SeaWorld San Diego

[shiekra38]

Somehow this...thing...fails at being a fun flat ride and coaster at the same time

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Brace yourself for the shocking news Tidal Twister malfunctioned again...

Several riders rescued from SeaWorld rollercoaster

First responders on Friday rescued 30 people from a rollercoaster that stopped working at SeaWorld San Diego, fire officials said.

fox5sandiego.com

I have a feeling this might finally be the end for that lemon of a ride.

I don't understand why they bother trying to save it when they're so quick to give up on other much worthier rides. Even when it works it's a terrible unthemed ride with no element of speed or thrill; you're literally just sitting in a cramped seat for two minutes while you slowly and painfully *clunk* *clunk* your way over the same 20 feet of track over and over again.
If anything Tidal Twister just gets in the way of the much more interesting area behind it, which ought to be expanded and the aquariums reopened. Maybe a reef themed flat ride or two would be a good replacement.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Here's something I haven't seen at a theme park before: seems like the park is systematically going around and remodeling all of their restrooms at once (which was definitely needed), with a couple of them now reopened and several others still walled off.

Aside from that, a new pirate and mermaid themed stunt show looks to be coming to the park this summer, which sounds promising.


Shipwreck Rapids and Journey to Atlantis have both reopened with remodeled gift shops. Shipwreck café is still closed but now has a sign out front saying it will reopen this spring, after being completely gutted on the inside last year.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Great news all around

I’ll be getting an AP this may and excited for the new summer shows and the new coaster

Also I hope the remodeled shipwrecked cafe is better and getting guests in and out quicker

 

[Freak]

Great to hear about the improvements and the new stunt show! I’m glad SWSD is investing in some more live entertainment!

Also great to hear about Shipwreck Cafe. It was pretty good pre-Covid. Since they reopened the food has been VERY mid. Hope they improve the quality and the menu.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I agree the food was a little underwhelming at Shipwreck cafe, though I'll admit I loved the themed interior. Hopefully the new look will still resemble the inside of a wrecked ship, as the name and exterior would suggest. But yeah, good things happening at this park!
Speaking of good changes, I really like the FantaSEA of Dreams fireworks show they've been putting on this spring. It's short, but it feels like an actually coordinated nighttime show with timed fireworks, an original score (albeit recycled from Believe), and proper intro/postlude. I hope this can be a new "default" fireworks show when there isn't a special seasonal one happening, or that the park at least follows this same formula when planning other ones. The norm in the past was randomly timed fireworks with a few generic pop songs for a "soundtrack" that only gets played in one unannounced spot in the park, which just doesn't have nearly the same impact.

 

[Rideguy70]

Honestly, I generally don't eat in the park anymore. While the food is okay, it's really pricey and the service has been pretty slow. They allow you to leave and reenter the parking lot, so I usually go off property (either to Pacific Beach or Ocean Beach area) and return.

Also a bit curious they haven't announced an opening date for Arctic Run yet. Really hoping they get on that soon.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Honestly, I generally don't eat in the park anymore. While the food is okay, it's really pricey and the service has been pretty slow. They allow you to leave and reenter the parking lot, so I usually go off property (either to Pacific Beach or Ocean Beach area) and return.

Also a bit curious they haven't announced an opening date for Arctic Run yet. Really hoping they get on that soon.

Yeah it still has that like 4 percent extra fee on all foods and the service can be very slow

I hope the ride is open by the 4th of July at the latest. I’d love it before that but considering it doesn’t have a date yet, I hope July at the latest

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I hope the ride is open by the 4th of July at the latest. I’d love it before that but considering it doesn’t have a date yet, I hope July at the latest

I'm guessing the rain has pushed back the opening. That said, I'd rather wait a bit longer if it means more theming, which I believe is what they're working on at this point.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I also saw the Bay of Play area is rumored to be getting a Pirate/Mermaid theme, which I guess makes sense with the new stunt show coming this summer.

Also rumors of some sort of animal show coming back to the Nautilus Theater this summer

So lots happening this year at Sea World

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I also saw the Bay of Play area is rumored to be getting a Pirate/Mermaid theme, which I guess makes sense with the new stunt show coming this summer.

Also rumors of some sort of animal show coming back to the Nautilus Theater this summer

So lots happening this year at Sea World

That's what I've heard too! Tbh I'm still not 100% convinced it's gonna be rethemed to pirates and mermaids and there wasn't just a mixup with the new show... this would be the first park in the chain to not have any Sesame Street stuff. It makes sense from the perspective that they want families to buy tickets to Sesame Place, but I think it also shouldn't be downplayed how big of a draw that IP is with little kids for SWSD, regardless of how comparatively lackluster the Bay of Play is.
In any event, the play area really did need an upgrade so I'm glad it's getting one!

The other thing I've heard is upgrades to Orca Encounter, which would explain why they recently installed new signs and even some orca sculptures for it. I'm kinda hoping they don't change the natural-looking show set though, it's definitely an upgrade over the stripped-down look they've gone with on the dolphin stadium or the recycled One Ocean/Believe set still being used in Orlando and San Antonio.

