Is Seaworld Dying?

[b&mfanboy123]

We all know that the Seaworld chain has been in financial turmoil for the last few years. While much of this has been accredited to the Blackfish Documentary by CNN, Seaworld parks are feeling the ripple effects as attendance at SeaWorld parks overall went from 28 million a year in 2016 to 22.5 million in 2017. While Seaworld has recently been investing more on the amusement side, I feel that they are not executing it right. My name is B&mfanboy123 and let's dive deeper to find out what is going on.

Let's take a lot at Seaworld attendance figures and see what they are investing in and attendance figures. SeaWorld Orlando is our park.
Now being the flagship park has a lot of perks with it, better attractions, more popularity, and more money for it.
2008 - 5,926,000 people attended a new record, more than IOA.
New attraction - nothing big
Verdict - Successful year
2009 - 5,800,000 - Stock market crashed
New Attraction - Manta
Verdict - down year but many other parks were down so okay.
2010 - 5,100,000 - killer whale accident
decrease - 12.1%
new attraction -animal exhibit
verdict - bad year
2011 - 5,202,000 people attended
new attractions - Aquatica expansion
verdict- nice job!
2012- 5,358,000
new attractions - kids area
verdict - another positive year
2013
now this is where bad things happen
the release of blackfish documentary
attendance - 5,093,000
new attraction - Antarctica expansion
verdict - here we go
2014 - 4,683,000
the decrease from 2008 - 21.9%
new attraction - overall improvements
verdict - dying?
2015 - 4,777,000
new attraction - idr
verdict - finally it stopped
2016 - 4,402,000
new attraction - Mako

Verdict - They Get a Freaking B&m Hyper still the have a Down year WTF!
And finally 2017 - 3,962,000
33.2% decline from 2008!
new attraction - idk
verdict - seaworld has failed

So now that you have a background let's sum it up. In the last few years, SeaWorld has struggled to bring in more visitors to a decline in their parks. And the same can be said with Seaworld San Diego which reported a 15% decline from 2016-17. While the chain keeps putting in cookie cutter attractions like for example a sky rocket ll and they are betting their hopes on a new kiddie expansion and cannot open their river rapids on time. Now I want to clarify that i love SeaWorld, they have given me so many memories and I really want to see SeaWorld be financially strong again.
But now you decide.
Is Seaworld dying?
What should they do with their parks?
And other things.

 

[Edward M]

Yes

 

[kenny cook]

The main issue is they've lost the war, but they're trying to resurrect the battle. The animals are the number one reason they're in this situation is the animals, but they continue to market animals animals animals. People love rides (hence why amusement parks have a much bigger draw than zoos) but due to seaworld's marketing, most people don't even know they have anything besides animals and kiddie rides. If seaworld wants to get out of the hole, they need to put down the shovel, do a 180 with their marketing, add some new killer (no pun intended) rides and start focusing on what's working

 

[Pear]

Blame Blackfish

 

[snes2]

https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/08/investing/seaworld-attendance-earnings-stock-blackfish/index.html
This year seems to have an attendance rise across all seaworld parks and their stock is the highest its been since 2014 and seems to be heading in an upwards trends.
Seaworld has the new rapids opening soon, Busch Gardens started offering free beer again which hasn't been a thing since the AB days.
And I believe they are planning another Sesame Street theme park.
I'm pretty sure they are safe for the foreseeable future.

 

[J Rod]

They seem pretty dead and it's gonna be hard to come back. Their recent investments in Mako and Infinity Falls hint that they may be moving away from the animals and trying to focus on rides but it could be too late. All the advertisements I've seen the past year have involved Mako and the numbers show that hasn't helped. The majority of people I know either don't know about the coasters Seaworld has or they don't think they're good because of the park they're at. Anything attached to Seaworld gets a bad rap while anything related to Disney or Universal (can't tell you how many people still think Rip Ride Rockit is the best thing since sliced bread) is hyped up.

 

[Snoo]

I don't think they're dead but they aren't spiraling like assumed from the OP. I think the parks are suffering a decline due to the late 00's issues they experienced and the lack of original animal attractions. However, they've been building their brand in other aspects as noted.

As far as their image is concerned, it has been slowly improving in the worlds eye. Yeah, we it's not ideal, but not nearly as bad as it was. I do think they will eventually settle in to a stable volume and can still remain profitable long term.

 

[Robbie]

The main issue is they've lost the war, but they're trying to resurrect the battle. The animals are the number one reason they're in this situation is the animals, but they continue to market animals animals animals. People love rides (hence why amusement parks have a much bigger draw than zoos) but due to seaworld's marketing, most people don't even know they have anything besides animals and kiddie rides. If seaworld wants to get out of the hole, they need to put down the shovel, do a 180 with their marketing, add some new killer (no pun intended) rides and start focusing on what's working

If SeaWorld ditched the animals and focused on rides they'd lose their USP and may as well become Six Flags or something. It's very simple - they need to change the animal offer, and make better rides. I mean, this thread talks about Mako and Infinity Falls but there's been the poorly-received Empire of the Penguins and the bloody awful Submarine Ride. If they keep making rides like that they'll be shut in no time.

