Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a 335-acre (136 ha) animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa. Owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, the park opened on March 31, 1959. The park has an annual attendance consistently exceeding 4 million, often ranking second among United Parks & Resorts parks behind SeaWorld Orlando.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay features many roller coasters and thrill rides, including a Dive Coaster called SheiKra, a "family-style" thrill coaster themed around cheetahs called Cheetah Hunt, a launched roller coaster called Tigris, a classic seated steel roller coaster called Kumba, a wood-steel hybrid hypercoaster called Iron Gwazi, Falcon's Fury (the second-tallest free-standing drop tower in North America, and one of few to tilt and face riders towards the ground), Montu, which was the tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened, and Phoenix Rising, North America's tallest and longest family inverted roller coaster. The park also features several rides and attractions aimed for children under the age of nine, as well as one water ride — a river rafting ride.

Anheuser-Busch proposed acquiring land in Florida to construct a brewery with Tampa and Jacksonville as potential sites in April 1957. By June, unconfirmed rumors were reported that a $25–30 million brewery would be built in Tampa, but were initially denied by Anheuser-Busch. Anheuser-Busch made public on July 25, that it had purchased a 160-acre (65 ha) plot of land in Tampa for $320,000 to construct a $20 million brewery. The construction of the Tampa brewery coincided with the construction of a competing brewery, Schlitz, in the Tampa Industrial Park complex. August Busch Jr. remarked during the planning of the brewery that the company wanted to include gardens to attract the local community and contribute landscaped areas. Busch Jr. held the opinion that functional parks could help widen Anheuser-Busch's interest.

In March 1958, August Busch Jr. commemorated the groundbreaking for the Tampa brewery. Construction took place through the rest of 1958 and the early 1959. In February 1959, Anheuser-Busch acknowledged the brewery would open in March. A dedication ceremony for the brewery was scheduled in March, though the opening of the Busch Gardens would not take place until June when the brewery's beer would begin to ship. Manufacturing in the Busch brewery began on March 12. The brewery was dedicated on March 31, by August Busch Jr. with around 2,000 people in attendance, including the press, political and local leaders. Anheuser-Busch formally announced the operating hours of the Busch brewery and gardens in May.

The brewery and gardens officially opened to the public for tours on June 1, 1959, as an admission-free facility with 250 attending the opening ceremony and around 1,000 attendees to Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens opened on 15-acre (6.1 ha) of land southwest of the brewery at the cost of around $500,000. The associated gardens featured lagoons and landscaping, with around 36,000 flowering plants and 300 trees. Opening animal attractions for Busch Gardens included a bird show in an amphitheater seating around 200 individuals, a bird sanctuary featuring flamingos and a separate animal area named "Devil's Island," and caged enclosures for eagles and cockatoos. Additional attractions included a dwarf village and the "Hospitality House," a William B. Harvard designed facility that offered free samples of beer to guests. Another 118-acre (48 ha) was used for housing the brewers Budweiser Clydesdales, and planned to host buffalo, ostriches, and zebras located east of the brewery. The original gardens was later dubbed the "Bird Gardens".

A $5 million expansion was announced in July 1959 by Anheuser-Busch to the existing facility because of the newfound success. In February 1960, construction started on a geodesic dome in the gardens that was 22.5-foot (6.9 m) high and 90 feet (27 m) in diameter, later opening on March 22, at the cost of $75,000. The dome, named the Adolphus Busch Space Frame, was constructed from anodized aluminum colored gold and located north of the bird amphitheater. The dome featured landscaping, suspended birds nests, and ponds that connected to a lagoon outside. Anheuser-Busch revealed its plan to construct the Stairway to the Stars attraction in October that would be a 86-foot (26 m) Otis escalator to the roof of the brewery. The escalator opened on March 22, 1961, as part of a renovation to the Busch brewery and its public tours. The escalator featured a 5,000-square-foot (460-square-metre) pool beneath, a 1,000-square-foot (93-square-metre) observation deck atop of the brewery, and a 150-foot (46 m) raised walkway to enter Busch Gardens. The pool originally hosted penguins.

Anheuser-Busch bought additional parcels of land in May 1962. In the same month, Anheuser-Busch communicated its intentions to expand Busch Gardens at the cost of $3.5 to $4 million as the company projected a rise in attendance for the coming decade, necessitating growth. The expansion called for different themed lands, with an African veldt and the American Plains planned, accompanied by wildlife animals pertaining to each geography. The additions would also call for a railway and create more landscaped environments for animal habitats. In October, Busch Gardens expanded its animal collection to around 1,000 birds. As part of the expansion, Anheuser-Busch stated a monorail would be constructed through the African veldt in January 1963, and a four-story Swiss-themed restaurant in December, both east of the brewery. Another land purchase was made by Anheuser-Busch in April 1964, their third since the opening. Thomas J. Pinta was named manager of Busch Gardens in July. Busch Gardens debuted a trackless transportation train on October 1, to travel between the gardens and the Old Swiss House via the parking lot. The Old Swiss House was completed in October.

The Wild Animal Kingdom, representing the African veldt, was completed in 1965, in addition to a clock tower built adjacent to the Old Swiss House. The African veldt contained a variety of animals mostly imported from Africa, including cheetahs, chimpanzees, elephants, gorillas, lions, and rhinos with habitats faithfully recreated by the park. By November, Anheuser-Busch acquired land east of its existing property for a potential expansion of Busch Gardens or its brewery. The gardens and brewery encompassed around 208 acres (84 ha), with the total acreage owned by the brewer amounting to around 268 acres (108 ha).