Last week, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions held their annual expo in Orlando. At the convention, ride manufacturers showed off their latest creations and parks revealed even more details of their new attractions!
Here’s some links to some of the news that we covered in other articles:
The first news we’re going to talk about is out of the RMC booth. Our friend Brent from Pixels at the Parks sent us pictures of the booth.
The two models the company offered until recently are the I-Box steel track and the topper track. They are pictured in the above image with I-Box on the left and Topper Track on the right.
I-Box track is used on roller coasters like Twisted Colossus and Wicked Cyclone. Instead of a wood layer underneath a thin steel top, it uses a purely steel track. This steel track requires minimal maintenance compared to the wooden track featured on the original versions of these rides.
On the right is the RMC topper track. With layers of wood and a piece of steel on top of the track, this is what allows rides like Outlaw Run to be called wooden coasters. It uses a system that allows for smooth, versatile, and fun rides!
In addition to their two track types that revolutionized the wooden coaster, it appears that Rocky Mountain construction is venturing into the steel coaster market with their latest two offerings.
The first of the two new offerings is this wild looking track, the T-Rex track! On a first impression, it looks as if it’s just a giant steel table, but this is a one-rail steel track!
This is a video of the new concept, which has been a hot topic in the community since preliminary images were released. The ride looks like another wacky and incredible Rocky Mountain Construction design!
Although it seemed to be a “sleeper” announcement at the conference, Rocky Mountain Construction also revealed a new family roller coaster track. The green track looks very similar to that of the I-Box track, but it is of a larger size. From the looks of it, I think it is for another one rail coaster. It will definitely be interesting to see what a Rocky Mountain Construction family coaster will be like.
With a launch, a backwards section, and a drop on it, the new Zamperla Family Coaster will be one of the company’s most unique and innovative attractions to date. Similar to Verbolten (although Verbolten was a Zierer coaster), this will be another product from the company suitable for guests of all ages.
Extreme Engineering Zipline Coaster:
One of the strangest and most interesting new attractions offered at the expo was the Extreme Engineering zipline Coaster. Although some may not be excited by this, I certainly am. I heard good things about it from a couple of riders and I’d love to see
A few months ago, Playland Castaway Cove revealed details on their next roller coaster, Gale Force. As the first S&S Launched El Loco, the company revealed the above new trains for the new product at the expo! They look like very nice trains similar to those on Cannibal at Lagoon.
Quassy Announces New Ride:
The SBF Visa Group and Quassy Amusement Park announced their newest attraction, Reverse Time, at the IAAPA Expo. It will be the first installation of this flat ride in the United States.
Yes, that’s right, the Philadelphia Toboggan Company still exists, and they now offer roller coaster trains that can go upside-down! They revealed their brand new “PTCI 360” trains with the interesting design shown above. I’m not sure what to think about them.
The company also revealed a new device to help those who are handicapped to enter roller coaster cars. The lift will hopefully make roller coasters more accessible to those who have a hard time riding.
Fun Spot – Crazy Couch and VR Testing:
Very early in the IAAPA conference, it was rumored that Fun Spot bought a Skyline Attractions Crazy Couch. Shortly thereafter, the park confirmed this, and as of Wednesday, November 25th, the attraction is operating at the park!
In addition to this, the park’s Freedom Flyer coaster was also used to showcase virtual reality technology on roller coasters. According to those who rode, the technology brought a fantastic new element to the ride and was perfectly synchronized to the actual ride.
Phobia Phear Coaster Trains Revealed:
Premier Rides and Lake Compounce showcased the trains for the latest Sky Rocket II clone coming to the park this year. Luckily, these will not have the dreaded “comfort” collars found on Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Tempesto.
Maurer Sohne revealed their newest products at the IAAPA Expo, which included a wing coaster and a bike coaster! It’s interesting to see more manufacturers offering these relatively new ride concepts.
