‘Globally recognized IP’ planned for SeaWorld, Busch Gardens theme parks
Attractions with “globally recognized IP” are in the works for United Parks & Resorts, the parent company of SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Sesame Place theme parks.
United CEO Marc Swanson shared remarks on the topic of intellectual property (IP) during the company’s quarterly earnings calls on Feb. 26 & Aug. 7, 2025, and Feb. 26, 2026.
More IP in SeaWorld, Busch Gardens parks
The teams at United are “in discussions with multiple potential IP partners to feature globally recognized IP in rides, attractions, and other activations in our parks,” Swanson said in the February 2025 call.
During the August 2025 call, Swanson reiterated, “On IP partnerships, we continue our discussions with various partners to bring globally recognized IP to our parks via new rides, attractions, and/or other exciting activations.”
United affirmed these discussions continue to be on the table in February 2026, provided another update with nearly identical language from before. A visual aid PowerPoint for its quarterly presentation included the following remarks on a slide titled “Strategic Initiatives Update”:
IP Partnerships
- Continued discussions with multiple potential IP partners to feature globally recognized IP in rides, attractions, and other activations in our parks
- Expect to have more to share in the coming quarters
Swanson and United did not elaborate on which IPs were in the mix or which SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and/or Sesame Place theme parks would benefit from the initiative.
Currently, United’s parks feature “Sesame Street”-themed rides, lands, and live entertainment through a licensing agreement with Sesame Workshop. United does not outright own “Sesame Street.”
Photo courtesy of United Parks & Resorts
During the holiday season, several United parks feature characters from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the classic Rankin-Bass special.
Photo courtesy of United Parks & Resorts
IP can be integrated in theme parks in various forms. For example, the new Universal Epic Universe park represents a collection of characters Universal owns (Universal Classic Monsters in Dark Universe and the “How to Train Your Dragon” crew in Isle of Berk), characters the company licenses from other companies (Mario and friends in Super Nintendo World and the Warner Bros.-owned characters of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic), and characters inspired by mythology (the deities of Celestial Park).
Meanwhile down the road at Walt Disney World, several attractions are based on franchises that were originally outside of the Disney fold, but have since been acquired in full by the company (namely “Star Wars,” “Avatar,” and The Muppets).
Elsewhere, Six Flags parks currently have dibs on Peanuts, DC Comics, and Looney Tunes characters.
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