The Orlando Sentinel has this new story on plans for a new area of shops and restaurants at SeaWorld:
SeaWorld Orlando plans to build a waterfront dining and shopping complex in the middle of the park, a signature centerpiece that is part of a strategy to take on SeaWorld's larger competitors.
In what the company calls its biggest expansion project, plans call for four shops, a pair of cafeteria-style restaurants -- one with a stage for live shows -- and a two-story bar, built to resemble an old stone fort, around the base of the park's Sky Tower.
The plans filed with Orange County's building department on Wednesday didn't disclose the estimated cost of the project.
Construction could begin as early as next month, pending approval by the county, with the shops and restaurants opening next summer.
SeaWorld's proposed waterfront is only the latest in a series of moves designed by Anheuser-Busch's theme-park division, Busch Entertainment, to refine the park's image and boost attendance.
"SeaWorld and Busch used to be followers. Now they aren't," Orlando theme-park consultant Jerry Aldrich said.
During the past two years, SeaWorld has become more innovative as it seeks to compete more aggressively with Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.
It regularly offers Florida residents "Fun Cards," single-day tickets that allow guests to return every day through the rest of the year.
It introduced "EZ Pay," which let guests spread the cost of regular annual passes over 12 months.
It's the only theme-park operator in the market to let visitors buy tickets online -- at a 10 percent discount -- and print them at home. Disney and Universal sell tickets online but don't allow home printing.
It gives passholders the option of renewing their passes by mail. Borrowing a strategy from the credit-card industry, the company recently began sending new passes -- rather than easily ignored renewal notices -- to people whose passes are about to expire. Passholders can activate the cards by calling a toll-free number.
SeaWorld's last major expansion came two years ago with the opening of Kraken, a suspended roller coaster. SeaWorld also opened Discovery Cove, a reservations-only resort where guests get to swim briefly with dolphins, in 2000.
Keith Kasen, SeaWorld's executive vice president and general manager, said the new waterfront complex "really will become the heart of SeaWorld."
The newest plans call for replacing the nondescript Chicken 'n' Biscuit restaurant with a 660-seat cafeteria-style eatery called Voyagers' Galley, which is designed to resemble an old shipwright's shop.
Seafire Landing, a 426-seat cafeteria-style restaurant and theater, will replace Bimini Bay Cafe and SeaWorld's Polynesian Luau. Kasen said the luau will move temporarily to the pavilions behind Atlantis Bayside Stadium on Aug. 21. He wouldn't discuss the show or shows planned for Seafire's stage.
Between the restaurants, SeaWorld wants to put four shops in a Customs House and Guild Hall. Drawings submitted with the plans show a vaguely Mediterranean-style building with a tiled roof and stones peeking out from beneath cracked plaster on the exterior walls.
SeaWorld plans to build a bar in the shape of a cannonball-damaged stone fort around the base of the 400-foot Sky Tower.
It also wants to build a new bridge across the lake to a structure called Breakwater Point. Built to resemble a stone ruin, it will replace a building in the middle of the lake now used as a staging area for the Intensity Water Ski Show.
Kasen said the ski show will close next month, in part because the proposed bridge would interfere with the boats. It will be replaced with another show by year's end.
Wednesday's filing with the county represents only the first phase of SeaWorld's waterfront redevelopment, he said. Park officials plan to expand the project once the initial phase is complete.
SeaWorld is the second Orlando theme park to announce expansion plans this summer.
Universal Orlando said in May that it will add attractions based on the movies Shrek and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Disney World, meanwhile, recently opened Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama, an ersatz roadside attraction, at Animal Kingdom and plans to launch Mission: Space, an estimated $100 million space-flight simulator, at its Epcot park in 2003.
Aldrich, the theme-park consultant, said SeaWorld risks being marooned by tourists unless it expands, too. "You have to make changes," he said. "You can't stay in business if you don't."
Earlier this summer, the park opened Dine with Shamu, a limited-seating buffet overlooking Shamu Stadium and featuring talks by animal trainers. Sharks Underwater Grill, a sleek sit-down restaurant that looks like an undersea lair, opens today inside the park's renovated shark aquarium, Terrors of the Deep.
SeaWorld's decision to add a themed area of shops, shows and restaurants, rather than build a big-ticket thrill ride, is sensible, Aldrich said. "I think to do something that could keep people in the park so they don't go someplace on I-Drive to eat is good business," he said.
Busch's aggressive marketing has helped establish SeaWorld as Orlando's local park. Its ticketing strategy helps fill the Orlando park during the fall and winter, when temperatures are cooler, crowds are thinner and lines are shorter.
Disney and Universal occasionally offer limited passes or discounts, but neither is likely to siphon the local business from SeaWorld, he said. SeaWorld is less hectic than its larger rivals are and easier to reach.
SeaWorld's entrance is a short walk from the parking lot. At Universal, visitors must hike through the CityWalk restaurant and nightclub complex to reach either Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure. Disney guests must usually catch a shuttle -- and, in the case of the Magic Kingdom, a monorail or ferry.
"You don't think of going out there for an afternoon," Aldrich said.
SeaWorld's strategy of targeting locals more aggressively than Disney and Universal do also helped buoy the park during last year's recession and the sudden, swift decline in travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Park officials won't disclose attendance figures, but Amusement Business, a trade magazine, estimates that SeaWorld drew 5.1 million visitors in 2001, nearly as many visited the park the year before.
By comparison, Disney's Magic Kingdom, the most-visited theme park in the country, saw attendance fall 4 percent to 14.8 million. Universal Studios' attendance fell 10 percent to 7.3 million.
