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All about the Busch Gardens Theme Parks

Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, and a planned amusement park in Dubai, owned and operated by Busch Entertainment Corporation, a division of Anheuser-Busch. One of the parks is in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the other is in Tampa, Florida. Both parks were renamed at the start of the 2006 season to reflect the themes used throughout the parks.

Long before the Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser beer had his winter home in Pasadena, California (1904). It was here that this wealthy easterner took full advantage of the area’s mild climate and established the first of a series of Busch Gardens (1906). When Busch died (1913) at his Pasadena estate his wife generously offered the property to the City of Pasadena as a park, an offer the city inexplicably refused.

In the 1930s, the 36 acre land was subdivided. But number of films were made at the park, including "Frankenstein," "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "Gone With the Wind."

In 1954, a new brewery was opened in Van Nuys. The company brought back a more modern version of Busch Gardens at its Van Nuys brewery in 1966, which included boat rides for visitors, a monorail and free beer. The 17 acre amusement park was renamed Busch Bird Sanctuary in 1977, but two years later, it was closed.

Busch Gardens Africa, formerly known as Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, opened on March 31, 1959, and has an African theme. The park was originally tagged "The Dark Continent". The theme park is one of America's largest zoological institutions, with more than 2,700 animals. Attractions include: Rhino Rally, Montu, Kumba, Scorpion, Gwazi, Edge of Africa, and SheiKra, a vertical dive coaster which opened in 2005. The theme park is some distance away from downtown, in central Tampa, near the limits of the City of Temple Terrace.

Busch Gardens Europe, formerly known as Busch Gardens Williamsburg, opened on May 5, 1975, and has a European theme. The park was originally tagged "The Old Country". Attractions at this park include Curse of DarKastle, Alpengeist, Escape from Pompeii, Apollo's Chariot, Loch Ness Monster, Big Bad Wolf, and, new for 2007, Griffon. The new coaster has bragging rights in that it is the tallest dive coaster in the world. The park is divided into seven sections, each themed to a different European country.

(thanks to wikipedia.org  and about.com  for park information)