HISTORY
The University of South Florida campus began construction in 1957 on a site adjacent to the north side of Henderson Airfield, and the Busch Gardens theme park was opened in 1959 just south of the airport. (click buttons to enlarge photos)
A 1959 view looking southwest at Henderson Field, after the Busch Brewery (on the right) had been built over a portion of the former airfield.
Photo is from the Tamp Hillsborough County Public Library (courtesy of Joe Benson).
Busch Gardens Africa (also known as Busch Gardens Tampa Bay) is a 335-acre 19th century African-themed park located in Tampa, Florida.
Back in the fifties, beer-brewer Anheuser - Busch started up a beer garden (with free beer) and a bird show at the front of its new brewery in Tampa. 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. Visitors could watch bird shows and animal acts in a tropical setting and before leaving the grounds entered a beer garden offering free Busch beer to drink. Hundreds of exotic birds filled the fully interactive Bird Gardens, all for free admission.
Just as it is today, the birds roamed free, where the guests were free to pet them. Millions visited, and in a stroke of brilliance wildlife-lover August A. Busch Jr. added the 29-acre Serengeti Plains in 1965 (eventually expanded to 70 acres.) The gigantic Serengeti Plain allowed the African wildlife to roam freely and became the largest, free-roaming habitat outside of Africa. It remains one of the most unique features of the park to this day and has received numerous upgrades and expansions.
Click to enlarge
What seemed to be the world's longest escalator (known as "the stairway to the stars") rode you to the rooftop where you began the brewery tour. Note the Hospitality House at far left.
Many came to eat in Old Swiss House, patterned after the famed Old Swiss House in Lucerne, Switzerland, but overlooking giraffes and gazelles grazing on the Serengeti Plain. Busch had it built in 1964 as a Valentine's Day present for his third wife, Trudy, whose brother owned Switzerland's Old Swiss House. Once considered one of the finest restaurants in Tampa, it was closed for seven years, then was renovated and reopened as the Crown Colony House in 1990.
The monorail at Busch Gardens opened in 1966. This small suspended system operated boxy trains that used two propane fired, air cooled, aluminum Corvair engines per train to produce the AC power necessary for the electric motors.
The gardens had everything you would expect from a garden, exotic plants, but it also came with exotic animals from far away. One of the park’s earliest sections, Boma, became a zoo of sorts with most of the attractions still residing there today (as the park’s Nairobi section).
The Busch Gardens Serengeti Express Railroad opened in 1971, becoming the park’s second major ride following the monorail. The train takes guests on a two-mile perimeter ride around the now 335-acre park with stops at the Congo, Stanleyville and Nairobi areas. Along the way, guests on the train ride can see hundreds of African animals on the Serengeti Plain, and other fascinating attractions at the park. The four locomotive engines are fueled by clean-burning propane gas. Two engines are replicas of the ones used in Africa in the early 1900s, while the remaining two are similar to those used in the American Old West.
The section of the park known as "Stanleyville" opened in 1973 and is home to the park's first water ride, the Stanley Falls Flume. In 1975, Busch added the Moroccan Village, with cafes and Moroccan craftsmen. Acrobats, belly dancers, sword swallowers, magicians and organ grinder monkeys were also featured.
In the 70's, a Sky Ride and more African areas were added and in 1977, the corkscrew roller coaster, Python, opened (left). Although lackluster by today's standards, it was revolutionary at the time. With the new coaster, Busch also gave the park its second name, Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent. Four years later, the Scorpion, a classic looping roller coaster was added. As was the Python, the Scorpion was a small coaster, but still quite a thrill at the time. Thirteen years passed before Busch Gardens added another roller coaster. Stanleyville's African Queen Boat Ride opened in 1977 as Busch's version of Disney's Jungle Cruise.
Busch Gardens circa 1978
Special thanks to "Budman" for
these 4 photos
Monorail & Sky Buckets Hospitality House
Stanleyville Flume ride
Moroccan village
Timbuktu section of Busch Gardens opened in May of 1980 and is themed after the malls and bazaars of Africa. In 1982 the "Congo" section of the park opened with the Congo River Rapids, a water ride that simulates raging whitewater rapids . In 1984 the "Phoenix" was built in Timbuktu and remains a popular ride to this day.
