Our lunch highlight at SeaWorld ® – getting to sample the free beer from Anheuser-Busch is no more.

I was always amazed at the huge line for the free beer. The last time I went the line was out the door with people happily waiting up to twenty minutes just to get a sample.

Conveniently, the “beer tent” was also a cafeteria and did a huge volume of food business around the samples. SeaWorld ® plans to turn the free beer area into a place of more “broader appeal” (1). The closure could also be a cost cutting measure especially if it saves thousands of dollars daily.

By the way, for those of you that are interested in renting a vacation home close to Sea World the nearest community is Vista Cay which we review HERE.

I don’t think anyone really went to SeaWorld ® just for the free beer which is probably why it is being closed, but rest assured it will be sorely missed.

Once again, Sea World ® has increased their ticket prices. The new price increase (1) (the third in the last year) for a regular one day admission is still priced about five cents below Walt Disney World ® and Universal Studios Orlando ®.

It is interesting that Orlando area parks have aggressively increased their park prices given the current face of the economic crisis, and the fact the number of tourists to the area have plummeted since November 08.

Sea World’s parent company is Busch Entertainment Corp., which also owns Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Aquatica, a major Orlando water park.

The standard Sea World ticket has gone up approximately 15% since October 2007, bringing the one day standard price closer to its multiday pass. This encourages visitors to purchase the multiday and capture the ancillary revenues via their outlets for their Orlando vacation.

Some Orlando parks are able to package their tickets with on-site hotels, further encouraging tourists to stay on site rather than book an outside hotel. Please see our other blog posts on the value opportunity this creates for vacationers. Despite these changes, Orlando area vacation vacation homes still present the best value in the market on a per square foot basis(2).

SeaWorld Orlando