Anheuser-Busch has announced that it has agreed to be aquired by Belgian brewer, InBev. Normally that wouldn’t make the front page of MiceChat. However, in this case, it is huge theme park news as well since Busch owns three SeaWorld parks, two Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Sesame Place, water parks, and more.

The Bush parks are unique as they have maintained their family appeal over the years. As opposed to what has become of the Six Flags and the Cedar Fair properties, the Bush parks remain firmly on the Family Friendly scale and equate more to the offerings of Disney and Universal than they do with the thrill and coaster set of most of the nation’s remaining parks.

In the age of Cedar Fair buying regional parks and ripping out the theming and family friendly rides to plop down big ugly extreme coasters, the InBev buyout of Anheuser-Busch opens up lots of questions and fear in the theme park fan community. The Busch parks are loved by many and there is a great deal of sentiment for Shamu and the Busch Gardens parks.   Should InBev decide to stop investing in the parks or sell them off, the effect on the parks could be dramatic.

Theme park fans need only look at the example of how quickly Six Flags and Cedar Fair have ruined the parks they have aquired over the years (both financially and thematically) to understand the concern that the InBev buyout raises. The results could even have a ripple effect with Disney and Universal. If the overall investment from competing parks lessens, Disney and Universal could cut back as well.

At this point, there is really no way of knowing what InBev’s intentions regarding the parks is, or who any potential interested parties in the parks might be. But this will be an interesting story to watch, as much is at stake in the theme park industry right now.

Related Links and Discussion:

• The Weekend Update ran photos of Busch Gardens Europe (located in Virginia) on Saturday. You will find the photos near the end of the Weekend Update at this link.
• Kevin Yee has an interesting look at the InBev deal and its potential impact on MiceAge
• There is also a discussion thread on MiceChat’s Other Parks section HERE