Credit: SeaWorldA week ago, this was a rumor with no confirmation attached to it.
On July 29, a social media report claimed SeaWorld Orlando park president Jon “JP” Peterson had been forced out of the company. It followed an earlier discussion in which someone said they had heard Peterson was retiring, effective immediately. There was no public announcement from the company, no job listing posted, and no statement from Peterson himself.
We covered it at the time with a heavy dose of caution, because that is what the situation called for. A missing job listing proves nothing. Companies fill senior roles internally, use interim executives, and run private searches all the time. SeaWorld’s own public materials continued to identify Peterson as president earlier in 2026.
The responsible read was narrow. A report said he was out. The company had not confirmed anything. That silence left a legitimate question hanging over the park without answering it.
This week, the answer arrived.
United Parks Announces the SeaWorld Orlando Change
SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, and Discovery Cove are once again under a single park president.
Brad Gilmour, who has led Aquatica and Discovery Cove since 2023, immediately adds SeaWorld Orlando to his responsibilities.
The 23-year company veteran succeeds Jon “JP” Peterson, whose departure was not explained in Thursday’s announcement.
That last detail is worth sitting with. The company confirmed the transition without offering any explanation for why Peterson is gone, which does not resolve the questions raised by last week’s reporting. It confirms the outcome without addressing the circumstances.
Who Is Brad Gilmour
Gilmour is not an outside hire brought in with a generic turnaround plan.
He has spent more than two decades with the company and has led Aquatica and Discovery Cove since January 2023. Many people in the local attractions community have watched his career develop over that span.
For a company navigating as much as United Parks & Resorts currently is, handing an expanded role to someone with that much institutional history offers a degree of continuity.
SeaWorld Is Returning to a Structure It Used Before
This is not a new arrangement. It is a reversal of a fairly recent one.
Kyle Miller was named interim president of SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica, and Discovery Cove in 2019, and later continued in the role permanently.
The company split those responsibilities in January 2023 when Miller was promoted to a corporate operations position. Peterson became president of SeaWorld Orlando, and Gilmour became president of Aquatica and Discovery Cove.
Gilmour’s appointment reunites all three parks under one president for the first time since that transition.
Miller remains with United Parks & Resorts as chief parks operations officer for its Florida parks, a broader corporate position he has held since January 2023.
What Peterson Leaves Behind
Peterson was not a placeholder executive, and it is worth acknowledging what happened during his tenure.
When SeaWorld promoted him in 2023, the company said he had spent approximately three decades with the organization, including years leading zoological operations and SeaWorld Orlando’s rescue work.
During his presidency, the park opened Penguin Trek and Expedition Odyssey. The latter was subsequently closed and reworked as Expedition Odyssey: Fire & Ice less than a year after its original debut.
In a May interview with Attractions Magazine around the Fire & Ice debut, Peterson spoke about the collaboration behind the attraction.
“You get a vision and a conversation of, ‘How do we make this better?'” Peterson said.
He praised the queue, music, scents, visuals, and emotional storytelling, and was particularly enthusiastic about its cross-generational appeal.
“I think we have hit something that is going to be, for a very long time, a ride that people talk about,” Peterson said.
Gilmour now inherits that work rather than starting from an empty drawing board.
The SeaWorld Orlando Challenges Waiting for Him
Gilmour’s expanded role comes with a substantial list of unresolved issues, some of which sit directly in his existing portfolio.
The National Labor Relations Board recently ordered Discovery Cove to recognize and bargain with a union representing divers at Discovery Cove and Aquatica, after finding the company unlawfully refused to do so. That dispute began while Gilmour was president of those two parks, though the public record does not establish his individual role in the company’s response.
Beyond that, United Parks & Resorts is navigating multiple legal matters. The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged its accessibility policies. A separate dispute with Sesame Workshop concerns the company’s licensing agreement.
The business pressures are real, too. The company reported weaker attendance and financial results for 2025, raising questions about how to balance cost controls with continued investment. It is still moving forward with new attractions, including SeaQuest: Legends of the Deep at SeaWorld Orlando.
On this week’s earnings call, United Parks executives outlined priorities, including improving marketing execution, growing attendance, and using intellectual property to reach new audiences. That last one is already showing up in the parks, with licensed horror entering Howl-O-Scream for the first time this fall.
What This Means for Guests
Practically speaking, not much changes tomorrow.
Park presidents oversee significant operational and strategic decisions, but SeaWorld Orlando runs through a larger corporate and park-level leadership structure. Scheduled events, attractions, and tickets are not affected by a leadership transition.
The real impact is directional. One president now sets the tone for three Orlando parks instead of two people splitting that work, which means decisions about guest experience, pricing, seasonal events, and investment across SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica, and Discovery Cove all run through the same office.
Whether that produces more coherence across the three properties or simply spreads one executive thinner is the question worth watching.
Where This Leaves SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando occupies a difficult spot in the Central Florida market. It competes for vacation time against Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort while maintaining an identity built around animal care, rescue operations, live presentations, seasonal events, and a growing coaster lineup.
Gilmour takes over a park in the middle of a genuine push toward more immersive, story-driven attractions, with a company behind him that is publicly focused on rebuilding attendance.
He also takes it over without the company explaining why the previous president is no longer there.
