Big Changes on the Way for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

After a rocky year at best, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has announced that current CEO Jim Atchison will step down as of January 15th, 2015.  Board chairman David F. D'Alessandro will serve as the company's interim CEO while the board selects a new leader for the company - expected to take 6 to 9 months.

Mr. Atchison will now serve as both a consultant for the company and Vice Chairman of the Board, along with staying involved in the company's Conservation Fund.  The news also included three hundred plus layoffs around the company, a part of SeaWorld's plan to reduce costs by $50 million by the end of next year.

© SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

Since the company went public back in 2012 there has been a heightened level of expectation on the performance of the theme parks under the brand, and the scrutiny has hit all-time highs as Blackfish spread to the public.

This past quarter the company announced results that showed both lower attendance and earnings, with few bright spots in the release.  Really, if you look at their attendance and earnings patterns over the past handful of years, things have been in a decline for a while.  As a public company, it was time for a change and so now we see the CEO being replaced.  Typical big business stuff... so why should we care?

© SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

Well, I guess the question would be best answered by asking ourselves if the recent additions to the parks were on point... or not.  There were some hits, and some rather bad misses as well - I won't specifically name either - but operational issues related to cost savings are what have really changed both the SeaWorld and Busch parks.  The parks simply aren't run like they were five or so years ago, and guests are noticing.  Capital spending has been questionable, especially in the face of the fierce Orlando market... not to mention the addition of items like Busch Gardens Williamsburg's meager-capacity 2015 'mystery ride.' 

New leadership can change that around quickly, should they decide that's their path.  Just take a look at the changes we've seen in Cedar Fair since Matt Ouimet took over.  (please do not try to steal him for SeaWorld!)  I think the park's problems ran much deeper than any "documentary" could be held responsible for, so I'll choose to see this as a promising step toward a better future for the parks. 

SeaWorld Announces Record Performance in 2013

© SeaWorld

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc, today announced that their results for 2013 will come in as a record breaking year, pending final audits.  The preliminary figures are backed by record attendance at the chain's SeaWorld parks in the fourth quarter, when many popular holiday events take place.  Revenue for the year is expected to come in at $1.46 billion, which would be the most in the company's fifty year history.

"We are very pleased with our fourth quarter performance, particularly for the SeaWorld-branded parks in Orlando and San Diego, which helped us to achieve record revenue for the year," said Jim Atchison, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

SeaWorld also passed another milestone in late 2013 when its Stranded Animal Rehabilitation program passed 23,000 rescues - a testament to the company's goal of helping animals in need.

In 2014 the chain will celebrate the company's 50th Anniversary with a series of celebrations at all its parks, you can read more about the event at this link.  In addition to the SeaWorld branded parks, the company's portfolio also includes Busch Gardens Tampa, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Sesame Place and several water parks.

Six Flags SeaWorld and Six Flags Busch Gardens?

Does the above (totally fake) logo I just whipped up creep you guys out as much as it does me?  Well, according to new reports there is a chance it could come true one day.

SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, owners of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks, are currently planning a potential public offering, but at the same time exploring a private sale to another company.  That's where the big news comes in.

According to unnamed "sources," Reuters is reporting that early interest in snatching up the very successful chain of animal, water, and theme parks has come in from both Apollo Management and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.

If you remember back to when Cedar Fair was planning to be sold, Apollo Management was the company that they were making plans with.  While that fell through, Apollo has since made its way into the industry by purchasing the Great Wolf Lodge resorts.  They own many other companies outside of the amusement industry.

Six Flags, as we well know, has a long history of owning, and the not, different amusement and water parks.  At a first glance the SeaWorld and Busch parks seem quite a clash when compared to the current Six Flags portfolio.

The article does also mention that the "sources" say that a public offering is probably the option that will be taken, since theme park companies are seeing solid stock prices in the current economic climate - and that will make Blackstone more cash.  So perhaps this will go down in the books as nothing more than idle talk... but perhaps not?

Want to Own a Part of SeaWorld?

If you're in the market for a new investment, you could soon be able to be a part owner of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, though technically it will be known as SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. if the offering goes though.

Paperwork has been filed that would start the process of a initial public offering of stock in the company, which would be spun off of the Blackstone Group, who purchased the chain of theme, water, and animal parks in 2009 from Anheuser-Busch InBev.  Blackstone would still own a majority of the shares, keeping it as the largest owner of the new public company.

A story from the Wall Street Journal points out that this is very tough time for public offerings in general, and depending on many economic factors the offering could be delayed, or cancelled all together.  If the plan moves forward the company will be traded under the symbol SEAS.  All parks that are currently a part of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, including the Busch Gardens properties, would be included in the new company.

