George Millay

George Millay
Millay in 1989
Born(1929-07-04)July 4, 1929
Mercy Hospital,[1] San Diego, California, US
DiedFebruary 6, 2006(2006-02-06) (aged 76)
San Diego, California, US
EducationUCLA
Known forFounder of SeaWorld and Wet 'n Wild Orlando, creator of the water park[2]

George Millay (July 4, 1929 – February 6, 2006) was an American businessman and founder of SeaWorld and Wet 'n Wild water parks.

Millay was born July 4, 1929, at Mercy Hospital and grew up in Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and Hawaii. After serving three years in the Navy, he enrolled at UCLA. He graduated in 1955 and worked as a stockbroker.[1]

In 1958, Millay and two partners who included David Tallichet, formed Speciality Restaurants Corporation, a destination-restaurant business. Their first location was a Polynesian-themed Reef in Long Beach. More than 100 restaurants across the U.S. followed, including the Proud Bird adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport, and 94th Aero Squadron near Van Nuys Airport.

After selling SRC to Tallichet, Millay envisioned creating an underwater zoo. Joining with two fraternity brothers and their former fraternity adviser, the group hoped to create an attraction to rival Marineland.[3] SeaWorld opened in 1964 in San Diego, California. An orca named Shamu was added in 1965 and became one of its most successful attractions. Millay opened SeaWorld Ohio in 1970 and SeaWorld Orlando in 1973. He assisted in the development of Magic Mountain.[4] In 1977, Millay developed the now-defunct Wet 'n Wild water park in Orlando, Florida.

  1. ^ a b Williams, Jack. "George Millay, 76; creative force behind SeaWorld, Wet 'n Wild". U-T San Diego. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  2. ^ Curtis, Bryan (September 10, 2014). "The Wet Stuff". Grantland.
  3. ^ Joe (August 12, 2014). "SEA WORLD MYTHS – GEORGE MILLAY HATED EDUCATION PART 1". The Mid-Cap Chronicles. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Business Wire was invoked but never defined (see the help page).