Some analysts believe the worst is over for SeaWorld

I know a 200ft hyper-coaster isn't exactly earth shattering anymore but I really expect Mako to drive attendance up the next couple years. There's nothing like it in FL (I think the closest hyper is Goliath at SFoG?)...

Yeah, given the relative attendance dip, I still think it was about not building anything compared to the competition.

I think the smartest move would have been to send the orcas to a marine preserve or something because all they are doing now is hurting attendance. I do think with the former owner of Hershend now in charge of the Sea World/Busch Parks we can see some much needed changes.

That's a ridiculous observation. Stadiums full of people come to see the whales. Furthermore, Manby did not own Herschend, he was its CEO.

If you think about it like an amusement park tearing down a roller coaster that hurt or killed riders, then I could see CarolinaNick's point. We are talking about Sea World's main attraction here though. Sea World IS the orcas.

Hell, CNN is still showing Blackfish. It's on right now.

9-11 and 11-1 back to back even.

LostKause said:

If you think about it like an amusement park tearing down a roller coaster that hurt or killed riders, than I could see CarolinaNick's point. We are talking about Sea World's main attraction here though. Sea World IS the orcas.

That would be like Cedar Point filling in the beach (/lake) because someone drowned (even while having life guards present and the smaller swimming area)

I understand that removing the orcas wouldn't improve the park but if you saw the attendance hits that Seaworld has just because of Blackfish, then it would make sense. You could always put in dolphins or something. Then again, the blue world project looks like the solution. The only thing that really bothered me there was that the orcas were cramped in a tiny pool. Blue world will fix that.

Nick, you do realize that there are something like 7 interconnected pools, right? The show pool everyone sees is only one within the complex.

Of couse I realize that. Those killer whales are massive too. The tanks aren't that big. The pools aren't that deep either. The pools could use expanding.

So if 10 people stay home because of Blackfish but 90 people go for the whales, that's a win?

Only 85 went for the whales.

5 of them stayed home because SeaWorld hasn't added anything new for so long.