It is rare for a theme park to get a new name, but it does happen. Case in point: Walt Disney World's Disney MGM Studios became Disney's Hollywood Studios.
My pitch to SeaWorld: change the name of SeaWorld to Busch Bay. I think it could solve a bunch of problems.
SeaWorld has been struggling with its image. Rumors about the future of the parks have been swirling online for years.
SeaWorld getting sold or closing down is the biggest rumor on the internet lately. While nobody should believe everything they read online, one SeaWorld park has closed in the past: SeaWorld of Ohio (1970-2000).
SeaWorld Ohio was not allowed to build rides. So it was sold off as expansion to Six Flags Ohio. Ironically, Six Flags Ohio was sold off to Cedar Fair, and the former SeaWorld site became a water park.
The addition of roller coasters to SeaWorld parks started in 1997 with The Great White inverted coaster in San Antonio.
Anheuser-Busch bought the SeaWorld parks in 1989. So SeaWorld slowly started to resemble its sister Busch Gardens parks.
SeaWorld Orlando got Kraken in 2000, giving the Orlando market a new place for big thrills.
Some of the marketing and merchandising for SeaWorld's Kraken was very similar to Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Loch Ness Monster roller coaster (opened in 1978).
Kraken and the Loch Ness Monster promotional mascots: Fraternal Twins! (Recently Kraken was switched to a more traditional "release the Kraken" squid as part of the new "Kraken Unleashed" VR overlay).
Eventually, the SeaWorld/Busch Gardens chain was sold off by the owners of Anheuser-Busch. This brought the new SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment chain that includes Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, Sesame Place, and several water parks. The Busch name is licensed to SeaWorld Parks.
Once Upon a Time, Shamu and his crew appeared in McDonald's Happy Meals.
These days, the cartoon Shamu is not quite as visible.
The old Shamu has a bit of an image problem today. So does this old Ronald McDonald.
SeaWorld Parks have a secret weapon. And that weapon is Sesame Place.
Opened in Langhorne, Pennsylvania in 1980, Sesame Place is a small Sesame Street theme park.
Sesame Place is very successful for SeaWorld. A new park is planned to open somewhere else in the United States.
Sesame Street lands exist in both Busch Gardens parks and at SeaWorld parks in California and Texas. Florida is next (could it be a mini Sesame Place?).
Additions like hypercoaster Mako (added to SeaWorld Florida in 2016) further added to the idea that the park was becoming more like Busch Gardens.
The next new ride for SeaWorld Orlando is Infinity Falls, a raft ride with a vertical lift that opens in 2018.
I thought of a new marketing slogan for Busch Bay: Come Sail Away at Busch Bay.
They'd have to use the Styx song "Come Sail Away" in the commercials.
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