SeaWorld Orlando's Future Plans

[SeventyOne]

Just the past few weekends they had hour long waits just to get into the parking lot.

There is no way they are pulling MK or HHN crowds. Which means an ops issue. Probably woefully understaffed.

 

[s8film40]

There is no way they are pulling MK or HHN crowds. Which means an ops issue. Probably woefully understaffed.

To be fair I think it was due to some sort of bring a friend promotion. But I was there one of the days and it was absolutely packed! All the parking booths were open, all the turnstiles were open everything seemed to be as operationally open as it could be. All the walkways were crowded in the park. We left pretty early and the front entrance was pretty much completely overwhelmed when we walked out. Obviously SeaWorld is a smaller park, but yeah it was very comparable relatively to HHN or MK.

 

[matt78]

What @Teebin said. The SeaWorld brand is toxic. And there is no answer as to what to do with the whales. Can't release them. Can't keep them.

I think SeaWorld should declare bankruptcy and drop them off in PETA's driveway.

Sad thing is if PETA did end up with the whales they would just kill them. Last I heard their pet shelters had a kill rate somewhere in the mid nineties. They think all animals are better off dead then in any form of captivity.

I wonder if the people who own the San Diego Zoo would have interest in SeaWorld San Diego.

 

[cwgator]

To be fair I think it was due to some sort of bring a friend promotion. But I was there one of the days and it was absolutely packed! All the parking booths were open, all the turnstiles were open everything seemed to be as operationally open as it could be. All the walkways were crowded in the park. We left pretty early and the front entrance was pretty much completely overwhelmed when we walked out. Obviously SeaWorld is a smaller park, but yeah it was very comparable relatively to HHN or MK.

I can confirm this was how the park has been the past 2 weekends. The Bring A Friend last day was September 30th. There is also Spooktacular which is bringing in a lot of families. When I went, I arrived at 8:10am (park opened at 9) to the parking tolls and there was already several lines ready to get into the parking lot. We all had quick queue (from the hotel) so we didn't notice how busy it was until about 1:30pm as we got off Manta. The area around there was hard to navigate due to the crowds. It was pretty crowded along all the main pathways. There was also a steady flow of heavy traffic through the Spooktacular event area, especially late afternoon. It was pretty hard to get photo ops that I normally would have (and I brought family who had never been). We stayed until the park closed and it was a slow walk to get out of the park. Fortunately since we arrived so early, we parked in the lot by the drop off/pick up area (trolley & cabs) so we got out real quick compared to parking in the main lot. They were also using the overflow lot across the street and trams that day.

I don't understand why they don't keep the park open until at least 8pm on weekends through the end of Sept with the BAF tix, as it's always busy those weekends (it was the same last year). This weekend will be the test to see if it was just BAF or not. I won't be at the park, but I'm in a SeaWorld group on FB that will have plenty of people there that day who will report on crowds.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Keep in mind Merlin already has an Orlando presence in Tussaud’s, The Orlando Eye, and Sea Life.

I don't know how I forgot about I-Drive Live 360 (name?) and Legoland.

 

[MakoMania]

God help you all if Merlin decide to operate Busch Gardens like they operate their other non-Legoland parks! Say hello to 10am-4pm and many more SBNO attractions!

I don't think SeaWorld itself will be touched by anyone, but imagine what they could do with $1 billion from the sale of Busch Gardens.

 

[WAJAS]

I don't know how I forgot about I-Drive Live 360 (name?) and Legoland.

It’s I-Drive 360. I-Drove Live was a previous name it went by during the design phase.

 

[bob albert]

Does anyone think Universal is actually holding off on the 3rd park to see if Sea world is available in a fire sale?

 

[shiekra38]

Does anyone think Universal is actually holding off on the 3rd park to see if Sea world is available in a fire sale?

I think Universal is going to run into Sea World at a party and forget their name..

 

[shiekra38]

Double post, sorry, but I can't help but thinking this Busch Gardens sale might not be a terrible thing...Especially if Legoland buys it...It will give them the IP edge they've needed for a while

 

[Mad Dog]

The only way I see Comcast buying Sea World would be as Dave says, a fire sale. And, with the added objective to use it as leverage to tell Thomas & the other plot owners in the vicinity of the Lockheed property, that Comcast doesn't need your stinkin land or approvals, go to hell, and this is our final offer for this property that's just about worthless if we (Comcast/Universal) don't use it to put a park & hotels there.

