Though Disney and Universal are certainly going through a rough patch with the closure of all of its worldwide theme parks, at the end of the day these big companies have several income segments to help support their business when the imminent danger from COVID-19 passes. However, SeaWorld does not have outside projects to help sustain it in the coming months and years, and a string of unfortunate circumstances have made this park group’s prospects go from bad to worse.
Another CEO jumps ship
Earlier this week, SeaWorld Entertainment’s chief executive officer Sergio Rivera resigned only five months after being hired late last year. Rivera is now the third CEO of the theme park company to depart in just over two years, and cited his disagreement with the board of directors’ involvement in decision-making at the company as the reason for his departure.
Marc Swanson, SeaWorld’s CFO and treasurer, was named interim CEO and will stay on the job until the theme parks reopen, hopefully this summer. And though losing yet another CEO is already bad news, unfortunately there are even more challenges that the company will face when it reopens.
Construction company places liens on SeaWorld for nonpayment
Mere weeks after SeaWorld’s parks shut down The Orlando Sentinel reports that a Winter Park construction firm says the company owes nearly $225,000 in unpaid bills and has sought three construction liens against SeaWorld for a trio of completed construction projects, including a newly-built bar at Aquatica, according to Orange County Comptroller’s records filed last week.
These unpaid liens could spell trouble for the park, especially as they are pulling in no money at the moment, and even when the parks reopen, will only be making a fraction of what they were thanks to depressed travel and an anxious public.
New attractions could be delayed
Image: SeaWorld
2020 was set to be a massive year for SeaWorld parks due to a number of new attractions opening. One of the biggest was the Ice Breaker roller coaster, which has been fully built and its trains placed on the track, and was supposed to open sometime this spring.
And over at Busch Gardens, the Iron Gwazi project, which was also in its final phases, was also put on hold right as the finishing touches were being put on this 206-foot-tall reimagined attraction.
However, with no official reopening date in sight and almost all SeaWorld employees furloughed until further notice, there is no chance for progress to be made on these attractions, and with a rock-bottom budget to work with, SeaWorld may have to focus on funding basic operations when it reopens, and delay all of these big projects until further notice will be necessary.
Though SeaWorld theme parks had been making a slow and steady comeback in recent years, the extended closures due to COVID-19 have put the parks in a very precarious position, and it is all but certain that they will have a much longer road to recovery than either of their Orlando theme park neighbors.
As always, while this situation is evolving, all travelers should check out the CDC’s official site here, which has information on the virus and how to prevent its spread.
