The Wandering Disciple

Tampa, Florida: Bird Gardens is the oldest portion of Busch Gardens Tampa. Opened in 1959 with the opening of Busch Gardens, Bird Gardens is home to many species of exotic birds and is also site of the Anheuser Busch Hospitality House. The brewery located here closed in 1995 but the Hospitality House remained. Here guests can sample Anheuser Busch products along with attending Beer School, a program that takes a behind the scenes look at the production of Budweiser products. Bird Gardens is also where guests can ride one of the parks major roller coasters, Gwazi. Opened in 1999, Gwazi is a wooden dueling coaster featuring speeds of up to 50 miles an hour while dropping guests 90 feet on over 7000 feet of track. Gwazi is based on a mythical African creature that features a head of a lion and a body of a tiger. The only other ride in Bird Gardens is the Gwazi Gliders, a hang glider ride for children. Much of Bird Gardens is devoted to tropical landscaping and bird attractions. The follo...

Winter Haven, Florida: Nestled away, off the beaten track in central Florida is the oldest theme park in Florida, Cypress Gardens. The park was known for its southern hospitality, gardens and eventually as the Water Ski Capital of the World. In 1936, Dick and Julie Pope opened Cypress Gardens as a botanical garden, it quickly became one of the largest attractions in the state. People came from far away to see the lush tropical gardens and mingle with the Southern Belles that entertained the guests. By the early 1940’s the popularity of the park grew with the addition of water skiing. The park quickly became known as the Water Ski Capitol of the World. Over fifty water ski records were broken on the lake at Cypress Gardens. The park changed hands several times in the later years, first to their son Dick Pope Jr. and eventually Anheuser-Busch in 1989. Anheuser-Busch operated the park until 1995 when a group headed by a park manager purchased the park. The group kept the park op...