A Peek At Sea World Parks & Entertainment's Future

The Orlando Sentinel has an interesting article that takes a look at Sea World Parks and Entertainment's first year under the Blackstone Group - and they're calling it pretty forgettable.  Attendance, sales, and worse of all, public opinion was down in 2010 significantly.

Sunny days are here again though, as the Sea World Parks will spend almost $200 million next year on new attractions, which is really a pretty astronomical number these days.  That will result in eight of the group's ten parks receiving a significant attraction next year.

New killer whale shows will open at the Sea World Parks among other attractions, Busch Gardens Tampa will spend almost $40 million on the Cheetah Hunt project, and Busch Gardens Williamsburgs' two year expansion seems to be included as well.  Sesame Place will debut an all new parade, Discovery Cove recently announced a large expansion, and Water Country USA is adding some slides, too.  The money spent on the parks in 2011 will be four to five times the amount that InBev allowed during their year of ownership.

The future could still see the addition of a foreign park to the company's portfolio as well.  They've got their eyes on possible locations in China and Southeast Asia.

New SeaWorld Cares Admission Program

SeaWorld Parks has announced a new initiative aimed at bringing families closer together while helping wildlife conservation efforts at the same time.

"Through the SeaWorld Cares offer, now through Dec. 31, with each full-paid, SeaWorld single-day, adult admission purchased online, any child age 12 and under gets a $5 admission, all of which goes to fund non-profit organizations that are working right now on wildlife conservation projects. The offer is good for SeaWorld San Diego, as well as SeaWorld parks in Orlando, Fla. and San Antonio. Families even can choose which wildlife conservation effort receives their donation."

It's great to see SeaWorld Parks commit even further than they already have to wildlife conservation. Complete details of the program are available at SeaWorldCares.com.

Big Plans for Busch Gardens Tampa in 2011

Busch Gardens Tampa looks to have a very large project planned for 2011, as some very revealing plans and trademarks have leaked out.

As BGTGuide has posted, some plans for the new area were leaked when a construction company posted them on their website (they've already been removed). It appears as though a large new coaster will arrive at the park next year. While we can't be sure yet, it appears to have at least one, maybe two launches and hug the park's terrain closely. The ride also looks to utilize the rock canyons that were built for the water portion of Rhino Rally, which have always been problematic for the park. I can't help but think of the similarities to Furius Baco at Port Aventura when looking at the plans.

A friend made this excellent overlay of the ride's layout on the current park

The expansion also includes a new themed pathway into the park's Edge of Africa area, starting from near the Nairobi train station.

The park already has applied for Trademarks for two new rides and a themed area. Kangaloom is listed as an "amusement park attraction," as well as the Kookaburra's Nest. Walkabout Way is listed as a "themed area."

Not sure if it's a hint at the area's theme, but Kookaburra live in Australia. Additionally Wikipedia lists a Walkabout as "a rite of passage where male Australian Aborigines would undergo a journey during adolescence and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months." It's a pretty exciting development either way!

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Announces New Attractions for 2010

After some playful teasing on their Twitter and Facebook accounts, Busch Gardens Williamsburg has let the cat out of the bag and announced their new for 2010 rides and attractions.

Among them are:

• IllumiNights: A Busch Gardens Encore - A park-wide summer festival taking place after dark across all the different lands. Guests will be treated to illuminated trees and other spectacular lighting, as well as a finale pyrotechnic show. Each land will celebrate in a different way, so the experience will have several unique perspectives for guests.

• The Ireland area of the park will see two new attractions, one ride and one show. The former Corkscrew Hill simulator will be replaced with "Europe in the Air," a new high tech simulator that will send guests soaring over popular European landmarks. The video and sound quality promise to be state of the art, far better than the film currently shown in the location.

• The Abby Stone Theatre will also host a brand new live show for guests to enjoy. Authentic Irish dance, music, singing, and more will be performed daily, and the theater itself will also receive an upgraded look.

• The ASA Action Sports World Tour will be making a stop at the park for the last three weekends in May. The extreme sports show will feature both bmx and inline skaters performing tricks on a custom built half pipe near the park's famous Festhaus.

Busch Gardens also announced the return of their free in park concert series, as well as discounted park tickets when purchased online. Season pass prices have also stayed at 2009 levels, offering passholders more value than ever.

With no mention of the area where the Wolf used to reside in these plans, one has to wonder if the park has something really special lined up for that line in the future. We can only hope!

Busch Gardens Parks on Google Street View

The roster of amusement parks featured on Google's Street View photos now includes both of the American Busch Gardens parks.

Busch Gardens Tampa, which I haven't been to in a number of years, has sections that seem very new to me...

