It is no secret that the SeaWorld family of parks were not doing spectacularly well prior to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, but in the wake of the shutdown, things have really fallen apart for the company, with the new CEO jumping ship, three construction liens filed against SeaWorld, and now SeaWorld is asking for a bailout from both the local and the federal government to help cover its losses. And now we are learning more about how this parks group, which owns and operates not only the SeaWorld parks, but also Busch Gardens and Aquatica parks, is trying to stay afloat through this pandemic.
SeaWorld has secured enough loans to survive the year
Several weeks ago, the situation with SeaWorld was pretty dire, with the parks operator losing an estimated $2 Million per day while the shutdown is ongoing. However, the good news is that the company recently secured $227.5 million in loans, according to an SEC filing. With this new cash-raising loan SeaWorld has said it officially has enough cash to survive through to 2021, even if the worst case scenario happens and its theme parks don’t reopen at all in 2020. Interim CEO Marc Swanson made the following statement about the future of the theme parks company:
“I am proud of our team and thankful for their resilience during these uncertain times. We are fully committed to successfully navigating through this current environment, reopening our parks and welcoming back our guests as soon as it’s safe and permitted.”
Finding a way to support workers
Unlike Disney and Universal, when SeaWorld closed all of its parks back in March, they did not continue paying their workers for any length of time, furloughing all but the most essential employees immediately. And while it looks like the the company may be back in black thanks to the above loans as well as some federal programs designed to help struggling companies, local unions are lobbying for funds to be withheld from SeaWorld until the company puts the furloughed workers back on its payroll and restores their health benefits.
Reopening still in limbo
Of course, the $2 Million per day question is of course when SeaWorld will be able to reopen, and right now there aren’t many easy answers. Right now Florida has reopened some businesses as part of its “phase 1”, which allows restaurants to resume dine-in operation with reduced capacity of 25% of their indoor seating occupied and outdoor dining allowed as long as tables are spaced six-feet apart.
In addition, retail stores can reopen if they operate at no more than 25% of their building occupancy and abide by the safety guidelines issued by the CDC. And while this could theoretically pave the way for Disney Springs and Universal CityWalk to reopen, there has been no guidance thus far about theme parks, which leaves SeaWorld in limbo for the time being. In a statement, SeaWorld said it is hoping to open as soon as possible to get employees back to work:
“Like many hospitality, leisure and travel businesses closed due to the pandemic, SeaWorld is exploring all possible avenues that will allow the company to preserve jobs, care for animals and meet minimum operating requirements. Our goal is to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so in order for our parks to continue to contribute to the strength of our communities, families and economy.”
Unfortunately right now there doesn’t seem to be a hard reopening date or specific plan in place for SeaWorld, or any other parks in central Florida, but as we learn more about these tentative plans, we’ll let you know more!
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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