George Millay (July 4, 1929 – February 6, 2006) was an American businessman and founder of

SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...

and Wet 'n Wild

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

s. 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 The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He graduated in 1955 and worked as a stockbroker. In 1958, Millay and two partners who included

David Tallichet David Compton Tallichet Jr. (December 20, 1922 – October 31, 2007) was an American businessman who started, but did not originate, themed restaurants. He also owned scores of classic military aircraft. Early life Born in Dallas, Texas, Tallich ...

, formed Speciality Restaurants Corporation, a destination-restaurant business. Their first location was a

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n-themed

Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. More than 100 restaurants across the U.S. followed, including the ''Proud Bird'' adjacent to

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

, and ''94th Aero Squadron'' near

Van Nuys Airport : ''For the United States Air Force use of the airport (1942–1990), see Van Nuys Air National Guard Base'' Van Nuys Airport is a public airport in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The airport is operated by Los Angeles Wo ...

. 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. SeaWorld opened in 1964 in San Diego, California. An

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

named

Shamu Shamu (unknown – August 16, 1971) was a captive orca that appeared in shows at SeaWorld San Diego in the mid/late 1960s. She was the fourth orca ever captured, and the second female. She was caught in October 1965 and died in August 1971, aft ...

was added in 1965 and became one of its most successful attractions. Millay opened

SeaWorld Ohio SeaWorld Ohio was a theme park and marine zoological park, located in Aurora, Ohio. It was owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, formerly known as Busch Entertainment Corporation. The Ohio location was the second SeaWorld park t ...

in 1970 and

SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park, in Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Orla ...

in 1973. He assisted in the development of Magic Mountain. In 1977, Millay developed the now-defunct Wet 'n Wild water park in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

World Waterpark Association

Founded in 1982,

World Waterpark Association The World Waterpark Association (WWA), which was started in 1982, is an international not-for-profit member-based trade association that serves waterparks, aquatic venues and spray parks. The WWA is focused on providing its 1200 members with the ...

was inspired by Millay‘s creativity and success. Based in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As o ...

, World Waterpark Association is led by a volunteer board of directors, a Governance Committee, and a paid staff of directors and managers. Annually, WWA hosts a conference and

Trade Show A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...

to educate members and to showcase waterpark products and services. The organization publishes the

trade publication A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective te ...

''World Waterpark Magazine''. By the time Millay sold his company in 1998, ten Wet 'n Wild parks were in operation. Millay was inducted into the

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) represents over 6,000 amusement-industry members in more than 100 countries worldwide and operates several global attractions-industry trade shows. Its annual IAAPA Expo in ...

(IAAPA) Hall of Fame in 1994. Ten years later, the World Waterpark Association gave him their first ever

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

and named him the official "Father of the

Waterpark A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

". Millay died on February 6, 2006 at age 76 due to complications from lung cancer treatment in San Diego.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millay, George 1929 births 2006 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in California American entertainment industry businesspeople Businesspeople from San Diego 20th-century American businesspeople