Summer Nights is back at Busch Gardens bringing fireworks, Cirque Electric and great music!

Busch Gardens starts its Summer Nights this week with events running May 26th through August 6th. Events include extended hours, fireworks and lots of great entertainment. The two gems of Summer Nights are the fireworks and the Cirque Electric show, however the addition of several party zones and other entertainment really amp up the energy in the park making for lots of fun.

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Things Filmed at Busch Gardens Tampa Including Insane Coaster Wars

It’s May the 4th (Star Wars Day) and there really aren’t connections between that movie franchise and the park, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t Hollywood connections. Probably the closest thing to “Star Wars” were several episodes of a Travel Channel show called “Insane Coaster Wars”. The episode above features Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa, but another episode featured Montu.

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Is Sand Serpent at Busch Gardens Closing Soon?

“Sand Serpent” by tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0

There have been rumors of Sand Serpent closing on social media and YouTube after a demolition permit was filed for a structure at Busch Gardens. Sure, it could be for the play area in Jungala (which has now disappeared from maps), but with the demo of the looping starship Phoenix, all the chatter has been that this is the area for the next new attraction with survey markers all around Pantopia.

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The Busch Gardens Connection of a Brewery with a Theme Park is Still Alive in Williamsburg, Virginia

Busch Gardens were known for years as essentially theme parks built adjacent to several Anheuser-Busch breweries. Although the first “Busch Gardens” were the public gardens at Adolphus Busch’s house in Pasadena in the early 1900’s, the original “theme park at a brewery” concept was Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. This park opened on March 31, 1959 on the site of the company’s Tampa brewery, although it would be several years/expansions later before it would resemble a modern theme park.

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The Importance of Ride Operations (AKA Channeling my inner ElToroRyan)

Ride operations can be a big part of whether you have an enjoyable or a frustrating day at a theme park, especially on a busy day. If you visit them parks a lot you may start to pay more attention to the workers and the differences between different theme park chains. An operator’s number one priority is safety, but they must also move quickly.

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Possible Reason Why Skyride hasn’t Reopened Yet?

I was recently at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and had a chance to ride the Skyride there, which made me miss the one in Tampa even more. It’s been “reopening soon” for some time now with the rumors being that it needed its cable replaced. I then ran across this ski lift video (which Skyride basically is) and how there is such a backlog of maintenance being that there are literally a handful of people worldwide who can splice and connect this kind of cable.

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Was a Small Fire the Reason Wild Surge Closed at Busch Gardens?

So ran into a ride operator from Busch Gardens at another park and I asked him about what happened with Wild Surge. He said the ride had a fire (which I normally would have been skeptical of since there’s been no news of that), but then he showed me a picture on his phone! He said it happened around December and it appeared pretty heavily damaged, thus the reason why a temporary refurbishment turned into a closure.

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RIP Wally Crump. Although you’re best known for what you did for Disney, thanks for your work at Busch Gardens too!

Disney Imagineer Wally Crump passed away this week at age 93. Although he’s probably best known for his work on It’s a Small World, The Haunted Mansion and the Enchanted Tiki Room, he also consulted on projects for Busch Gardens Tampa too. There are several Disney+ shows featuring him. He was a genius and will be missed.