For instance, here's a shot of the Jungala section of the park, which really looks very pretty. That's the top of the family drop tower type ride sticking out of the rockwork on the right.

And the entrance to SheiKra, the massive B&M vertical drop coaster at the park.

You can also stroll around and stop and take a peek at Montu, standing up behind it's impressive theming treatment.

And lastly here's a shot of a transplant ride from the Busch park up North, Cheetah Chase. If you want to tour the park, click here, and then zoom in all the way and you're off!

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is also now featured as well. The shots were all taken this past summer for both parks, best I can tell. Here's Big Bad Wolf howling over the Rhine River.

And the playful Land of the Dragons with some pretty menacing coasters towering over it!

And a GIANT HUMMEL! (it's creepy in person, too)

This is the splash down section of Griffon - I was hoping that the camera would have caught a train going through but no such luck. It would have been fun to see those kids getting drenched!

To take the tour of Busch Gardens Williamsburg, click here. Here's hoping many more parks are featured by Google!

Busch Gardens Tampa's Safari of Fun

Busch Gardens Tampa recently gave a hard hat tour of their new Sesame Street Safari of Fun area, and while we weren't able to be there the park was nice enough to send along some new photos and drawings of the area.

The 2.5 acre land will be packed with rides and attractions aimed at families. There will be 7 rides, and with multiple play areas, both wet and dry, along with entertainment, shopping and dining - this will be quite a busy area of the park!

Here's further details on the attractions from the park:

Air Grover: A junior coaster full of fun turns, mini-dives, perfect for parents and kids to ride together.

The Count’s Zambezi Rally: A kid-size car ride that takes you on a jaunt through desert and tribal trails.

Zoe-Patra & the Hippos of the Nile: A splashy flume ride through the famed river.

Snuffy’s Elephant Romp: Fly around and around and up and down on Snuffy’s fun friends.

Elmo’s Safari Go-Round: A tribal-inspired carousel with Elmo and his friends.

Rosita’s Djembe Fly-Away: A swing ride through the jungle that sends kids whirling above the African canopy.

Big Bird’s Whirly Birdie: It’s funny side up on Big Bird’s delightfully playful Ferris wheel ride.

Telly’s Jungle Jam: Explore sounds, shapes and shadows in this naturally engaging play area for kids of ALL abilities.

Elmo’s Treehouse Trek: A 3-story hideaway to play hide-n-seek, discover new levels of fun and get a bird’s eye view of the entire play land.


Cookie Monster’s Canopy Crawl: Climb, crawl and explore this 3-story net climb.

Slimey’s Sahara Sand: A fun-filled, sand-filled beachy oasis where kids can frolic in the coolest desert around.

Oscar’s Swamp Stomp: Stomp, splash and play in Oscar’s delightfully cool water play area.

Bert & Ernie’s Watering Hole: A wildly fun water adventure filled with bubblers, geysers, jets, dumping buckets and more.

Sunny Day Theater: Musical performances bring tales of adventure to life.

Busch Gardens Tampa will also present “Lights, Camera, Imagination!," A 4-D movie that brings the Sesame Street Muppets’ adventures to life with zany 3-D gags and special effects like wind, water and jump-out-of-your-seat surprises.

The new section of the park is scheduled to open this Spring.

Aerial Antics: Sea World San Antonio

Welcome to sunny Texas, home of this week's Aerial Antics park - Sea World San Antonio.

The chain of Sea World parks have always meshed wonderful animal exhibits with rides and attractions, and Sea World San Antonio has long been a pioneer of that. Here we see the park's Lost Lagoon water park, which features many slides such as the recently added Sidewinders in the upper left corner.

The park is also home to a few wild rides as well. Here is the Morgan designed Steel Eel, a 15 story hypercoaster that winds its way along the edge of the park. It also features a signature first drop down directly at the park's center lake.

Boo! What a boring looking plot of land. Trees and dirt is all. Well, Sea World must have felt similarly because they transformed it into...

Journey to Atlantis! The 100 ft. tall splash down ride features two turn tables at the top that allow boats to navigate the first section backwards.

Those hot Texas summers probably made the decision for the park to add more water rides an easy one. Here is the Texas Splashdown, a traditional log flume.

White water rafting in Texas? Sounds like a good time to me! I love the tree lined course of Rio Loco, a 1,800 ft. long river rapids ride.

Finally, we have the park's B&M Batman clone, Great White. I've always loved this ride's paint job - something about the blue and purple just works for me. If you look closely you can see the ride's train in the middle of the second vertical loop!

To see the Bing aerials for Sea World San Antonio, click here.

