The Rise and Fall of Busch Gardens Tampa (Part 1) | A Complete History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2023
- Busch Gardens Tampa is one of the most unique theme parks in the world with its African setting, excellent animal exhibits and a world class coaster line-up. However, the park is not at all what it used to be and so I was interested in doing a deep dive into its history, covering its rise and eventual fall into the state it is today. This is part 1 of what will be a two part series.
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Recently visited Busch Gardens and I still see a uniqueness of this park. It is clean and has great rides. Compared to other park across the US it is still caliber of a park to visit. Most people just don’t go pass Orlando but if one does, this park still a worthy visit.
It's a great park at a fundamental level, but they're running it poorly and future investment isn't particularly exciting. I remember when it used to be packed in the early 2000s and it was a ghost town when I went today.
@@PoseidonEntertainmentany thoughts or insight on the new BGT project? RMC Wild Moose to replace Sand Serpent? Or a Vekoma boomerang? 👀
@@PoseidonEntertainment conversely I went a couple of months ago and it was packed. The economy is having an adverse effect on a lot of parks imo.
There was super slow days back in its prime too dude , we woukd go on weekdays and have no line ,and not even need tk get off the roller coaster when it was done, those are the good days tho , sometimes it's super packed and miserable
@@PoseidonEntertainmentikr like one of the rides has been shut down for like 3 years
Losing their most themed attractions (Akbars Adventure Tours and Tidal Wave) that helped guests beat florida heat, with the former providing a ride that operated during tampas lightning storms, were the biggest losses. Losing an african themed broadway style show and a quality sit down restaurant also played key parts in its demise. These were essential experiences to the park, they closed more attractions than they've opened the past 20 yrs. Maintenance also a serious issue now, thanks to budget cuts and a revolving door of management. This just breaks my heart
I agree…
I want those attractions to come back along with the show and the sit-down restaurants.
It's been years since I've been to BG, I think when sheikra opened, I am now dismayed Tidal wave was closed and I will continue my apparent protest of not going haha. But I really have been itching for those new coasters.
Tidal Wave was always interesting. I liked how it kept the village from the African Queen.
@@PoseidonEntertainment REPLY FROM THE GOD HIMSELF. YOUR AFRICAN QUEEN BOAT RIDE POV AND NARRATION IS THE MOST LEGENDARY PIECE OF THEME PARK LORE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!!
I still love Busch Gardens and I wouldn’t call it a trashy park by ANY means…but they have taken out a lot of what made this park so special. It needs a dark ride or two and some more indoor things to do….and I wish they’d reopen the curiosity caverns.
Ahh, so that's what they were called. I couldn't find any mention of them, but I remember going in there a lot when I was a child.
I still have a super fun time at BG Tampa. Id maybe only choose Cedar Point over it for thrill rides
What the heck is curiosity caverns??
@@thebluetarp a ‘cave’ they had setup with reptiles and bats and stuff. I loved that!
it has pepsi which is pretty trashy if you ask me 🤮🤮
Lived in Tampa for 25 of my 28 years of my life. I remember growing up with BG being THE park. If you ask any Bay area local, we'll all say BG is better than driving to Orlando for Disney and Universal. I remember skipping school with my dad when Sheikra has it's Grand opening, words don't describe the excitement in the cities around BG, EVERYONE was so hyped. It's sad seeing the park slowly deteriorate. They still have the best horror nights vs Universal and despite the condition, us locals all go at least once a year, it's a nice place to hang out with some friends for the day without paying an arm & leg or driving 90 minutes up to Disney Springs/Universal.
Deteriorate?? I think not... if anything it is the lack of employees that is the problem. BGT is doing everything it can within the confines of it now being a SeaWorld owned entity for a quite a number of years now since InBev bought the Budweiser company. Coaster building is huge in Florida and pretty much the entire industry these days. I wish intellectual properties weren't so oversaturated in the theme park industry, but at least BGT keeps that to a minimum unlike Seaworld and its Sesame Street I.P. If there were a better pool of folks wanting to be employees at theme parks like BGT, the park itself wouldn't have the appearance of deterioration. That being said, being in competition with the powerhouse that Orlando is, I do think that has a lot to do with the worker pool being weaker in the Tampa area compared to the metropolis of O Town.
