From Andrew Hyde,
That sounds like just another damn Blackstone.
From Andrew Hyde,
Orlando always comes down to the value of the land. The park is worth nothing to someone like Universal, but the land is worth a fortune. Unlike the land on the Lockheed site that I believe still needs a lot of environmental remediation (contaminated soil) and has people suing to stop Universal from building a park there, the SeaWorld property is already zoned as a theme park and has the utilities and other infrastructure required. I believe the size of the SeaWorld land is also larger than the property on Universal Boulevard. When you look at the maps and satellite images it appears that the land SeaWorld owns is about the size of IoA and USF put together.
I think that if the Busch parks are sold off it will hurt both BGT and SeaWorld Orlando more than anyone realizes with so much cross traffic between local passholders and tourists with multi park tickets. I think if Merlin is really buying the BG parks they should also buy SeaWorld Orlando as well just to keep that synergy.
Unless I'm reading this chart wrong, this man just bought about $4.4 million of a $1.3B company. That's non-trivial, but not a lot relatively.That sounds like just another damn Blackstone.
Have to disagree here, I've seen zero evidence of this. I have plenty of SWO team member friends and HHN superfan friends and I could count the number who have been to HoS on one hand. Even fewer visit the park during the day. Never hear tourists bring it up. And my few visits there always suggested to me it's Tampa's regional park more than any sort of extension of the Orlando market. Whatever they do to BGT should have zero effect on Orlando matters.
For starters, I'm taking all animals out. (They don't bother me but we're trying to make money).If you could redesign Seaworld Orlando as a whole, what would you add/what would you take out of the park?
If you could redesign Seaworld Orlando as a whole, what would you add/what would you take out of the park?
^That's a great way to put SeaWorld out of business, turn it into something that you can find at basically every metropolitan area in the country.
I think he was referring to the post directly above his that basically turns it into a large aquarium.Seriously? Where do you see these ideas at? Building it up with rides and roller coasters isn't like every metropolitan area in the country then?
Having a boardwalk area replace the walkway that's on the backside of Shamu Stadium on the water would be a great decision. Place the rides on the land and put the walkway on a boardwalk over the water. It'd add a lot of attractions and give an area where the carnival games more or less fit. It should be a boardwalk area with a more nautical and steampunk feel though, and include at least 1 dark ride.Just have it like BGT but with a Nautical theme. As for the animal parts, make them richer, and get rid of silly upcharge stuff as they have in Dolphin Cove, and have everything very natural and flowing. Focus on good rides and design them with aesthetics in mind, the way BGT does. Sometimes I find it hard to believe BGT is the same company, because the coasters there are just so much better qua aesthetics.
As for infrastructure, as someone else mentioned, better parking is a must. Seaworld owns a lot of free land next to Aquatica, build a large parking structure there and a walkway to cross Idrive, this would mean they'd need a new entrance as well. The new parking would serve both Seaworld and Aquatica, and most of the old parking space would then be available for park expansion.
Also, if they feel the need to have rides that involve screens, then at least have decent screens. In both Turtle Trek and Antarctica you can see the seams of the screens, and in the former, the placement of the projectors, detracts horribly from the experience.
I also would keep up with festivals, the Seven Seas was, I think, quite a hit, and for a change there was good food.
I know some say new rides are clearly not helping, but I don't think that is accurate; the problem is they are still lacking in rides, hence they need to get it together and build more rides, so that they can become a more full fledged park. And not just coasters, but other rides as well; as Disneyhead once remarked, have a boardwalk type area with more traditional flat rides. A family coaster would be nice as well, either a Mack spinner like Cobra's Curse, or a Mack launch like SD's Manta.
Discovery Cove is definetely staying! That park is higher rated than any of their other parks. I would think Aquatica or SWO would go before it does.If SeaWorld is forced to become a regional chain, Discovery Cove doesn't fit with that at all. Discovery Cove was meant to be a high-end boutique park with a high price tag. In many ways, the new Star Wars hotel is basically Disney's version of Discovery Cove.
I don't expect a long or fruitful life for Discovery Cove as it stands.
Sea world is declining because animal shows are no longer a big draw. This is why circuses are closing. Things like blackish only accelerated the inevitable or brought attention to the decline. Cirque du soleil saw this coming years ago and built a brand off of human acrobatics and technology, which has been a disney staple for years.I would stop with the rides and more than likely take them all out. I will bring SeaWorld back to the unique place it was. Every animal habitat will get major upgrades. Think blue world like but for all the habitats. Bigger and more natural looking. Large under water viewing areas. Would also make the rescue area of the park more of a walk through tour so you can see first hand the rescue work that takes place. No upcharges to see the rescue facilities I want to bring the people to it to see what the SeaWorld team does.
Every awareness day that there is I would make sure SeaWorld takes full advantage of it. When it is World Penguin day or something at SeaWorld we would turn it into world penguin week and highlight the penguins, have a festival like atmosphere penguin themed and while having all this fun really capture the spirit of learning about the penguins etc. Education stations, games, TV screens playing rescues SeaWorld did etc.
I would make sure that the education team in the park are fully trained and knowing what they are talking about. Have education out in full force in the park seeking out guest contact and answering questions. I would also have the animal ambassador team out with the animals on the pathways so guests can see the unique animals up-close and learn more what they can do to make a difference in their lives. Before shows have a pre show like they do at Sea Lion high talking about how they train the animals, why the training is important etc and maybe highlight a rescue mission or two.
This is just some of my opinions what could make SeaWorld pop. Get it back to its roots
Only show I use to do a lot at SW was A'lure.Sea world is declining because animal shows are no longer a big draw. This is why circuses are closing. Things like blackish only accelerated the inevitable or brought attention to the decline. Cirque du soleil saw this coming years ago and built a brand off of human acrobatics and technology, which has been a disney staple for years.