Busch Gardens Tampa Informations

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (formerly known as Busch Gardens Africa and Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent) is a 335-acre (136 ha) African-themed animal theme park located in the city of Tampa, Florida. Busch Gardens Tampa is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment and is the 2nd largest park in terms of attendance behind SeaWorld Orlando. The park officially features nine roller coasters and two water rides amongst other rides and animal attractions.

Alongside sister waterpark Adventure Island (30-acre (12 ha)), Busch Gardens is the anchor of Tampa's 365-acre (148 ha) amusement multiplex. Currently Busch Gardens competes with other such parks in Florida and charges comparable fees. Busch Gardens is currently accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). In 2015, the park hosted 4.2 million people, placing 11th as the most-visited theme parks in the United States.

Busch Gardens Tampa opened on March 31, 1959 as an admission-free hospitality facility for Tampa Anheuser-Busch; in addition to various beer tastings, they had a bird garden and the "Stairway to the Stars", which was an escalator that took guests to the roof of the brewery.

Busch Gardens continued to grow and in 1965, opened the 29-acre (12 ha) Serengeti Plains, which allowed the African wildlife to roam freely. It continued to focus 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. On April 19, 2019, Busch Gardens opened its newest roller coaster, a Sky Rocket II named Tigris.

The park's main entrance. Treats can be purchased at the Sultan's Sweets and the Zagora Cafe. The Moroccan Palace is located here, as well as the outdoor Marrakesh Theater. Gwazi was the major ride in this area and a new hybrid roller coaster ride will take its place.

Former "Land of the Dragons" children's section of the park. Land of the Dragons, which itself replaced the Dwarf Village in 1995, 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.

This section of the park is home to one the park's water rides, Stanley Falls Flume. It is also home to launch coaster Tigris, 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 Williamsburg. 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. The African Queen featured live animals, including alligators, crocodiles, rhinoceroses and spider monkeys. A colorful South American macaw rode on each boat as a first mate. There was also a cast member, dressed in African warrior regalia, who surprised each boat as it passed through a riverside village. The warrior was featured in television ads for the park in the early 1980s. 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 until 2005, when SheiKra opened and the surrounding area was renovated.

This section, themed to the jungles of Congo, contains two of the park's most popular rides, Kumba and Congo River Rapids. In November 2006, Congo underwent major renovation, including the removal of the park's classic Python corkscrew roller coaster. Other former Congo attractions include the Swinging Vines, family swing flat ride closing in the early 1990's and the Monstorus Mamba octopus flat ride closing in the late 1990s. And the Pygmy Village kids area featuring three children's rides, a teacup ride, a kiddie swing ride relocated to Sesame Street Safari of Fun and the Gwazi Gliders moved to Morocco.

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. During the Kareebu Jungala atmosphere show, stiltwalkers perform with puppets and interact with guests in the heart of Jungala.

A section originally themed after the malls and bazaars of Africa that opened up in May 1980 as Timbuktu. The Phoenix was built in 1984 and remains a popular ride to this day. The section was renovated in 2003. Important elements added during this facelift included the enclosing of the Timbuktu Theater, which replaced the park's Dolphin Theater with an indoor 4-D movie theater. The dolphins retired to other locations. The 4-D theater premiered with "R.L Stine's Haunted Lighthouse" film in 2003, followed by "Pirates 4D" in 2006 and "Sesame Street Presents: Lights! Camera! Imagination!" in 2010. 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 Trabant flat ride. In September 2014, Falcon's Fury, a 335-foot drop tower, opened, replacing the former Sandstorm orbiter flat ride. This section of the park was re-themed to Pantopia alongside the opening of Falcon's Fury.

Alligators and crocodiles can be observed here up close. In Curiosity Cavern, guests can view mammal and reptile exhibits. Visitors to Nairobi can meet the Animal Ambassadors who travel the country and make educational appearances at Jambo Junction. The area also contains Myombe Reserve, a tropical rainforest that is home to Western lowland gorillas and common chimpanzees. In 2012 the Animal Care Center opened, allowing guests to observe actual veterinary procedures, as well as meet the stars of Wildlife Docs, Busch Gardens' Saturday morning television show. The main train station at Busch Gardens is located at Nairobi. Another popular attraction here is the Asian elephant exhibit.

Edge of Africa, otherwise known at Cheetah Hunt Plaza, is the smallest section of the park. It features a restaurant, The Serengeti Overlook Restaurant and Pub, the Cheetah Hunt roller coaster, and the Skyride station.

Bedouin tents, authentic handicrafts and art create an Egyptian marketplace feel. The primary attraction of the Egypt-themed area is Montu, an inverted steel coaster. Tut's Tomb, a former audio guided walk-through tomb excavation closed in Winter 2013 and the interior was gutted to make way for the queue for Cobra's Curse. The former Golden Scarab Gift Shop was converted into a gift shop at the exit of the attraction.

Busch Gardens is Tampa's largest zoo, with more than 200 species of animals.

A state-of-the-art facility that allows visitors to view animal care being conducted from treatments to x-rays.

A free flight aviary that shows over 500 tropical birds from around the globe including parrots, flamingos and others. The original section of the park opened in 1959. The area for the most part remains mostly gardens and animal exhibits. 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. In 2014, the Bird Gardens theater was demolished and the former show (Critter Castaways) is now housed in the Pantopia Theater under the new name "Opening Night Critters".

Opened in 1997, Edge of Africa is a walk-through attraction where guests can observe African animals. Among the exhibits are a Nile crocodile named Sobek, meerkats, two prides of lions, a pack of spotted hyenas, three hippos named Moyo, Kita and Devi, vultures, and a troop of lemurs.

The three newest members of the lion pride include a male named Kembe and two females named Shaba and Shtuko. They arrived at the park as cubs in 2013 from a zoo in Africa. Another pride of lions at the park include a male named Simon and two females named Rose and Iris. Iris and Rose are unable to have cubs as they have been spayed.

The hippos Moyo and Kita are never exhibited together, being father and daughter, and being unaware of this would try to mate with each other. Therefore, both are rotated into the exhibit and holding area day by day to avoid accidental inbreeding.

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