United Parks & Resorts

United Parks & Resorts

Founded	1959
Headquarters	Orlando, Florida, USA
Official website	https://unitedparks.com/
Amusement parks	6

United Parks & Resorts, previously SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, is a family entertainment company owned by The Blackstone Group. United Parks & Resorts operates twelve theme parks located throughout the United States and United Arab Emirates. The chain was formerly a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch since 1959, under which it was known as Busch Entertainment Corporation.

History

Anheuser-Busch initially created the subsidiary to run the various Busch Gardens parks. The parks at Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia were located adjacent to breweries, and the parks included tours of the facilities and even free samples of the products made there.

In the fall of 2009, the Blackstone Group acquired Busch Entertainment. The Blackstone Group already owned a significant interest in Merlin Entertainments, which operates attractions and theme parks such as Madame Tussauds and Alton Towers.

On January 30, 2024, the company announced plans to change its corporate name from SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. to United Parks & Resorts Inc.

Amusement parks

Current (8)

Park	Location	Opened	Acquired	Additional Info
Busch Gardens Tampa	Tampa, Florida, USA	1959	N/A	Founding member
Busch Gardens Williamsburg	Williamsburg, Virginia, USA	1975	N/A	Founding member
SeaWorld Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	2023	N/A	Owned and operated by Miral Asset Management under license, only location outside the United States
SeaWorld Orlando	Orlando, Florida, USA	1973	1989	Acquired from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
SeaWorld San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas, USA	1988	1989	Acquired from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
SeaWorld San Diego	San Diego, California, USA	1964	1989	Acquired from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Sesame Place Philadelphia	Langhorne, Pennsylvania, USA	1980	N/A	Owned and operated under an exclusive license from Sesame Workshop Combined theme and water park
Sesame Place San Diego	Chula Vista, California, USA	1997	2012	Acquired from Cedar Fair, originally a sole water park before becoming a combined theme and water park Owned and operated under an exclusive license from Sesame Workshop Located about 20 miles from SeaWorld San Diego

Past (3)

Park	Location	Opened	Additional Info
Boardwalk and Baseball	Haines City, Florida, United States	1989	Closed in January 1990 due to low profitability and attendance, shortly after being purchased
Cypress Gardens	Winter Haven, Florida, United States	1936	Acquired from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1989, sold in 1995
Sesame Place	Irving, Dallas County, Texas, United States	1982	Closed following the 1984 season, announced not to be reopening in January 1985 following reported low attendance and revenue

Water parks

Current (4)

Park	Location	Opened	Additional Info
Adventure Island Tampa Bay	Tampa, Florida, USA	1980	Located opposite Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Aquatica Orlando	Orlando, Florida, USA	2007	Located opposite SeaWorld Orlando
Aquatica San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas, USA	2012	Located adjacent to SeaWorld San Antonio
Water Country USA	Williamsburg, Virginia, USA	1980	Located 3 miles from Busch Gardens Williamsburg