SeaWorld Entertainment Corporate News (Old Leadership Thread)

[tielo]

Water-world: the stuntshow, the land, the theme park. I could see how Universal could make this work.
First of all do away with the circus animals. Reuse those for a diving adventures (add coral and fish and a restaurant), the stunt show and themed coasters, a highly teamed Spongebob Squarepants land, Jaws will get it's own area with a new boat show and the real sharks but re-themed as a research centrum where they study shark behavior (add a We Need A Bigger Boat playground). A Trolls waterski show in the Trolls land. Madagascar land will have a boat/dark ride, a show and a kiddy coaster.

 

[Happytycho]

With you on the rest, but I don't think Universal or anyone else has interest in the main SWO park, other than to strip mine it for Sesame Street IP and possibly the coasters. It's a 1-day park stuck between two soon-to-be 3-to-4-day parks, when the average stay in town is 5 nights. Universal doesn't need a fourth park, and nobody else can hope to take away day visits from the two big boys with just SWO. Yeah, you could make it a steel park, but that's going to be a sizeable investment on top of the park itself. Throw in the bad rep for the orca shows, even the brand itself is of dubious value.

I do think Discovery Cove and maybe even Aquatica survive owned by someone, perhaps a traditional amusement park company but maybe even the Busch family.

While Universal doesn't "need" a fourth park, I think that getting a nearby 4th park + Aquatica + DC + surrounding land for hotels would go a long way towards truly putting Universal Orlando on the same level as WDW in competing for week long vacations to Orlando. I would however agree that they would need to ditch the "Seaworld" branding, but it wouldn't be that hard to move to a more generic animal theme and add a few rides to dilute the aquatic focus.

Water-world: the stuntshow, the land, the theme park. I could see how Universal could make this work.
First of all do away with the circus animals. Reuse those for a diving adventures (add coral and fish and a restaurant), the stunt show and themed coasters, a highly teamed Spongebob Squarepants land, Jaws will get it's own area with a new boat show and the real sharks but re-themed as a research centrum where they study shark behavior (add a We Need A Bigger Boat playground). A Trolls waterski show in the Trolls land. Madagascar land will have a boat/dark ride, a show and a kiddy coaster.

It would be pretty funny if they renamed the park "Universal's Waterworld"

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It would be pretty funny if they renamed the park "Universal's Waterworld"

Universal’s Epic Animal Universe

 

[AlexanderMBush]

When it comes to SeaWorld, I think the telling game would be if they file Chapter 11 and auction off things..is with Sesame Workshop, and the theme park rights for Sesame Street..

I do legitimately think if anyone tries to get it--it'd be Universal. Worldwide, Sesame Street has had a massive presence for Universal--with Osaka and Singapore both having large footprints of Sesame Street with the parks--for Osaka multiple attractions, entertainment, and merchandise and for Singapore--a full on dark ride (even if it's horrible in quality..) based on the Sesame Street IP and characters. Plus--I'd have to think merch wise, makes the profits that would make sense for it to get some care and attention for Universal to notice..

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Pretty sure you don’t auction off contracts, it would just be nulled and void if the parks close.

 

[Disneyhead]

Universal's OdysSEA Theme Park.

 

[shiekra38]

Pretty sure you don’t auction off contracts, it would just be nulled and void if the parks close.

Would Universal really want Sesame?

 

[Scott W.]

Would Universal really want Sesame?

Sure, why not?

If the parks close for a while before a buyer can be found and Iron Gwazi is just sitting there...

Edit: SeaWorld is a little over 350 acres all in.

 

[Legacy]

Would Universal really want Sesame?

Absolutely. They already use it overseas, and it's an evergreen children's franchise.

I'd argue that, if Universal gets Sesame Street, you'll see it KidZone before anything else.

 

[GAcoaster]

Edit: SeaWorld is a little over 350 acres all in.View attachment 11921

They also own a big chunk between Sea Harbor and Westwood, as well as a building right on I-4

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Would Universal really want Sesame?

Sesame Street, like Hello Kitty and Mario/Pokemon, are massive evergreen IP's that have a lot of value in merchandising and brand status. And like @Legacy, I immediately see it for Kidzone in a similar fashion to Osaka, and for Hollywood..being something of import for the future.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Nobody’s gonna buy SeaWorld.

This isn’t a time for expansion. None of the regional chains are going to want to expand. If anything, the chains will probably be selling off some of their less-profitable parks to developers.

I just can’t see Comcast buying SeaWorld Orlando. Sesame Street alone isn’t worth buying all that land. UO’s workforce would maybe close to double? It would take Epic Universe-level money for Comcast to bring all 3 parks up to their standards.

Comcast is obviously fine with 3 parks and a water park in Orlando. 4 parks and 3 water parks would be too big of an adjustment.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Would Universal really want Sesame?

