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Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a theme park located in James City County, Virginia, about 60.40 miles (97.20 km) northwest of Virginia Beach, originally developed by Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and currently owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group. The park opened on May 16, 1975, adjacent to Anheuser-Busch's brewery and near its other developments including the Kingsmill Resort complex. The park is themed around various European countries. The park was originally called ''Busch Gardens: The Old Country'', reflecting the European theme. In 1993, the park was renamed ''Busch Gardens Williamsburg'' before briefly being named ''Busch Gardens Europe'' in 2006 until it returned to the Williamsburg name in 2008. Similarly, its sister park in Florida was originally called ''Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent'' until it was officially renamed ''Busch Gardens Tampa Bay'' until a brief switch to ''Busch Gardens Africa'' from 2006 to 2008. In 2010, the estimated attendance of 2.8 million placed it in the top 20 most-visited parks in the US.〔(Coaster Grotto Theme Park Attendance Estimates )〕 In addition to its landscaping and European theme, Busch Gardens is widely known for its roller coasters, including Griffon, Alpengeist, and Apollo's Chariot, which won No. 4 best steel coaster in 2012 from the Golden Ticket Awards. ==History== Beginning in the early 1970s, the Busch Gardens theme park was developed by Anheuser-Busch (A-B) as a portion of the company's development investment in the Williamsburg area, which grew to include a brewery, the Kingsmill Resort, as well as residential and office properties. The St. Louis-based brewer invested in the area following negotiations held between August Busch, II and Winthrop Rockefeller, a son of Colonial Williamsburg's initial chief mentor, John D. Rockefeller, Jr.. Winthrop Rockefeller had been serving as both governor of Arkansas and chairman of Colonial Williamsburg in the 1960s and 1970s. (Water Country USA, a local water park, was acquired by A-B in the 1990s, and added to the company's theme park activities, which include a number of SeaWorld properties in other states as well). In the last part of the 20th and early into the 21st century, as a brewer, A-B found itself competing in an increasingly global market. In 2008, after initially resisting an unsolicited stock bid, A-B announced it had reached an agreement to be acquired by the even larger Belgium-based InBev. The newer owners announced plans to sell-off the portions of A-B activities which were not part of the core beverage business as it worked to reduce debt incurred to fund the acquisition. The Blackstone Group was selected in late 2009 to acquire and operate the 10 former A-B theme parks, including two in the Williamsburg area. In July 2010, the adjacent Kingsmill Resort was scheduled to be acquired by Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a company owned by Denver-based Phillip Anschutz. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Busch Gardens Williamsburg」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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