SeaWorld quietly released its financial report earlier this week, and like Walt Disney World, the theme park operator confirmed that they are losing a lot of money due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with their quarterly revenue down $60 Million. And while this massive loss of money is certainly bad news for the company, they have made some savvy business moves and will be able to stay afloat at least until next year. However, in the meantime, SeaWorld has been going over some of their options for reopening, and as you might expect, they involve taking care of their biggest fans first.
Annual passholders to get free upgrades when the parks reopen
SeaWorld announced earlier this week that its annual passholders that not only will their passes be extended “at least” the amount of days the parks end up being closed and will also be upgrading annual passholders to the next tier of pass available for the remainder of the 2020 calendar year.
Though SeaWorld is one of the only theme park that is still processing payments for annual passes, it looks like they are now offering an option for guests to defer payments. However, the catch is that guests who take advantage of this option will not be eligible for the free upgrades when SeaWorld reopens.
Texas theme parks may open before Florida
Though there is no specific reopening dates for any of SeaWorld’s parks across the country, SeaWorld Interim CEO Mark Swanson said during an earnings call earlier this week that the company’s two parks in Texas (SeaWorld San Antonio and Aquatica San Antonio) could open first due to the state’s faster opening and lower attendance than the theme parks in Florida.
Of course, Florida has the most SeaWorld-owned parks with SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens Tampa and Adventure Island, and Interim CEO Swanson said that even though “We still don’t have a timeline, and things could change, after Texas, our next most hopeful is in Florida.”
Social Distancing measures will be in place
No matter what the timetables end up being for SeaWorld’s theme parks opening across the country, we do know that, like all other theme parks, there will be some big changes to operations to promote social distancing. Interim CEO Swanson said that he and his team are considering changes including enhanced sanitation, required mobile ordering and ride reservation systems. In addition,employees may be required to wear masks, undergo temperature checks and enforce social distancing for everyone inside the parks.
Don’t expect an immediate reopening once it is safe to do so
Though preliminary measures are being considered for SeaWorld’s reopening, actually getting the parks ready for guests will take some time, as Interim CEO Swanson has said once the company gets the green light from individual states, it will still be several weeks before the parks will be able to reopen as they implement new procedures.
As always, while this situation is evolving, all theme park fans should check out the CDC’s official site here, which has information on the virus and how to prevent its spread.
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