So, yeah, they need to make more 'killer' and distinctive rides but have to put the time and effort in. Legoland's sub ride is exactly the sort of thing SeaWorld should be doing and it's baffling that they're not.

Animals-wise they need to ditch the orcas and the shows and instead create large immersive environments to see the animals. Be the ultimate zoo, basically. Zoo attendance is actually on the rise (in the UK Chester Zoo is as visited as Alton Towers, and in the US the likes of Houston, Denver, and Detriot are getting record numbers) so use the exceptional space and resources of the SeaWorld sites to produce something special. Combined with 'must do' rides they'll become destinations again.

But SeaWorld have always been a crappy, short-term thinking sort of company so turning it around may be impossible.

 

[SilverArrow]

No, but they are changing their image. Things like that take time, look how long it's taken Alton and merlin to recover from the smiler.

The parks have loads of other animals apart from the whales and everyone seems to forget this. Their collection of other animals far outweighs that of most zoos in Europe for example. (E.g. you can only see manatees in about two locations in the whole of Europe.) They can survive without the whales when they're gone, just as hundreds of other aquaria and zoos do around the world. Chessington's headline animals used to be polar bears, Brighton sea life had dolphins....Legoland Windsor used to have killer whales when it was a safari park....all of these attractions have still survived in one form or another without these animals, often just with new branding etc.

"They'll lose their unique selling point without animals and become six flags"
What's wrong with six flags? Loads of great parks exist with and without animals. As long as they continue adding decent rides they'll be worth a day out from Disney/Universal.

If they can market it all correctly there is a future.

 

[Robbie]

Well most of your post seems to be agreeing with me but

"They'll lose their unique selling point without animals and become six flags"
What's wrong with six flags? Loads of great parks exist with and without animals. As long as they continue adding decent rides they'll be worth a day out from Disney/Universal.

there's nowt wrong with Six Flags. It's just not SeaWorld - if SeaWorld want to survive they can't just be a park full of sea-themed rides, they need the animals too. If an all-ride park is the direction they go in it becomes a completely different set-up.

 

[rideguy70]

I can only speak for the SD Sea World... and obviously it's purely anecdotal evidence... but both times I visited the park this year, it was actually pretty crowded. For SD, last year was especially dismal with Ocean Explorer and that horrible Submarine Ride. Even I avoided the park that year, which I believe would be the 2016-17 year you quoted. That was probably their worst year in a while. They seem to be on a bit of an upswing again, so I wouldn't be surprised if attendance went up a bit--at least for SD.

 

[Snoo]

Well most of your post seems to be agreeing with me but
there's nowt wrong with Six Flags. It's just not SeaWorld - if SeaWorld want to survive they can't just be a park full of sea-themed rides, they need the animals too. If an all-ride park is the direction they go in it becomes a completely different set-up.

The market doesn't say thats not possible, that is just your opinion. That being said, they may be phasing out the bigger whales but there are PLENTY of animals out there they can introduce they don't have, like most Zoos. And being that the areas they service, short of San Diego, don't have a world famous zoo down the road, they should be just fine as long as they can maintain some sort of normalcy.

 

[Antinos]

I have one of the more hopeful perspectives in this topic. Shortly after Blackfish, the chain announced that they were kicking off a brand repairing campaign and shifting more towards traditional amusement parks instead of ecological parks. We've seen that they've been able to execute this fairly successfully thus far with the additions of Mako and Infinity Falls in Orlando, Wave Breaker in San Antonio, and Electric Eel in San Diego. The chain is weathering the storm.

 

[Robbie]

The market doesn't say thats not possible, that is just your opinion.

If people went to a SeaWorld and there were no animals people would be baffled and pissed off. If they were to ditch the animals it would have to absolutely be the end of the SeaWorld brand.

 

[Edward M]

I think the issue with Seaworld is that it can’t expand very much. Before the internet, marine animals could be seen almost exclusively at a zoo or Seaworld. And, Seaworld presented these animals in shows. With Blackfish making people feel guilty for going and being able to see authentic marine life on Netflix, seeing dolphins and whales just doesn’t excite people enough to pay the $300+ for a family, especially since Universal has stepped up their game. Thrill seekers go to Universal while families go to Disney World. If Seaworld goes all in on thrills, I think families will still choose Universal. It’s just the better resort. This is a pretty generic summarization but I think it’s mostly true. Even looking at the zoo aspect, Animal Kingdom now has a huge new land as well as the animals. Even Epcot has an amazing aquarium that was better than Seaworld’s aquariums. I just don’t think Seaworld has a place in the Orlando market, it’s just too competitive. I imagine San Diego and probably San Antonio will make it through alright, but I think Orlando’s decline will continue for a while.

