Park Opens March 26

Pass Prices Unchanged; Additional Online Savings

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Jan. 28, 2010) – Busch Gardens opens March 26 for its 35^th year and is celebrating with a new ride, a new show and an all new night-time celebration that  will leave families breathless for more. And more is what they will receive. With a host of KIDsiderate options, more than 20 scheduled concert performances and an all new extreme sports event debuting this spring, Busch Gardens has something for everyone in the family this year.

The world’s most beautiful theme park is re-envisioning its Ireland section with a new simulator ride featuring the scenic beauty of Europe and an Abbey Stone Theatre show that pays homage to Ireland’s great storytelling tradition.

“Europe in the Air” swoops guests across gorgeous terrain and past the continent’s most beloved landmarks. Dive low over Stonehenge. Soar past Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Float over the Coliseum in Rome. With amazingly sharp video quality and incredible surround sound, this high-tech simulator ride puts our guests in the midst of all the action.

After landing, stroll over to Abbey Stone Theatre and join the celebration as Busch Gardens debuts its newest live show filled with authentic Irish choreography, storytelling, singing, music and the magic of Irish dance. One of Dublin’s favorite innkeepers invites you to experience day-to-day life in this incredibly unique culture. With a cast of singers, Irish dancers and musicians, guests will be clapping their hands and shouting “Erin Go Bragh.”

Busch Gardens also is now home to a stop on the ASA Action Sports World Tour, an extreme sports extravaganza with all the grinds, aerials and freestyle tricks that extreme sports fans have come to expect. During the last three weekends in May, “Ramp Jam” at Busch Gardens will be hosting the top skateboard, BMX and in-line skating athletes performing extreme stunts and tricks on a half pipe built just for the tour at Festhaus Park.

Coming this June, join Busch Gardens for its first ever park-wide summer festival celebration. “IllumiNights:  A Busch Gardens Encore” is a new, nightly spectacular that encircles family fun and memories with world traditions. Trees will bloom with color and the night sky will burst with dazzling arrays of light each night during the celebration. Different areas of the park will celebrate IllumiNights in its own way, culminating in a park-wide pyrotechnics extravaganza that will have guests returning again and again.

This year also marks the return of Busch Gardens’ popular free concert lineup. From June 6 – Sept. 6, the park will host 20 different concert performers starting with the contemporary Christian festival, Glory at the Gardens, featuring acts like Steven Curtis-Chapman, Switchfoot, Third Day and Kirk Franklin. The concerts continue every weekend until Labor Day, featuring more bands like the B-52s and Grand Funk Railroad.

While Busch Gardens has a lot of new offerings for its 2010 season, the park is continuing its tradition of offering KIDsiderate attractions, including the second year of Sesame Street Forest of Fun with subtle changes to make guests experiences more comfortable while maintaining the sense of wonder for kids of all ages. Guests looking forward to the 12^th season of Howl-O-Scream will have to wait until this fall to see the new scares and frights waiting for them this year. Also, families can look forward to the second year of Christmas Town:  A Busch Gardens Celebration with new delights being developed that will leave them saying, “Now this is Christmas.”

Busch Gardens is offering a new way to save in 2010. All season long, guests can save $5 on each single-day ticket by making the purchase at www.buschgardens.com/va.Busch Gardens also is retaining its 2009 pass prices, so a new 2010 one-year pass still costs just $99.95. Guests renewing their 2009 passes will receive additional cost savings. All passes include access to all of the park’s concerts, Howl-O-Scream, free parking, discounts on food and merchandise, and unlimited visits to the park. A single-day ticket costs $61.95. Residents of Virginia can still purchase the Fun Card which also costs $61.95 but is valid for admission all summer long.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment operates 10 parks across the U.S. including SeaWorld parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio; Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg; Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando; Sesame Place near Philadelphia, Pa.; and water parks Adventure Island in Tampa and Water Country USA in Williamsburg.

The 10 parks play host to 25 million guests each year and employ 26,000 people nationwide. To learn more, visit www.SeaWorldParksandEntertainment.com or call toll-free (888) 800-5447. Additionally, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment created the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, a non-profit, private charitable foundation committed to supporting wildlife and habitat conservation, research, education and animal rescue programs worldwide. Learn more at SWBG-ConservationFund.org.

Christmas Town:  A Busch Gardens Celebration opens Nov. 27

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Nov. 2, 2009) – For the first time in Busch Gardens’ 34-year history, guests will experience the park in a whole new light this holiday season. Christmas Town:  A Busch Gardens Celebration is creating a new family tradition by combining an immersive holiday experience with one-of-a-kind shopping and dining opportunities, all-new holiday shows and a spectacular light-dancing Christmas tree.

“The world’s most beautiful park will transform into a Christmas wonderland in just a few weeks,” said John Reilly, Busch Gardens’ executive vice president and general manager. “We’ll create Virginia’s newest holiday tradition while our guests create memories that will last a lifetime.”

Starting Nov. 27, park guests will stroll under a canopy of more than a million twinkling lights while the aroma of hearty soups, smoked meats, fresh-baked holiday cookies and peppermint hot chocolate waft through the air.

Christmas Town begins in a bustling English town square complete with carolers straight out of Victorian England and set amid traditional greenery, classic red bows, holiday lights and candles glowing in every shop and restaurant window.

Leave the city lights behind with a quiet stroll through the Scottish countryside where horses roam and life slows down enough to contemplate this special time of the year.

While in Ireland, visit the Abbey Stone Theatre for an all-new Christmas show that will fill the audiences’ hearts with Christmas spirit through moving imagery, choral harmonies, and a full live orchestra. The little ones can dine with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and even have their picture taken with the jolly old elf.

France offers new twists on holiday traditions with contemporary takes on Christmas traditions. Guests can explore an ice-themed world with dazzling lights, falling snow and an up-close encounter with live penguins at the Royal Palace Theatre. Then join a down-home Christmas in New France where the sights and smells of country Christmas will fill the air.

Make sure to visit Santa’s workshop at the North Pole to meet St. Nick himself before heading to Oktoberfest to view Virginia’s tallest lighted Christmas tree. This 45-foot LED tree stands taller than Das Festhaus and features computerized lights that dance and change color during special evening light shows that will fill everyone with Christmas cheer.

Christmas Town opens at Busch Gardens on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4 – 9 p.m. beginning Nov. 27. The park will open each evening Dec. 18-27, excluding Christmas Day. Some sections of the park will remain closed for the season, and some rides and attractions are weather dependent.

Christmas Town admission tickets are available for $19.95. Guests with active Busch Gardens passes save 50 percent on Christmas Town tickets as well as free parking and in-park discounts.

Event details are available on the new Christmas Town Web site at www.christmastown.com.

Busch Gardens is a Worlds of Discovery®. Other Worlds of Discovery®  include Water Country USA in Williamsburg; Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fl.; the SeaWorld parks in San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando, Fl.; Sesame Place near Philadelphia; Discovery Cove in Orlando; Adventure Island in Tampa; and Aquatica, SeaWorld’s water park, in Orlando.

For more information, media may contact:

Busch Gardens Communications

bgwpr@buschgardens.com

(757) 253-3369