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Theme park decides on change of habitat
By SCOTT BARANCIK, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- Busch Gardens unveiled a lineup of improvements Friday that will include more rhinos, more beer, a $300-a-day program pairing guests with zookeepers and a theater designed to give children Goosebumps. Officials at the 44-year-old theme park said they hope the changes will boost flagging revenues and appeal to both thrill seekers and animal lovers. The improvements won't cost nearly as much as recent additions like the Rhino Rally safari ride or the Gwazi wooden rollercoaster, even though they call for construction of a 750-seat theatre to show Haunted Lighthouse, a 22-minute, multisensory film based on a story by popular Goosebumps author R.L. Stine. "Prudently investing capital" is how general manager Robin Carson described it. Busch Gardens raised ticket prices 4 percent earlier this month, to $51.95 plus tax for adults and $42.95 plus tax for children. "There was a time in history when most parks had this every-other-year cycle: you put this huge amount of capital in, and then you measured how much return you got on it," she said. "People are changing their strategies for major capital investments." The centerpiece of Friday's news conference was Busch Gardens' new logo. A pyrotechnic display of explosions and lasers unveiled a 200-pound block of Lucite out of which the revised design was carved. Changes to the park itself were more compelling. Busch Gardens will set aside 26 acres of its 65-acre Serengeti Plain as a free-roaming habitat for the endangered white rhinoceros, three of which it acquired from South Africa's Krueger National Park in 2001, as well as wildebeests, antelope and other species. The animals, which can be viewed from the slow-moving train that circles the entire park, will complement two rhinoceroses that greet customers during the Rhino Rally ride. A premium program called "keeper for the day" will allow individual visitors to trail a zookeeper for 61/2 hours of hands-on training in animal care. The option will be available this spring and cost roughly $300 a person, depending on the customer's requested activities. In cost and concept it resembles Discovery Cove, an Anheuser-Busch park in Orlando where customers can pay several hundred dollars to swim with bottlenose dolphins. Food and drink will be more abundant than in the past, if different. Das Festhaus, a 24-year-old, Bavarian-themed restaurant that serves German- and Italian-style meals, will be closed for several weeks and reopened as the Kasbah, an Arabian-themed eatery with live entertainment. The Oasis, a new, covered seating area, will serve snacks and, of course, Anheuser-Busch beer. Park spokesman Gerard Hoeppner said the new eateries will be a better fit for the park's Timbuktu area, which is based on an ancient North African market. The new theater will be one of four built at Anheuser-Busch theme parks featuring actors Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson in the R.L. Stine film. The others are SeaWorld parks in San Antonio and San Diego, and Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va. The theaters can be equipped for different films. Hoeppner said the rhinoceros habitat incorporates the park's commitment to conservation of endangered species and public education. Busch Gardens obtained them in exchange for a substantial donation to a nonprofit organization that works with rhinos. "This is not like a rollercoaster, where we're saying it's a brand new attraction designed to bring in millions of new guests," he said. -- Scott Barancik can be reached at barancik@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8751.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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