Sea World can not survive on it's own.

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
What is all this about bad service and deteriorating parks? We went last year and the park was beautiful and well-maintained and we didn't have any issues with service at all (wish they had more TS meals though).
Things like taking 5 minutes to dispatch roller coaster trains (especially annoying when they only run one station on Manta so you hang for 5 minutes after the 2 minute ride), or forcing a bag check but also charging for the lockers, grouping people onto trains but leaving multiple empty seats... employees generally are unapproachable and rude/distant/etc. It's what you would expect at a Six Flags. But Six Flags are regional parks, SeaWorld Orlando is in Disney and Universal's territory.

I disagree about letting the park deteriorate though as well - SeaWorld tends to be the cleanest of the Orlando parks and is the best landscaped of them.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
...SeaWorld Orlando is in Disney and Universal's territory.

Sea World Orlando opened in 1973 (just 2 years after Magic Kingdom opened). So one may argue they aren't in Universal's territory at all. ;)

I disagree about letting the park deteriorate though as well - SeaWorld tends to be the cleanest of the Orlando parks and is the best landscaped of them.

It is a very beautiful park as is Busch Gardens in Tampa as well.
 

raven

Well-Known Member
what is the solution if it's not Disney. Wanda Group? Who wants China to own Sea World? Neither Six Flags nor Cedar Fair have the resources to put into the company that is needed. Universal already has a ticket deal with Sea World and its clearly not helping Sea World and I doubt it helps Universal that much. It may actually be costing them money.

Sea World needs help. I am a stock holder, a small one but still have held on because I love the company and Orlando. I want them to survive but can't see them as an independent company. I also own Six Flags, Cedar Fair and Disney stock. I would own Comcast but I am not allowed to own a cable company's stock.

Didn't both Sea World Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa add a new coaster this year? I'd say that's a sign of them picking themselves up and stepping in the right direction. Plus I believe the company owns 10 or more parks in the U.S. alone.
 

CJR

Well-Known Member
They could try doing a second water park. We have Aquatica passes and have been turned away almost every time we've went recently, due to capacity.
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
They could try doing a second water park. We have Aquatica passes and have been turned away almost every time we've went recently, due to capacity.
That doesn't sound like a "going out of business" problem. :). I have never been to Aquatica, it's on the short list though!
 

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
If Disney bought SeaWorld it would only be to shut it down and kill the compettion. It won't happen.

The only group already operating theme parks I could see interested in SeaWorld is Merlin. They could combine their existing SeaLife aquariums with SeaWorld, concentrating more on fish than whales. Merlin also run several theme parks in UK & Europe so taking over the Busch Gardens parks would be within their remit as well.
 
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No Name

Well-Known Member
If they do a good job transitioning from live shows with real animals, and in a timely manner, I think they can survive. They need to stop being the abusement park that they have been for over 50 years (and don't tell me they treat the animals well, they do not). They got mostly positive reactions to the announcement that they'd end the whale breeding program and get rid of the circus-feel to the show in San Diego. But reactions and positive press aren't everything. They need to act as well. At the rate SW's swimming, they'll probably drown before making it across the pool.

SeaWorld should certainly get credit for their programs in which they rescue and aid sea animals. So they aren't a terrible company. It's just that their treatment of the performing animals is less than stellar, which has been well documented recently. And the "circus-style" shows give off a bad vibe. It makes the whales seem like toys, makes it seem like SeaWorld has no respect for them. At least in most zoos (DAK too), you get the vibe that the animals are respected. They aren't treated like toys to entertain us humans.

I don't think anyone else should step in to "save" SW. SeaWorld can't and shouldn't be saved. It needs to change. On its own terms, by its own will. That's how you go forward with an ethical business. That's how you win customers back.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
:rolleyes:

edit: to clarify: your entire post is complete armchair speculation from watching Blackfish and doing no other research or anything at all.

Screw Hashtag activism. People latch on to one thing that tells them what to think and then they blindly rally behind it.
 
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matt78

Well-Known Member
If they do a good job transitioning from live shows with real animals, and in a timely manner, I think they can survive. They need to stop being the abusement park that they have been for over 50 years (and don't tell me they treat the animals well, they do not). They got mostly positive reactions to the announcement that they'd end the whale breeding program and get rid of the circus-feel to the show in San Diego. But reactions and positive press aren't everything. They need to act as well. At the rate SW's swimming, they'll probably drown before making it across the pool.

SeaWorld should certainly get credit for their programs in which they rescue and aid sea animals. So they aren't a terrible company. It's just that their treatment of the performing animals is less than stellar, which has been well documented recently. And the "circus-style" shows give off a bad vibe. It makes the whales seem like toys, makes it seem like SeaWorld has no respect for them. At least in most zoos (DAK too), you get the vibe that the animals are respected. They aren't treated like toys to entertain us humans.

