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SeaWorld Orlando: General Discussion

Sea World seems to have shown some positive signs of recovery this year. I've seen some articles suggesting that this was down to the success of the new rides they added, but so far Infinity Falls (their main new ride) hasn't really worked out for them. It does look like a decent ride when it works and I expect they will iron out these teething problems over time. Nonetheless, I'd say that their recovery this year was despite the problems around Infinity Falls, not because of the success of it. From the company's point of view the fact that they were able to show the start of a commercial turn around despite problems with their biggest new ride will be encouraging.

It'll be interesting to see how they do next year. This year the Orlando and LA theme park scene were relatively quiet, despite Hollywood Studios getting Toy Story Land, California Adventure getting Pixar Pier, Universals Orlando getting Fast and Furious Super Charged and Knott's Berry Farm getting Hang Time. Next year there'll be a hell of a lot more competition in both markets. This may help Sea World by bringing in more tourists to their markets, but then again they may take away some of Sea World's custom. If they can continue their recovery next year, then it will be very reassuring for the company, but I'm not entirely optimistic. Two Star Wars Lands, a Mickey Mouse themed dark ride, a Harry Potter coaster, a Jurassic Park re-theme and a duelling launched coaster sounds like a lot to compete against. Not to mention the replacement to Illuminations and a Lego Movie themed area with a flying theatre.
 
^I agree, this year was fairly light in the Florida market in particular.

2019 and 2020 will be much busier, but SWO has solid investments lined up with the Sesame Street land and a new coaster & Shamu Stadium overhaul.

Disney & Universal can continue to raise already ridiculous prices at their own risk, that's where the gap in the market appears for SeaWorld.
 
The thing with Disney and Universal is that they are premium products quite unlike any other theme parks out there, so I reckon their high prices are justified. The prices may be high, but that is clearly reflected in the quality of additions such as Pandora and WWoHP, in my opinion. Also, Disney and Universal are arguably the main reasons that most foreign tourists who visit Florida visit Florida.

As for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, I personally think that the best thing for them to do is to not compete with Disney and Universal, but instead supplement them. What I mean is that I think SeaWorld should try to offer a reasonably cheap day out that can be tied in to a larger Disney or Universal holiday.

However, I don't think SeaWorld's prices are too much lower than Disney and Universal's. While I admit that the combi-tickets are cheaper, a day ticket to SeaWorld Orlando was $100 when I looked a month or two ago, which I think is roughly the same as a day ticket to one Disney or Universal park, correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not trying to imply that the Orlando parks are bad value for money, however, as they're not, in my opinion; that $100 will get you on arguably some of the best attractions the world has to offer!
 
^Hardly anybody pays $100 to go to SeaWorld. The gate price is $99.99 (nobody pays it, as with most parks), annual passes are about $160 and multi day tickets work out at about $35/$40 per day and include free parking. Single day tickets online are $79.99.

They also run the fun card promotion on occasion, which includes 365 days admission for the gate price, less than a single day ticket to a Disney or Universal park.


EDIT: Infinity Falls has reopened today and currently has a 65 minute wait.
 
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Dave said:
I have a soft spot for aquatica so it’s good to see more slides coming along.
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Agreed, they have so many slides now and it can't be too long before a Proslide WaterCoaster is installed.

I believe this is what KareKare Curl will be, it's a Tornado Wave 60 by Proslide:
 
MakoMania said:
^Hardly anybody pays $100 to go to SeaWorld. The gate price is $99.99 (nobody pays it, as with most parks), annual passes are about $160 and multi day tickets work out at about $35/$40 per day and include free parking. Single day tickets online are $79.99.

They also run the fun card promotion on occasion, which includes 365 days admission for the gate price, less than a single day ticket to a Disney or Universal park.


EDIT: Infinity Falls has reopened today and currently has a 65 minute wait.
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Yes but as @Matt N said, SeaWorld is mainly a supplemental day out to a Florida holiday/vacation. The vast majority of guests will only visit SeaWorld for one day out of their trip, so multi-day tickets and annual passes are irrelevant to most, so I expect many guests will pay the $79.99 pre-booked price.
Disney and Universal have multiple parks so multi-day passes are more worthwhile as you need one day at each park to see everything. Universal actually works out the most expensive I think as you only need 2/3 days at their parks. As you can spend 4/5 days at Disney easily to see all the parks, the per day cost is much lower.