New Skyplex Renderings:
Finally, in addition to all of the above news, the developers of Skyplex and Intamin released the latest renderings for the wild polercoaster! The ride is going to break even more world records as it will feature the world’s tallest vertical launch, which will take riders from 24 feet below the ground and up to over 500 feet in the air, straight into the world’s highest inversion!
Also, with this new rendering, images of the world’s tallest drop tower, Skyfall, were shown for the first time. Another notable feature is an example of a US Thrill Rides “Unicoaster,” which appears to be a modern version of Knoebels’s Looper flat ride, is located near the final inversion of the roller coaster.
What do you think of these IAAPA announcements? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 23, 2015) – SeaWorld Orlando released details today on the return of its highly anticipated “BlueFriday” deals providing shoppers with special pricing on exclusive park experiences and admission to SeaWorld and Aquatica, SeaWorld’s Waterpark.
Blue Friday deals provide the best value to experience SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration and allow the fun to continue throughout 2016, including all of SeaWorld’s special festivals and concerts.
Deals include the following buy one, get one free (BOGO) offers and are available online-only:
Admission Offers:
BOGO SeaWorld Orlando One-Year Annual Pass (savings of $156)
BOGO SeaWorld Orlando/Aquatica One-Year Annual Pass (savings of $192)
BOGO Any-Day SeaWorld Orlando ticket (savings of $99)
In-Park Offers:
BOGO SeaWorld Orlando Quick Queue Unlimited (savings of $19)
BOGO Dolphins Up-Close Tour (savings up to $59)
BOGO Wild Arctic Up-Close Tour (savings up to $59)
BONUS Offers:
Buy one, get one 50% off All-Day Dining voucher for SeaWorld Orlando (savings of $17.50 for two)
BOGO select in-park holiday ornaments, snow globes and plush at Wild Arctic and Emporium gift shops
To participate in this year’s Blue Friday and view the incredible deals, fans MUSTregister online to receive SeaWorld Orlando’s e-mail updates or already be subscribed. They can do so by visitingSeaWorldOrlando.com. Blue Friday deals will be e-mailed to subscribers today, Nov. 23, along with official details about these limited-time offers. Fans can subscribe at any moment between now and November 30 to participate.
These can’t-miss deals are only available online from 12:01 a.m. (EST)Friday, November 27, until 11:59 p.m.Monday, November 30, 2015.
SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration
It’s the most wonderful time of the year with waves of holiday spirit, seas of trees and twinkling lights during SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration.
Guests will enjoy this wintery, watery wonderland and entertainment inspired by the natural world and holiday cheer. Guests can journey to the North Pole on THE POLAR EXPRESS Experience where they can meet the jolly Santa Claus. With holiday treats from Santa to Shamu®, presents to penguins, and elves to Elmo, SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration™ is where holiday memories are made.
The Christmas celebration takes place this weekend Nov. 27-29 and during the following days in December: 4-6, 11-13, and 18-31.
For more information on SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration, please visit SeaWorldOrlando.com. Stay connected with Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Join the conversation with #SeaWorld and #SeaWorldChristmas.
What do you think about SeaWorld’s “Blue Friday” deals? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
At the IAAPA Expo in Orlando today, Walibi Rhone-Alps revealed new details for their brand new family roller coaster. The Gravity Group manufactured wooden roller coaster will open early next year at the French park.
The ride will use the Gravity Group Timberliner trains to provide a smooth and comfortable experience. Much like the trains on the company’s latest roller coaster, Switchback at ZDT’s Amusement Park, this attraction will feature beautiful themed trains. Based on the video I saw, the saw on the front will even spin!
What do you think of this new Gravity Group roller coaster? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
Today, at the IAAPA Expo, Dollywood unveiled a new way to preview their next roller coaster, Lightning Rod! On their YouTube channel, the park uploaded two new videos of the world’s first launched wooden roller coaster, which will debut in March 2016.
