SeaWorld Orlando's Future Plans

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Seems they've decided to give up on Turtle Trek entirely (not that there seemed to be anything broken on it before, but presumably they didn't want to have to pay an Ambassador to be in the building, though they also already eliminated any staff from the show itself years ago by just taping the Start Show button pressed down so :shrug. Can't say I'm surprised given their recent track record, but it's still a disappointment. It's unclear what, if anything, will replace it.

The photo with the blue building shows where the entrance arch used to be--the curved edge of the building was the right side of the arch, and the new landscaping to the left is where the pathway into the building used to be. Not sure if the rest of the shaded structure wrapping behind the building has been demolished too, or if it's still accessible from the former stroller parking area.

 

[Scott W.]

After my trip in June, I'm done with their parks.

Even if the tickets were free, I wouldn't waste my time visiting.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

After my trip in June, I'm done with their parks.

Even if the tickets were free, I wouldn't waste my time visiting.

Yup - will not be renewing my annual pass.. only had it for a few months after years of always wanting to get one.

Don't enjoy eating at the parks due to the cost/quality and their food festival strategy/pricing is a joke.

Operations are also awful at some of the rides. The shows are no longer exciting/interesting.

 

[UNIrd]

I'm starting to get the same feeling if not for some of their seasonal entertainment and events. Antarctica was a loss, so was Wild Arctic, now Turtle Trek.. Coasters are fine but it's just becoming less and less of a well-rounded park for families by the day.

 

[GAcoaster]

I would agree except that Wild Arctic, Empire of the Penguin, and Turtle Trek were all poorly rated attractions by guests. It appears that SWP&E is aggressively spending on the parks and re-branding them further away from the old SeaWorld brand which had been tarnished beyond repair. Yes, they have added (and continue to add) roller coasters, but they also added Sesame Street and Infinity Falls which both made big impacts on the park. They also continue adding more festivals and events to keep passholders coming.

I think once the new coaster is in the next additions to the park will be more on the family side again.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I think once the new coaster is in the next additions to the park will be more on the family side again.

I hope you're right, though it seems nowadays Seas thinks "family" attractions are just roller coasters with slightly lower height requirements. What they really need are true family-oriented attractions like Turtle Trek or Empire of the Penguin, and sure, the latter wasn't getting critical acclaim from theme park enthusiasts, but it was popular, and to this day guests go there expecting to ride it and leave disappointed when they find out it's SBNO.

The removal of Turtle Trek really just smacks of a callous, concerted effort to un-theme the park. It was cheap to keep around, gave the park some actual charm, and actually tied into the park's brand--which is not true of any of the remaining rides--and yet they invested resources into getting rid of it. I wouldn't be surprised if they spent more money hiding any trace of its existence/theming than its annual operational + maintenance cost.

 

[Alicia]

My nieces liked the Penguin ride. One niece has outgrown the Sesame Street rides, but is not mature enough for most of the coasters. She liked Wild Arctic, which was just the right level of thrill for her, but now all we have is Atlantis. And the younger one won’t do any coasters, not even the Sesame Street one. There’s only so many times we can do the shows, so the park has lost its appeal for multiple visits. We just find ourselves frustrated as the girls keep asking to ride rides and there just aren’t any we can all do together.

It used to be SeaWorld was a great locals park, but feels like they’re nickeling and diming more than Disney at this point. They keep building coasters, and let the rest of the park rot away. They tack on a 5% surcharge on everything, and everything is already more expensive than the other parks.

Which all wouldn’t be so bad if the parks were kept in better shape, but last couple times I visited Busch Gardens a few months ago I was disgusted by the state of upkeep.

Im old enough to remember when Busch Gardens was filled with colorful gardens. But everything seems to have fallen to the wayside for attention to only building coasters, which is great for some clientele, but at the expense of everyone else.

 

[OrlLover]

I just keeping hope they go back to their roots but at this point blackfish basically killed their brand. Personally I don’t believe they should give up the animal focused attractions but I understand financially they can’t afford another controversy.

Like I mentioned earlier adding coasters is only going to work for so long and they are going to have to find something else to keep their parks alive.

 

[MakoMania]

SeaWorld is an interesting one currently. I've been going to SWO/BGT since 2012 and personally I haven't noticed a difference in park landscaping/cleanliness. It's not Disney/Universal but it certainly continues to be strides better than Six Flags and somewhat better than Cedar Fair.