SeaWorld need to ensure their pre-book price is competive against a multi-day Disney ticket. For many guests the thought process is going to be that its $80 for SeaWorld, or I can add another day to my Disney pass for $50 (or less).
 
Multi day tickets are not irrelevant, the vast majority (Over 90%) of SeaWorld's international visitors are on multi day tickets. These can also include Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Adventure Island.

Guests can easily spend 4 days on SeaWorld products even without Adventure Island, and many do.

For example, the most common combination is a 3 park ticket to SeaWorld, Aquatica & Busch Gardens. This works out at only $39 per day. It's far more affordable than anything Disney or Universal can offer.
 
MakoMania said:
Multi day tickets are not irrelevant, the vast majority (Over 90%) of SeaWorld's international visitors are on multi day tickets. These can also include Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Adventure Island.

Guests can easily spend 4 days on SeaWorld products even without Adventure Island, and many do.

For example, the most common combination is a 3 park ticket to SeaWorld, Aquatica & Busch Gardens. This works out at only $39 per day. It's far more affordable than anything Disney or Universal can offer.
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But then you are trying to convince guests to take three days away from their Disney vacation. Again when guests can already add further days to their Disney tickets for around $40/50 if they only have one spare day they will choose Disney as they already have those tickets.
To convince new people who have no intention of going to SeaWorld in the first place, they are competing against the additional days price of Disney.
 
I can agree with this. My family is going to Florida in April, and we've only booked Disney tickets. We're not going anywhere else; the chance of me being able to go back to SeaWorld and reride Mako is very slim. The only way I might possibly be able to is if my parents go to Kennedy Space Centre and drop me and my sister off at SeaWorld, with me paying for the tickets.
 
I don't think dedicating 3 days to the SeaWorld parks on the typical 14 day Orlando vacation is too much? I think 14 days of Disney would push me over the edge mentally, I can barely stand two or three!

The idea of people going to Florida and just doing Disney seems quite sad, they're missing out on so much. Not just Universal & SeaWorld but all that Florida to offer in terms of non theme park entertainment, culture and natural beauty.

SeaWorld dropping prices (they are already low for the marketplace) wouldn't persuade anybody who simply wants to stay on site at Disney for two weeks to visit. Can't quite get my head around why people want to stay at Disney without so much as setting a foot outside, but it's common.
 
We're going to Florida for 10 days, not 14. Also, 14 day Disney tickets have cost my parents more than 14 day Universal tickets and 14 day SeaWorld tickets combined did in 2016, so my parents have (understandably) rejected going anywhere else.

It's also worth pointing out that Disney has 6 parks, so presuming you spend 1 day at each park, that's already 6 days of your trip gone. And when you take out one of the 10 days for actually flying to Florida, that only leaves 3 days to do other things. And those 3 days will likely entail revisiting the Disney parks that we particularly like. However, my parents have said that they may potentially visit Kennedy Space Centre on one of the days, whereas that doesn't particularly interest me, so me and my sister might either stay at the villa or potentially get dropped off at SeaWorld with me paying for us to spend a day there, although the chance of that is very slim.

My mum is convinced that our Florida holiday in April will be immense and the best time we've ever had there as a family, so I'm going to share in her optimism and go into Disney excited! There's loads of fantastic attractions for me and my family to experience for the first time, and I'm sure it'll be great!
 
Sesame Street update. Loving the repaint work on the former Shamu Express coaster.



Also, @spinba11, I probably should have mentioned that whilst the normal SeaWorld vehicle entry is on Central Florida Pkwy the pick up/drop off point entry is on Sea Harbor drive.
 
Matt N said:
It's also worth pointing out that Disney has 6 parks, so presuming you spend 1 day at each park, that's already 6
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Disney World has 4 Parks, 2 Waterparks... The waterparks are no more than half days but you can tie it in with the golf which takes you an hour at most. So really you have 5 days worth of parks and even some of the disney parks are half days (I'm looking at Hollywood Studios and Epcot)

Disney tickets are an absolute rip off, you'd have been better off taking the extra 4 days to make it 14 and then getting the Florida Combi ticket that's about an extra £200 and includes all parks.
 
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