Beer Garden Combining German influence with American flair! By Alexis George
W
aylon Krush, a veteran of the US Army, enlisted at the ripe age of 18 like his father and grandfather before him. It was “meant to be”. During his service he was stationed at Bad Aibling, Germany for 3 years. In that time, he delighted in attending Oktoberfest every single year. He fell in love with the festival and all it had to offer. So, it quickly became his dream to bring that feeling back home to America. “I always knew that when I was in a position to do so that I wanted to recreate Oktoberfest,” Waylon says. In September 2020 that dream came true. Waylon discovered an opportunity to purchase 7 acres of land once occupied by Jungleland Zoo in Kissimmee. He went on to acquire the land and driven by his vision and passion, Waylon began to develop Krush Brau Park. Krush Brau Park is a Germaninspired beer garden and park. The 9,000+ square foot main building along with several container buildings will help support the brewery, eateries, live music and attractions, playgrounds, outdoor theater, and petting zoo available to guests. According to Waylon, keeping the petting zoo at the park was vital because of the history of the property. “The animatronic animals will be an ode to the old zoo if you will,” Waylon says. The inclusion of animatronic animals and other park features highlight
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Central Florida Lifestyle | January 2022
his expansive technology background. Waylon has over 20 years of experience in areas including cyber security, critical infrastructure protection, security operations, information operations, signals intelligence, system and telecommunication exploitation, and assessment and authorization. He also holds a BS in Computer Information Science from the University of Maryland University College. “When people come to the park, they will see someone who has a strong technology background then add on the fact that I’m a huge fan of the parks, so I see the things we do good, bad, and ugly,” Waylon says. “Overall, I’m really trying to differentiate us from the other parks because they provide so much.” A part of that differentiation comes with placing a high priority on making the park family friendly. Waylon explains that having his own family and having previously lived in other areas that weren’t as family-oriented highly influence his decision making. “It’s kind of a two-sided piece. I have a family so if you build something you want to ensure your family is going to love it because if your own family doesn’t love it then probably no one else is going to,” Waylon says. “The other piece is Orlando is a family city. If you’re going to build something and it’s not family oriented-good luck.” Waylon also stresses the importance of making sure the park is a place