Here, I have the videos of the new attraction. The 2D POV located above is viewable anywhere, but the 3D POV below is not compatible in some browsers such as Safari and is compatible with virtual reality goggles for those who have them.
Lightning Rod is 30% complete with 70% of the footers installed for the attraction according to the park. The Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) roller coaster will be one of the tallest and fastest wooden coasters the world upon opening. It will also feature a number of interesting elements including a quadruple down. It will definitely have the RMC touch.
What do you think about Lightning Rod? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
Today, Kings Dominion began the demolition of their stand-up roller coaster, Shockwave. Shockwave closed last August in order to make way for a brand new “frisbee” flat ride, Delirium.
The park posted a video to their Facebook page of the first track piece being removed today. Based on the video, the roller coaster will most likely not operate at another park, even though Kings Dominion recently listed it on a ride selling website. It seems that the removed track segment has been destroyed to a point where it could not be used again on another ride.
Delirium will be a Mondial Revolution ride, similar to that of a HUSS Frisbee or Zamperla Giant Discovery. It will bring a new flat ride to Kings Dominion, which will fill a hole in the lineup of the park.
Personally, I am excited to see Delirium making its way into the park, but I am sad that we did not get a chance to take any construction photos while we were at the park last month (but that’s just for selfish reasons).
What do you think about Delirium? Will you miss Shockwave? Let us know by commenting below! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Also, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
In 2016, Busch Gardens Tampa will add yet another incredible roller coaster to their lineup, Cobra’s Curse. Now, we have even more details of the ride!
Today, at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo (IAAPA) in Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa and the manufacturer Mack Rides revealed a model of the attraction along with some new concept art. Lucky enough, we’ve got pictures of both for you to enjoy!
For the first time, we were given a look at the full layout of the ride. With a large elevator lift, a giant king cobra, and a curving layout that will interact with plants and themed buildings, this attraction is set to become a great new family ride for the thrill heavy park. Two more noteworthy features are the awesome looking outward banked turn early in the ride, and a second lift hill!
Cobra’s Curse construction has rapidly increased in pace recently. Although we can’t provide construction updates from Busch Gardens Tampa, our friends over at Pixels at the Parks certainly can! They’ve got some great updates for this project and others including SeaWorld Orlando’s Mako! You can view their Cobra’s Curse updates here!
What do you think about the Cobra’s Curse layout? Let us know by commenting below! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Last, but not least, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
You may love the attraction, or you may hate it, but Captain EO is leaving Walt Disney World very soon. On December 6th, the attraction, which returned to the park after the death of the attraction’s star, Michael Jackson, and has stayed since then will close for good.
Image via Disney Parks Blog
In recent months, the Golden Eye Theater has largely been used to display previews for new Disney and Pixar movies. Both Inside Out and Tomorrowland had preview films playing there. Now, it seems Disney is turning this into a more permanent event.
Replacing Captain EO in the Golden Eye Theater will be a brand new movie experience. Inside, guests will soon be able to view Disney and Pixar animated shorts!
As part of the changes to the theater, it will be converted to a 4D theater from its current 3D state. Opening this December, this renovation definitely sounds like it will be an interesting and fast way to improve an existing attraction! I’m glad it will be open by the Holidays so I can experience it!
What do you think about this new twist on the Golden Eye theater? Let us know by commenting below! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! Finally, TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
In August of 2015, the TP&T team hopped on a plane and flew out for an incredible adventure in California. The visit included visiting several of Southern California’s incredible list of theme parks and learning about the history of the Walt Disney Company. In our visit, we went to The Jim Henson Company, Walt Disney Studios, Imagineering, various Hollywood attractions, and the Disneyland resort as part of the Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic tour. After the five day tour, we continued our journey as we visited Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and Six Flags Magic Mountain before returning home. In this article and several other articles full of photos, we invite you to join us in TP&T’s California Adventure! So sit back, relax, and get ready to journey into the Wonderful World of the entertainment industry!
