MEMORIES:
PHOTOS:
You’ve had a hard day at work. You come home, kick off your shoes, and a pop an ice-cold can of beer. As you stare longingly at the can, the idea of a perfect vacation comes to mind: a trip to a brewery! Just one dilemma remains: how to convince the family to follow in your dreams. Never fear, Busch Gardens is here.
The first Busch Gardens, owned by Anheuser-Busch (makers of Budweiser Beer,) appeared in Pasadena, California in 1905. This first park was a botanical garden, rather than an amusement park like the subsequent versions. It was quite popular with the local residents, but Busch had bigger plans. In 1959, the company opened a wildlife park in Tampa Bay, Florida, called Busch Gardens Tampa (later renamed Busch Gardens Africa.) Today it is home to over two thousand animals, as well as roller coasters and other attractions – and yes, plenty of Budweiser Beer.
Following the success of Busch Gardens Tampa, the franchise expanded to two other locations in 1975, opening parks in Williamsburg, Virginia and Van Nuys, California. The brewery tour in Van Nuys was amended to include an aviary, a working monorail tour of the brewery, a log ride, and a boat journey. Sadly, the amusement park didn’t fare well against other nearby amusement parks and it closed in 1979 to make way for a brewery expansion.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg (now known as Busch Gardens Europe) was far more successful, and remains so to this day. The park is divided into seven areas, each sporting the theme of a European country. It was voted “Most Beautiful Theme Park in the Country” over a dozen times, and offers a wide variety of theme park rides and roller coasters, including Curse of DarKastle, Escape from Pompeii, Alpengeist, Loch Ness Monster, Apollo's Chariot and Big Bad Wolf. A new roller coaster, Griffon, will debut at the park in 2007. When completed, it will be the tallest dive coaster in the world.
Busch Gardens was parodied on the successful animated series, The Simspons, when Bart and Lisa traveled to “Duff Gardens,” home of Homer’s favorite Duff Beer. The episode managed to poke fun not only at Busch Gardens, but also at the iconic Disneyland.
Some might say that a brewery and an amusement can’t coexist side-by-side, but Busch Gardens has proven the naysayers wrong for over five decades. Grab the family and leave the cooler at home. There is plenty of fun, and cold beer, to be had at Busch Gardens.
