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| SeaWorld Orlando | |
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| Location | Orlando, Florida |
| Website | SeaWorld Orlando |
| Owner | Busch Entertainment Corporation |
| Opened | 1973 |
| Previous names | SeaWorld Florida |
| Operating season | All Year |
| Area | 200 acres (0.81 km2) |
| Rides | 10 total
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| Slogan | As real as it gets. |
SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park near Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by Busch Entertainment Corporation, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch, and is the subsidiary's most visited park. When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and the Aquatica water park, it forms a larger entertainment complex devoted to Earth's oceans and the array of life that inhabits them.
In 2007, SeaWorld Orlando hosted approximately 5.8 million guests, ranking it the seventh-most visited amusement park in the United States and #12 in the world.1 However, SeaWorld's owners dispute that figure, claiming their internal attendance numbers, normally not released as part of the cited study, are approximately 6.2 million guests.2
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Park design
Unlike most other theme parks, SeaWorld Orlando is not divided into "lands" or sections. There are, however, some distinct areas within the park.
Key West at SeaWorld
Key West at SeaWorld is designed to mimic the appearance of the city of Key West, Florida. Exhibits in this portion of the park include stingrays, dolphins, sea turtles, manatees and alligators. The stingray and dolphin habitats offer opportunities for guests to feed the animals.
Shamu's Happy Harbor
Shamu's Happy Harbor is a children's play area hosted by Shamu, the park's killer whale mascot, that features family rides and a play fortress.
The Waterfront at SeaWorld
The Waterfront, the newest section of the park, resembles a seaside Mediterranean village and contains shops and restaurants, as well as the park's iconic Sky Tower ride.
Clydesdale Hamlet
A signature component of the Anheuser-Busch theme parks is the stables of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. Adjacent to the stables is the Hospitality House, where adult guests can sample Anheuser-Busch products and learn about the beer-making process.
Rides and attractions
SeaWorld Orlando has a vast array of attractions, including rides and animal exhibits, and even two that are a combination of the two.
Rides
- Kraken, a "floorless" roller coaster.
- Journey to Atlantis, a boat ride with roller coaster elements themed to the mythical Atlantis.
- Shamu Express, a junior roller coaster with cars themed as Shamu.
- Sky Tower, 400-foot tall rotating observation tower, built in 1973.
- Numerous more children's rides, located in Shamu's Happy Harbor.
Animal exhibits
- Penguin Encounter, an indoor exhibit that also includes puffins and murres.
- Shark Encounter, which features an underwater tunnel and a wide array of sharks, rays and venomous fish. At Sharks Underwater Grill, guests can dine while observing the sea life in the main exhibit tank.
- Pacific Point Preserve, home to the park's sea lions and seals.
- Dolphin Cove, an outdoor exhibit where you can feed and touch bottlenose dolphins.
- Turtle Point, an outdoor exhibit that features rescued sea turtles.
- Manatee Rescue, home to rescued Florida manatees.
- Stingray Lagoon, a covered exhibit where you can touch stingrays.
- Dolphin Nursery, a covered exhibit where new-born bottlenose dolphins reside.
- Clydesdale Hamlet, home to the park's clydesdale horses.
Combined attractions
- Wild Arctic, an indoor exhibit featuring polar bears, beluga whales and walruses that is designed to resemble a research station in the Arctic Ocean. Guests can take a motion-simulated helicopter journey to the exhibit, or may bypass the ride and watch the film without the motion and proceed directly to the exhibit. During the 2007 Christmas season, Wild Arctic was replaced by the Polar Express Experience, a temporary overlay based on the popular 2004 feature film.
Future attractions
- Manta, a flying roller coaster and aquarium exhibit featuring rays, opening in the summer of 2009.
Live entertainment
SeaWorld Orlando hosts a number of live shows, many featuring trained animals. During peak seasons (such as summer), the park will offer special shows in addition to the main performances.
- Shamu Stadium is the seven-million gallon home to the park's killer whale performers. The park's current production is Believe, which is joined by Shamu Rocks during busier seasons.
- The Whale and Dolphin Theatre features dolphins, false killer whales and macaws in Blue Horizons, which also adds human acrobats and divers.
- The Sea Lion and Otter Stadium hosts "Clyde and Seamore," a pair of California sea lions in the comical presentation Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island. During the summer months, the pair lampoon the park's other shows during Sea Lions Tonight.
- Bayside Stadium hosts the new-for-2008 Bayside Ski Jam, part of the "SeaWorld After Dark" summer show schedule.3 Additionally, the stage is used for SeaWorld's numerous music concert series.
- The Nautilus Theatre is home to A'lure, an acrobatic show similar in style and presentation to the works of Cirque du Soleil.
- Seaport Theatre features dogs, cats and other animals that have been rescued from local animal shelters in Pets Ahoy!.
During peak seasons, Mistify immerses guests in a vivid underwater adventure that encompasses both sea and sky. SeaWorld's center lake is stage to the show featuring larger-than-life marine creatures on 60-foot mist screens, 100-foot fountains, flames on water and fireworks.
Animal Inventory
The following is a current list of animals at the SeaWorld Orlando park, as based on an October 2008 Marine Mammal Inventory Report recieved from the NMFS:
Beluga Whales Wild Arctic - Aurek (M), Juno (M), Klondike (M), Maple (F)
Bottlenose Dolphins Animal Care - Bossa (F), Madison (F), Peanut (F), Sabrina (F)
Whale & Dolpin Stadium - Alejandro (M), Baretta (M), Bubba (M), Clyde (M), Jensen (M), Marble (M), Phil (M), Porter (M), Starbuck (M)
Dolphin Cove - Alpha (M),Bailey (F), Beetle (M), Calla (F), Calypso (F), Cosmo (M), Hekili (M), Jackson (M), Jag (M), Jenever (F), Kato (M), Lily (F), Madison (F), Neo (M), Oscar (M), Potter (M), Scott (M), Tiger (M)
Dolphin Nursery - Ariel (F), Dash (F), Gala (U), Griffith (F), Kendall (F), Lagos (U), Starkey (F), Tasha (F)
False Killer Whales Blue Horizons - Cassie (F), Jozu (M)
Orcas Shamu Stadium - Katina (F), Kalina (F), Tilikum (M), Taima (F), Takara (F), Kayla (F), Trua (M), Nalani (F), and Malia (F)
Pacific Walruses Sea Lion & Otter Stadium - Bruiser (M), Slowpoke (F)
Wild Arctic - Dozer (M), Garfield (M)
Polar Bears Wild Arctic - Johnny (M), Klondike (M), Leibchen (F), Snow (F)
References
- ^ "TEA/ERA Theme Park Attendance Report 2007". www.themeit.com (2008-03-14). Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
- ^ Scott Powers (2008-03-14). "Attendance at theme parks continues to skyrocket". www.orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
- ^ Dewayne Bevil (2008-05-09). "SeaWorld's Bayside Ski Jam just in time for summer". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
External links
- SeaWorld Orlando Photos of SeaWorld in Orlando published under Creative Commons License
- Aquatica Website
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