1957: August A. Busch Jr. buys future Busch Gardens property for an Anheuser-Busch brewery.
1959: Busch Gardens opens with gardens and a bird show.
1962: Serengeti Plain is added, with elephants, zebras, giraffes and other animals.
1968: The road south of the park is renamed Busch Boulevard.
1970: Admission is charged for the first time. It is $1.25 for adults.
1975: Moroccan Village opens.
1976: The Python roller coaster is added; the park starts using the nickname "The Dark Continent."
1980: Timbuktu, home to the Dolphin Theater, the German-style restaurant German Festhaus and the Scorpion roller coaster, opens. Adventure Island also debuts.
1987: Two phenomenally popular pandas, Yong Yong and Ling Ling, arrive. One stays six months, the other 11 months.
1989: Anheuser-Busch buys Boardwalk & Baseball near Haines City, Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven and SeaWorld in Orlando.
1990: Anheuser-Busch closes Boardwalk & Baseball.
1993: Kumba, still the largest and fastest steel coaster in the Southeast, opens.
1995: Brewery closes; Cypress Gardens sold.
1996: Montu, today the tallest and largest inverted roller coaster in the Southeast, stars in the new 7-acre Egypt theme area.
1997: The wildlife exhibit Edge of Africa opens. It features up-close views of hippos, lions and other animals.
1999: Gwazi, the wooden double roller coaster, opens. Longtime monorail is retired.
2001: Busch Gardens allows guests to pay for annual and two-year passes in monthly installments; Anheuser-Busch sells former site of Boardwalk & Baseball.
Sept. 11, 2001: Busch Gardens closes at noon; it reopens the next day.

Busch Gardens' Adult Admission Prices

1959 to 1969: free
1970: $1.25
1975: $5.25
1980: $9.35
1985: $14.50
1990: $24.95
1995: $32.50
2002: $49.95