SeaWorld Orlando's Future Plans

[Kumba's Roar]

I am wondering if it could be the location of the 2018 major attraction as well. Guessing it could be the SeaRescue Dark Ride. That's the only one left that hasn't gone to any of the SW parks. SWT is getting Wave Breaker and SWC is getting Ocean Explorer. So most have been thinking SWF would get the SeaRescue ride.

 

[Mad Dog]

It does seem to be the way they are modeling themselves now, I do agree about BGT, regular guests would stay in the theme park corridor rather than comting to another park 2 hours away..

BGT does well out of repeat visitors and even the if they are like me it will be every other trip.

I Usually alternate between SW & BGT, although in March I dropped Disney and am doing SW & BGT. Won't miss WDW even though staying on property twice, SSR and GF I wouldn't mind a trip to MK when staying right next door but that only going to happen if I can get in through a CM friend and she is looking to move jobs so not looking likely.

For the record I've never, in 13 trips, dropped Uni from my itinerary.

I've never visited Sea World on an Orlando trip. I had attended Sea World Geauga Lake a couple of times (before the shutdown), and didn't care much for it. One year I was vacationing on the Gulf coast and we decided to drive out to the Tampa park. But we got there around 5:00 PM and it was closing. Being from the north I was used to parks being open until 10 or 11 PM. So I've never been in either. And now, since my unthemed outdoor coaster days are behind me, I doubt I'll ever attend either park. For the May trip I think I may take a day trip or two to MK and Epcot, but generally once I drive into a Universal hotel parking lot, I rarely leave it:thumbsup:. Except for the times Dave (Disneyhead) is taking us for behind the scenes sightseeing tours of the Orlando theme park industry and Orlando's famous drinking establishments.

 

[UK-Trigg]

I've never visited Sea World on an Orlando trip. I had attended Sea World Geauga Lake a couple of times (before the shutdown), and didn't care much for it. One year I was vacationing on the Gulf coast and we decided to drive out to the Tampa park. But we got there around 5:00 PM and it was closing. Being from the north I was used to parks being open until 10 or 11 PM. So I've never been in either. And now, since my unthemed outdoor coaster days are behind me, I doubt I'll ever attend either park. For the May trip I think I may take a day trip or two to MK and Epcot, but generally once I drive into a Universal hotel parking lot, I rarely leave it:thumbsup:. Except for the times Dave (Disneyhead) is taking us for behind the scenes sightseeing tours of the Orlando theme park industry and Orlando's famous drinking establishments.

You've been to Nassal then ?

 

[Mad Dog]

You've been to Nassau then ?

No. A little tough to get to by car. OOps.I though you meant Bahama's. Yeah, we went to Nassal.

 

[UK-Trigg]

ha, you beat my edit

 

[Mad Dog]

ha, you beat my edit

Hard to believe a place in that run down neighborhood, and the company looks like a distressed factory in the Rust Belt, turns out such great work. That was really eye opening. And it was cool to see all the stuff prefabbed for VB hidden away in secret places, way before it made it to the site.

 

[anihilnation]

I wonder if we might see a Mack Coaster coming to Orlando, a launched family coaster perhaps?

 

[Mad Dog]

As a signal to Sea World parks, Barnum & Bailey Circus just announced their closing, largely in part to declining attendance due to people's growing rejection of wild animal acts. Looking like Sea World really has no choice but to change their business plan if they are going to survive.

 

[UK-Trigg]

As a signal to Sea World parks, Barnum & Bailey Circus just announced their closing, largely in part to declining attendance due to people's growing rejection of wild animal acts. Looking like Sea World really has no choice but to change their business plan if they are going to survive.

Saw this on our national news earlier today

 

[OLSinFLA]

As a signal to Sea World parks, Barnum & Bailey Circus just announced their closing, largely in part to declining attendance due to people's growing rejection of wild animal acts. Looking like Sea World really has no choice but to change their business plan if they are going to survive.

Ironically some of it was due to no Elephants in the circus (seems some people felt without the big guys the circus wasn't a circus...)

 

[GadgetGuru]

I think Theme Park Insider nailed part of Barnum + Bailey's problem: The circus is dead. Long live its successors

(TLDR: The circus used to be this massive event that came into your town like a hurricane. It's not that big of a deal since the world's a smaller place)

SeaWorld faces slightly different problems. Mainly, how do you compete in a market that doesn't seem to hold the same interest in watching animals anymore? Plus, Blackfish PR.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think Theme Park Insider nailed part of Barnum + Bailey's problem: The circus is dead. Long live its successors

(TLDR: The circus used to be this massive event that came into your town like a hurricane. It's not that big of a deal since the world's a smaller place)

SeaWorld faces slightly different problems. Mainly, how do you compete in a market that doesn't seem to hold the same interest in watching animals anymore? Plus, Blackfish PR.