For those of you first reading this series, welcome! I strongly recommend reading some of the previous articles. Links are below!
Part 1 – Hollywood – We visit several Hollywood destinations as our Backstage Magic tour begins! Enjoy photos and information from Disney Studios and our fantastic visit to Imagineering. You can find the article here!
Part 2 – An Evening in Disneyland – In this trip report, we journeyed through endless traffic on the Los Angeles highways and wound up at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! This article will take you within the gates of the original theme park as we spend a very exciting evening in the park. You can find the article here!
Part 3 – A Day in the Happiest Place on Earth – With this photo update, you follow us into the original theme park as we venture through a park filled with hidden finds and awesome attractions. Oh yeah, we also went into the Dream Suite (and I have pics)! You can read the trip report here!
BONUS – I’ve got a Fantasmic! video up on the YouTube Channel! You can view the video here!
Just in case you couldn’t tell from the title, our next leg of the California trip brought us to Disney California Adventure. After our long day in Disneyland, we got some sleep, and woke up early the next day to meet with the Adventures by Disney group. After getting ready, we had a character breakfast at the Grand Californian, and made our way into the park!
It was early in the day when we entered Disney California Adventure, which meant that the Grizzly Peak section of the park looked beautiful with the light!
We were unsure of where we were going, but our Adventure Guides took us over to Grizzly Peak Airfield.
I have to say, the area looked like an airport, but it was not the best themed Disney land.
In the distance, the glamorous 1930s Hollywood soared above the park.
Soon, we were told we would be riding Soarin’ over California!
The buildings were nicely themed and fit very well into the land as a whole.
We talked with a member of the Soarin’ maintenance team, and then the group was escorted into the massive building.
We rode Soarin’, which had been updated with new 4K projectors as part of the ride’s recent renovation. As always, it was a fun attraction that fit very well into the area. It was also nice that we didn’t have to wait for it like we did in Florida! Afterwards, we were told to stay in the area, so I got this unique shot of what it looks like above Soarin’.
Soon, we were escorted behind the projector for the ride! Although I was unable to take pictures, I did find this picture via InPark Magazine
Vekoma also had a good picture that could show what we experienced back there. They let us stay down there during a ride through of the attraction, so we got a nice view of how it works. Although the ride has minimal movements, it really creates an immersive experience. The cars appear to travel up and down a little bit and tilt from side to side. That’s all it took. A few tricks are also used on the ride to create the illusion of flight, one of which was that when tilting to the left, the car on the right is highest, and left is lowest, which adds to the effect.
Next, we went into the backstage areas of Soarin’. Inside, they showed us the chemicals they use to recreate smells and showed us the erector kit model that the ride was based on. The chemicals come in a salt-like form from what I remember. When Soarin’ Around the World flies in next year (read that last sentence again if you didn’t notice the pun), I expect to smell all around the world!
After soaring over California, it was time for everyone’s favorite place, the restroom! By that point in the day, we knew about an unannounced Disney ride (at the time), Soarin’ Around the World. That’s right folks, I reported it two whole days before it was announced (we were at DCA August 13th, it was announced August 15th)! Anyway, now that I’m done bragging, I’d like to share my thoughts on the coming attraction. It will be great in Shanghai and Epcot, but terrible in DCA. The ride is in a park themed to California, and the land was just renovated to fit even more closely to many of the places featured in the ride (Sequoia/Yosemite). I’m sorry, but I think that explains it all.
Anyway, I think that concludes my Soarin’ rant. Everyone’s said what I said before, but I just thought I’d say it too. I loved the rock work in the land. It looked fantastic in the morning light!
The buildings were the perfect colors and style too. I think the renovation looks fantastic.
While waiting in Grizzly Peak Airfield, I caught a glimpse of our next destination, Carthay Circle.
In the park’s “hub,” guests were starting to pour in.
