City: Williamsburg, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (757) 253-3369, (800) 343-7946

Description: When Busch Gardens opened in the mid-1970s, it was a secondary diversion: Tourists would come to Williamsburg for the history, then spend a day or so at the theme park. Today, it’s the opposite—more than three million visitors a year pass through the turnstiles at Busch Gardens, many making a special trip just for its renowned roller coasters. They may, or may not, take in some of the history while they’re here. Located on US Route 60 three miles east of Williamsburg, Busch Gardens turns 35 in 2010. In that time, it has carved a reputation for beauty—its 350-plus acres set among hills, trees, and streams has been voted “Most Beautiful Theme Park” by the National Amusement Park Historical Association for 20 years running—and also thrills. Among its 50 rides are five major roller coasters (six if you count a kiddie coaster)—two of which have opened since 2005. The park also relaunched its children’s ride area in 2009, built around Sesame Street characters. Increasingly, Busch Gardens is using special events to encourage repeat visitors or attract those who might not otherwise come to the park. Starting in the mid-2000s, the park began offering weekend concert series featuring music acts from the’ 60s through the ’80s. Added to that in 2010 are a contemporary Christian music series, and the ASA Action Sports World Tour, featuring three weekends of competition in skateboarding, BMX bicycling, and in-line skating. The other major change for the park: New ownership. As part of the 2009 takeover of Anheuser-Busch by the Belgian beer conglomerate InBev, the Busch Entertainment theme parks division—including Busch Gardens Williamsburg and nearby Water Country USA—was sold to the Blackstone Group private-equity firm. Blackstone now owns 10 theme parks under the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment corporate name. For all the changes, however, Busch Gardens remains at its core a theme park—one built around the notion that you’re traveling throughout 17th-century Europe. We’ll use that as a convenient way to organize the description of the park.