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SeaWorld Orlando's Future Plans

Bayside Stadium updates for Electric ocean. They were slowly covering all of the upper rows of Bayside stadium with themed tarps which seems weird. First picture shows only one section done while the second picture shows 3 sections done. Maybe no seating up there for the shows this summer?
 

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Why 2022? This seems like a fairly easy thing to do. I haven't been to a Sesame Street land before so not sure what it entails but wouldn't they just re-theme the rides and add a show or something? Five years though?! I'm just a little upset because my 3 year old will be 8 by then and he would really like this now and probably won't care by then.:lol:
Money

Disney + Universal (Comcast) are massive corporations. They may not always want to spend money on theme parks, but they have access to basically all the money they want. SeaWorld...doesn't.
 
I bet the sesame street area will open by 2019, they just can't say that yet as it could put families off visiting until then.
 
It's possible that they won't open the land until 2022 if they've already mapped out their attractions for the next few years/already paid for new attractions in advance. I'm a little upset that Shamu's Happy Harbor will be no more, I wonder if they'll retheme Shamu Express.
 
Personally I prefer Mako a billion times more than Manta! But I do get what you're saying about the integration.

The fact that it sits tucked away in the back of the park on an uninspired retention pond is one of its biggest flaws. Pair that with its generic layout and lackluster theme and you have yourselves a very meh feeling ride. From a raw, roller coaster comparative it ranks very well against similar rides, but that isn't the key point. Even Sheikra, back in 2005, felt like a way bigger deal than Mako, so it's clear to me they're missing the mark.

...All of which seems worlds apart from train after train of people laughing and clapping as they pull back into the station
Coasters are a lot like dark rides in that they must be well paced; have a beginning, middle and end; and be comfortable and visually impressive...Sea World and Busch Gardens figured that out better than any park I've seen...Add in animals and you have something very special...Mako hits a couple of the right notes, but doesn't sing the full tune...It seems like it is missing something..

Maybe it's just me, but I don't want SeaWorld turning into Six Flags with Sea Creatures. I'd rather they focus on bringing more immersive and memorable attractions.
A lot of people think coasters = Six Flags...Six Flags coasters rely on gimmick over design a lot of the time (escpecially now)..Sea World parks have always prided themselves on beautiful, well paced layouts and mixing in animal experiences...I don't think Sea World does dark rides well, nor should they be expected too...


I think of a park like Dollywood when I think of what the Sea World Parks could be...Dollywood is charming, well themed, and boasts a good collection of coasters that all feel very unique while feeling "on-brand" for that park..

At the end of the day it comes down to money and ownership unfortunately
 
A lot of people think coasters = Six Flags...Six Flags coasters rely on gimmick over design a lot of the time (escpecially now)..Sea World parks have always prided themselves on beautiful, well paced layouts and mixing in animal experiences...I don't think Sea World does dark rides well, nor should they be expected too...
Well I'll just say that I don't consider a place like Busch Gardens Tampa to be on par with some of the better Cedar Fair parks, which is what worries me.
 
I'm a little upset that Shamu's Happy Harbor will be no more, I wonder if they'll retheme Shamu Express.
They didn't when they made the area at the San Antonio Park. They left it as Shamu Express with the Sesame Street theming on the remainder of the area when they changed it. Since the trains are whale themed, it would be easier (not to mention cheaper) to just leave them as is.
Sesame Street Bay of Play | SeaWorld San Antonio
 
Money

Disney + Universal (Comcast) are massive corporations. They may not always want to spend money on theme parks, but they have access to basically all the money they want. SeaWorld...doesn't.
SeaWorld isn't that small. This is a fairly small project, it's really just a re-theme of an existing area. If this is too expensive for them to do in less than five years then that raft ride they just announced doesn't have a chance of getting built.
 
2018 is another major year and will give us Infinity Falls, 2019 will be minor and then 2020 will be another big one that will hopefully give us another coaster, so I doubt we will see see Sesame Street earlier than 2021. If changing Shamu's Happy Harbor into Sesame Street is significant enough, then probably they'll consider it major, and hence the decision to push it back to 2022.
 