Standing up above was the beautiful Carthay restaurant!
The decorations on the building for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary looked fantastic!
Inside, we took a long tour of the restaurant. Inside, there are a number of pictures of Walt and interesting details hidden throughout. Just look at the tabletops, you may notice something in the wood!
After a while of touring the restaurant, I was yearning to ride something. It looked like we were done, but we had another stop on the restaurant tour.
We entered DCA’s exclusive Club 1901, which is what the Adventure guides described to us as “Platinum Level Club 33.” Although the inside was beautiful, I needed a thrill (or a soda, but they weren’t giving us food/drink because it appeared to be closed).
Finally, after an hour of touring the restaurant, we began our walk to the next attraction!
The moment we got here, I was incredibly excited!
We entered the beautiful Radiator Springs, which is one of the best theme park lands out there (and that’s coming from someone who hates the movie Cars)!
The land looked as if it was straight out of the movie, assuming you replace Cars with people, and stick about quadruple the population of the town into it.
The Cozy Cone was one of the nicest looking buildings in town, I just wish they’d made it a real hotel!
Flo’s Cafe looked just like the one in the movie.
It reminds me of a nicer version of Sonic. 🙂
I wonder how many people have tried to knock down this tower?
Overall, Radiator Springs was a beautiful land. Disney added several little details to enhance the land as they always do. Some of the most noticeable details were how the stoplight flashes slightly longer one time than the others, and when night comes the land lights up slowly in segments.
Finally, it was time for an attraction! Half the group went backstage while half of us walked up to Radiator Springs Racers! The “Paddle of Power” photobombed my shot, I tried three times and I missed getting an unobstructed picture for different reasons every time.
The queue for the ride was beautiful!
On my one ride, I filmed a mounted POV of Radiator Springs Racers! I do not recommend doing this unless you are experienced with filming rides. I used a GoPro Jaws Flex Clamp mount and attached it quickly and easily to a bar on the ride. I am saying this because this is probably the easiest and only way you can do what I did. There was nothing in the rules of the park at the time saying this was not allowed (and as far as I know it still is allowed), and our Adventure Guides found out afterwards and did not say it was bad, but instead said how awesome that was. As far as I could tell, everything was okay, but I urge not to film without experience in that manner (I’ve done a couple of mount tests before on a car).
Here’s a fun game, is it Radiator Springs Racers or is it real?
How about this one?
Last, but not least, this one! Be sure to comment below or send us your answers on Twitter!
Radiator Springs Racers was an incredible attraction. It brought Test Track to a new level. The racing aspect, rock work, indoor theming, and a course that wasn’t just a circle all combined into a fantastic ride!
Shortly afterwards, we were escorted behind the ride and into the machine room of Radiator Springs Racers. Inside, we learned bit about what they do for maintenance and how the ride works. Essentially, these cars are a disaster for maintenance. Frequently, they are taken into the shop and are completely rebuilt (I believe this is every nine months, but I can’t remember). After the extensive rehab, which takes weeks, but used to take much longer than it does now, the cars return to regular circulation. There are SEVERAL cars on the ride and in maintenance at once.
Radiator Springs Racers also has one of the most detailed control panels available in its maintenance shop. The televisions within display every aspect of the ride for the crews to view. The animatronics frequently break and are repaired overnight. I believe two of them were down by the time we rode.
After the backstage adventure, we walked through cast member only zones and into Paradise Pier. There, we waited for the remainder of the group before our next attraction.
That next attraction was Toy Story Midway Mania. The entire tour group was brought onto the ride. Due to the fact that I was sitting next to an Adventure Guide who helped expose some of the secrets of the game for me, I proudly beat the rest of the TP&T crew!
While in Paradise Pier, California Screamin’ was down (it was testing in this picture).
Since we were getting hungry, we decided to go grab some lunch!
The hot California sun didn’t help our thirst either as the tour group dispersed (with five any-attraction fastpasses)!
