SeaWorld Entertainment recovery continues with 10% boost in revenue and attendance over 3rd quarter last year

I suppose this is good to hear. It seems that everyone wants to forecast doom and gloom for SW.

As a SW Orlando Fun Card holder who's been 6 or 7 times since Feb, I can say I've seen both unbearably heavy crowds and relatively light crowds. Heck, I knocked off a bucket list item one day by getting a train on Mako all to myself. It's been a dumb thing I've always wanted to do.

Either way, I don't think the park has much at all to offer in competition to the other big players in the area and is in desperate need of modernization. Honestly, I'm not impressed at all by the place. Other than Mako and Manta, which are rides, not exhibits, everything there looks straight out of the 80's and 90's. I mean, the coolest exhibit there, in my opinion, was in Jaws 3D, and that's 35 years old. I suppose Sesame Street and Infinity Falls (Haven't been on it yet) are a positive step towards modernization, but still, they are rides.

That being said, of course I wish the park well. I'd love to see it succeed.

Cue Jeff ripping me to shreds in 3... 2...

Keep in mind this is about SeaWorld Entertainment which is much, much more than just SeaWorld Orlando. Oh and SWO is awesome. We had a blast there in January and wouldn’t hesitate to go back next time we are in Orlando.

Oh, I know. Orlando is the only SW park I've ever been to, so that's my shareable experience.

Personally, I think the Busch Gardens parks are the real gems. I feel a little nostalgia about SeaWorld since I grew up with one in Cleveland, but the Busch parks just raise the game for beauty and landscaping.

Well there's my ignorance right there. When the article reads "SeaWorld Entertainment recovery continues...." Does that include the Busch Gardens parks as well? I assumed (and we all know what happens when one assumes) that it mean only the SW parks. Yeah, the BG parks are amazing. I see no reason why they can't continue to be profitable regardless of the bad press that SW gets. I was just hoping to be impressed by SW's turnaround. Like I said, I'd love to see them turn around and come back better than ever.

P.S. In response to Jeff, I moved to Cleveland in 1999, so I never went to SW Ohio before it became SFWOA. I did visit SFWOA many times the first year. That side of the park changed a lot over the years of SF and CF, but what about the first year? Was it much different than the SW park? Or was it pretty much the same but with new signs?

Tommytheduck- Don’t forget Sesame Place, too.

Tommytheduck said:

I did visit SFWOA many times the first year. That side of the park changed a lot over the years of SF and CF, but what about the first year? Was it much different than the SW park? Or was it pretty much the same but with new signs?

I felt like the 2001-2003 Worlds of Adventure years kept a lot of the "feel" of that side of the park. If I recall, in 2001, even the food service on that side of the park was still Busch product as it had already been purchased, contracts had been signed, etc. Some of the animal staff was retained I believe. I believe Jeff knows more about how animal care did take a drop once Six Flags took over, but I never felt that side of the park lost the Sea World feel during the brief Worlds of Adventure era.

I don't really know a ton about what went on at SFWOA.

The BG parks and Sesame Place are all SeaWorld Entertainment. It's all the same company.

I’ll confess that in all the years Sea World Ohio existed across the lake I never set foot. Something about rides vs. fish and the rides won every time.
Then when the parks combined I made that loooong walk to the fish side and I was pleasantly surprised. The park was pretty with nice landscaping and interesting structures- well, very Sea World-ish. It made me wish I had taken a day to enjoy SWO when it was in full swing. And of course, my mind started cooking with how amusement park attractions could eventually be incorporated into that beautiful side of the lake.
Oh well.