Busch Gardens

Orange, black, white and green illustration of African animals riding on a roller coaster.  

Busch Gardens Tampa is an amusement park located on 335 acres in Tampa, Florida. It opened on March 31, 1959 and was originally tagged as "The Dark Continent" due to its African theme. The park was originally developed as a marketing tool for Anheuser-Busch and housed some of the company's recognizable Clydesdale horses. A subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch, SeaWorld Entertainment, operates the park in Tampa and a second park located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Busch Gardens Tampa now features thousands of animals, a replica steam train, bird gardens, rope bridges, thrill rides and roller coasters. The park was the first to offer animals in a free-ranging environment with the opening of its Serengeti Plain animal habitat in 1965, which now covers 65 acres.