Using the Disneyland app, we found a nice sit down restaurant in the white building.
The Cove bar had delicious food with a beautiful view of Paradise Pier. Food options were mainly appetizers, but the sliders, pizza, and spinach and artichoke dip were all delicious. The service was very good too!
Mickey’s Fun wheel was one of the few attractions I wished I had rode, but didn’t get to ride while at Disney California Adventure.
Testing continued throughout lunch, that ride has a lot of trains running at once!
During lunch, the ride reopened, and waits instantly soared up to thirty minutes or so.
I love the California Screamin’ logo!
California Screamin’ was one great Intamin! It really is what ties Paradise Pier together as a land. It was a very smooth, long, and flat out fun ride!
Speaking of California Screamin’, I filmed a POV of the awesome coaster! Unfortunately, my GoPro mount broke (literally, the main container holding the GoPro) before I got on. Unfortunately, I had to hold onto the camera throughout the ride, but luckily the footage still turned out pretty good!
I have to say, the new DCA is just a beautiful park. If Hollywood Studios looks like this once it’s complete, my excitement will be through the roof!
Across the way from California Screamin’, it was time for us to venture Under the Sea!
I thought The Little Mermaid was a fun attraction. It essentially summarized the entire movie for guests, but it is definitely a good dark ride for the little kids!
The building also had some beautiful architectural details!
After riding the Little Mermaid, we walked our way around Grizzly Peak trying to get into Hollywood. I’m not sure why, but we did take that long route!
Grizzly Peak reminded me of Yellowstone!
Even the plants fit in perfectly with the rapids ride!
It almost looked like a hot spring back there.
Passing through the hub again, the crowds were noticeably lower than before.
Overall, Hollywood Land was a decently themed area.
The facades looked great, with designs that look much better than those of actual Los Angeles.
Even Disney Junior fit well into the land.
The only problem with the land was this. I think the painting is very well done, but it just doesn’t fit well enough into the landscape of the town. I understand doing this at a place like Hollywood Studios, where the Streets of America represent a movie lot, but they should have placed an actual facade here.
It was time to be terror-fied! 🙂
We entered the queue, went through the pre-show, and entered the service room for the hotel. All of a sudden, we were going upstairs into a second service room above. It was strange, but it made sense to increase loading capacity. The ride started with a move backwards into the ride’s scenes. Eventually, you make your way up, and quickly transition into the drop sequence (unlike the Florida ride, which features a forward moving section of the drop tower). In this version, I felt like the drop sequence was longer, which is great. I love the drop on these rides, and they are the only drop towers I’ve ever enjoyed.
It was getting late and hot that afternoon. While some members of the tour took advantage of reserved seating at the Aladdin show, we went for a ride on Monsters Inc! Like Ariel, it was another fun ride that essentially summarized the movie. These two rides bring the classic dark ride into a modern context.
Since we were going back for a break in the hotel, we walked down through Grizzly Peak.
Using one of the fastpasses, I got one soaking and fun ride on the park’s water ride! I loved it! In my opinion, it was very comparable to Animal Kingdom’s Kali River Rapids (although I haven’t been on that in a while). I liked the overall theme more, and would rank this slightly above.
As it got late in the evening, we relaxed in our room for a little while before returning into the park for dinner and some more fun! Included in our tour was a meal at the Carthay Circle restaurant (as you recall, I “loved” touring it). Unfortunately, the service was slow, but my meal was okay. I had one of three items listed on the limited menu they gave us, the chicken. The meal just took a lot of time (and if you don’t have my diet coke out within fifteen minutes from me ordering it, that brings you down several points in my book).
