Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida appears to preparing to bring back one of its old carnival-style rides… or at least its name.
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment this week filed a U.S. Trademark application for "Phoenix Rising." The application says that the proposed mark is for "Entertainment in the nature of an amusement park ride."
So what could this new amusement park ride be? Well, Phoenix was an Intamin Looping Starship that operated at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay between 1984 and 2018. The "Phoenix Rising" name suggests some sort of resurrection for the old ride. I am not a Tampa local and have not visited the park since before the pandemic, so I cannot tell you what the current condition of that old attraction and its location is, so I hope that some of you can fill in some details in the comments.
As far as trademark applications go, this was a very limited one - applying only for use as an amusement park ride, rather than a wide range of potential uses, as applications typically claim. That might have something to do with the fact that the "Phoenix Rising" name is also used by a professional soccer team in the Arizona's capital city. That would leave SeaWorld Parks able to file a trademark claim only for uses not already claimed by the soccer team.
Anyway, we will await official word from Busch Gardens on the new attraction. In the meantime, to keep up to date with more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
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It is my understanding that Phoenix has been completely removed from the property (along with the adjacent SandSerpent), and a new junior coaster will be opening in this spot in 2024 (the permit sleuths are currently predicting Vekoma family boomerang or similar based on a height of 60 ft. and one train station design). Although a strange choice, I could see Phoenix Rising being used as the name of the new ride, but I'm very confident it won't be for a revival of the old one.
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My money is on yet another straddle coaster installed on the plots of the former Phoenix flat ride and Sand Serpent wild mouse.
Though there are always those crazy rumors of a B$M gigacoaster with a station in Pantopia that runs across the northern perimeter of the park that had survey marks indicative of coaster footers a few years ago. That name would certainly be appropriate for a coaster that's >300'.