Aquatica 2010: Omaka Rocka

Aquatica has now really made their new slides for 2010 official, giving the Orlando Sentinel a detailed peak at their plans.

We previously discussed what they were up to, but now we have some additional facts. Omaka Rocks will consist of two slides, each of which look to be a Proslide Tantrum model. Each of the courses will feature three mini funnels along the way, and the tubes will be semi-transparent so those on the ground can see the two person rafts as they travel down.

The Omaka Rocka is set to debut by March.

Santa's New Sleigh

© 2009 Jason Collier/Sea World Orlando

Santa sure seems happy to take a spin on Sea World Orlando's Manta! Video available here.

Busch Tampa's 12 Days of Christmas

Busch Gardens Tampa sent out this 12 Days of Christmas holiday release that I thought was too cute not to post... so here it is!



12 Flamingos Flocking...

11 Lories Landing...

10 Sheiks A-Jammin'...

9 Snowy Skaters...

8 Meerkats Watching...

7 Soldiers Marching...

6 Zebras Grazing...

5 Golden Frogs!

4 Leaping Lemurs...

3 Grinning Gators...

2 Hungry Hippos...

And a giraffe that's as tall as a tree!

Weekly Rewind 12.5.09

An interesting interview with Jim Atchison, president of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, was published by the Orlando Sentinel just one day before ownership of the company was officially transferred to the Blackstone Group. Atchison stressed that while the company will continue to evolve under its new owners, he does not foresee any significant changes to its mission or core business strategies. In other company news, the SeaWorld parks have officially graced Google Maps Street View with their presence--Check it out!

Speaking of the Blackstone Group and ownership changes, fans of the Universal theme parks cringed this week when it was announced that Comcast will acquire parent company NBC Universal from General Electric at a price tag of some $30 billion. Only time will tell whether Comcast will retain the parks in the long term (and presumably bring their customer service levels to an all-time low) or off-load them to the highest bidder. In the meantime, Universal Orlando continues to chug along with its much anticipated Harry Potter-themed land, and is preparing to kick its marketing efforts into full gear. Check out this article in Orlando Sentinel for a closer look at their strategy.

Are we still talking about ownership changes? My goodness are these uncertain times. Just ask Six Flags. As the company struggles to get out of bankruptcy and turn over a new leaf, yet another group has come forward with a restructuring proposal. This time it's a group of senior bondholders led by Stark Investments. While all creditors are certainly entitled to fight for their own best interests, let's hope that those fights don't prolong the court process to the point where everyone is negatively impacted.

In the meantime, former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story are attempting to turn over a new leaf of their own at Nashville Shores. Burke and Story are part of a group that purchased the Tennessee water park last month, and a multimillion dollar expansion project is already in the works. A 25,000-square-foot wave pool and a 1000-foot lazy river will make their debut in 2010. Both were designed by Aquatic Development Group, of Dollywood's Splash Country fame.

What goes up must come down--Unless you're at Cedar Point, where attractions are built up and torn down at the same time! The Sandusky Register has posted some great photos of the "rising rapids" and "dropping demon". But as we know, that demon will rise again. And its new locations's proximity to 50% of the NPN team pretty much guarantees that you'll be seeing much more of it in the future!

Something is also rising in Malaysia--a new Legoland theme park. The park is now set to open in April 2012, one year earlier than originally scheduled. Asia's first Legoland will be designed and operated by Merlin Entertainments, and its family oriented vibe is expected to differentiate it from the more thrill-laden Universal Studios theme park slated to open in neighboring Singapore.

Let's end this week's rewind on a Happypillar! This charming little guy, recently introduced by Naples, Florida-based Axes Inc., is marketed as the "world's finest trackless kiddie train". It is battery-operated and guided by lines of magnetic tape, making it ideal for smaller spaces such as malls and even private parties. If I'm lucky, perhaps we'll get one at eastern PA's largest mall in time for next year's Black Friday shopping extravaganza...

Busch Entertainment Signed, Sealed, Delivered, and Renamed

It's a done deal. Ownership of Busch Entertainment Corporation, including all ten of its parks, was officially transferred to the Blackstone Group today per a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In conjunction with this changing of the guard, the company has announced that it is adopting a new name which better reflects its identity moving forward. It will now be known as "SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment". According to a post on the company's blog, the SeaWorld brand was selected as a primary component of the new name due to its "worldwide positive reputation".

So what does this mean for the Busch Gardens parks? Thankfully, nothing--at least for now. According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel, licensing for those names was retained as part of the deal between Anheuser-Busch InBev and Blackstone, so they'll be sticking around for the foreseeable future. As long as the chain's world-renowned quality standards also stick around, I will be one happy woman.