 

[zg44]

SeaWorld is already at firesale prices; its equity is worth $1.2-1.3 billion and it carries $1.5-2 billion in debt. That's basically already firesale prices for anybody to buy; Comcast could buy that with just cash on hand (like when it bought DreamWorks for $3.8 billion). It's an open secret that they've been for sale for years.

The question is really, how would it fit into Universal's strategies; the San Diego and Orlando parks are struggling the most; they'd have to be completely rebranded and huge changes would need to be made. The last thing you'd want is for the Blackfish taint to rub off onto the Universal parks.

@Mad Dog makes a good point about Stan Thomas' land. That land is still the best route in my opinion, just because SeaWorld Orlando right now is just not up to quality/drawing power of the Universal parks but making a move on SeaWorld might shift the calculus on the 1000+ acres undeveloped around the 475 package Comcast owns.

 

[WAJAS]

Double post, sorry, but I can't help but thinking this Busch Gardens sale might not be a terrible thing...Especially if Legoland buys it...It will give them the IP edge they've needed for a while

The LEGO IP is presumably restricted to just the Legoland theme parks due to licensing issues.

 

[s8film40]

The LEGO IP has also proven to be a creative way to get other IP's. Legoland has had Batman and Star Wars events in the park for example.

 

[zg44]

The LEGO IP is presumably restricted to just the Legoland theme parks due to licensing issues.

Merlin ownership might fix those issues. The Lego family ownership company owns 30% of Merlin as well as their ownership of Lego.

 

[shiekra38]

The LEGO IP is presumably restricted to just the Legoland theme parks due to licensing issues.

I could certainly see that changing...hopefully....Obviously they wouldn't re-brand Busch Gardens to be Lego Safari Land, but it would be cool to see Lego themed lands come to BGT

 

[GAcoaster]

Some interesting perspective/insights from a business and investing standpoint:

"Disney Buying SeaWorld Wouldn't be Crazy"
Disney Buying SeaWorld Wouldn't Be Crazy -- The Motley Fool

"SeaWorld May Have More Suitors Than You Think"
SeaWorld May Have More Suitors Than You Think | Business Markets and Stocks News | host.madison.com

 

[GAcoaster]

I could certainly see that changing...hopefully....Obviously they wouldn't re-brand Busch Gardens to be Lego Safari Land, but it would be cool to see Lego themed lands come to BGT

I don't see LEGO being added to Busch Gardens Tampa. The Legoland licensing is very specific. Also they would want people to go to both parks, not just go to one of them thinking they had seen everything.

 

[zg44]

Some interesting perspective/insights from a business and investing standpoint:

"Disney Buying SeaWorld Wouldn't be Crazy"
Disney Buying SeaWorld Wouldn't Be Crazy -- The Motley Fool

"SeaWorld May Have More Suitors Than You Think"
SeaWorld May Have More Suitors Than You Think | Business Markets and Stocks News | host.madison.com

Zonghong is probably the most likely buyer of the SeaWorld parks if the company is split into separate parts with the Busch Garden parks going to Merlin.

I'm skeptical though that any of the other US majors are interested in it.

Disney really doesn't gain anything from SeaWorld's parks; it has a large enough set of parks on each coast, and they've already split up their major IPs among those parks.

Comcast is slightly more likely than Disney, but only because there's some argument for synergies to be made if the parks can be completely rebranded in Orlando and San Diego and tie in to the Universal parks. I'm still skeptical though because the best route for Comcast is still just to buy another 500+ acres in Orlando and then build a new 2nd resort in that fashion without dealing with all the Blackfish issues as well as converting them.

Cedar Fair and Six Flags are brought up as options to take over SeaWorld, but I don't know that anybody really wants to get into Orlando and San Diego. It's just really tough to compete in those markets, and in Orlando you already have the threat of a 2nd Universal resort just next door.

So it's tough; SeaWorld is basically trading at firesale prices right now (its equity is worth around $1.3 billion in total, which any of the above companies could take over, it's somewhat heavily indebted though). Trying to turn it around is just a tall order; that's why nobody's bought them out already.

 

[s8film40]

Disney really doesn't gain anything from SeaWorld's parks; it has a large enough set of parks on each coast, and they've already split up their major IPs among those parks.

They could buy them, then develop/sell off the land. Ironically that’s what SeaWorld did a long time ago to eliminate Circus World.