Originally Posted By brotherdave Although Busch Entertainment parks are keeping "mum", it appears that the Blackstone Group may be ready to announce soon that they may be purchasing the parks from Anheuser-Busch/InBev. <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bk-seaworld-orlando-092309,0,6556082.story" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...82.story</a> Personally, I'm sorry to see Busch Entertainment sold, but am sort of relieved that it's being purchased by a company whose commitment to detail and theming are on about the same level as A-B. Blackstone's Legolands are amazing parks and they are part owners of Universal Orlando. Should be interesting on how they might market the Orlando parks against Disney if this comes to pass...
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I'm with you brotherdave. There will be some interesting opportunities for packagage deals now. I believe Universal and Sea World have partnered up in the past, and maybe Wet 'n Wild too. We might see a lot of Shamu busses running from the Universal resorts to Sea World and back.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Shamu busses, hmmm, that would be cool. I also wonder if this means that Sesame Street could be used at Universal? Could be interesting to see what develops...
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy Looks like Blackstone is getting ready to ditch it's theme park investments by spinning them off into an IPO.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I think that may have been the only way for them to raise capital to possibly purchase Busch Entertainment.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy They've been trying to get rid of their theme park assets for a while. They'll probably use the good balance sheet of Busch to mask the cash flow problems with their other parks and trick fool investors into buying stock.
Originally Posted By retlawfan And although the parks are great in detail (Legoland), their upkeep is terrible. At Legoland California there are lots of dirty areas, overgrown landscaping, and few food choices. They have great potential, but I think they need to reinvest more in them. IMO.
Originally Posted By disneykid90 Back home in Virginia I am about 30 minutes away from Busch Gardens the old country. I have brown up going to it and will be deeply sorrowed to see it get rundown. That park is near flawless and beautifully landscaped and maintained
Originally Posted By SFH No surprise... <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID512660.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/N...2660.asp</a>
