SeaWorld Orlando's Future Plans

[shiekra38]

Seaworld's pitch is..."we don't kill animals"? They did a whole post-Blackfish thing and then they trudged along doing something or other.

Haha, good wholesome family fun that doesn't kill animals...Seems like a clear vision to me

I those real/amazing commercials for a while...I wonder how successful it would be if they went after the 'virtual' experiences Universal and Disney keep turning out..Honestly - They really need more rides and attractions to market..

 

[s8film40]

You don't get IP licensing like Sesame Street to bring in the minimum wage neighbors... sorry, that's not true lol.

You can get an annual pass for around $15 a month. That's certainly affordable for someone making minimum wage. Theme parks are for locals really the best value entertainment option available. Sesame Street could certainly be the one thing that persuads a family to get passes.

 

[UNIrd]

I actually think the ads SeaWorld is currently running are great and make the parks look like a lot of fun. Not sure if you've seen them. I just wish they included Electric Ocean since it's such a fun event.

They extended it btw. It was supposed to end this past weekend but now it's still happening Saturdays thru Labor Day Weekend.

 

[TheGentTrent]

I don't know. They put Sesame Street in BGW and the attendance dropped.

2009 was a bad year for all parks across the board. Things were so rough, Disney actually had to start letting people in for free on their birthday (good luck ever seeing that again) and Universal gave away 300,000 free 7-day tickets (ditto).

 

[bob albert]

You can get an annual pass for around $15 a month. That's certainly affordable for someone making minimum wage. Theme parks are for locals really the best value entertainment option available. Sesame Street could certainly be the one thing that persuads a family

You can get an annual pass for around $15 a month. That's certainly affordable for someone making minimum wage. Theme parks are for locals really the best value entertainment option available. Sesame Street could certainly be the one thing that persuads a family to get passes.

15 a month for someone making min wage is not at all automatically affordable. That is 165 for a year which could be a large portion of food for someone on min wage. Housing supply in the orlando market is aparetly getting bad already given the population growth.

 

[s8film40]

15 a month for someone making min wage is not at all automatically affordable. That is 165 for a year which could be a large portion of food for someone on min wage. Housing supply in the orlando market is aparetly getting bad already given the population growth.

Add in the dining plan and the pass becomes the most responsible and valuable purchase a person making minimum wage or even less could make. It could represent a savings of over $3,000.

 

[Nick]

Sesame Street is part of their plan to bring in more locals. The other parks have priced out most of the locals unless they work for them. SeaWorld is more affordable in a community of workers on subsistence wages, like a Six Flags or Cedar Fair park.

Universal and Disney are only pricing out the people who aren't going to spend money.

The area around Universal (surrounding neighborhoods) and areas near Disney (Windermere, Winter Garden) are rapidly growing with wealthy new neighborhoods. People can and do afford APs to Uni and Disney. They simply want to price out those that aren't going to spend money beyond the up front ticket cost. Even then, there are pretty cheap options for both resorts.

 

[GAcoaster]

Universal and Disney are only pricing out the people who aren't going to spend money.

The area around Universal (surrounding neighborhoods) and areas near Disney (Windermere, Winter Garden) are rapidly growing with wealthy new neighborhoods. People can and do afford APs to Uni and Disney. They simply want to price out those that aren't going to spend money beyond the up front ticket cost. Even then, there are pretty cheap options for both resorts.

Yes, but the people who work in the hotels and restaurants that support the tourism industry generally live in other areas around Orlando. There's a LOT more of the "have nots" in Orlando than the "haves" in Windermere, Winter Garden, Doctor Phillips, etc. The Orlando area has 2.4 million people many of whom are scraping to get by. Florida as a whole has 20 million + people who are within a couple of hours drive of SeaWorld.

SeaWorld's best course of action is to become more of a park that caters to the locals and the population should be able to support it if they market it properly.

 

[Nick]

Yes, but the people who work in the hotels and restaurants that support the tourism industry generally live in other areas around Orlando. There's a LOT more of the "have nots" in Orlando than the "haves" in Windermere, Winter Garden, Doctor Phillips, etc. The Orlando area has 2.4 million people many of whom are scraping to get by. Florida as a whole has 20 million + people who are within a couple of hours drive of SeaWorld.

SeaWorld's best course of action is to become more of a park that caters to the locals and the population should be able to support it if they market it properly.

I don't disagree at all that SeaWorld's best course is to cater to locals. It's really their only move left as they continue to lose attendance and market share.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

15 a month for someone making min wage is not at all automatically affordable. That is 165 for a year which could be a large portion of food for someone on min wage. Housing supply in the orlando market is aparetly getting bad already given the population growth.

Considering the are dropping 300 bucks on phones and cable.

