![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/wofl-brian-bacica.jpg\")
article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
Brian Bacica has been named the new president of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island. (Credit: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay)\u00a0 <\/p>\n
TAMPA, Fla. – Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has brought back one of its former presidents to lead the park amid the latest leadership shakeup.<\/p>\n
Brian Bacica, who was president of the park briefly in 2025, replaces Jon Vigue, who parent company United Parks & Resorts announced had left the company.<\/p>\n
Former president returns <\/p>\n
Bacica was president of Busch Gardens and its Adventure Island water park from July to December 2025.<\/p>\n
He left the company to take the role of president at Legoland Florida.<\/p>\n
Finishing investment project:<\/p>\n
Bacica’s return comes as Busch Gardens undergoes a major transformation that includes a $200 million investment in new attractions and experiences.<\/p>\n
In a news release Thursday, United Parks said Bacica was returning to lead the project he helped to launch during his previous time as president.<\/p>\n
“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 of United Parks & Resorts, in a statement. “He knows these parks, he knows this team and he knows exactly what needs to happen next.”<\/p>\n
Bacica has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the attractions and hospitality industry. He previously held roles at Six Flags Great Adventure Resort, Disneyland Resort and Universal Parks & Resorts in California and Florida.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Leadership turnover <\/p>\n
This marks the fifth time in three years that Busch Gardens has named a new president.<\/p>\n
Vigue was only in the role for a short time. The park announced him as the new leader in June and featured him in a Q&A video<\/a> on its social media pages.\u00a0<\/p>\n In its announcement Thursday, United Parks did not give a reason for his departure.<\/p>\n Busch Gardens’ other presidents over the last few years include:<\/p>\n Jeff Davis (Feb. 2025-Aug. 2025)Neal Thurman (Sept. 2020-Jun. 2023)Stewart Clark (Jan. 2017-Sept. 2020; June 2023-Oct. 2024) $200 million investment <\/p>\n Busch Gardens previously said that its $200 million transformation would include new attractions, animal experiences and dining across its theme park and water park.<\/p>\n As part of the investment, the park opened the Lion & Hyena Ridge, a 38,000-square-foot habitat with visitor viewing areas, this summer.<\/p>\n Lions in the Lion & Hyena Ridge habitat at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. (Credit: Busch Gardens) <\/p>\n Busch Gardens also closed its Kumba roller coaster this summer and announced its replacement, Kumba’s Revenge, would bring new thrills but continue the legend of the previous coaster.<\/p>\n Other improvements that are part of the investment include new seating throughout the park, new menu offerings for food festivals and events, new haunted houses at Howl-O-Scream and new play structures for animals at the park.<\/p>\n The Source: This article was written based on information released by Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and from previous FOX 35 reporting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Busch Gardens Tampa Bay<\/a>Theme Parks<\/a>Instagram<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Brian Bacica has been named the new president of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island. (Credit:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[19617,406,115,405,135,137,136,2411],"class_list":["post-423843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-busch-gardens","tag-instastories","tag-news","tag-series","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-theme-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/wofl-busch-gardens-tampa-lions.jpg\")
<\/p>\n