History of SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando is well known and well branded as a member of the Anheuser Busch family. It is difficult to imagine SeaWorld without the Hospitality Center, where guests over the age of 21 can sample a range of beers from across the Busch line, enjoy food pairings and converse with brewing experts, all free of charge in the Brewmaster’s Club. The world famous Budweiser Clydesdales seem a natural addition to the park. Few now remember that the previous owner of SeaWorld Orlando was not a beer company but a textbook publisher. How did a textbook publisher come to own a marine life park? For that matter, why was it bought out by a beer company? The history of SeaWorld Orlando has certainly been long and varied.

The SeaWorld family of parks was born not in Orlando but in San Diego. A group of 1960s UCLA graduates set out to build an underwater restaurant. They were unable to bring the restaurant plans to fruition and so decided to switch gears altogether, creating a marine life park instead. On March 21, 1964 at an estimated cost of only .5 million, SeaWorld San Diego opened with a handful of dolphins and sea lions and two aquariums.

The new park was a smashing success, welcoming over 400,000 visitors in its first year of operations. It was clear that the American public was ready for this new and different type of marine life experience. In 1968, SeaWorld made its stock available for public trading and the founders began the search for a new location for a sister park.

Eventually Aurora, Ohio was selected as SeaWorld’s second location. Climate challenges threatened the new property from the outset, permitting SeaWorld Ohio to operate only from mid-May to mid-September. Nonetheless, the location was perfectly situated within easy driving distance of most Midwestern and Northeastern states. The founders had done it again, and SeaWorld Ohio quickly found its popularity.

When Walt Disney World opened in Orlando during the second operating season of SeaWorld Ohio, it quickly became clear to SeaWorld’s founders that a new park was in order. Orlando offered the year-round pleasant climate of SeaWorld’s original San Diego. Additionally, SeaWorld’s owners realized that tourists would flock en masse to Walt Disney World as they already did to Disneyland. Plans were made to open a year-round park in Orlando to capitalize on both the tourist traffic and the climate. SeaWorld Orlando opened in 1973 and like San Diego and Ohio before it, was extremely popular from the outset.

During this time, William Jovanovich was plotting a course to expand his publishing company, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, into a true conglomerate. Jovanovich had taken the reins of the former Harcourt, Brace and Company in 1955, one year after the death of Alfred Harcourt. Donald Brace had been president since Harcourt’s resignation in 1942. Under the leadership of first Harcourt, then Brace, the company had developed a well-deserved reputation as an innovative and top-ranked publishing house. As early as the 1920s, the company offered full employment opportunities to women, which was nearly unheard of in the publishing field at the time. The company retained numerous famous authors throughout its history and was responsible for publishing Pulitzer Prize winning work.

By the time Jovanovich took over in 1955, the reputation of the publishing house was unmistakable. However, a respected editor left that year to found his own firm and several famous authors left with him. In Jovanovich, it was hoped that a strong leader had been elected who could take the company into the future.

Jovanovich wanted to diversify, branching out from straight publishing. Jovanovich bought up educational and publishing firms at the rate of at least one per year, and by 1970 had branched out into producing educational filmstrips. In 1970 Jovanovich became chairman as well as president and the company name was changed to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. (often shortened to HBJ).

Expansion continued during the 1970s and by 1976 HBJ was ready to tackle popular enterprises. With .7 million dollars, HBJ bought out the SeaWorld chain. SeaWorld never lost its popularity through the transition and in 1977 the parks helped HBJ’s overall gross sales to reach 1.7 million.

Bolstered by this success, Jovanovich continued to guide HBJ into expansion. In addition to continued expansion in other directions, HBJ went on a theme park buying spree during the 1980s. Eventually the company would acquire Circus World (which HBJ closed and re-themed as Boardwalk and Baseball), Cypress Gardens and Stars Hall of Fame (which HBJ reinvented as Places of Learning), all located in the Orlando area, as well as Marineland Amusements Corporation in California.

In 1986, HBJ made its single biggest acquisition: the educational and professional publishing division of CBS Inc. This last acquisition may have been the downfall of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, as the company made itself too attractive a target.

In 1987 the president of the British Printing and Communications Corporation, Robert Maxell, announced his desire to purchase HBJ as an American arm of his company for billion. When Jovanovich refused, the stage was set for a takeover attempt.

HBJ immediately began a fight against the takeover, one which put the company in a precarious position. HBJ was forced to triple its debt load, with bank loans making up the bulk of the debt. Two days later Maxell announced his intention to stop the takeover. Despite this announcement, he continued to try to block HBJ’s attempts at reorganization. Finally an Orange County, FL judge ruled in HBJ’s favor. Nonetheless, the damage had been done.

The increased debt load proved too much for HBJ and that same year it began selling off its assets. As late as January 1, 1988, however, the company continued to insist that its theme park division was not for sale and in fact, continued to expand the theme park division with the opening of SeaWorld San Antonio. Continued budgetary concerns forced layoffs at the parks later that year, however, and William Jovanovich retired as president and CEO in December 1988. His replacement, Ralph D. Caulo, restructured organization altogether in an attempt to regain financial solvency. In November 1989, the entire six-park theme park division was sold to Anheuser Busch.

Anheuser Busch had entered the theme park market in 1959, opening Busch Gardens in Tampa as a way to promote its beer to young people and families. By 1979, the original idea of combining beer with botanical gardens had shifted to the idea of tying in with full fledged theme parks across the country, and the Busch Entertainment Corporation subsidiary was born. In 1988, when HBJ fell on hard times and was selling off assets, the top performing SeaWorld parks seemed a natural addition to BEC’s holdings.

Nonetheless, HBJ was reluctant to separate the parks, preferring to sell off the entire theme park decision. BEC balked at the acquisition of Boardwalk and Baseball, which had never been profitable, and Cypress Gardens, which seemed too similar to Busch Gardens’ original concept. After a long negotiation, however, BEC agreed to take the lot. Almost immediately, Boardwalk and Baseball was closed and Cypress Gardens sold to its management team. This left BEC with its original interests: the four SeaWorld parks (although in 2001 the Ohio park was sold to Six Flags and is no longer used as a marine life park).

Busch sunk millions of dollars into its new parks. The Orlando park was greatly expanded, adding thrill rides and a brand new Shamu Stadium. The Key West area was added as well. Interactive programs, including sleepovers and adventure camps, are now offered for children, teens and adults.

With the addition of Discovery Cove and the recent announcement of a brand new water park called Aquatica, SeaWorld Orlando is well poised as a true competitor in the stiff Orlando theme park market. All new shows debut regularly, keeping SeaWorld Orlando up to date and relevant for today’s audiences. SeaWorld Orlando’s history has been rich and varied and its future promises to be bright.