Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a African-themed animal park and theme park located in Tampa,
Florida, USA.
The park is home to a wide variety of attractions, ranging from free-roaming animals to daily
shows, and even a large mix of thrilling roller coasters and rides.
It’s because of this, and the prime location in the attraction hub of Florida, that the
year-round theme park is home to approximately 4 million visitors each year.
However, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay didn’t start out the huge park it is today.
In the beginning, the attraction opened to the public on the 31st of March 1959 as an
admission-free hospitality facility for the adjacent Anheuser-Busch brewery.
Here, visitors were able to watch a variety of bird shows and animal acts, take a tour
of the factory, and even relax in the beer garden with free Anheuser Busch beer.
In 1965 the attraction expanded with the introduction of the Serengeti Plains, at the time the largest
free-roaming habitat outside of Africa for African wildlife.
A larger version of the original plains, home to zebras, giraffes, rhinoceros and more can
still be experienced today.
Shortly after, in 1966, the Busch company constructed a small suspended monorail taking
guests on a journey through the vast plains.
Several years later, the pseudo-park continued to expand with its second ride, the Serengeti
Express Railroad.
This railway allowed guests to take a perimeter ride through the increasing number of themed
sections of the Tampa Bay park.
It then gained its first water ride in 1973 with the debut of the Stanley Falls Flume,
while 1974 saw the construction of the now iconic Skyride attraction.
The Skyride can still be ridden today allowing guests to observe both animals and rides on
their journey across the park.
Two years later in 1976, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay debuted their first large scale attraction,
Python, a steel inverting roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics.
It was at this point that the entire attraction started to become the large scale theme park
we know today.
However, initially the park was named Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent - referencing
the African theme.
It continued to cater to new audiences only four years after the debut of Python with
the introduction of the Schwarzkopf looping coaster, Scorpion.
The Dark Continent continued to expand rapidly with the introduction of another water ride
in 1982, the Congo River Rapids.
However, after this, large scale additions became less frequent.
It wasn’t until 1993 when the park would construct another roller coaster - Kumba.
Kumba opened to the public as a record breaker, becoming Florida’s tallest, fastest and
longest roller coaster.
The ride, constructed by swiss manufacturer Bolliger and Mabillard, allows guests to experience
7 inversions, as well as a mixture of huge drops and intense turns.
Kumba has become an icon for the park and is loved and enjoyed by many globally.
Off the back of their success, Busch Gardens were looking to install yet another large
scale attraction.
Three years later they debuted Montu, a second Bolliger and Mabillard roller coaster, and
at the time, the world’s tallest and fastest of its kind.
Themed to Egypt, Montu takes guests through a mixture of inversions, diving into trenches
below the ground.
Similar to Kumba, Montu has also become an icon of the park, with many praising it as
their favourite inverted coaster worldwide.
The park’s rapid large roller coaster investments didn’t stop there.
In 1999 Busch Gardens opened Gwazi to the public, the park’s first wooden roller coaster.
Built by Great Coasters International, Gwazi featured two distinct tracks, allowing guests
to race other riders of the attraction.
Interestingly, the ride was built on the site of the Brewery constructed back in 1959.
After many years of operation the pair of wooden roller coasters were closed to the
public due to low ridership and increasing maintenance costs.
Unfortunately, Gwazi has remained standing but not operating since 2015.
However the attraction is set to be reborn in 2020 as North America's tallest, and both
the world's steepest and fastest hybrid roller coaster, built by Rocky Mountain Construction.
After a burst of large investments within the 90s, the park focused on smaller less
thrilling additions.
This included Rhino Rally, a safari-themed racing ride, and Cheetah Chase, named now
Sand Serpent, a Mack Rides Wild Mouse relocated from Tampa Bay’s sister park, Busch Gardens
Williamsburg.
At this point, the park was due a new thrilling attraction.
In 2005, they constructed their largest ride yet, SheiKra, a Bolliger and Mabillard dive coaster.
SheiKra takes guests up 61m, 200ft high, before holding them over the edge of the drop for
several seconds until they plummet vertically towards the ground below.
After this riders experience a range of twists, turns and inversions; as well as a unique
splashdown element spraying nearby guests.
Interestingly for the 2006 season the name of the park was changed for a brief period
of time.
During the 1990s Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent became Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
However, in 2006, the park was renamed Busch Gardens Africa for two years, before returning
to the name we know and love today.
2010 saw the addition of another roller coaster, this time for the family market.
Air Grover, a Zierer force coaster, opened to the public, allowing younger guests to
experience high thrills.
A single year later saw the debut of Cheetah Hunt, a triple launch coaster, constructed by Intamin.
Utilising the old monorail station, the ride allows guests to become a cheetah,
navigating quick turns and transitions.
At one point, visitors even cross over the park’s skyride attraction!
Tampa Bay constructed another large addition, this time in the form of North America’s
tallest freestanding drop tower, only four years later.
Falcon’s Fury opened to the public causing riders to plummet through a height 94m/310ft
all while facing the ground.
The park shifted focus back to the family market in 2016 to produce Cobra’s Curse,
a Mack Rides Spinning coaster.
With an Egyptian theme, the attraction takes visitors on a chaotic journey,
causing them to spin part way through the ride.
Interestingly, Tampa Bay’s newest investment will come in the form of Tigris, an upcoming
Sky Rocket 2 roller coaster.
The attraction will debut in 2019, launching riders three times before subjecting them
to a mixture of sheer drops and slow inversions.
Despite their large collection of rides, the park is also home to a wide variety of animals
and shows.
On top of seeing an extensive range of wildlife, guests can watch various shows, including
ice skating performances and an interactive Sesame Street experience.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is also host to multiple events throughout its all-year-round season,
including arguably the most exciting, Howl-o-scream.
During this halloween event, guests can enter terrifying haunted houses, be spooked by roaming
actors, and even ride the thrilling roller coasters at night.
60 years after its initial founding, Busch Gardens Tampa continues to be a highly regarded
theme park, even on the global scale.
The attraction demonstrates the ability to combine thrills, themes and wildlife;
creating a unique and often unmatched guest experience.
It’s because of this that visitors come back to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay year after.
This video was made in conjunction with Coaster Studios.
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