SeaWorld Orlando’s future: ‘more indoor attractions,’ onsite hotel
SeaWorld Orlando is prioritizing building more indoor attractions and developing land for a potential hotel.
Marc Swanson, CEO of United Parks & Resorts — the parent company of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks — provided insight into the future of SeaWorld Orlando during a quarterly earnings call on Nov. 7, 2024. (Swanson also discussed the potential impact of Epic Universe on SeaWorld, which we covered in a separate story.)
‘More indoor attractions’ coming to SeaWorld Orlando
Several speakers during United’s quarterly earnings call on Nov. 7 pointed to Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene as reasons for lower-than-usual attendance this past quarter. Like many theme parks in Florida, SeaWorld Orlando closed during both storms. (The same was true for the more recent Hurricane Milton, but another financial quarter had already begun by that point; this call focused on Q3.)
Admittedly, there’s not much SeaWorld can do to prevent hurricane closures. Still, park personnel is aware of the need to prepare for inclement weather impacting the park’s predominantly outdoor attractions, an all-too-familiar challenge in central Florida.
Swanson said that SeaWorld Orlando leadership is “trying to do more indoor attractions” to provide guests with more options during rainy periods. Additionally, he said the park’s teams are actively building more shade structures and rolling out drink programs to help with concerns of the Florida heat.
The next attraction to debut at SeaWorld Orlando will be an indoor flying theater ride simulating a journey above the Arctic. It will open sometime in 2025. Here’s a sneak peek that SeaWorld shared in September 2024:
Swanson also said there is “a lot more engagement we can do” with the SeaWorld app, specifically expressing a desire for more of the park’s restaurants to offer mobile ordering.
An update on potential SeaWorld hotel(s)
Turning from attractions to the potential of onsite SeaWorld-owned hotels (as opposed to nearby partner hotels owned by other companies), Swanson noted, “We are excited about the opportunity to monetize … unused land holdings and have hotels integrated into our properties.”
In early 2024, SeaWorld Orlando filed permits with Orange County for its first onsite hotel, under the name “Project Starboard.”
The executive continued, “We have a lot of land. We have land in desirable areas. You could use that for hotels or other things. We recognize there are ways to monetize or at least ways that we should consider how to use that land.”
The attractions of SeaWorld Orlando — along with its sister parks in San Antonio, Texas and San Diego, Calif. — are currently celebrating SeaWorld’s 60th anniversary with a celebration, “So Much More to Sea,” which continues through Dec. 31, 2024.
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