I'm hard-pressed to find another property outside of Sesame Street and Mr Rogers/Daniel Tiger that is more loved by kids, respected, and timeless. On one hand Universal is very much a "pre-teens to adults" park, I could see them not interested in the property at all. On the other hand, dropping Sesame in the parks would round them out much nicer.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I'm hard-pressed to find another property outside of Sesame Street and Mr Rogers/Daniel Tiger that is more loved by kids, respected, and timeless. On one hand Universal is very much a "pre-teens to adults" park, I could see them not interested in the property at all. On the other hand, dropping Sesame in the parks would round them out much nicer.

Sesame would be such a great get for the parks. But, I don’t think Universal would give them the money or attention they deserve.

SeaWorld went all out because Sesame Street is their biggest IP. I don’t know if it would crack the top 10 for Universal. I could never see Universal building a full Sesame land with all the bells+whistles that SeaWorld Orlando has

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Sesame would be such a great get for the parks. But, I don’t think Universal would give them the money or attention they deserve.

SeaWorld went all out because Sesame Street is their biggest IP. I don’t know if it would crack the top 10 for Universal. I could never see Universal building a full Sesame land with all the bells+whistles that SeaWorld Orlando has

I mean though--Osaka doesn't even actually do the iconic Sesame Street 'street' as their kids land, and gets a lot of love from the JP tourism groups.

It'd be a little disheartening to think of, considering the quality of Singapore's dark ride..but if Universal wanted to, they could very easily pull out the stops on making something special with Sesame Street, that can stand on it's own thing. Plus, merch wise, it's a titan among a lot of them, especially given it's age.

 

[Scott W.]

Nobody’s gonna buy SeaWorld.

This isn’t a time for expansion. None of the regional chains are going to want to expand. If anything, the chains will probably be selling off some of their less-profitable parks to developers.

I just can’t see Comcast buying SeaWorld Orlando. Sesame Street alone isn’t worth buying all that land. UO’s workforce would maybe close to double? It would take Epic Universe-level money for Comcast to bring all 3 parks up to their standards.

Comcast is obviously fine with 3 parks and a water park in Orlando. 4 parks and 3 water parks would be too big of an adjustment.

I could see Universal buying SeaWorld for the sole reason that if they don't, somebody else could and it eliminates competition and makes their line up stronger.

Sesame would be such a great get for the parks. But, I don’t think Universal would give them the money or attention they deserve.

SeaWorld went all out because Sesame Street is their biggest IP. I don’t know if it would crack the top 10 for Universal. I could never see Universal building a full Sesame land with all the bells+whistles that SeaWorld Orlando has

Sesame Street is probably a cheap build by Universal's standards. Like @Joe said, it would round out the parks a bit better.

 

[SeventyOne]

SeaWorld went all out because Sesame Street is their biggest IP. I don’t know if it would crack the top 10 for Universal. I could never see Universal building a full Sesame land with all the bells+whistles that SeaWorld Orlando has

It'd be a little disheartening to think of, considering the quality of Singapore's dark ride..but if Universal wanted to, they could very easily pull out the stops on making something special with Sesame Street, that can stand on it's own thing. Plus, merch wise, it's a titan among a lot of them, especially given it's age.

To get the IP, they'd have to buy the park. That gives them the wonderful SW parade and its costumes, at least the interior fixtures/decor of all the shops and meet & greets, and -- if they want them -- the permanent carnival rides. Throw in a budget for a decent dark ride, you erase the "there's nothing for kids" stigma at USO and make money hand-over-fist from merch. Still cheaper than the half dozen or so new coasters you'd need to build SW into a steel park I'm still not convinced the market would support.

I could see Universal buying SeaWorld for the sole reason that if they don't, somebody else could and it eliminates competition and makes their line up stronger.

Agreed but I think they strip mine it and sell it to developers rather than run it. DAK only cannibalized guests when it opened, and it faced a lot less stiff outside competition.

 

[Disneyhead]

Agreed but I think they strip mine it and sell it to developers rather than run it. DAK only cannibalized guests when it opened, and it faced a lot less stiff outside competition.

Disney opened an amusement park with 5 rides. They were lucky it cannibalized their other parks. Otherwise it would have been completely empty.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

If Busch closes ( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( ) can Universal PLEASE build an RMC? Maybe in place of something higher tech to save $$$?

 

[Legacy]

Sesame would be such a great get for the parks. But, I don’t think Universal would give them the money or attention they deserve.

SeaWorld went all out because Sesame Street is their biggest IP. I don’t know if it would crack the top 10 for Universal. I could never see Universal building a full Sesame land with all the bells+whistles that SeaWorld Orlando has

Sesame Street is a bigger property than Despicable Me, and we’ve seen how Universal is riding that horse into the ground. It’s actually worth more than Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park, and Shrek.