In 1987 the monorail closed to allow for a complete overhaul of the system, and re-opened in February of 1988. Intamin Inc. of Switzerland built six sleek new trains for the redesigned system. Bus bars retro-fitted to the overhead track provided power for the six car trains. Better air conditioning was aided by deeply tinting the windows on each car. Seventy two passenger trains were capable of six mph, making their round trip in 10 to 12 minutes.
In 1989, Stanleyville's African Queen Boat Ride was transformed into Tanganyika Tidal Wave with the addition of a 55-foot drop that generates a huge splash. The section remained essentially unchanged until 2005, when SheiKra opened up and the surrounding area was renovated.
In 1992, the Myombe Reserve opened. It is a 3-acre home for six lowland gorillas and nine chimpanzees located in Nairobi.
In 1993, Busch Gardens built their largest coaster yet in any of their parks, the Kumba located in the Congo section. "Kumba," meaning "roar" in an African dialect, is a 143-foot steel sit-down roller coaster with seven inversions. The park continued towards becoming a thrill park with the addition of the inverted roller coaster, Montu, in 1996. Both Montu and Kumba featured completely original design. Many of the elements they introduced have been used on roller coasters elsewhere.
The
original section of the park which opened in 1959
for the most part today remains to be mostly
gardens, animal exhibits and shows.
The traditional, educational bird show was replaced with a newer, more
entertainment-based show, including a number of mammals.
The popular attraction that
once stood in this section was the brewery which closed in 1995. (Gwazi
now sits where the brewery was located. ) 
Land of the Dragons is a children's section filled with scaled down versions of popular thrill rides and a massive tree house playground. The section opened in 1995 and replaced the Dwarf Village, a smaller kids area. See old post cards of the old Fairytale Land.
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.
On July 2nd 1997, Busch Gardens
opened the Edge of Africa, a new section of the park where guests can walk
through parts of the African veldt and get an up-close view of the animals.
Having just survived a re-alignment to make room for this new section, the
monorail re-opened. For the last few months, it was out of service while
this addition was being constructed. The Veldt Monorail shut down in 1999
due to upkeep cost.
In 1999, the dueling wooden roller coaster Gwazi was built. The two sides of Gwazi became the two largest wooden roller coasters in Florida and also the only dueling wooden coasters in the southeast.
After a quiet period, Busch began more construction in 2003 and 2004. Several areas received refurbishment and the KaTonga show was introduced. Timbuktu was renovated in 2003. Important rides added during this facelift included the Timbuktu Theatre, which replaced the park's Dolphin Theatre with an indoor movie theatre featuring a "4-D" movie about pirates starring Leslie Nielsen. The show replaced the Haunted Lighthouse 4-D attraction written by R. L. Stine. In 2004, the park's family friendly Cheetah Chase roller coaster opened up, replacing the Crazy Camel flat ride. In 2004, the Wilde Maus roller coaster was moved from Williamsburg to Tampa, where it became Cheetah Chase. The biggest addition came in 2005. SheiKra, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the Southeast and the only dive machine in the United States, opened in May 2005.
Beginning November 2006, the "Congo" section underwent major renovation, which included the removal of the park's classic Python roller coaster.
Not only has Busch Gardens been a leader in roller coasters, thrill rides, shows and entertainment, and of course, animals, the park has been a leader in preserving endangered African animals while providing them with replicas of natural habitats. The park is a zoo first and a theme park second; animals take top priority. Busch Gardens has also combined animals into a safari, thrill ride adventure with Rhino Rally.
See also: Busch Gardens Timeline summary and admission prices through the years and How Did Busch Gardens Grow?
Remember what attraction used to be
across from Busch Gardens? Click image at left
Currently Busch Gardens Africa competes with other such parks in Florida and charges comparable fees. Beer is no longer manufactured there. According to the web site of Anheuser-Busch Companies, the parent company focuses on beer, adventure park entertainment, and packaging. Busch Entertainment Corporation is the company subsidiary that runs the Busch entertainment parks and claims that it is one of the largest adventure park operators in the United States.
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.
Photos used on this page were not taken by me; they are from other websites and are used here for non-profit use for the sole purpose of education ( a provision allowed in the the U.S. copyright laws.)