We finished the meal, and moved on to Paradise Pier for the evening’s showing of World of Color! Meanwhile, our friends from Extended Queue also happened to be in the park that night (sadly, we didn’t bump into them). Adventures by Disney then brought us to a reserved area with a great view of the show. Overall, it was a decent show. Essentially, it was a very long Disney commercial. I wouldn’t say NPH ruined the show, but I would say that it wasn’t as good as some of the other shows at the Disneyland Resort due to the nature of it. It had a high emphasis on Frozen (we were “privileged” to listen to the entirety of “Let it Go”) and otherwise it was mostly a Disneyland commercial. Not particularly exciting.
Afterwards, it was almost time to go. While the rest of the group went back to the hotel, I got one more ride in on Soarin’ before I left. Although the people surrounding me on the attraction were rude and annoying (leaning on me, swearing loudly with young kids near them, and swinging the car while cast members requested for them to stop), it was still a magnificent ride. It was a great way to end my visit to the Disneyland Resort. The next day, we’d head down the road to what was once a family owned berry farm!
What did you say for the questions earlier in the update? Let us know by commenting below! Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr! TP&T is now available on Apple News! Just search “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app, and hit the subscribe button!
After a third quarter performance that underwhelmed investors (although there were several positives in the report), SeaWorld announced major changes for the philosophy of the company in an entirely new presentation. In the presentation, they highlighted a new focus for the company, announced new attractions, and announced major changes in the San Diego park.
The following images are slides from the presentation:
These first two slides give a nice overview of information about the company’s parks. All of the parks are great experiences worth visiting if you’ve never been!
The new strategy for Sea World’s parks is to create “experiences that matter.” Essentially, this is using thrills to show guests more about the natural world. Major changes will involve “turning the parks inside out,” or as I would say, allowing the guests to see more of the park’s behind the scenes operations in caring for animals. Another change is renaming the park’s employee titles from team member to ambassador. In addition to these changes to the park’s mission, they will also have a renewed focus on bringing popular characters to the parks and incredible new attractions.
SeaWorld Orlando will be getting some major investments in the coming years. With Mako coming in 2016 already, the company confirmed even more will come to the park in the coming years! For the next five years, the park will get major investments. There will also be an emphasis on the park’s events and further use of the park’s indoor facilities.
Perhaps the most interesting development at the park is that they will attempt to buy surrounding land for further expansion. The company expressed interest in creating on-site hotels at all of their parks, and Orlando is definitely a candidate for it. With already owned land, and more opening up nearby, it will be interesting to see what SeaWorld Orlando creates in the coming years.
The most interesting announcement from SeaWorld came from the San Diego park, they announced that they will phase out shows with their killer whales in 2016. It is expected to bring more guests from the region into the park, which has experienced major attendance drops recently due to a general public that does not agree with the use of killer whales in shows. Although several news outlets reported otherwise, this only affects the San Diego park and at this time no changes will be made in the chain’s other parks.
Although San Diego has very little land to develop, SeaWorld expressed interest in expansion for the park with new rides and possibly a hotel. Unfortunately, any further developments would have to go through the California Coastal Commission, who recently banned the breeding of orcas in their park if they expand through the Blue World Project. The CEO of SeaWorld Joel Manby told investors that the company plans to challenge the CCC’s decision, but they still may not go through with the expansion at the park. Instead, they may create a smaller version of the expansion and focus more on attractions in the park.
With Discovery Point coming next year, SeaWorld will take advantage of their Texas market and expand SeaWorld San Antonio in the next few years. In 2017, the park will bring new attractions for the entire family to enjoy!
Although they did not say which park it will be coming to, SeaWorld did announce that a new family roller coaster themed to the SeaWorld rescue team would be coming to a SeaWorld park soon! It is expected that it will come to either SeaWorld San Antonio or SeaWorld San Diego. The ride will start with a queue featuring clips of the SeaWorld rescue team’s television show. Afterwards, the guests will board the wave runner themed cars and enter a journey through twists and turns, eventually finding out which animal they rescued. The manufacturer was not announced, but I expect it to be Intamin. Intamin has build a wave-runner themed roller coaster similar to this before, although it could be someone else such as Vekoma or Zamperla.