 

[Jerroddragon]

That's what I've heard too! Tbh I'm still not 100% convinced it's gonna be rethemed to pirates and mermaids and there wasn't just a mixup with the new show... this would be the first park in the chain to not have any Sesame Street stuff. It makes sense from the perspective that they want families to buy tickets to Sesame Place, but I think it also shouldn't be downplayed how big of a draw that IP is with little kids for SWSD, regardless of how comparatively lackluster the Bay of Play is.
In any event, the play area really did need an upgrade so I'm glad it's getting one!

The other thing I've heard is upgrades to Orca Encounter, which would explain why they recently installed new signs and even some orca sculptures for it. I'm kinda hoping they don't change the natural-looking show set though, it's definitely an upgrade over the stripped-down look they've gone with on the dolphin stadium or the recycled One Ocean/Believe set still being used in Orlando and San Antonio.

Rumors but you can see that one of the rides from that area also moved to Sesame Street (the Elmo themed Dumbo type ride)

So we will see what they are doing soon enough.

They for sure need a dark ride or two for Sesame Street place. I know I'm not the target demo but for its price see almost no value in that park, when you could go to Lego land and have wayyyyyyyy more to do. They need to at the very least add it to AP's or at least one free ticket a year to go or else I don't think its going to do that well.

 

[Freak]

Rumors but you can see that one of the rides from that area also moved to Sesame Street (the Elmo themed Dumbo type ride)

So we will see what they are doing soon enough.

They for sure need a dark ride or two for Sesame Street place. I know I'm not the target demo but for its price see almost no value in that park, when you could go to Lego land and have wayyyyyyyy more to do. They need to at the very least add it to AP's or at least one free ticket a year to go or else I don't think its going to do that well.

I really don’t trust Sea World to do a proper dark ride. I think the best solution for an indoor ride would be a small indoor flying theater something like the one that’s found on the Island at Pigeon Forge. I’ve been on it and it take up shockingly little space and it’s a lot of fun! I personally enjoyed it more than Disney’s Soarin’. Something like that would be perfect for SWSD.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I really don’t trust Sea World to do a proper dark ride. I think the best solution for an indoor ride would be a small indoor flying theater something like the one that’s found on the Island at Pigeon Forge. I’ve been on it and it take up shockingly little space and it’s a lot of fun! I personally enjoyed it more than Disney’s Soarin’. Something like that would be perfect for SWSD.

That would be nice as well

Even a flat train ride going through nice gardens with themes of the characters would be welcomed but the park is half water park and so in the summer I get why people would go there but the other half of the year......they just need more offerings at that park. Some sort of 10 minute 3D show, a flat ride and dark ride/soarin ride like you mentioned I think would make that part more interesting

 

[OrlLover]

I find interesting how this park is rumored to get all these non coaster investments. Which is nice change for once but I wonder will these trickle to the other locations ?

 

[Jerroddragon]

I find interesting how this park is rumored to get all these non coaster investments. Which is nice change for once but I wonder will these trickle to the other locations.

You mean other sea world parks?

 

[OrlLover]

You mean other sea world parks?

Yes

 

[Jerroddragon]

Honestly it's great to hear they working on so much in this park
New Summer shows, new kids area, new themed coaster, restaurants getting redo, bathrooms being redone

Very excited for my trip to the park in two weeks

 

[GAcoaster]

SeaWorld Parks have all been doing quite a bit of improvement to shops and restaurants to improve efficiency and modernize them. It's smart spending and often makes a big difference in the parks.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Rumors but you can see that one of the rides from that area also moved to Sesame Street (the Elmo themed Dumbo type ride)

So we will see what they are doing soon enough.

They for sure need a dark ride or two for Sesame Street place. I know I'm not the target demo but for its price see almost no value in that park, when you could go to Lego land and have wayyyyyyyy more to do. They need to at the very least add it to AP's or at least one free ticket a year to go or else I don't think its going to do that well.

I've been hearing rumors of that as well, though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me that they'd bother moving more flat rides to Sesame Place when I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the Bay of Play area that doesn't already exist at the other park.

I'd agree on the dark ride too. I'm also not at all the target demographic lol but from the one time I visited (they do occasionally give SWSD pass holders free tickets there btw), it seemed like the one thing the park was really sorely missing was a solid indoor themed ride. It seems like there's every reason to build one too--the normal ticket prices are comparable to a full-fledged theme park, the company seems to be more willing to invest in higher quality themed attractions when it comes to Sesame Street, they're already opening two new additions in 2023--barely a year after opening the park--there's plenty of room for additions, and they need a marquee attraction to make the park worth visiting in the months when the water slides are closed.

I find interesting how this park is rumored to get all these non coaster investments. Which is nice change for once but I wonder will these trickle to the other locations ?

It probably helps that SWSD is limited by height restrictions due to its proximity to the water and the area of town it's in, which effectively stops them from building wall to wall roller coasters. Unless they want to have an entire park of blue low-lying family launch coasters they'll probably need to start exploring other types of new attractions in the coming years, now that most of the land with higher height limits has already been filled with coasters. I'm curious what the plan is for the other two Wild Arctic simulator bays that won't be the Arctic Rescue station and still have the exit doors in place. If it's not a maintenance area for the new ride or something then maybe it'd be a good spot for a flying theater--something that could be duplicated at SWO, BGT, and BGW, which we know the company likes to do.