SeaWorld's expansion comes at a critical time for Central Florida's No. 1 industry.
SeaWorld Orlando plans to build a waterfront dining and shopping complex in the middle of the park, a signature centerpiece that is part of a strategy to take on SeaWorld's larger competitors.
In what the company calls its biggest expansion project, plans call for four shops, a pair of cafeteria-style restaurants -- one with a stage for live shows -- and a two-story bar, built to resemble an old stone fort, around the base of the park's Sky Tower.
The plans filed with Orange County's building department on Wednesday didn't disclose the estimated cost of the project.
Construction could begin as early as next month, pending approval by the county, with the shops and restaurants opening next summer.
SeaWorld's proposed waterfront is only the latest in a series of moves designed by Anheuser-Busch's theme-park division, Busch Entertainment, to refine the park's image and boost attendance.
"SeaWorld and Busch used to be followers. Now they aren't," Orlando theme-park consultant Jerry Aldrich said.
During the past two years, SeaWorld has become more innovative as it seeks to compete more aggressively with Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando.
It regularly offers Florida residents "Fun Cards," single-day tickets that allow guests to return every day through the rest of the year.
It introduced "EZ Pay," which let guests spread the cost of regular annual passes over 12 months.
It's the only theme-park operator in the market to let visitors buy tickets online -- at a 10 percent discount -- and print them at home. Disney and Universal sell tickets online but don't allow home printing.
It gives passholders the option of renewing their passes by mail. Borrowing a strategy from the credit-card industry, the company recently began sending new passes -- rather than easily ignored renewal notices -- to people whose passes are about to expire. Passholders can activate the cards by calling a toll-free number.
SeaWorld's last major expansion came two years ago with the opening of Kraken, a suspended roller coaster. SeaWorld also opened Discovery Cove, a reservations-only resort where guests get to swim briefly with dolphins, in 2000.
Keith Kasen, SeaWorld's executive vice president and general manager, said the new waterfront complex "really will become the heart of SeaWorld."
The newest plans call for replacing the nondescript Chicken 'n' Biscuit restaurant with a 660-seat cafeteria-style eatery called Voyagers' Galley, which is designed to resemble an old shipwright's shop.
Seafire Landing, a 426-seat cafeteria-style restaurant and theater, will replace Bimini Bay Cafe and SeaWorld's Polynesian Luau. Kasen said the luau will move temporarily to the pavilions behind Atlantis Bayside Stadium on Aug. 21. He wouldn't discuss the show or shows planned for Seafire's stage.
Between the restaurants, SeaWorld wants to put four shops in a Customs House and Guild Hall. Drawings submitted with the plans show a vaguely Mediterranean-style building with a tiled roof and stones peeking out from beneath cracked plaster on the exterior walls.
SeaWorld plans to build a bar in the shape of a cannonball-damaged stone fort around the base of the 400-foot Sky Tower.
It also wants to build a new bridge across the lake to a structure called Breakwater Point. Built to resemble a stone ruin, it will replace a building in the middle of the lake now used as a staging area for the Intensity Water Ski Show.
Kasen said the ski show will close next month, in part because the proposed bridge would interfere with the boats. It will be replaced with another show by year's end.
Wednesday's filing with the county represents only the first phase of SeaWorld's waterfront redevelopment, he said. Park officials plan to expand the project once the initial phase is complete.
SeaWorld is the second Orlando theme park to announce expansion plans this summer.
Universal Orlando said in May that it will add attractions based on the movies Shrek and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Disney World, meanwhile, recently opened Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama, an ersatz roadside attraction, at Animal Kingdom and plans to launch Mission: Space, an estimated $100 million space-flight simulator, at its Epcot park in 2003.
Aldrich, the theme-park consultant, said SeaWorld risks being marooned by tourists unless it expands, too. "You have to make changes," he said. "You can't stay in business if you don't."
Earlier this summer, the park opened Dine with Shamu, a limited-seating buffet overlooking Shamu Stadium and featuring talks by animal trainers. Sharks Underwater Grill, a sleek sit-down restaurant that looks like an undersea lair, opens today inside the park's renovated shark aquarium, Terrors of the Deep.
SeaWorld's decision to add a themed area of shops, shows and restaurants, rather than build a big-ticket thrill ride, is sensible, Aldrich said. "I think to do something that could keep people in the park so they don't go someplace on I-Drive to eat is good business," he said.
Busch's aggressive marketing has helped establish SeaWorld as Orlando's local park. Its ticketing strategy helps fill the Orlando park during the fall and winter, when temperatures are cooler, crowds are thinner and lines are shorter.
Disney and Universal occasionally offer limited passes or discounts, but neither is likely to siphon the local business from SeaWorld, he said. SeaWorld is less hectic than its larger rivals are and easier to reach.
SeaWorld's entrance is a short walk from the parking lot. At Universal, visitors must hike through the CityWalk restaurant and nightclub complex to reach either Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure. Disney guests must usually catch a shuttle -- and, in the case of the Magic Kingdom, a monorail or ferry.
"You don't think of going out there for an afternoon," Aldrich said.
SeaWorld's strategy of targeting locals more aggressively than Disney and Universal do also helped buoy the park during last year's recession and the sudden, swift decline in travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Park officials won't disclose attendance figures, but Amusement Business, a trade magazine, estimates that SeaWorld drew 5.1 million visitors in 2001, nearly as many visited the park the year before.
By comparison, Disney's Magic Kingdom, the most-visited theme park in the country, saw attendance fall 4 percent to 14.8 million. Universal Studios' attendance fell 10 percent to 7.3 million.
SeaWorld's expansion comes at a critical time for Central Florida's No. 1 industry.