I do think the coaster trend is the right one for the park. They simply cannot compete effectively with the IP of Disney & Universal with immersive themed experiences. This is why Antarctica was not a success in drawing in the crowds. Without IP dark rides are difficult to market - and they spent an absolute fortune on it. There are persistent rumors of a new dark ride (maybe a flying theater) coming to replace Wild Arctic, likely in 2024, so we'll see if they can break the curse. This is not to say coasters can't be themed - they can, and I think Ice Breaker was a little too sparse so hopefully we'll at least see some better foliage and station for the 2023 coaster.

Coasters are visually appealing, easy to communicate for marketing, and give the park lots of kinetic energy. I would agree with the consensus that there needs to be more to do for lower height requirements. Getting Ice Breaker back to 48" would go a long way to this, and the addition of Infinity Falls helped with its 42" requirement. I would also be in favor of reopening Antarctica for this same reason. A Sea Rescue themed coaster in Key West with around a 42" requirement would be fantastic in the future.

It would be a mistake for SeaWorld to remove the animals (thankfully there are no signs of this happening) as it is a key differentiator between them and the competition, but realistically while the park might have the odd future success with non-coaster rides such as a Wild Arctic replacement in the future, it is unlikely to be able to sustain them. Coasters WILL sustain them as they are always crowd drawers.

Love it or hate it I think SeaWorld Orlando's future is much more a well presented Cedar Point & aquarium hybrid than it is Efteling or Universal/Disney. Might not be everyone's thing but it a far safer bet than trying to compete with Disney & Universal at their own game.

 

[shiekra38]

I just keeping hope they go back to their roots but at this point blackfish basically killed their brand. Personally I don’t believe they should give up the animal focused attractions but I understand financially they can’t afford another controversy.

Like I mentioned earlier adding coasters is only going to work for so long and they are going to have to find something else to keep their parks alive.

Manby was on the right track, he was just not given enough time

The revolving CEO door also doesn't help

I love me some coasters, but the #THRILLZ identity they are going for is kinda annoying

What made the rides at SW/BGT special was the animal/coaster/lightly themed area package that came with everything

Manta is a perfect example of what a SW coaster should look like...Mako/Infinity also touches on that identity

Contrast that with Ice Breaker and it's clear they've somewhat abandoned the idea

With High Surf I guess we'll see if theming creeps back or not

As far as the removed rides, they were all pretty low on the ratings

 

[UniversalRBLX]

One problem they have is that they are offering a lesser product for a similar price point (more expensive sometimes) to Universal/Disney and it obviously failed on them hard. (Hence the daily sales on their tickets)

 

[OrlLover]

SeaWorld is an interesting one currently. I've been going to SWO/BGT since 2012 and personally I haven't noticed a difference in park landscaping/cleanliness. It's not Disney/Universal but it certainly continues to be strides better than Six Flags and somewhat better than Cedar Fair.

I do think the coaster trend is the right one for the park. They simply cannot compete effectively with the IP of Disney & Universal with immersive themed experiences. This is why Antarctica was not a success in drawing in the crowds. Without IP dark rides are difficult to market - and they spent an absolute fortune on it. There are persistent rumors of a new dark ride (maybe a flying theater) coming to replace Wild Arctic, likely in 2024, so we'll see if they can break the curse. This is not to say coasters can't be themed - they can, and I think Ice Breaker was a little too sparse so hopefully we'll at least see some better foliage and station for the 2023 coaster.

Coasters are visually appealing, easy to communicate for marketing, and give the park lots of kinetic energy. I would agree with the consensus that there needs to be more to do for lower height requirements. Getting Ice Breaker back to 48" would go a long way to this, and the addition of Infinity Falls helped with its 42" requirement. I would also be in favor of reopening Antarctica for this same reason. A Sea Rescue themed coaster in Key West with around a 42" requirement would be fantastic in the future.

It would be a mistake for SeaWorld to remove the animals (thankfully there are no signs of this happening) as it is a key differentiator between them and the competition, but realistically while the park might have the odd future success with non-coaster rides such as a Wild Arctic replacement in the future, it is unlikely to be able to sustain them. Coasters WILL sustain them as they are always crowd drawers.

Love it or hate it I think SeaWorld Orlando's future is much more a well presented Cedar Point & aquarium hybrid than it is Efteling or Universal/Disney. Might not be everyone's thing but it a far safer bet than trying to compete with Disney & Universal at their own game.

