SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by United Parks & Resorts. The parks host shows starring marine mammals, especially dolphins and pinnipeds, as well as zoological displays featuring various other marine animals.
Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously Busch Gardens parks in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California (1964–1979) and Houston, Texas (1971–1973). The "Busch Gardens" name was earlier used to refer to the gardens developed by Adolphus Busch near his home in Pasadena, California, which were open to the public from 1906 to 1937.
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 and Asia. Owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, the park opened on June 1, 1959. The park has an annual attendance consistently exceeding 4 million, often ranking second among United Parks & Resorts parks behind SeaWorld Orlando.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a 422-acre (1.71 km2) amusement park in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States, located approximately 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Virginia Beach. The park was developed by Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and is owned by United Parks & Resorts. The park opened on May 16, 1975, adjacent to Anheuser-Busch's brewery and near its other developments, including the Kingsmill Resort complex.
The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its THEA Awards, which were founded in 1995 and are distributed annually in a range of themed entertainment categories.
SeaWorld Orlando is an animal theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Although separately gated, it is often promoted with neighboring parks Discovery Cove and Aquatica as well as Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, all of which are owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. In 2022, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.45 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States.
SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts.
Iron Gwazi is a steel-track hybrid roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, a theme park in Tampa, Florida, United States. Development of the original Gwazi began in July 1998, when Busch Gardens announced that it would build a wooden roller coaster on land formerly occupied by the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Great Coasters International (GCI) built Gwazi, a wooden dueling roller coaster with two separate tracks. The ride was named after a fabled creature with a tiger's head and a lion's body. Trains riding on both tracks, respectively named Lion and Tiger, reached a height of 105.4 feet (32.1 m) and a maximum speed of 51 mph (82 km/h).
A haunted attraction is a form of live entertainment that simulates visiting haunted locations or experiencing horror scenarios. They usually feature fearsome sets and characters, especially demons, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, monsters, possessed people, witches, serial killers, and slashers. Humorous characters may also be included.
Howl-O-Scream is an annual Halloween seasonal event owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, that occurs during the month of October at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, SeaWorld San Antonio, and as of recently began at SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego. The parks remain operational during the day and transition to Howl-O-Scream at night. The event features haunted houses, "scare zones", and live entertainment.
Pirates 4D was an attraction film designed to be shown in a specially-built or remodeled theater space in a theme park, featuring in-theater special effects, sometimes referred to as a 4D film.
United Parks & Resorts Inc. is an American theme park and entertainment company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates twelve recreational destinations in the United States, including eight theme parks and four water parks. Notable brands within its portfolio include SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. In May 2018, Themed Entertainment Association and the global management firm AECOM reported that the then SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, operating under its previous name, ranked ninth in the world for attendance among theme park companies, led by parks SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
An animal theme park, also known as a zoological theme park, is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertainment, amusement, and commercial purposes. Many animal theme parks combine classic theme park elements, such as themed entertainment and amusement rides, with classic zoo elements such as live animals confined within enclosures for display. Many times, live animals are utilized and featured as part of amusement rides and attractions found at animal theme parks.
Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic was a 4D film theme park attraction formerly located at Universal Studios Japan, SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld San Antonio, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The attraction, which was made to run at Universal Studios Japan, was later acquired by SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment to run at their Busch Gardens and SeaWorld theme parks. In addition, Busch Gardens parks also include multiple other Sesame Street themed attractions, as part of their Sesame Street Forest of Fun/Sesame Street Safari of Fun park areas. The attraction contained 4-D effects to go along with the film which included spraying water, bursts of air, leg ticklers and fans.
Cheetah Hunt is a steel launched roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. The roller coaster was manufactured by Intamin and designed in collaboration with Mark Rose. Cheetah Hunt opened to the public on May 27, 2011, alongside a cheetah exhibit called Cheetah Run. Cheetah Hunt features three linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches and a single inversion. The roller coaster reaches a height of 102 feet (31 m), with a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) and a total track length of 4,429 feet (1,350 m).
Falcon's Fury is a free-standing Sky Jump drop tower attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida, United States. Manufactured by Intamin subsidiary Intaride, the ride reaches a maximum height of 335 feet (102 m), making it North America's tallest free-standing drop tower. Riders experience about five seconds of free fall, reaching a speed of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). The ride's name was chosen to invoke a falcon's ability to dive steeply at high speed to capture prey.
Yvonne Mercedes Bernard is an American film, television, and commercial producer.
Tigris is a steel launched roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay theme park in Tampa, Florida, United States. Built on the former Tanganyika Tidal Wave water ride, Tigris officially opened on April 19, 2019 as the park's ninth roller coaster. Tigris is located within the Stanleyville section of the park. The roller coaster and surrounding area re-uses previous infrastructure and landscaping of the former attraction.
