December 15, 2023, 8:02 PM ·
SeaWorld Orlando might soon be joining its Central Florida rivals in offering an on-site hotel for its theme park guests.
The park has filed a Development Plan Review with Orange County for a 504-room hotel that it wishes to build on nearly 30 acres of back-of-house land at the corner of International Drive and Central Florida Parkway.With the project name “Starboard,” the 15-floor hotel would include 747 parking spaces and nearly 43,000 square feet of conference meeting space. It also would include a rooftop terrace bar. Hotel guests could access the theme park via an elevated boardwalk across landscaped grounds that would enter into the park next to the Nautilus theater.
Site plan for the proposed SeaWorld Orlando hotel. Images from the Orange County public filing
Profile of the planned SeaWorld Orlando hotelSeaWorld long has talked about developing hotels for its theme park properties, which also include SeaWorld-branded parks in San Diego and San Antonio, as well as Busch Gardens-branded parks in Tampa and Williamsburg, Virginia. The company’s Central Florida rivals – Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and even Legoland Florida – all have multiple hotels on their properties, putting SeaWorld at a competitive disadvantage in booking guests who would have SeaWorld as their primary base for an Orlando-area vacation.The approval process for the proposed hotel will carry into 2024. There’s no timeline yet on when the hotel might open, should it be approved.* * *
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