Former Busch Gardens Parks

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
ArrowWolf1984

ArrowWolf1984

Dec 11, 2009
819
53
90
Rochester, NY
According to a Wikipedia article on former Busch parks, there were Busch Gardens parks in Pasadena CA, Van Nuys CA, and Houston, TX. By the 1980's all of these parks were defunct. Does anyone have any information about these parks? (What were they like?, What were their themes?, What attractions did they have?, Why did they close?, etc.) I'd like to know more about these parks. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
 
The texas Busch Gardens was Asian themed with an ice cave for penguins and stuff. The park itself was only about 40 acres. That park was a financial failure for Busch and nearly cost them four million dollars.

The Californian parks were pretty much just gardens, kind of like BGT before they started adding rides. One of the Californian parks was first owned by the Busch family before it turned into a public theme park.
 
http://bgwfans.com/?p=83

I lost the pictures that went with the article when I moved to the new hosting provider. Been meaning to gather them again, but it's constantly slipped my mind.
 
Aerial View of Van Nuys BG:
 

Attachments

  • busch_gardens_aboveLA.jpg
    busch_gardens_aboveLA.jpg
    550.1 KB · Views: 152
  • BuschGardens13a.jpg
    BuschGardens13a.jpg
    156.6 KB · Views: 141
  • buschgardens23.jpg
    buschgardens23.jpg
    61.3 KB · Views: 123
  • buschgardens31.jpg
    buschgardens31.jpg
    69.2 KB · Views: 90
bgwfans-fan said:
The texas Busch Gardens was Asian themed with an ice cave for penguins and stuff. The park itself was only about 40 acres. That park was a financial failure for Busch and nearly cost them four million dollars.

The Californian parks were pretty much just gardens, kind of like BGT before they started adding rides. One of the Californian parks was first owned by the Busch family before it turned into a public theme park.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! :D
Since I was a little kid I always thought an Asian themed BG park would have been neat. It would be great if Busch ever considered doing it again!
Chris said:
Aerial View of Van Nuys BG:


Houston BG:
Click to expand...

Awesome pics Chris! I like the one of BG Van Nuys, is that blue track-like structure going around the park some kind of monorail?
 
ArrowWolf1984 said:
bgwfans-fan said:
The texas Busch Gardens was Asian themed with an ice cave for penguins and stuff. The park itself was only about 40 acres. That park was a financial failure for Busch and nearly cost them four million dollars.

The Californian parks were pretty much just gardens, kind of like BGT before they started adding rides. One of the Californian parks was first owned by the Busch family before it turned into a public theme park.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! :D
Since I was a little kid I always thought an Asian themed BG park would have been neat. It would be great if Busch ever considered doing it again!
Chris said:
Aerial View of Van Nuys BG:


Houston BG:
Click to expand...

Awesome pics Chris! I like the one of BG Van Nuys, is that blue track-like structure going around the park some kind of monorail?
Click to expand...


It would have been cool but theres a reason the asian theme failed no offence to anybody.
 
Balak95 said:
It would have been cool but theres a reason the asian theme failed no offence to anybody.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure the theming had nothing to do with the parks failure. It was built during a time when the company was trying to figure out what their "hospitality houses" were going to be. Tampa had room to expand and become what it is. Williamsburg was going to be what it is from the start. Neither Van Nuys or Houston BG had a chance to expand either due to physical constraints (Van Nuys) or economic conditions in the area (Houston).
 
I guess people arent that interested in the asian theme, but the main failure is that they put it in texas an asian theme in texas!!!!
 
Balak95 said:
I guess people arent that interested in the asian theme, but the main failure is that they put it in texas an asian theme in texas!!!!
Click to expand...

An African theme in Florida!

An Asian theme could have survived, provided the park had been built in a location that would have made it economically viable at the time. There were discussions about whether or not the Williamsburg park was going to actually be in Williamsburg. Many deals were made to allow this park to exist.
 
Yeah i was getting carried away, the theme would be very cool just it needed a better planning so it would survive.
 
Hope it's okay to post this link ... if not, mods please remove it, of course, but here's an article from Theme Park Insider about the original Pasadena Busch Gardens. Just a little more detail to augment what Chris has in his article:

www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201005/1935/

(I did review the forum rules and didn't see anything about posting or not posting links to other theme park forums. Again if this is not acceptable here, my apologies and please delete.)
 
ArrowWolf1984 said:
is that blue track-like structure going around the park some kind of monorail?
Click to expand...

I think it is a log flume, if you look closely you can see little brown log shaped things on it, but I could be wrong.
 
michaelcollier1 said:
I think it is a log flume, if you look closely you can see little brown log shaped things on it, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I see two blue tracks: one goes completely around the perimeter of the park and another is on the lower right side of the frame. The track on the lower right is kinda thicker than the other track. I think the thicker track is a log flume and the thinner is a monorail (I think). There's no way a log flume is running around the entire park (unless it's a really small park).
 
^Yeah now that I look closer you are right, and there are no log shaped things on the skinnier track.
 
The larger track of the two definitely looks like a transport track. It encompasses a large portion of the park, making it easy to navigate the south end of the park. You can also make out what seems to be the train barn on the upper left of the picture.... It stinks that they had no other land, but this plot to develop the park. I find it an extreme eyesore to have a mainline train track splitting your park in two. Poor planning....
 
ivybrit said:
The larger track of the two definitely looks like a transport track. It encompasses a large portion of the park, making it easy to navigate the south end of the park. You can also make out what seems to be the train barn on the upper left of the picture.... It stinks that they had no other land, but this plot to develop the park. I find it an extreme eyesore to have a mainline train track splitting your park in two. Poor planning....
Click to expand...

To me the track is an improvement, but that's just because I'm a railroad enthusiast, I would go train-spotting while visiting the park! :D
 
ArrowWolf1984 said:
ivybrit said:
The larger track of the two definitely looks like a transport track. It encompasses a large portion of the park, making it easy to navigate the south end of the park. You can also make out what seems to be the train barn on the upper left of the picture.... It stinks that they had no other land, but this plot to develop the park. I find it an extreme eyesore to have a mainline train track splitting your park in two. Poor planning....
Click to expand...

To me the track is an improvement, but that's just because I'm a railroad enthusiast, I would go train-spotting while visiting the park! :D
Click to expand...

Just like you can go train spotting in BGW towards the turnstiles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad