Stockholders' Equity	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Equity [Abstract]
Stockholders' Equity	20. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY As of December 31, 2019, 94,044,203 shares of common stock were issued in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet, which includes 15,790,463 shares of treasury stock held by the Company (see Share Repurchase Program discussion below), but excludes 474,460 unvested shares of common stock and 2,440,952 unvested restricted stock units held by certain participants in the Company’s equity compensation plans (see Note 19–Equity-Based Compensation). Share Repurchase Program The Board previously authorized the repurchase of up to $250.0 million of the Company’s common stock (the “Share Repurchase Program”). Under the Share Repurchase Program, the Company is authorized to repurchase shares through open market purchases, privately-negotiated transactions or otherwise in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans and under Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act. The Share Repurchase Program has no time limit and may be suspended or discontinued completely at any time. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company completed a share repurchase of 5,615,874 shares (see discussion relating to the SEAS Repurchase in Note 17–Related Party Transactions for further details). On August 2, 2019, the Company’s Board approved a replenishment to the Share Repurchase Program of $150.0 million, bringing the total amount authorized for future share repurchases back up to $250.0 million. As of December 31, 2019, $250.0 million remained available for future share repurchases. The number of shares to be purchased and the timing of purchases will be based on the Company’s trading windows and available liquidity, general business and market conditions and other factors, including legal requirements and alternative opportunities. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company repurchased a total of 3,654,816 shares of common stock at a total cost of approximately $98.0 million. No shares were repurchased by the Company during the year ended December 31, 2017. All shares repurchased pursuant to the Share Repurchase Program, along with shares repurchased directly from selling stockholders concurrently with previous secondary offerings, are recorded as treasury stock at a total cost of $402.9 million and $252.9 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and are reflected as a reduction to stockholders’ equity in the accompanying consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ equity. Dividends In 2016, the Board suspended the Company’s then existing quarterly dividend policy to allow greater flexibility to deploy capital to opportunities that offer the greatest long term returns to shareholders, such as, but not limited to, investments in new attractions, debt repayments or share repurchases. For the year ended December 31, 2017, approximately $1.5 million of accumulated dividends were paid related to shares which vested during the respective year and is reflected in other financing activities in the accompanying consolidated statements of cash flows. These shares, which were granted prior to the dividend suspension, carried dividend rights and therefore the dividends accumulated and were paid when the shares vested in accordance with the underlying equity compensation grants. Accumulated dividends paid for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were not material.

Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

20. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

As of December 31, 2019, 94,044,203 shares of common stock were issued in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet, which includes 15,790,463 shares of treasury stock held by the Company (see Share Repurchase Program discussion below), but excludes 474,460 unvested shares of common stock and 2,440,952 unvested restricted stock units held by certain participants in the Company’s equity compensation plans (see Note 19–Equity-Based Compensation).

Share Repurchase Program

The Board previously authorized the repurchase of up to $250.0 million of the Company’s common stock (the “Share Repurchase Program”). Under the Share Repurchase Program, the Company is authorized to repurchase shares through open market purchases, privately-negotiated transactions or otherwise in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans and under Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act. The Share Repurchase Program has no time limit and may be suspended or discontinued completely at any time.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company completed a share repurchase of 5,615,874 shares (see discussion relating to the SEAS Repurchase in Note 17–Related Party Transactions for further details). On August 2, 2019, the Company’s Board approved a replenishment to the Share Repurchase Program of $150.0 million, bringing the total amount authorized for future share repurchases back up to $250.0 million. As of December 31, 2019, $250.0 million remained available for future share repurchases.

The number of shares to be purchased and the timing of purchases will be based on the Company’s trading windows and available liquidity, general business and market conditions and other factors, including legal requirements and alternative opportunities. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company repurchased a total of 3,654,816 shares of common stock at a total cost of approximately $98.0 million. No shares were repurchased by the Company during the year ended December 31, 2017.

All shares repurchased pursuant to the Share Repurchase Program, along with shares repurchased directly from selling stockholders concurrently with previous secondary offerings, are recorded as treasury stock at a total cost of $402.9 million and $252.9 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and are reflected as a reduction to stockholders’ equity in the accompanying consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ equity.

Dividends

In 2016, the Board suspended the Company’s then existing quarterly dividend policy to allow greater flexibility to deploy capital to opportunities that offer the greatest long term returns to shareholders, such as, but not limited to, investments in new attractions, debt repayments or share repurchases. For the year ended December 31, 2017, approximately $1.5 million of accumulated dividends were paid related to shares which vested during the respective year and is reflected in other financing activities in the accompanying consolidated statements of cash flows. These shares, which were granted prior to the dividend suspension, carried dividend rights and therefore the dividends accumulated and were paid when the shares vested in accordance with the underlying equity compensation grants. Accumulated dividends paid for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were not material.