Yep, that's Sea World's problem down the line. So they need to tweak their business plan and reinvent themselves if they don't want to become extinct.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Just think of all the extra land they'll have for coasters when they get rid of those fish tanks.

I was thinking, Sea World/Busch, could build on that new plot of land for Festival Bay, and build a themed thrill park. Potentially sell their land or some of it when they get rid of those Orca tanks. Fresh new Start! But yeah that would be a ton of land to do SO MUCH.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

I think Theme Park Insider nailed part of Barnum + Bailey's problem: The circus is dead. Long live its successors

(TLDR: The circus used to be this massive event that came into your town like a hurricane. It's not that big of a deal since the world's a smaller place)

SeaWorld faces slightly different problems. Mainly, how do you compete in a market that doesn't seem to hold the same interest in watching animals anymore? Plus, Blackfish PR.

Good point. Short answer? You don't. You join the lineup and give it your absolute best shot. No reason Sea World cant be Sea World, without the sea. People love Animals but more in a domestic environment. Sea World was the park that brought the Ocean to us. Now they have a chance to re-do everything and start fresh with more thrills/themes and make theirselves a destination once again.

 

[Mad Dog]

The issue with Sea World is that they only have one direction that they can take since Blackstone is a cost conscious, suck the profits out, type owner. They have to go the cheap way & add a bunch of coasters & flat rides ala Six Flags, & eliminate a portion of the animal stuff. There's no money going to be made available for good theming or Universal/Disney type D/E tickets. They fell flat on their faces with Antarctica, so I doubt they'll go that route again. Only wildcard is if they can find a buyer. They tried that route before and there weren't any serious offers................Case in point; Sea World has, what would be if properly refurbed & maintained, one of the premier theme park flume/dark rides in Atlantis. But they've let it deteriorate to the point where it's only a shell of what it once was. No, Sea World, while owned by Blackstone, will not go the themed D/E ticket route. The cheap route is their only alternative.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

The issue with Sea World is that they only have one direction that they can take since Blackstone is a cost conscious, suck the profits out, type owner. They have to go the cheap way & add a bunch of coasters & flat rides ala Six Flags, & eliminate a portion of the animal stuff. There's no money going to be made available for good theming or Universal/Disney type D/E tickets. They fell flat on their faces with Antarctica, so I doubt they'll go that route again. Only wildcard is if they can find a buyer. They tried that route before and there weren't any serious offers................Case in point; Sea World has, what would be if properly refurbed & maintained, one of the premier theme park flume/dark rides in Atlantis. But they've let it deteriorate to the point where it's only a shell of what it once was. No, Sea World, while owned by Blackstone, will not go the themed D/E ticket route. The cheap route is their only alternative.

Antartica is greatly themed but a bad ride. All of Sea Worlds rides are themed. From the name to the stations. The Queues are not really top notch but When I think theme I think of Kraken vs The Destroyer some generic identifier name. Myabe just Maybe Sea World gets bought out...

 

[UniversalRBLX]

What Sea World needs is a family attraction. They can save a mega coaster after they build something for families.

 

[WAJAS]

I just realized that out of every park in Orlando SWO would benefit the most from implementing the VQ system. Almost all of it's lines suck anyways. By placing the attractions relatively equally on the VQ system on the app, they can encourage people to spread out throughout the park more than they would otherwise. Attractions like TurtleTrek that many guests never realize exists will have a way to advertise itself through the system. Because the park is mostly centered around the shows, which wouldn't use VQ, dumping all the people who would be in queues onto the paths won't make that big of a change.

Thoughts?

 

[GadgetGuru]

I'm not sure that SeaWorld needs a virtual queue. In fact, if Universal starts going that route, SeaWorld could spin its regular queues as a good thing?

Anyways, virtual queues help distribute people throughout the park and increase an entire park's capacity. SeaWorld doesn't have a capacity problem. It has the exact opposite.

 

[WAJAS]

I'm not sure that SeaWorld needs a virtual queue. In fact, if Universal starts going that route, SeaWorld could spin its regular queues as a good thing?

Anyways, virtual queues help distribute people throughout the park and increase an entire park's capacity. SeaWorld doesn't have a capacity problem. It has the exact opposite.

But SW is having money problems right? So getting people out of queues and into shops and restaurants should be a big benefit for them. Wouldn't VQs decrease capacity if anything because the capacity that used to be from people standing in ride queues is gone? I think they would only increase capacity at a park like SW, where many attractions are almost never full while others are full on every run.