SeaWorld is celebrating Shark Week next week with a limited-time "Ultimate Shark Experience." The $199 ticket includes park admission, a quick-service meal and drink, a Quick Queue pass for a selected roller coaster, a shark souvenir, a behind-the-scenes tour and an up-close encounter with small sharks. Tickets are available for the Orlando, San Diego, and San Antonio parks via their respective websites for admission July 21 through 28. SeaWorld says that $25 from each ticket will go to shark conservation.
At SeaWorld's new park in Abu Dhabi, SeaWorld will celebrate the ocean's Very Important Predator with educational talks including live diver chats, shark-themed games and activities, and a "Sharkathon," where guests can follow clues in the park and collect stamps from education team members for a chance to win a behind-the-scenes shark tour on the day of their visit. For tickets to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, please visit our travel partner.
Back in the United States, SeaWorld Orlando has announced the return of its Craft Beer Festival, which starts July 28 and continues on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through September 4. The festival will be serving more than 100 craft brews, wines, seltzers, and cocktails along with more than a dozen special food selections, including Pulled Pork Sliders and Short Rib Poutine. Sampler lanyards will be on sale in the park. For park admission starting at $73, see our partner's SeaWorld Orlando tickets page.
On the topic of food, today Disney and its partner Dole are celebrating Dole Whip Day. Dole sent me a couple boxes of their new Dole Whip product that is available via groceries. I tried them for you in this video. (Spoiler alert: If you get the thawing right, it tastes just like the Dole Whip from Disneyland.)
In other Disneyland news, the park has announced that Queenie and the Jambalaya Jazz Band will perform nightly on the Rivers of America. The band will perform three sets, starting at 7:35pm each night, as they float across the river on a New Orleans-themed raft. Shows start tomorrow, July 21.
And in case that news sparks a question in your mind, no, Disneyland has not revealed anything yet about the return of Fantasmic!, which was cancelled for the summer following a fire that consumed the Maleficent character prop in April.
Merlin Entertainments has announced Spencer Holt as its new Chief Experience & People Officer.
"Through this newly created role, Holt will be responsible for both the employee journey of Merlin’s 30,000-strong workforce and the guest experience delivered to over 50 million visitors who visit Merlin’s attractions across the globe each year," the company said in its press release. Holt comes to Merlin from the Global Leader Group consultancy, following work at Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he headed the company's Commercial Learning and Innovation Center.
Finally, Shawn McCoy - who has been a podcast and interview guest as well as a post contributor here on Theme Park Insider [see Why St. Louis' City Museum Is Ahead of Its Time] - has announced that he is joining Imagine Exhibitions as Senior Vice President, Business Development & Creative Strategy. Shawn previously worked as a Senior Vice President for JRA - Part of RWS Global and is also well known in the industry for the annual IAAPA Expo panel he has co-hosted with Thinkwell's Cynthia Sharpe.
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This is a clever cross-promotion that I'm surprised hasn't been done before by Sea World (at least that I can remember). "Shark Week" has become a bit of a pop culture phenomenon, so much so that Disney-owned NatGeo has their own knock off of the concept (Shark Fest), and for a group of theme parks that have actual live sharks makes for a perfect tie-in.