It's time for Sea World to promote fun at their parks again

Written by Gregg Condon 

UPDATE 3/19/2015 - Scroll to the bottom of the article to see our thoughts on the hiring of new CEO Joel Manby

Since we started Park Journey, we have, for the most part, stayed away from any of the controversy surrounding Sea World, Blackfish or any of the other things that go along with that. 

Not to say that we don't have an opinion, but we have decided to leave that to other sites that are more dedicated to the specific chain and to Sea World sponsored sites like Awesome Ocean. 

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But this is about Sea World the "Theme Park" not Sea World the "We need to defend ourselves" park. 

That's not to say that the chain shouldn't speak out about all the good they do, because they do a LOT of good. They also should be fighting back against one sided movies that definitely have an agenda (see, there's our opinion). 

Photo Courtesy Sea World San Diego

Along with all of the controversy has come a few bad years for the chain as far as attendance and revenue, which has resulted in the resignation of CEO Jim Atchison and many other changes. People are still going to the parks, people love the parks, but for the most part the things you see coming from the chain have to do with conservation, animal rescue and other things to directly deny any of the controversy and put a good face on what it is they do. And again, that's all good and fine. 

But what Sea World REALLY needs to do in order to turn around ... remind people that their parks are fun. Because they are!! 

I hate the word "Edutainment", but that's really what Sea World is. Unfortunately because they've had to defend themselves, they've forgotten about the "Entertainment" part of that word. 

Even looking at the front page of the Sea World website, all you see is "50 years of Connecting and Caring", "SeaWorld Cares", "SeaRescueTV", "Conservation Fun". 

You have to go down to the bottom of the page to get to the ACTUAL fun stuff. Animal Cams, Bindi Irwin, Games and Apps. Not even one mention of a ride or a show on the front page. 

The animal conservation is great, it's needed, people need to know, but it needs a mixture of both. 

Photo Courtesy Sea World San Diego

Due to distance, it's been a few years since we've been to a Sea World park. That's not due to any lack of desire, but anybody who's sat in weekend traffic trying to get to/from San Diego on the I-5 knows why we'd choose to not make that commute after a long week of working and commuting. 

But some of our most fond memories of our kids growing up were at Sea World. As you'll see in the pictures below, while yes, we were interested in the conservation aspects of the parks, the big draw was the animals and just the great vibe of the parks in general. 

Gregg enjoying some fresh fish. He did eventually give it to the seals.

Penguins Rule

Daddy, put Patrick back.

Josh isn't thinking "ooh, look at that educational Polar Bear" he's thinking "Look at that awesome Polar Bear" but also still learning.

Too young to drink, but the kids did love the Beer School.

Hanging out with some Commerson's Dolphins

The Sea World parks have a great collection of shows, rides, exhibits, great food, amazing staff and in the instance of the San Diego location, a prime location right on Mission Bay. 

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've visited quite a few Theme Parks and I know what I like to do there. 

A few random thoughts of things the chain could do that wouldn't take long or cost a lot of money: 

Promotion: 

• Have commercials that show people actually having fun in their parks. Not actors pretending to have fun. Actual people. Give some families a Go-Pro and a digital camera for the day, have them take video and pictures with them. Don't pre-plan it, surprise them at the gate with food/merchandise/animal encounter passes in exchange for documenting their day. Put it all together for an awesome "real person" commercial. Put longer versions on their website and social media pages. Even have social media posts of their day as their day is going on. 
• Bindi Irwin ... In her you have a great, energetic, recognizable person who is well rounded, smart, funny and is every bit the embodiment of her late father. Those of us who follow the parks online know about her involvement in the parks. This needs to be even more in the forefront. Kids look up to her, or they will if they know she's there. But again, while she's great at promoting the animals, have her promote the parks in general as well. 
• I almost hate to say this one, but part of the controversy and something that always brings it up in people's minds is the breeding program. By constantly promoting it you are putting that back in the minds of people. Those of us who support the park love that stuff, Awesome Ocean covers it great, but for the main social media arms of the parks, they need to maybe stay away from over promotion of that. At the very least it should be spread out among promoting all the other fun stuff. 

Special events:

• Food and Beer/Wine festival. Who cares if any of the large corporations won't come because they are scared. There are SO many local chefs, brewers, wineries, etc that would LOVE the exposure, and really, ask anybody who likes good food and good beer and wine, if it's good, the name on the chef's coat or the bottle doesn't matter. 
  
• LIVE MUSIC!! So some washed up 70's or 80's band canceled some shows. Get the cover version. They are probably better at this point anyway. Get some local bands, have them play some cover songs and some of their original songs. They'd love the exposure and like above, good music is good music. 
• Cultural festivals. All three Sea World locations in the US have large latino communities. This should be an absolute no brainer. But why limit it to just one culture. Do a Chinese New Year, St Patricks Day, do Fourth of July huge with not just fireworks but music and all of the great food that makes America great, not just Burgers and Hot Dogs. 
• Night Time Events: At least in San Diego, once the sun goes down the only show that really goes on is Shamu, and for good reason, that show is awesome. But why not use the other stadiums and show some kind of "Drive In Movie" experience. Sell picnics that people can sit out and have. Doesn't even have to be in one of the arena's, just a big area where people can hang out and have a blast. They already have their Summer Nights promotion, which is great, but it needs to be in the face of people both online and on TV. Right now most of the promotion is just "here's some fireworks, but we also rescued a seal 2 years ago" type thing. 

By continuing to just be about defending themselves, they are really letting the anti-Sea World crowd win. They are getting what they want and hurting the company where it really matters, in their wallet. And less money for Sea World the "fun" park means less money for the things that really matter. The rescue and conservation of the animals we all want to our children and our children's children to be able to experience. 

We are definitely going to be heading down to Sea World this year, maybe even to all 3 of the US parks depending on our travels this year, and I'm very excited about that. The future plans that were announced last year are going to be amazing and I really do think Sea World has it's best years in front of them, not behind them. They just need to realize it themselves. 

Update: 3/19/2015

New CEO

Today Sea World announced that Herschend Family Entertainment CEO Joel Manby will be the new CEO. We actually think this is an excellent choice and here's why. 

• Joel's reputation in the industry is undeniable. While true, Dollywood and Silver Dollar City aren't as big at Sea World, this is actually a great thing. It's hard to find somebody who's worked for Joel that has a bad thing to say. He "get's it". And while there isn't an employee problem at Sea World, having a CEO that understands the situation can be reinvigorating. And that is what's needed.
• Joel knows what families like. Look at the attractions built at both SDC and Dollywood over the past few years. From thrills like Outlaw Run to family coasters at Dollywood he knows the audience. And Joel, how about getting those Skillets to Sea World Parks soon. =)
• Last, and certainly not least, Joel is a leader, and more importantly, a leader that is as far removed from recent Sea World controversies as you and I are. So while at the beginning there will be the inevitable "why did you take this job given the recent controversies", once that is done it will essentially close the book on this chapter of Sea World's history. Finally allowing them to move on into their amazing future. 

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