In addition to the roller coaster, SeaWorld also displayed concept art for other attractions intended to combine actual marine life with a ride experience. The Submarine and Jeep rides both look like interesting dark ride concepts that could bring guests up close to marine life.
Not much was announced for the Busch Gardens parks. They did release this image of possibly expansion for Busch Gardens Tampa, but nothing was announced for the Williamsburg park. I expect them to continue building an attraction every couple of years to maintain the success of these two parks. I would like to note, although it was not shown in the presentation, Busch Gardens Williamsburg has vast amounts of land surrounding it just waiting to be developed.
The presentation also featured this awesome Cobra’s Curse artwork:
Another focus for the SeaWorld parks will be events. In recent years, the SeaWorld parks have added new festivals including Food and Wine festivals at the Busch Gardens Parks, and they are going to continue expanding these successful events. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer will become the headline character at the park’s Christmas events next year (this is interesting, because Dollywood already features this character) and the company is going to continue expanding their popular Halloween events.
To drive more guests into the parks, SeaWorld is going to emphasize the value of their parks. With the Orlando park’s admission being $21 less than the competitor’s averages, this should help bring more local visitors to the theme park. A re-designed website will also feature more deals (including an early buyers discount) and easier navigation to make it easier for guests to get online tickets to the parks.
Above is the new focuses for the business. Although it was expected, the international partnerships for the company that were recently announced were not discussed in the call. They are currently not as big of a priority for the company as solving the domestic issues.
The company also announced a new technology partnership with Panasonic today.
I have to say, I like this new focus for SeaWorld. An emphasis on the rides rather than the shows is a smart decision for the parks. I am definitely interested in how similar this new strategy is to the CEO’s previous company, Herschend Family Entertainment. They built incredible thrills at Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, focused also on the guest’s experience, built hotels, and partnered with the owners of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The good news is that this strategy worked well for them, and I see it working for SeaWorld too. SeaWorld’s future is definitely exciting after today’s announcements!
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Today, SeaWorld reported their earnings for the third quarter of 2015. Although it may not completely look like it, the numbers are good news for the company, which has struggled recently due to recent negative publicity from organizations such as PETA and the documentary Blackfish (Speaking of Blackfish, we’ve got a great article from a guest writer about how it’s inaccurate).
The numbers for the quarter were pretty good overall. Third quarter revenue increased from $495.8 million last year to $496.9 million this year. The EBITDA for the third quarter also increased from $209.1 million last year to $217.5 million this year. The net income increased for the third quarter from $87.2 million in 2014 to $98 million in 2015.
Attendance decreased 0.4% in the third quarter due to declines in attendance at SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld San Antonio. To counteract these declines, SeaWorld’s other parks saw increases in attendance. The third quarter attendance this year was 8.371 million compared to 8.405 million last year. Although some made this out to be a drastic change, it is a normal level of change for a park. It’s nothing to worry about.
For the first nine months of the year, attendance was slightly higher than it was last year. It increased from 18.034 million visitors last year to 18.063 million this year. Again, this is a great sign for the company as a whole.
Although there were several positives in the earnings report, the largest negative was the projected EBITDA for the year. It was decreased to $360-370 million from about $370 million.
Overall, the report shows positive growth from the company this quarter. Attendance is up in the majority of the parks and revenue is up for the third quarter. The stock for the company has been shaky recently, but hopefully this signals positive growth in the future. You can view the full report here.
Although it was interesting to hear the company’s third quarter numbers, what truly interests me is what will be announced on Monday. On November 9th, the company will announce their new long term plan. It will definitely be interesting to hear what the company announces.
Disney also reported their earnings today. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to write an article about them, but you can view one here.
Do you think SeaWorld’s numbers this quarter signal growth in the coming years? Let us know by commenting below! Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! You can also find us on Periscope, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr!