Contact Subscribe. Photo provided by Josh McMorrow-Hernandez. The book, written by Tampa Author and Historian Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez, profiles the history of Busch Gardens Tampa from its origins as an Anheuser-Busch brewery and visitor center in through its growth as an internationally known theme park and accredited zoological facility. Read an excerpt below: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay was officially dedicated on March 31, , and opened to the public on June 1 of that year. The park was an immediate success, drawing more than , guests during its first year of operation.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay grew quickly. In the s, the park constructed a wire-frame geodesic dome that served as a space-age aviary. The park also unveiled a Swiss-themed restaurant that served up some of the top cuisine in Tampa for nearly 20 years.
In it was briefly closed for inspection after a fatal accident on a similar spider ride in Broward County. It packs a lot of action in a short 90 seconds, climbing 60 feet and reaching a maximum speed of 41 miles per hour.
With a total of seven inversions across the three-minute ride, it remains a coaster fan favorite. In June , 14 couples were married on Kumba. That day, 36 couples were married on roller coasters including Python 12 couples and the Scorpion 10 couples.
It was the fourth year that couples were married on the roller coasters at Busch Gardens. By now, Busch Gardens had become a favorite of a club called American Coaster Enthusiasts, and member Alan Smith said he moved to Tampa just to ride Montu for the rest of his life. In , he reached a milestone 1,th ride on Montu. He later went on to set a similar record at Gwazi. This coaster is scarier than it looks. It was renamed to avoid confusion when the Cheetah Hunt roller coaster that opened in It is a wild-mouse coaster with small cars that take tight, flat turns without banking at modest speeds, but producing high lateral G-forces.
With turns that seem to pull you over the edge, this surprisingly strong serpent has bite. Busch Gardens added its first roller coaster just one year later. It was a groundbreaking coaster designed by a young company named Arrow Dynamics that would go on to measured success in the Busch Gardens parks. It has been removed for further expansion of the park. Scorpion was designed by Anton Schwarzkopf and was much longer than Python.
This ride is also one of relative few coasters that are looping but only have lap bars. The became the decade that was a roller coaster arms race and Busch Gardens was not shying away from the competition.
However, the young company could only focus on one coaster. The sister of Kumba was named Drachen Fire and would eventually be closed the history of this ride is discussed in depth in Part Three of this article, which covers the history of the park in Williamsburg. Kumba featured several groundbreaking and innovative features including a massive vertical loop that wrapped around the lift hill, a cobra roll and interlocking corkscrews.
When this coaster opened it set a new standard for future rides to be measured against and held the record for the longest coaster in Florida until Montu opened in three years. The Marrakesh Theatre opened up, which housed many musicals and ice shows. In , Busch decided to improve the monorail with new air-conditioned trains from Intamin AG to replace the aging Arrow Dynamics trains the ride has operated with for more than twenty years. The solution?
The only major changes for the ride were new boats and the last segment of the old ride turned into a drop segment where riders and guests on the bridge nearby are bound to get drenched by a huge wave. Tanganyika Tidal Wave became yet another summertime hit with guests. A new decade rolled around and in , the park decided to add a new themed area over by the Old Swiss House.
In the early nineties, Busch decided to transform the area where the Old Swiss House stood and make the area into the Crown Colony. And a new family-friendly thrill ride was added in this new area. A motion simulator ride named Questor opened up in Next year though, Busch was ready to unveil a white knuckle thrill ride that has become a revolution in roller coaster design and engineering and also a favorite among enthusiasts. It has been twelve years since Busch has added a roller coaster to their first theme park.
At that time, competition began to grow stiff around Busch Gardens. And then, Universal Studios opened their doors. It seemed like Busch needed a new thrill to attract thrill seekers to take the hour long drive from Orlando to Tampa. Busch needed something revolutionary and that was answered with the addition of Kumba. Kumba was designed by Bollinger and Mabillard, a Swiss roller coaster company that was new at the time Kumba opened.
Kumba opened up with praise from the general public and enthusiasts on April 20, and the ride started a relationship between Busch and Bollinger and Mabillard. After the smash hit that was Kumba , Busch began to improve the park even more. The answer? Land of the Dragons, adding more pint sized attractions and a multi-story playground and cargo net playground that immerses children and parents in a wonderland.
A brand new stage was also built for children's shows as well. But also triggered the start for another big addition for the growing Florida park. Cranes and bulldozers began to dig trenches as a god begins to rise and dominate the skyline. Busch Gardens Tampa stuns the industry again in with the addition of Montu , another record breaking roller coaster designed by Bollinger and Mabillard.
Montu , meaning the Egyptian god of war, lives up to its name.
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