Sea World's problems are largely out of their hands. Vacation time is a zero sum game--vast majority of guests have a limited number of days in Orlando, and are only going to pick one theme park complex per day. SW gets hurt on two levels here--first, there's a lot of cool stuff coming (F&F, Nintendo, Star Wars) that makes other parks around town more enticing than theirs. Second, the two big boys make it so much cheaper to buy a third or fourth day with them rather than a first day at SW--this discourages "cross-town park-hopping," for lack of a better term.

And that's just the big boys. Andretti Park, 5 minutes away, is a thing. Successful thing? Who knows, but potentially. SkyCoaster may yet happen. The biggest issue--the allegedly still coming thrill park (with 6 Flags as a partner) up the street at Festival Bay/Artegon. Any of these would be a cheaper than Disney day of thrill rides which is the one market SW can still compete in. None a factor today, but in 5 years?

(This is all assuming of course we don't get another economic downturn or, knock on wood, catastrophic Orlando event, which affects all the parks, but SW most because they are the least flexible--can't bribe guests with free dining and the like. One bad news day could accelerate the timeline.)

At the same time, the area around SW is turning into a west-side version of Baldwin Park. The land it sits on grows more valuable as housing or retail every day.

Is there still a great deal of value in land zoned for theme parks? Of course. And I doubt Discovery Cove or even Aquatica go anywhere--they are small, busy and presumably profitable. But it's naive to assume SW will always be there. If you don't believe me, take a drive up to Posner Park in Davenport and check out the names on the street signs, or the giant overgrown parking lot in the middle of nowhere.
 
Sea World's problems are largely out of their hands. Vacation time is a zero sum game--vast majority of guests have a limited number of days in Orlando, and are only going to pick one theme park complex per day. SW gets hurt on two levels here--first, there's a lot of cool stuff coming (F&F, Nintendo, Star Wars) that makes other parks around town more enticing than theirs. Second, the two big boys make it so much cheaper to buy a third or fourth day with them rather than a first day at SW--this discourages "cross-town park-hopping," for lack of a better term.

And that's just the big boys. Andretti Park, 5 minutes away, is a thing. Successful thing? Who knows, but potentially. SkyCoaster may yet happen. The biggest issue--the allegedly still coming thrill park (with 6 Flags as a partner) up the street at Festival Bay/Artegon. Any of these would be a cheaper than Disney day of thrill rides which is the one market SW can still compete in. None a factor today, but in 5 years?

(This is all assuming of course we don't get another economic downturn or, knock on wood, catastrophic Orlando event, which affects all the parks, but SW most because they are the least flexible--can't bribe guests with free dining and the like. One bad news day could accelerate the timeline.)

At the same time, the area around SW is turning into a west-side version of Baldwin Park. The land it sits on grows more valuable as housing or retail every day.

Is there still a great deal of value in land zoned for theme parks? Of course. And I doubt Discovery Cove or even Aquatica go anywhere--they are small, busy and presumably profitable. But it's naive to assume SW will always be there. If you don't believe me, take a drive up to Posner Park in Davenport and check out the names on the street signs, or the giant overgrown parking lot in the middle of nowhere.

Impression I got was it's pretty big, has more going on. Not really my thing, but if it takes up 5 - 6 hours, has to be considered competition.
I feel like if we're mentioning Andretti, Fun Spot needs to be brought into the conversation too. Of course FS is mostly a locals place, but locals matter a lot to SW right now and I've found myself getting a FS AP over a SW one in the past, simply because of the go-karts. The two-park FS AP costs about the same as a SW AP (if not more?), too.
 
I wonder if SeaWorld wouldn't be better off dropping the name and re-branding themselves as Busch Gardens Orlando. With the inclusion of all the new coasters and re-theming of Shamu's Happy Harbor to Sesame Street, I think the new name would be justified. The only problem is the animal rights people would act like they won.
 
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I wonder if SeaWorld wouldn't be better off dropping the name and re-branding themselves as Busch Gardens Orlando. With the inclusion of all the new coasters and re-theming of Shamu's Happy Harbor to Sesame Street, I think the new name would be justified. The only problem is the animal rights people would act like they won.
They pretty much already have won, though.
 
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