@@stot2614 The issue is that they don't pay people well enough and they cut hours to the bone. I don't recall what I've heard their most recent minimum pay is, but I think it's just over $9 an hour which is ridiculous for a place like Tampa. I know that SeaWorld pays a bit better (but is not at all competitive with Disney or Universal) but I know people who have worked there hourly and have said that they try to cut hours as much as possible, even closing coasters early to send people home to save money.
The cost of doing business in a competitive market... sucks but some of us understand that. Inflation because of spending on the federal scale is what is forcing this to happen not just here but in many industries.@@PoseidonEntertainment
@@PoseidonEntertainmentspot on, they're not competitive enough. You can't live off that job alone. Most employees are part time and the pay is still laughable for the area. I think it has gotten up around $10-11/hr but at only part time hours you still need a second job.
@@PoseidonEntertainment Sheesh, $9/hr? That's tough, especially considering Universal starts you at $17/hr.
BGT is the only park I bought a season pass for when we moved to Florida, mainly because of how close it is to us and the affordability. Love the park, love their Halloween and Christmas events, but I do wish they had more rides. When we visited cedar point this summer I realized just how much there is to do at that park besides the coasters. BGT needs more flat rides and they definitely need a dark ride or two.
When I went in the early 2000s as a child, there were so many flat rides. Many were mostly for children and located around Timbuktu and Congo but it did a lot in terms of capacity. I do think they need more accessible, family oriented attractions though. Most of their coasters are great, but the park is unbalanced.
We did as well and enjoy all their concerts!
@@PoseidonEntertainmentI agree and I think SeaWorld is also suffering from the same neglect. The fact that SeaWorld has 2 standing / not operating dark rides (Wild Artic / Antarctica) kinda says it all. Busch and SeaWorld desperately need a new indoor dark ride to get some air conditioning in the summer. Busch offering refunds for too much heat is crazy -- Disney and Universal don't need that policy because they have plenty of indoor attractions.
that's ironic considering that roller coasters are the main draw for Cedar Point!
Cedar Point is considered the "Roller Coaster Capital of The World".
Only one other park in the world even has close to the same amount of rides, not a very good comparision in my opinion.
This is also my home park. I really miss Rhino Valley. It was such a unique ride. I've never seen another attraction that went from land based ride to river rapids ride. I also used to operate the Black Mamba, the Python and Scorpion back in the early 90's. Only the Scorpion remains. Lastly, I wish the parks could have gotten that rumored make over before the Blackfish film killed momentum. The concept art looked stunning with onsite hotels etc.
Rhino Rally was so good. It was a nice break to get off your feet and the ride was also cool because the driver could really make it fun with a good sense of humor. It reminds me a bit of Jaws at Universal in that way. Completely forgot about that ride until you said it, thanks for the memory.
I always felt that Rhino Rally was better than Kilimanjaro. The water part was also really novel and made it stand out well.
Rhino rally was sick Python sucked ass though don’t miss that at all and there’s a lot of new coasters and rides
St Pete native and I grew up with this park - it’s so cool learning where some of the buildings started so I’m excited for Part 2. I have so many memories of this park (30 y/o now) and photos with attractions that aren’t there anymore. I was actually picked as a kid to pet the dolphin at the dolphin show RIP. Ahhh, I needed this itch of nostalgia so thank you!
That dolphin show was my first memory, so the park is definitely a personal interest too.
I'm 37yo but I have so many core memories from visiting in the 90s ❤ miss what it was, but I think its more that as an adult I see it for what it is 😂 the magic is long gone, but I still enjoy myself every time 🤌
No joke my friends little brother snuck in the park late at night and swam around with the dolphins. @@PoseidonEntertainment
Oh my god, the memories! My wife and I used to get the annual pass just to ride the coasters. Once you do the other stuff enough, it gets old, but the coasters never did!
I'm a Tampa Bay native who first visited the park in 1966 at age 4, and every year since. (I've also worked in the park on creating Spooky Safari & Howl O Scream events in the 1990s). Your overview is wonderful, so much fun to see the home movies and the background stories. I remember both iterations of the Jungle Cruise style boat ride well, my friend was one of the Skippers. As for the Escalator, for many years sea lions swam underneath to entertain the guests. When I was very young the Escalator scared me and thrilled me, but not as much as the rollercoasters to come. Thank you for your well researched videos and looking forward to Python, Scorpion and all their descendants in Part 2!
I had no idea there were sea lions under the escalator. I did find video of African Penguins underneath though. Also, what was Livingstone's Landing like? I've only found a few pics and 30 seconds of footage but absolutely no information on the ride experience.
I went to Bush Gardens many times when it was just a brewery tour with some animals and most notably penguins. The escalator was a phenomenon in those days and I do remember the dwarf attraction. Home movies of old Bush Gardens were watched by us kids over and over... fond memories...
Part 1??? Well I’m hooked!!!!!
I love the era appropriate music you included. It really adds to the feel of each time period of the park!
While living in Tampa in the early 80’s I had a yearly pass to Busch Gardens. Loved it back then!! Only downfall was the scammers in the parking lot, claiming to have run out of gas.
❤️🍀
I feel that there may be a solid explanation as to why parks like Busch Gardens Tampa, as well as other parks, run into this same issue. Its a loss of their identity. You have to keep in mind that when these places were designed and built, it was a culmination of like minded individuals who all had a similar vision of what they wanted. As time goes on, that creative might begins to age and either move along elsewhere or just retire. Replacing the original minds with new, similar minded people is not as easy as it would seem. At first it didn't matter as there was a mix of the new with the older minds, but as time goes on, that mix goes more and more towards just the new minds. New minds which never had the vision to create what the older minds did. That begins the internal erosion and leads to cases such as Busch/Seaworld. Disney is having the same identity issue as well.
Generally I agree but I think that biggest change with Busch/SeaWorld was InBev purchasing Anheuser-Busch and selling off the parks. Investment firms don't care for legacy
Good point. This (IMO) is what happened to The Simpsons.
I watched this the same hour it came out and then again today. Really looking forward to Part 2. I find it so fascinating that Busch Gardens is so intertwined with the brewery. Today it seems like building a family theme park on the site of one of the largest breweries and distilleries in the world is sort of a terrible idea, but we’re very lucky that we do have it. Not that I personally would have a problem taking my children to a brewery, but I know some people are weird about sheltering their kids from the existence of alcohol.
I only ever knew it without the brewery, but it is interesting that it played such a large role for a little over 4 decades.
It wasn't like people were standing around back in the 70's getting hammered with their kids there. At least not that I ever saw. It wasn't like Epcot's Food & Wine festival or anything like that. There everything is spaced out all over the park, and you can get alcohol anywhere you want. So it's not inconvenient for people to buy it whenever they want. It's easy to get your drink on there. The brewery at Busch Gardens was tucked away beyond the Bird Gardens, away from all the rides, and was one of the few places you could get beer in the park. They used to give out 1 free beer per visit when you went. So we would go over there so my mom could get her free beer, but it was so far away from everything that we kids wanted to do, that we didn't spend any time over there. No one did really, because it's not like there were "Busch Garden adults" back then 😂😂😂😂 that went to the park without their kids like you have with Disney today. I think The Festhaus in Tibuktu also served beer but that was probably about it. I do remember the betrayal the brewery workers felt when they made the decision to close it because it was right before Christmas, and it was such a fixture of the park. Those people had worked at that brewery, and lived in the community for years, and the company just sprung it on them, and then like a month later, cut them right before Christmas. I remember feeling terrible for those workers.
Oh this was great! I remember going to the park in the early 90's and loved how it was both a zoo and had roller coasters! It was also much closer, and more affordable than going to Orlando for us at the time. I actually tried to convince some friends to go to Bush Gardens and Weeki Wachee while we were in Florida a few years ago. But the pull of the Mouse was too strong to get them out of Orlando.
I can't wait for part 2!
You should do a video amount the Beast at Kings Island. How it had such a huge impact of the amusement park industry. And it's incredible history.
Ohio native RL Stein (Goosebumps author) even wrote a YA horror book about it.
I should, but I actually want to go to Kings Island first. It's one of those places that can be a bit more spontaneously accessible if I choose to do a video on it.
Thank you for all the work you put into these videos! I’ve been watching you since the start of the pandemic in 2020, and your quality has only increased and your storytelling has improved. The backstory of Busch Gardens was fascinating, along with the early days of the park. I’m excited for part 2 :)
I appreciate you continuing to watch!
They've managed to take away everything that helped make it an "all day" adventure for the family. The reality is, its a huge park located in Florida, meaning the 4 main months (June-Sept), it is brutally hot. Rides like the Tidal Wave that let you sit for a while and get cooled off were necessities. Same goes for the monorail (which was A/C). If you're going to spend all day at the park in the summer, you need rides to give you a break, help you move about the park, and let you cool off temporarily. They've axed all of those rides. Add in taking away unique attractions like the bird show and the Clydesdales and I think it limits the time you need at the park. Or at least the time you may be able to stand it.
I always loved the themeing for Busch Gardens and the atmosphere than Disney, I loved all the shows and animals. But growing up, I always wondered too whether they take care of the animals properly. I do feel like Busch Gardens is more of a local favorite compared to Disney or Universal parks, It's much less crowded, less fake, no insanely loud music. I love the sheer amount of educational content in the park. But I'm also biased because Animal Kingdom is also my favorite out of the disney parks lol.
Watching through a lot of footage from the 80s, many of the animals did appear miserable. It's not at all like that today though. I have a lot to complain about in terms of how it's run today in my other respects, but they do actually have excellent animal care.
Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo has also come a long way since the 1980s
Hi! I shadowed zookeepers at BGT for 2 weeks as a part of their summer camps in high school, and now I work taking care of animals as a career. Busch Gardens is pretty far up there in terms of quality of care for their animals.
love these retrospective compilations! thanks for all your work & research
Absolutely Wonderful Work!! I am so excited to see Part 2!!!
Wow this video was so wonderful and nostalgic! Great storytelling, can’t wait for part 2!
This is really well done and I appreciate the skill, research and passion poured into this project. Thank you!
I havent watched the video yet but I lived very close to BGT as a kid and had season passes from 2001-05. I've got tons of great memories of the park from those days. looking forward to this video!
I don’t care, I still love BG. Two of my favorite memories were going with my mom when I was in middle school and riding all the rides at the time, and more recently going by myself for free with my universal Orlando ID, and riding all the current coasters multiple times bc none of my friends like roller coasters. Walked around all day by myself eating, looking at animals, and walking on rides
Absolutely amazing! I did not realize how detailed the history of Busch Gardens was.
Stanleyville was an excellent additon to the park, and Stanley Falls is arguably my favorite log flume ride!
Always look forward and appreciate the work you do on your videos. Can’t wait for part 2. We have a park here in Santa Fe Springs Ca, and back in the early 1900 was a lush garden with fountains and sculptures that was visited by people around LA, and was referred to as a fairy garden, similar to Busch Gardens. Must have been a popular back at that time. Hell, I enjoy the day there even today. The city of SFS has restored the area back to what it was in the late 1800’s.
Another great video! Keep them coming friend 🤠
I also grew up in Tampa. I attended Chamberlain High school, literally right down Busch blvd from this park. I haven’t been back to the park in almost 20 years but have very fond memories of Kumba and Montu.
I grew up always going to BG Williamsburg due to living in that area of VA my whole life so I love seeing coverage on BG Tampa
I use to go to BG Tampa alot as kid with my grandparents and cousins who lived in Florida. The park always felt so alive back then. I went last year and while I had a good time, the park almost felt like it was struggling to breathe. There were entire sections of the park that were just dead/abandoned. The whole vibe of the park just felt depressed as compared to when I was a kid. I much prefer Busch Gardens Williamsburg recently, although I will admit that park has seen some better days too.
earned a sub, been watching you for a little while but this in depth history and the amount I learned on a somewhat local theme park I grew up on is incredible. You do great work, Poseidon! Thank you, can’t wait to see your take on Epic Universe when it opens.
Epic is going to be something else. Not as just a park but in how it changes the dynamic between Universal and Disney. I'm incredibly curious to see how that plays out.
Phenomenal job on this! BGT is my home park and I grew up at this park throughout the 90's and 2000s...It's still my home park, but something definintely feels off....From the main park, to the dinning, to the exhibits and even to the special events like Howl-O-Scream...it feels like a shell of its former self sometimes...Hopefully brighter days are ahread
Excellent video while I have never been to Busch Gardens Tampa I am very fascinated with hearing about it's backstory concerning the early days of the park. I look forward to seeing part 2.
A fantastic insight here, I love BGT personally but this creation is amazing, dropped a sub!
This was my home park growing up and I worked there in my college years from 2017-2020 up until the pandemic. From a guest perspective, the downfall was evident in lack of upkeep and cutting different offerings. It was painfully apparent in 2019 that BGT was in trouble. Seaworld Parks seemed to view BGT as a problem child and focused way more attention on BGW in renovating and expanding. Soon different services begun being outsourced to 3rd party companies. Games was first and the next up were security and food. I’m not sure if the two mentioned went through because COVID happened during that time.
I made a lot of amazing memories there both as a guest and employee and it’s sad to see the potential rotting away
I think that COVID just really solidified a lot of those issues and made them way worse in a way that I didn't notice prior. I didn't know that BGT was ever considered problematic though. In fact, I thought that it was second best in attendance just below SeaWorld Orlando?
I love your channel. All of your video essays are so well thought out, researched and presented. I’m from St Louis so I only know a smidge of the history of the Busch family, so getting to see this new aspect of it outside of St. Louis is a real treat. Can’t wait for episode two.
I grew up in Tampa and went to college in St. Louis. STL is such a great city. I loved my time there, and I honestly think that City Museum is one of the great, largely unknown treasures in the nation. It's so unique, and fun to explore!
Brought back lots of memories from the 70s. You never disappoint
Love the video, great history of the subject as always. I visited the park in the mid 70s and again in the late 80's. Can't wait to see what it has become😀
This is so neat. Great video!
it's really interesting hearing more about the history of this park- i'm looking forward to the second part
Thanks for the amazing video!
It’s evident how many hours work of research you put into this. Very interesting and enjoyable.
Great job, thank you for posting this history. Very informative and nicely presented. I just subscribed to see what other great videos you posted.
Native tampa guy here too... I'll tell you what happened to BG, it's the $100+ ticket before Disney was even charging over $100! Locals used to support this park constantly. When I was a kid (admittedly, early '80s) a ticket was $16. Fast forward 20 years and boom, $100. People here can't afford that.
Thank you so much for making this video. I moved to Temple Terrace in 90' and found Busch Gardens right down the street. I loved going there. It was an adventure and for me to put my fear of roller coasters to the test!!! I began to love them. I enjoyed all the shows, the food, the shopping and exercise!!! Sad to hear that it's not like it use to be....
We have Busch Gardens Williamsburg here in Virginia. I’ve been going since 1999 and so much has changed! It’s cool to experience Tampas park in this video, thanks for the history!
Cool video. Went there a ton in the 80s as a kid! Brings back a lot of memories!
Born and raised in Tampa, This brings back so many great memories. Growing up we use to go at least twice a year as a family then when I had my own children I bought annual passes and we went about once a week. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! Great video
Interesting and nicely done, thank you.
Loved this. And nice close out with Scorpion 💪🏾💪🏾
Enjoyed Busch Gardens as a kid in the 80s. Took the family there around 5 years ago. We loved it. I enjoyed riding some of the same rides.
Thanks for taking me back to my early childhood.
I love your video! thank you!!
I grew up going to the Tampa BG for free because my dad worked for Anheuser-Busch. I have photos of me, my siblings, and later friends from school in that park going all the way back to 1986. We went maybe 10 or 12 times a year because we lived about three hours away. But, when A-B was bought by Inbev, my dad retired and we lost access to the free tickets. The last time I went to BG Tampa was 2006. It was still a lot of fun back then. It is really sad to hear that it has gone down hill. We loved all the coasters and the animal exhibits. Even the shoes were fun and we were just kids. Usually, kids just want to ride stuff. There was an endless amount of things to do in that park. Awesome video. It really brought back a lot of memories.
Btw, the tickets my dad got for free were also good for Sea World and Adventure Island but we loved BG so much that we almost never chose to go to either of those. Again, it was 6 hours in the car round trip and if we were going to go, we wanted to go ride roller coasters. So, I have some photos of me at Sea World in the 80s but I don't think we ever went back after that.
I'm a theme park junkie and I LOVE all of your videos. Thank you for all that you do, and keep up the good work!
wow, i've been subbed to this channel for quite a while and had no idea you were also from Tampa like me!! I still love Busch Gardens so much, and personally it's my favorite park. But, that's probably just due to bias. Amazing and informative video as always!
Half way in. Already looking forward to part 2 :)
Great video as always!
so many of my early childhood memories were made at this park. it feels crazy to see a youtube video about it
Used to go to this park a ton in high school, learning it's history is wild.
Your videos continue to cover places I've been and it feels super weird lol, love em though.
I remember going as a kid with my family riding rides and seeing the shows, then being dropped off with friends and we'd run through the park all day, finally slowing down and riding the buckets or train around to cool off. I haven't been in 20 years. Thank you.
Thank you so much! I grew up going to Busch Gardens, and it’ll always hold a special place in my heart. Especially, since, living in Tampa, you could buy a year pass for the cost of admission plus something minuscule (like + $5), and be able to go year round. Getting off of work with your friends around 4PM? Let’s go to Busch Gardens, ride a few coasters, and/or people watch.
Growing up in the Bahamas, I fantasized about Busch Garden each time the commercials aired, wishing to one day experience the fun. When I came to the USA for high school and college, I totally forgot, thanks to distractions and life.
Can’t wait for pt. 2, I love Bush Gardens
This is going to be interesting, I went to Busch Gardens in February so to learn about the history will be great.
I was jus there about 4 years ago. It was booming and very fun! loved the roller coasters!
Thank you for the history of Bushgardens, very interesting! I'm a Tampa native, been going to the park since I was born! The park is not what it used to be. Gone are the street entertainment, Gone are the great African or animal themed shows around the park... what happened to the snake charmer lady, she was good 👍 entertainment! All they add these days are big Rollercoasters 🎢 ...not everyone likes coasters 😢😅
My kids and I always had years pass. We loved it. On my days off, I would go alone and enjoy the animals and garden.
This is the very first video that I have watched from you, and it was so informative and entertaining 💜💜 I can't wait to see more from you... on a side note, I haven't been to BGT since 1984 when the scorpion and python were still kinda new..
I got sick and have never rode a roller coaster since 😂💜💜💜
Great video as always, my friend. I'd love to see some Halloween Horror Nights history and/or reviews coming up in the spooky season! Or just any spooky content at all. How cool it would be to see you rank classic haunted house dark rides. Love what you do, brother!
I don't really touch HHN history because Expedition Theme Park has already covered it pretty thoroughly and I don't even really know that much about it. I'm sure I'll touch HHN in some capacity this year though.
@@PoseidonEntertainment I do love Expedition’s vids on HHN for sure, it’s just that I’ve watched it like five times now and am craving some new HHN-related content lol.