Wow spot on with this post.

 

[Mad Dog]

I just received a survey from my local park, Kennywood. Keep in mind that Kennywood is the USA flagship park, and US headquarters, for Palace Entertainment and it's international owner Parques Reunides, which
has parks outside the USA also. This was a strange survey. It was very lengthy and almost completely composed of questions concerning if you liked zoos and aquariums and theme parks, whys and why nots.
It also asked the opinions on captive animals questions. It asked nearly every conceivable question on zoos and aquariums. Now Kennywood is a very small park with little room to put in either, plus there's a large
zoo in nearby Pittsburgh city. This is just a crazy guess, but I'm wondering if perhaps Parques Reunides is thinking of putting in a bid to acquire the Sea World chain, which is primarily aquarium/zoo setting type theme parks.
Yes, a crazy thought, but I see few other possible reasons for this very long in depth survey.

 

[anihilnation]

Personally I think Seaworld should just focus on being the high thrill park Orlando needs. Orlando is said to be the theme park capital of the world, and hence it needs a coaster park too, it just adds to the variety of the landscape. My biggest gripe with Seaworld is that their attraction ops are way to slow, and from what I heard they need more attraction staffing in general, as often there is no longer a grouper, which really is an essential position.

 

[shiekra38]

Personally I think Seaworld should just focus on being the high thrill park Orlando needs. Orlando is said to be the theme park capital of the world, and hence it needs a coaster park too, it just adds to the variety of the landscape. My biggest gripe with Seaworld is that their attraction ops are way to slow, and from what I heard they need more attraction staffing in general, as often there is no longer a grouper, which really is an essential position.

People hear "Thrill Park" and think of Six Flags....In reality, there is plenty of room for "Thrill Park" and "Theme Park" to co-exist

I would take your point further and say that all SW and BGT need to do to survive is build the types of rides and coasters Universal and Disney wont

Which brings me to why BGT needs a Giga *opens powerpoint presentation*

 

[MakoMania]

Honestly, everyone talks about BGT getting a giga, but I don't think the possibility of SWO getting a giga is talked about seriously enough. It's the kind of statement ride you could see them going for in 2025 to keep SeaWorld relevant with Epic Universe opening.

 

[shiekra38]

Honestly, everyone talks about BGT getting a giga, but I don't think the possibility of SWO getting a giga is talked about seriously enough. It's the kind of statement ride you could see them going for in 2025 to keep SeaWorld relevant with Epic Universe opening.

FINE. I'll allow it

TBH, I want to see SW get something wacky when EU opens...By wacky I mean a statement coaster as you said

 

[anihilnation]

Honestly, everyone talks about BGT getting a giga, but I don't think the possibility of SWO getting a giga is talked about seriously enough. It's the kind of statement ride you could see them going for in 2025 to keep SeaWorld relevant with Epic Universe opening.

FINE. I'll allow it

TBH, I want to see SW get something wacky when EU opens...By wacky I mean a statement coaster as you said

SWO needs something for 2025 that will top VC!

 

[shiekra38]

SWO needs something for 2025 that will top VC!

I heard a little nugget about a VC type coaster for BGT themed to Rhinos...but the SWP in Florida have a history of moving their expansions from park to park (Mako for instance)

So, it's a stretch, but potentially BGT could get the Intamin Family Coaster and SW could get the "VC" type ride

This of course is assuming that things haven't changed, which they do quite frequently

Construction at BGT would have to start immediately after Jethro though

Whether Jungala shuts down or they start moving dirt behind the Screamin Swing will be very telling as to what they've chosen to do

 

[anihilnation]

I heard a little nugget about a VC type coaster for BGT themed to Rhinos...but the SWP in Florida have a history of moving their expansions from park to park (Mako for instance)

So, it's a stretch, but potentially BGT could get the Intamin Family Coaster and SW could get the "VC" type ride

This of course is assuming that things haven't changed, which they do quite frequently

Construction at BGT would have to start immediately after Jethro though

Whether Jungala shuts down or they start moving dirt behind the Screamin Swing will be very telling as to what they've chosen to do

The Intamin family launched one's SWP has been putting putting out, they seem ok, but face it, it is nothing special. VC type coaster to replace Wild Arctic, that would be nice, and lower wait times on ice breaker.