Busch Parks to be sold?

[Mad Dog]

Screamscape is reporting that BG Tampa is closing two of their largest restaurants, Garden Gate Cafe & Crown Colony House. If this rumor is true, it's clearly another indication that Blackstone plans to sell or close this park & BG Williamsburg.

 

[Capacity]

How is closing restaurants an indication of selling a park? Other than the fact its losing money.

 

[Mad Dog]

How is closing restaurants an indication of selling a park? Other than the fact its losing money.

Just another indicator along with the other cutbacks for both BG parks. Still just rumor & conjecture, but if I was a betting man, I'd say something will be happening. And I'm not sure the parks are really losing money. Blackstone took a lot of profits out of the parks since they purchased them. Blackstone may be just pushing the profit percentage before a move. There's lots of ways to play with a company's financials to make them look the way they want. Now that they went public they may be having trouble manipulating profits due to public reporting requirements. But again, it's all conjecture at this point. I'm no insider with special info. Just putting together what I read.

 

[KRAKENvsMANTA]

^Just a heads up, don't believe everything you read on Screamscape. They define the word "rumor". As bad attendance and sales may be, I don't see the parks being sold. Quite frankly I'm getting tired of all the hate the Busch parks have been getting lately. A lot of you guys are portraying them as parks that are in shambles; and that is not at all the case. Every time I visit, the parks are full, and the guests are happy. I know I am a little biased, but BGT and SWO are the premier animal parks in Florida hands down. Cheetah Hunt, Manta, and Antarctica have proven they're capable of fantastic themeing as well. Call me blind, but I see the Busch parks as alive and well, with a future that's quite bright.

 

[sierrak5]

Regarding the restaurants, when I was at the park on Tues I took one of the surveys all about food in the park. It asked questions such as is there enough variety, pricing, quality of food, etc. If they are in fact closing those two restaurants, then maybe there are possible changes planned.

 

[Mad Dog]

^Just a heads up, don't believe everything you read on Screamscape. They define the word "rumor". As bad attendance and sales may be, I don't see the parks being sold. Quite frankly I'm getting tired of all the hate the Busch parks have been getting lately. A lot of you guys are portraying them as parks that are in shambles; and that is not at all the case. Every time I visit, the parks are full, and the guests are happy. I know I am a little biased, but BGT and SWO are the premier animal parks in Florida hands down. Cheetah Hunt, Manta, and Antarctica have proven they're capable of fantastic themeing as well. Call me blind, but I see the Busch parks as alive and well, with a future that's quite bright.

I agree with you on Screamscape. Their rumors are not real reliable. But this same reporting is coming from the Busch Garden fan sites, and a number of insiders from other sites. If it was just Screamscape, I wouldn't give it much credence.

 

[Porkchop]

I will be at BGW the first weekend of August, first time going, very excited.....I hope to report good findings upon my return..

 

[Mad Dog]

I will be at BGW the first weekend of August, first time going, very excited.....I hope to report good findings upon my return..

BGW is a beautiful park. Not quite a full scale theme park like Disney or Universal, but not a Cedar Fair or Six Islands coaster park either. There's lots of good attractions and the food, though mostly counter service, is quite good. But the real gem is the beauty of the park as it meanders through the wooded hills. It's one of my favorites. If they do indeed sell it, hope it's a buyer that's committed to reinvest in the park. Since the Busch family was bought out, the last couple of owners haven't had a real vision for the park.

 

[AK-Jake]

I'm REALLY hoping this is all a BS rumor and the parks stay as they are. Furthermore, I hope that if we ARE seeing budget cutbacks, they go away in the near future. I personally prefer the Williamsburg park to the Tampa one, but BOTH Busch Gardens' are beautiful parks that provide a thoroughly enjoyable experience. And yes, every time I've gone, both parks are plenty busy enough...especially during the Howl-O-Scream event. I've seen the one at BGW hit capacity, and their Christmas Town event routinely sells out.

I think Falcon's Fury will be a nice driving factor for them next summer, and I think if they were to build a major coaster like a Giga, it would REALLY put them back on the FL theme park map. Until I see more concrete evidence, I'm not going to worry about the parks being sold. I just hope these cutbacks end soon...especially if the rumors floating around regarding HOS getting scaled back are true.

 

[USO92]

TPI is now correlating this rumor on there site as well.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I think if Seaworld Parks & Entertainment had introduced a nice dark ride or two at the Busch parks in the past couple of years (such as in the former simulator ride building that has been used for a haunted house recently) they could've made themselves more of an asset and been able to better compete with the rising attendance at parks like Universal, and wouldn't be so desperately lacking in budget. But alas, that's just not how it worked out...

 

[Stagefrenzy]

I think if Seaworld Parks & Entertainment had introduced a nice dark ride or two at the Busch parks in the past couple of years (such as in the former simulator ride building that has been used for a haunted house recently) they could've made themselves more of an asset and been able to better compete with the rising attendance at parks like Universal, and wouldn't be so desperately lacking in budget. But alas, that's just not how it worked out...

A dark ride isn't what they need nessarily and their success rate with dark rides are rather spotty at best. BGT is a great asset but it does have some issues, BG main issue right now is Blackstone. I believe that BG is profitable, has good attendance and maintenance. However corporate overlords at Blackstone seem to be unable to extract cash quick enough to pay shareholders and make their prices rise. Remember when Universal sucked until the boy who lived, Blackstone owned them.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

A dark ride isn't what they need nessarily and their success rate with dark rides are rather spotty at best. BGT is a great asset but it does have some issues, BG main issue right now is Blackstone. I believe that BG is profitable, has good attendance and maintenance. However corporate overlords at Blackstone seem to be unable to extract cash quick enough to pay shareholders and make their prices rise. Remember when Universal sucked until the boy who lived, Blackstone owned them.

Well, that makes more sense; other people made it sound like it was the Busch Gardens parks' fault for not being profitable enough or something. Now, if only a company like Comcast were just lying around

 

[maxairmike]

I really can't put a thumb on Blackstone's issues (or reasoning) with Universal and now the SeaWorld Parks when their other investments in the industry seem to be doing pretty well. I have a feeling that it has to do with them being their big "prize investments" and tinkering with them too much and trying to make them do what they want them too in the wrong way, but both scenarios are still very odd to me. History in the industry isn't consistent or obvious when it comes to investment firms owning and running these businesses.