.

A Newer attraction is the launch coaster Cheetah Hunt, that accelerates to a full speed of 60 mph in seconds. the ride duration is over 3 minutes. it is located just outside of Morocco and Egypt in the Cheetah Run area of the park, and stretches through the Edge of Africa and the Serengeti Plain with gentle turns and one heart-line roll.

Cheetah Run is an animal exhibit where cheetahs are kept. Shows are hosted with the animals where they will run across their enclosure at top speed for simple rewards.

File:Cheetah+Hunt+1.jpg

Cheetah Hunt

Animal Exhibits

The Serengeti Plain

In 1965, the park opened its Serengeti Plain animal habitat, the first of its kind to offer animals in a free-roaming environment. Over the years, the habitat has expanded from 29-acre (120,000 m²) to its current size of 65-acre (260,000 m²).^[4] It is home to the Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, bongo, addax, addra gazelle, eland, impala, ostrich, marabou stork, East African crowned crane and sacred ibis.

Myombe Reserve

Giraffes at the "Edge of Africa" attraction.

A 3-acre (12,000 m²) home for six lowland gorillas and nine chimpanzees located in Nairobi, opened in 1992.

Edge of Africa

Opened in 1997, Edge of Africa is a walk-through attraction where guests can observe African animals. Among the exhibits are meerkats, two prides of lions, a pack of hyenas, a few hippos, and a troop of lemurs.

Curiosity Caverns

This cavern attraction, formerly known as Nocturnal Mountain,^[5] contains animals such as bats, snakes, lizards, tamarins, and sugar gliders in the low-light environment. This attraction offers the true facts about the creatures inside and cracks the myths about them wide open.

Golden Ticket Awards

The following is a list of roller coasters at Busch Gardens that have placed on Amusement Today's Top 50 coasters, along with their highest ranking.

Roller Coaster	Highest Rank
Montu	1
Kumba	2
SheiKra	3
Gwazi	4

Annual events

Real Music Series

Main article: Real Music Series

From January - March, Busch Gardens hosts a weekly concert series which invites popular bands either in Big Bands or Pop to perform classic or contemporary songs.

Bands, Brew & BBQ

(Previously called Bud & BBQ) For the month of February, Busch Gardens hosts a series of concerts in Gwazi Field, from many classic and contemporary Country music acts; there are special culinary offerings along the walkway from the Gwazi Roller Coaster to the gate in Gwazi Field.

Viva La Musica!

In March, several Latin Music acts, such as Guyacon, are hosted on the Stage in Gwazi Field. There is a similar culinary setup with special offerings for the concert days as there is for Bands, Brew & BBQ.

Summer Nights

In the summer months, the park stays open later and includes concerts by performers like David Cassidy and Starship with Mickey Thomas. The park's Independence Day festivities add fireworks to the entertainment lineup.

In 2010, Busch Gardens added a new nighttime show called Kinetix, the first special effect-heavy show put on in Gwazi Field. Also, they added many new special effects (i.e. Strobe, Lighting, Fog) to their existing rides just for the Summer Nights season.

Howl-O-Scream

Main article: Howl-O-Scream

Every October, Busch Gardens is transformed into Howl-O-Scream. This event contains haunted houses, scare zones, and shows.^[6] Howl-O-Scream is one of the top rated Halloween events in the US. Howl-O-Scream has featured some attractions of the park turned into "horrified" attractions at night. This includes Serengeti Safari Tours, which was turned into Evening Serengeti Safari Tours, and Curiosity Caverns, which was turned into Dark Cavern, both in 2000. 2009 was Howl-O-Scream's 10th anniversary.

Holidays

In November through December, theaters throughout the park are transformed into Christmas themed shows in celebration of the Holiday season.

See also

zoos and aquariums portal

• Adventure Island (water park)
• Busch Gardens
• Busch Gardens Williamsburg
• SeaWorld Orlando
• Incidents at Busch parks
• Howl-O-Scream (Tampa Bay)
• List of attractions in Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay

Notes

1. ^ http://www.themeit.com/etea/2010Report.pdf
2. ^ Kiplinger, Lisa (June 17, 1989). "Busch Gardens keeps on growing". Wilmington Morning Star. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8eUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UxQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6765,1157253&dq=busch+gardens+africa. Retrieved 2009-06-07. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ http://www.screamscape.com/html/busch_gardens_tampa.htm
4. ^ "Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Fact Sheet", page 4. Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
5. ^ "There's a lot more to Africa than animals.". St. Petersburg Times. August 19, 1975. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UDIMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Vl8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5479,2956141&dq=skyride+busch+gardens. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
6. ^ Gershman, Rick (October 14, 2004). "Scare tactics". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/14/Weekend/Scare_tactics.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 

References

• Busch Gardens history
• Roller Coaster Database entries for Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay

External links

Media related to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay at Wikimedia Commons

• Official site