One angle you might be able to get into on that topic that Expedition didn’t cover much was the theming of the mazes themselves. I could picture you doing something similar to your video about the Universal Tribute Store where you covered the details of the theming itself. Obviously that would probably take a lot of in-person investigation to get to the level you usually take things, but I do think it would be really cool to see a video covering the small details in the theming of the various mazes/scare zones. Just my $0.02!
Yours is one of my absolute favorite channels out there and by far my favorite theme park content creator, so I couldn’t help but to selfishly request HHN content lmao. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll gladly be watching!
@@STSGuitar16 Yeah, I agree that something like that would be cool but it's difficult to find full run-throughs of houses. When they let media through to film them, they only allow channels to upload segments of the houses and they all tend to share the same highlights so it's difficult to piece the footage together into a full house run to comment over.
@@PoseidonEntertainment I feel like I have seen a lot of full walkthroughs on some of them on here but I get what you mean. It would be super difficult to pull off.
I doubt they’d ever do this at Universal, but it may be worth a shot actually contacting them and seeing if they could hook you up with a behind the scenes tour of some of the mazes for a video. It’s unlikely they’d say yes, but you never know. I do know that a lot of non-universal haunted attractions will gladly give TH-camrs a lights-on behind the scenes tour of their attractions. There are actually a lot of smaller channels who I have seen get full tours of even the more popular haunted houses out there, so much more source material to go off of. A lot of the bigger attractions develop full stories behind the houses and include tons of details into their scenes, too, which is fitting for this channel. Not exactly theme park related, but it would definitely be adjacent to your normal content.
Even just comparing a big high tech haunted attraction to a smaller local attraction would also be cool. Maybe even comparing a non-universal haunt to some of the universal mazes that are uploaded on here. Usually the owners of those smaller places are completely happy to give tours to people in that way, so you’d be able to take your time and fully soak everything in. There are also a lot of videos of a lot of different haunted attractions on TH-cam, so you’d have plenty to draw from even if you didn’t visit one in person. Again, just my extra $0.02 about having some potential spooky season content lol.
I was there on New Year's Eve 1989, and it was fantastic. How it has declined! I can't wait for part 2!
Can't wait for part 2! I've been planning a trip to BGT for my birthday, but I'm a little concerned cause this isn't the first channel that's recently mentioned the parks issues.
If you can, definitely go on a weekday. Their operations are not great, but if the park is dead, you'll still walk onto everything.
Growing up in Tampa, BG was a staple. The theming was great and there were things for every age group to stay occupied.
Recently they have leaned heavily into building new roller coasters while neglecting the others parts of the park that people enjoy. While coasters are thrilling, that was not what the heart of the park was based on and not what keeps people coming back. A majority of visitors don't ride any rides especially as Florida is a populous retiree state. People want to take in the theming, wildlife, and shows. All of which have been getting cut more and more each year. Now you walk around the park and it doesn't resemble the one we grew up with and if you don't want to ride a roller coaster, you are left with nothing else to do especially since they have no shows during certain parts of the year.
I get that it's expensive to run these parks but you have to remain faithful to the things that people love and not just think that when attendance is declining, it's a good idea to cut a bunch of things and build a new roller coaster and that will fix your problems.
Sea World has the same exact problem. But that should come to no surprise since they're both owned by the same company.
Sea World (SEAS) is rebranding since the Blackfish scandal. @@citizenofcorona8783
I like their coasters and they're mostly good additions (except for Tigris because I hate Premier trains) but I agree that they're leaning way too heavily into them. I generally avoid going on weekends but even today when I went to go film for the second part of the video, the park was empty. Iron Gwazi was a 5 minute wait. It's nice, but I also remember growing up with this park consistently packed and I think that adding in more accessible, family attractions like themed shows, maybe a simulator and even a few dark rides would go a long way in changing that.