 

[rideguy70]

^I think you have a point for Orlando. There's just so much competition so close by. I visited Orlando for many, many years before I ever got around to a single visit to their SW. And even then, after one visit, I haven't really felt compelled to return when WDW and Universal have more compelling reasons to return.

While the one in SD is definitely set a good distance away from the rest of the market, but in another tourist town that can hold it's own. It's easy to make a day or two of visiting Sea World, Belmont Park, and other SD area attractions (Zoo, Balboa Park, Legoland, downtown, etc.).

 

[Antinos]

If people went to a SeaWorld and there were no animals people would be baffled and pissed off. If they were to ditch the animals it would have to absolutely be the end of the SeaWorld brand.

This is where marketing and product development come in to shift and evolve a brand over time. Vekoma has been doing it over the past decade and now builds world class attractions. Looking at other industries, Kia Motors has completely redeveloped their products and has gone from one of the lowest quality auto makers to one of the highest. With exhilarating vehicles like the Stinger and their luxury Genesis lineup, their brand image has been shifting in a more positive direction. Another example is Domino's Pizza, who completely redeveloped their recipe and went from **** food to "this is pretty good for high volume, mass produced pizza."

The point is that with a savvy marketing department, Sea World can shift to a ride focused park chain that retains the marine theme and offers educational experiences about animals without actually having animals at the park and not "end" or "destroy" the brand.

 

[Robbie]

This is where marketing and product development come in to shift and evolve a brand over time. Vekoma has been doing it over the past decade and now builds world class attractions. Looking at other industries, Kia Motors has completely redeveloped their products and has gone from one of the lowest quality auto makers to one of the highest. With exhilarating vehicles like the Stinger and their luxury Genesis lineup, their brand image has been shifting in a more positive direction. Another example is Domino's Pizza, who completely redeveloped their recipe and went from :emoji_poop: food to "this is pretty good for high volume, mass produced pizza."

The point is that with a savvy marketing department, Sea World can shift to a ride focused park chain that retains the marine theme and offers educational experiences about animals without actually having animals at the park and not "end" or "destroy" the brand.

Er, I guess. But if Kia Motors had developed to make high-quality unicycles, or Dominos Pizza made gourmet burgers you might have better comparisons.

 

[KJ7500]

I went to the Sea World in Orlando last February and attendance was light. That may be just cause it was a Monday in February though. Apart from the enclosures with polar life in the simulated helicopter dark ride and the aquariums in the queue for Manta I didn't see any of the shows or animals. I hadn't seen Blackfish prior and deliberately avoided it cause I really wanted to ride their coasters and didn't want to be wracked with guilt for spending money there. Abuse and unnecessary confinement of wild animals bogues me out.
The upshot was Mako was a walk-on so I rode it 13 times. Manta I did 6 and Kraken only 3. (Too rough!) Not everybody wants to marathon coasters though.
I finally saw Blackfish and of course was disturbed by it. I'm glad Sea World is moving their focus more to rides and aren't taking in any more orcas. Hopefully they give in to pressure and put their remaining orcas in sea pens somewhere. They absolutely need to have aquarium and zoo sections if they want to hold onto their brand but those orca shows have got to go. It would take multiple new coasters to get me to go back and even then I wouldn't feel good about myself.

 

[Antinos]

Er, I guess. But if Kia Motors had developed to make high-quality unicycles, or Dominos Pizza made gourmet burgers you might have better comparisons.

Like how Harley-Davidson built pedal bicycles from 1917-1921 to attract new customers to its brand. Or like how Harley-Davidson is currently failing to adapt to modern market drivers, like electrification, and attract newer, younger customers. Or like how IHOP just performed a fake rebranding campaign to promote another section of their menu (because apparently people think they only serve pancakes). Or like how Peugeot was a general manufacturing company that built products based on market demand up until they entered automotive manufacturing:

Or how companies like Honda, Mitsubishi, and Bosch offer products from automobiles or automobile parts to household appliances to garden equipment to power tools...based on market demands.

Look. I can go on and on about branding and how various brands have withstood market changes by having a fluid and adaptive brand. The point is that Sea World is up against a market that is driving the park to adapt to, at the very least, less animals or potentially no animals due to the Blackfish documentary and other external anti-captivity animal activist groups. Sea World is clearly reacting to these market changes by shifting the needle more towards a traditional amusement park to retain a significant portion of its customer base (the animal activists). In 20 years, if/when Sea World has long completed their campaign, very few people will be upset about the lack of animals because the market will be different. Fluid and adaptive brands survive.

Plus I don't hear people bitching about how the magic at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter isn't real nor how it isn't actually located in Scotland. Sea World can have an immersive marine theme without animals and retain its brand just like how WWoHP can have immersive Harry Potter theme despite the non-existence of magic.