When was shamu stadium built

Behind the main performance tank, the whales retreat from the spotlight in the living and breeding tanks. Contributing to the continued success of Shamu Stadium is the fact that the architecture never distracts from the performance; rather, it supports an ever evolving show. The design concept of the stadium and its relation to the show and audience have been consistent from its opening—it still operates today as it did more than 25 years ago to provide a thrilling experience for SeaWorld visitors and a comfortable home for Shamu and friends.

Themed Entertainment. Even after the expansion, however, Sea World San Diego will remain physically smaller than the Florida park. Before bulldozers began grading six weeks ago, Sea World officials had to complete a three-year journey through seven city departments and the California Coastal Commission to obtain necessary permits.

Another attraction will be a one-acre concrete map of the United States, with pools of water representing the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, and an ice-skating rink representing Alaska. A similar map, which is in Florida but is not part of the Sea World park there, has proven very popular, Becker said.

However, the new front gate will feature something Sea World officials have been reticent about promoting--higher admission prices. Becker said the rise is not related to the expansion, since Sea World usually increases admission prices every two years, and has not done so since Unline rival Marineland's owners, SeaWorld's four owners aggressively reinvested their earnings back into the park, allowing it to expand and in just four years eclipse Marineland in annual attendance.

A history display on the construction fence surrounding the park's upcoming Explorers Reef entry plaza. Shamu, the third orca killer whale ever captured — and the first healthy orca to be caught intentionally, came to the park in December , after being caught earlier that year in Washington's Puget Sound by a Seattle aquarium.

Shamu died in , but her name continues to be used as the stage name for all of the theme park chain's orcas around the country. SeaWorld became a publicly-traded corporation for the first time in , which allowed the park to invest more money in expansion, and not just in San Diego.

SeaWorld soon backed out, but if you put a SeaWorld map and a Magic Mountain map side by side, you'll see multiple similarities, including iconic observation towers near their entrances and meandering paths that look nothing like Disney's traditional "hub and spoke" layout. Corky continues to live and perform there today.

Facing crippling levels of debt, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich sold its theme parks to Anheuser-Busch in , which had experience operating animal-themed attractions with its Busch Gardens theme parks. Anheuser-Busch also owned the U. In , Belgian brewer InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch, and the next year sold the parks once again, this time to private equity firm The Blackstone Group, which also owned the Legoland theme parks and half of the Universal Orlando Resort.

In , SeaWorld San Diego opened its Manta roller coaster and the next year Blackstone offered another "initial" public offering of SeaWorld stock, making SeaWorld again a publicly-traded company. Over the years and its several owners, SeaWorld helped developed many of what have become standard practices for the care and breeding of marine mammals in captivity, and SeaWorld animal care employees routinely lead or assist in the rescue, care, rehabilitation and reintroduction to the wild of injured marine mammals, seabirds and other wildlife.