 

[Mad Dog]

The problem with catering to a low income demographic is that, though it could boost attendance, it may not have a commensurate boost in revenue. And, bottom line, revenue is what matters. Low guest spending from bargain price ticket AP guests, making numerous trips to the park & bringing a backpack loaded with food & beverages with them doesn't do a whole lot to increase profit. ....Sometimes it's better to keep your annual pass prices up so the higher spending demographic visits the business, and attraction lines don't get long from people who aren't really spending much. I know this view sounds elitist, but it's a business plan used in lots of businesses. If you're going to keep the business viable, you need to generate sufficient profits to build new attractions and keep the park in good shape. If they are going to make an effort to go after the locals, it's probably best to keep the AP prices at a level that they attract the people that will be fairly free spending in the parks, and have the economic ability to pay theme park level prices for food & drinks.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

Dinoland in AK has (had?) them and Paradise Pier in DCA has them.

I don't understand why these games exist. Do they really make that much money?

You don't have a 8 year old that really wants that Pokémon stuffed thingy do you. If you notice it's fairly easy to 2 win or upgrade to the big ones for around 30 bucks total.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Considering the are dropping 300 bucks on phones and cable.

Cable is very much a luxury purchase and fewer Americans have it than ever before. And unless you want the newest iPhone / Galaxy on Verizon, you can get a cell plan relatively cheap.

You don't have a 8 year old that really wants that Pokémon stuffed thingy do you. If you notice it's fairly easy to 2 win or upgrade to the big ones for around 30 bucks total.

That's fair. But, why not just pay for the stuffed animal in a store instead of attempting to win it at a game?

My issue is that the games are usually tacky and the carnival barkers can be annoying.

 

[Alicia]

I noticed Nintendo plush at some of the games at SeaWorld this week. Thought that was kinda funny. But I also see Minions and Scooby Doo at Busch Gardens games in Gwazi Park so I guess they're all about using Universal Studios related characters as prizes... (Never see any Disney characters though.)

 

[Donald Razorduck]

Any one ever think that the announcement of them stopping the Orca shows have led to a drop in attendance? Going silent on defending yourself sure didn't help. Sure the show still goes on at Orlando and San Antonio for the time being but it was covered as they were stopping them and the GP doesn't sweat the details. They just heard "Stopping Killer Whale Shows." Once the Orcas are gone, there's nothing really much to differentiate you from the now hundreds of zoos and aquariums that have really stepped up their game with their immersive habatats on the Animal side.

Anyhoo, I know that they have brought in a firm that specializes in debt restructuring, ipos and going private.

I hope they are working on going private. That stops the gripe fest every three months at the end of quarters and takes a bat away from those that use it to bludgeon you with it for their SJW cause. Look at the attention Peta got with it's stock purchase. Going private with a group that doesn't want to flip you but actually own you would be the best course of action.

Headset VR is 3d TV ten years ago. A tech that isn't going to mainstream. That was money that could have rehabbed J to A. Someone tell me how Sony VRs are doing on their dominate gaming system

 

[Donald Razorduck]

Cable is very much a luxury purchase and fewer Americans have it than ever before. And unless you want the newest iPhone / Galaxy on Verizon, you can get a cell plan relatively cheap.

That's fair. But, why not just pay for the stuffed animal in a store instead of attempting to win it at a game?

My issue is that the games are usually tacky and the carnival barkers can be annoying.

They may have dropped cable but they added streaming substriptions they pay with credit cards and eventually pay 20% interest on.

 

[Brian G.]

Here's an idea for the sake of discussion

Bring Howl-O-Scream to SeaWorld.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Let's drop the minimum wage and if people should have cell phones talk. It's off topic and will get bad quick.

Thanks.

 

[SeventyOne]

Here's an idea for the sake of discussion

Bring Howl-O-Scream to SeaWorld.

I mean, they absolutely get the kid event right, and HoS has long had a "#2 but they try harder vibe," so potentially a market. If anything, turn Orlando into even more of an October mecca for Halloween junkies.

Ton of room off to the right of the entrance, some of it indoors even (convention/classroom space). Not sure where you could spread out with other houses, tho. Especially if you want to keep the scary stuff removed from the main trick-or-treat path during the daytime and keep guests far away from animal enclosures at night.

Two biggest issues I see: staffing the houses (can't be that many make-up people and scare-actors in town). And the initial capital outlay to design, build and market this the first year. A corporate sugar daddy like Comcast could front that, but the parks don't have that anymore.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I mean, they absolutely get the kid event right, and HoS has long had a "#2 but they try harder vibe," so potentially a market. If anything, turn Orlando into even more of an October mecca for Halloween junkies.

Ton of room off to the right of the entrance, some of it indoors even (convention/classroom space). Not sure where you could spread out with other houses, tho. Especially if you want to keep the scary stuff removed from the main trick-or-treat path during the daytime and keep guests far away from animal enclosures at night.

Two biggest issues I see: staffing the houses (can't be that many make-up people and scare-actors in town). And the initial capital outlay to design, build and market this the first year. A corporate sugar daddy like Comcast could front that, but the parks don't have that anymore.

They could market it like KSF, going to the locals heavily.