Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is seeing another leadership shakeup as the park announced on Thursday its president has left the company.
John Vigue served as president of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island for just a few months. Officials with the theme park did not provide a reason behind his departure.
He will be replaced by Brian Bacica, who was last to serve in that role before Vigue. Bacica was park president from July to December last year. He left Tampa to work for Legoland Florida Resort as its president.
This is the fifth time Busch Gardens has hired a new president in about three years. When Vigue was announced as the park’s leader in June, company officials said it was “ushering in a new era of growth and innovation at one of America’s most iconic theme parks.”
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is also in the midst of a $200 million, five-year investment into updating the park with new attractions, animal experiences, dining and entertainment. It is turning to Bacica to see that project through to the finish line, the announcement said.
“Brian was there for the beginning of this transformation and he’s the right person to finish it,” said Scott Maupin, Chief Parks Operating Officer at United Parks & Resorts, in a statement. ”He knows these parks, he knows this team and he knows exactly what needs to happen next.”
Before coming to Busch Gardens last year, Bacica was park president for Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. He also worked at Universal Parks & Resorts in California and Florida as well as Disneyland Resorts.
“Coming back was an easy decision,” Bacica said in a statement. “There is nowhere else in the world like Busch Gardens, and I know what this team and these parks are capable of.”
The park unveiled a new Lion & Hyena Ridge this July as part of the $200 million investment into the park. The 38,000-square-feet habitat features lions and hyenas and gives visitors 270-degree views in an “immersive safari-style experience,” according to a news release.
It also closed down one of the park’s most iconic rides, Kumba, this summer. When Kumba opened in 1993, it was Florida’s tallest, fastest and longest rollercoaster and had the world’s tallest vertical loop.
The park also announced Kumba’s Revenge as “an extension” of the 33-year-old coaster at the same time. “It will allow its spirit to live on as we enter a new era of thrills. The legend of Kumba will continue,” park officials said at the time.