I don't think anyone else should step in to "save" SW. SeaWorld can't and shouldn't be saved. It needs to change. On its own terms, by its own will. That's how you go forward with an ethical business. That's how you win customers back.

You're right they should change by their own will. Which means the animal rights people should but out. Thanks to them SeaWorld canceled the expansion of the Orca tanks. I'm not saying all animal rights people are bad but there is a vocal minority that does more harm than good because they worry more about their agendas then they do about the animals they claim to want to protect.

They also treat their animals better than you give them credit for. Show me an unbiased report where it is stated that they mistreat their animals. They wouldn't be AZA accredited if they didn't provide world class care for their animals. Even if they are as bad as you seem to think they are you have to at least think that they would give them top notch care for the simple reason that they can't make money off of a sick or dead animal.
 
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Aqueeta

Member
I am still hopeful the November results will lead to the trainers being allowed back in the water with the orcas where they belong. It is time to stop this PC nonsense that has come close to destroying a once great park (not to mention demoralizing the whales).
 

No Name

Well-Known Member
You're right they should change by their own will. Which means the animal rights people should but out. Thanks to them SeaWorld canceled the expansion of the Orca tanks. I'm not saying all animal rights people are bad but there is a vocal minority that does more harm than good because they worry more about their agendas then they do about the animals they claim to want to protect.

They also treat their animals better than you give them credit for. Show me an unbiased report where it is stated that they mistreat their animals. They wouldn't be AZA accredited if they didn't provide world class care for their animals. Even if they are as bad as you seem to think they are you have to at least think that they would give them top notch care for the simple reason that they can't make money off of a sick or dead animal.

Orcas like to dart for miles across the sea, and so while the tanks aren't tiny, they prohibit the orcas from living as they were intended to. A larger tank would be nice, and I agree that they should not have cancelled the project as the remaining orcas still have many years to go, but it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem I mentioned. I don't think the animal rights groups forced them to cancel anything, they chose to cancel the project on their own, but that's another topic.

I don't have a report for you. I don't think this is the first time we've argued this either. There are some known facts, which you can take as you wish. They give the orcas drugs. For example, to calm them, since their environment is unnaturally stressful. Their dorsal fins are bent. Up until now, they've been forcefully breeding them. SeaWorld also trains them to perform tricks, which (and I may be biased) I feel is inherently wrong. It's treating them like toys. Making money off of the lives of other animals. That last part is what DAK and many zoos and aquariums do too, and I'm not a fan of live animals in any of those. But at least the animals aren't trained to perform tricks. Just because SeaWorld treats them to a certain standard doesn't mean that what they're doing is right.

You're correct that the big issue is not SeaWorld. The real issue is in China and Russia and some other countries, where people are still openly capturing and killing whales from the ocean. But that wouldn't resonate much with people, especially Americans. SeaWorld has proven to be a popular target, and so that's what Peta is focusing on. Going one step at a time. They've gotten somewhere with SeaWorld.

What I hope is that someday, SeaWorld's changing can become a model for all marine life parks worldwide, such as the problematic ones in China and Russia.
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Orcas like to dart for miles across the sea, and so while the tanks aren't tiny, they prohibit the orcas from living as they were intended to. A larger tank would be nice, and I agree that they should not have cancelled the project as the remaining orcas still have many years to go, but it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem I mentioned. I don't think the animal rights groups forced them to cancel anything, they chose to cancel the project on their own, but that's another topic.

I don't have a report for you. I don't think this is the first time we've argued this either. There are some known facts, which you can take as you wish. They give the orcas drugs. For example, to calm them, since their environment is unnaturally stressful. Their dorsal fins are bent. Up until now, they've been forcefully breeding them. SeaWorld also trains them to perform tricks, which (and I may be biased) I feel is inherently wrong. It's treating them like toys. Making money off of the lives of other animals. That last part is what DAK and many zoos and aquariums do too, and I'm not a fan of live animals in any of those. But at least the animals aren't trained to perform tricks. Just because SeaWorld treats them to a certain standard doesn't mean that what they're doing is right.

You're correct that the big issue is not SeaWorld. The real issue is in China and Russia and some other countries, where people are still openly capturing and killing whales from the ocean. But that wouldn't resonate much with people, especially Americans. SeaWorld has proven to be a popular target, and so that's what Peta is focusing on. Going one step at a time. They've gotten somewhere with SeaWorld.

What I hope is that someday, SeaWorld's changing can become a model for all marine life parks worldwide, such as the problematic ones in China and Russia.
I have to ask, do you have a problem with dolphins doing tricks? What about dogs?
 

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