@@PoseidonEntertainment yep I went last Sunday and it was a ghost town. Even parked in the first row and got right on the tram. I remember coming as a kid and having to park in the Adventure island parking lot then you have to go to multiple tram stops before you got to the gates. I do think the heat this summer hasn’t helped but that’s also because they only have a couple indoor options in the whole park for you to cool off throughout the day. I agree that a dark ride and more shows are needed to give people a break from the coasters which I love as well and to get out of the sun. The only show running right now until hallow scream starts is the ice show… which also makes little sense with the theming. Even when those shows start, they won’t be during the day, only at night during HOS. On top of that, the only place you have for kids to go is Sesame Street which isn’t a very popular property with kids these days either.
Looking forward to Part 2!
Growing up in Tampa we went here a lot in the 90s and the water park called adventure island!
I grew up in Mad beach and now live in T.I. but I haven't been to Busch gardens in probably 10 years. Great content.
How are you not already at 100k?! Definitely one of my favorite channels!
I'm getting pretty close lol
I’ve never been to the Tampa park but Bush Gardens Williamsburg is an amazing park with outstanding shows, great rides, and beautiful theming!
Conductor for the train ride here. Had to learn a lot about the park and both videos helped out greatly! if you need to add anything else in let me know!
Tampa Native, my grandma snuck me my first sip of beer here back in the day when they used to do the brewery tours. Place has gotten trashy, but the coasters are better than ever! Thank you for this video!
This is gonna be interesting, I love Bush Gardens, it helps that its like 30miles away, but we'd get the yearly pass, and go all the time...I remember when they only had 2 roller coasters, the python, and the scorpion..
Busch gardens is still my favorite park to go to..I have been going here for over thirty years and still like it just as much as the first time I ever went..
Watching your videos makes me miss the Florida I grew up in..
I grew up in Sarasota and went to Busch Gardens a lot. It was such fun.
awesome as always!
Will always remember getting lost here for like 4 hours from my family as a kid in the early 2000s!
Even though I did not care for you in the past, great video, this is something that needed to be done with the parks 65th year coming, the facts where said exactly of the parks decline from great theming to your everyday amusement park. Thank you.
I love eating lunch and sitting down for one of your videos!
I think BGs needs a little more love, but i deffo still love the place :0
Still amazing video and hyped for part two. Thanks for all the work you put into these videos 🎉❤ :D
I was there as a kid in the early 60's (10 yo from small town who had never seen such..) and then again with my wife and children in the mid-90's. I have wonderful memories of both visits.
Looking forward to part 2
Never went to the Tampa park, but the Busch Gardens in Williamsburg was one of my favorites.
The animals are so sad, overcrowded, and clearly suffering because of the loudness of the coasters that sometimes pass directly over their homes.
What a great video, can’t wait for part 2. Meow meow 😻 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Much like you I grew up in Tampa. Outside of a short stint in Texas I have lived here my entire life. I’ve always had season passes as it was a fun way to get out of the house in my teenaged years, into my early 20s, and even now as a father to a 6 month old.
I went a few days ago for the first time in about a year to take my baby to see the animals and I was shocked to see how much had changed. Half of the animal exhibits were shut down, the gorilla exhibit was closed, and it was just an all around disappointing experience.
I appreciate your history recap of the park, I learned a lot. I dread watching part 2 because it’s going to make me sad to see the good times that are no more. I remember going to watch the dolphin show with my grandparents, Tidal Wave, Akbars Adventure, King Tut’s attraction, Katonga, Land of Dragons, and many more. I always looked forward to the day I could enjoy Land of Dragons with my kids and now it’s just not the same.
Your content is great. Thanks for putting it all together. Between Busch Gardens and some of your Universal videos it gives me the nostalgia I need sometimes.
I did go today and saw that Myombe Reserve is open, but you can only go in through the exit. I didn't try going in, but I assume they must be doing something to the pathway. At least it's partially open. I also went up in the tree house in Sesame Street and saw that all of the interactive elements were gone.
great video!!
Man I’ve lived in st Pete my whole life-49 years. Been going there since I came out of the womb. I haven’t been in 9 years and to hear they got rid of the bird theater I am in total shock. We’re gonna get the fun pass this December so I’ll have to see how much has changed. As always I love your channel!