What SeaWorld Orlando Taught Me About Public Relations

I’ve spent much of January reliving my family’s holiday trek to Florida for all things amusement park, going so far as to write this post on what I learned about public relations from Disney World and this post on what I learned from Universal Orlando.

But our family visited a third family of parks during our stay as well: SeaWorld.

Much like the other parks,  while we moved from thrill rides to animal encounters, I found myself thinking again about what we communications professionals could learn from the attractions. Here are some thoughts:

Beluga Whale Encounter

This up-close experience is unforgettable, not just because you are inches from a beluga whale, but because you learn how to communicate with them. Guests use hand motions and sounds to connect. This is a great reminder that public relations folks cannot communicate at people. We have to communicate with them. That means stripping away jargon, including various industry buzzwords, and delivering messages in a way that cuts through noise and actually lands. The same goes for working with the media. If the message does not feel accessible, it is not going to resonate.

Pipeline Surf Coaster

Pipeline is a stand-up coaster, which immediately changes everything. You are not seated and locked into a familiar position. You are just standing and waiting to see and feel everything in a wholly new way. That is a reminder that good PR requires more than seeing different perspectives. Whether it is understanding a reporter’s deadline, a stakeholder’s concerns, or a community’s lived experience, strong communicators do not succeed by seeing or understanding something in just one way, or the way it has always been understood. They stand up, look around, and adjust accordingly.

Mako

Mako is Orlando’s tallest and fastest roller coaster, but the real PR lesson is not about speed. It is about the power of words. The ride is named after one of the ocean’s fastest sharks, and that choice instantly conveys power, agility, and intensity. The lesson? Word choice still matters. Headlines, subject lines, campaign names, and even internal language shape how messages are received. The right words can signal confidence and clarity before a single paragraph is read. And bonus points when there is an appropriate time to be clever, as this ride’s creator so clearer was.

Also, a final note that once the Orcas who were born in captivity at SeaWorld pass, there will never be Orcas at SeaWorld again. This is also a lesson: when you are wrong about something, admit it and work to fix it.