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SeaWorld San Diego (SWSD) Discussion Thread

p. 61: Jewels of the Sea Jellyfish Experience coming in 2024!

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Looks like a fun addition.

 

My only complaint with rides like these is why the face-to-face seating??? Perhaps it's the introvert in me, but I don't want to be staring right at strangers when I go on rides, lol.

 

I'm an introvert too, but i'm guessing it's because it allows them to offer forwards/backwards seating at the same time, people in groups of 3 or 4 can experience it as a group, or its easier mechanically for the ride cars to be designed that way potentially.

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Looks like a fun addition.

 

My only complaint with rides like these is why the face-to-face seating??? Perhaps it's the introvert in me, but I don't want to be staring right at strangers when I go on rides, lol.

 

Close your eyes and wear sunglasses, problem solved.

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Thanks, SteveUrkle! This thread was way too positive, and we really needed someone to completely overreact to this news. We were dangerouly low on complaints and were teetering on the edge of losing our coaster enthusiast site street cred. Now we're safely within coasterboy parameters.

 

Wait? Is this the "only positive comments allowed SeaWorld Sand Diego Discussion Thread"?

 

Or is this the one where we're allowed to give our opinion that the park could've skipped this attraction and done a lot better?

 

Because I think the park deserves better.

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Because I think the park deserves better.

You're most certainly entitled to your opinion, but remember that a big theme park doesn't just add a new attraction out of left field. Believe me, there's so much design and planning involved even when an addition is as simple as off-the-shelf flat ride. Obviously the team at SeaWorld Parks thought that Tidal Twister would be a good addition to a decently well-rounded park. They literally just opened Electric Eel too, do you honestly think that the success / failure of Tidal Twister will dictate whether they add that "done a lot better" attraction in a few years? They [apparently] have so much on their slate for the other parks for the 2020 season, someone has to take a skip year or two.

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Thanks, SteveUrkle! This thread was way too positive, and we really needed someone to completely overreact to this news. We were dangerouly low on complaints and were teetering on the edge of losing our coaster enthusiast site street cred. Now we're safely within coasterboy parameters.

 

Wait? Is this the "only positive comments allowed SeaWorld Sand Diego Discussion Thread"?

 

Or is this the one where we're allowed to give our opinion that the park could've skipped this attraction and done a lot better?

 

Because I think the park deserves better.

 

Do you think Tidal Twister is a better addition than Submarine Quest? As others have said complaining is fine, but if I was a local I would be a lot happier with this and last year's Electric Eel than 2017's Submarine Quest.

Edited by larrygator
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I'm not going to engage with trollish behaviour, and AJ said it really well already.

 

If anyone's trolling, it's you. Your comments are much more annoying than my logical criticism of this addition. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

 

Do you think Tidal Twister is a better addition than Submarine Quest? As others have said complaining is fine, but if I was a local I would be a lot happier with this and last year's Electric Eel than 2017's Submarine Quest.

 

I didn't even know about Submarine Quest, just watched a POV. And I dunno, that ride looks preeeeetty crappy, even for kids. With the money they're spending on Tidal Twister, I would have preferred them make that Sub Quest ride a lot better. It seems like it had potential. Or I'd prefer they just skip next year and not do Tidal Twister at all.

 

Again, hasn't anyone watched a video of that Harley Quin ride? The ride is super super loud? And the ride experience is terrible. And the capacity stinks. The entire thing just has question marks all over it for me. In a nice serene park it just seems like this ride is going to be a nuisance, and if it's anything like Harley Quin, not worth riding after 1 time.

 

The thing for me is that I love SeaWorld San Diego and I just hate seeing these Six Flags type budget rides being installed. Just feels so cheap.

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Again, hasn't anyone watched a video of that Harley Quin ride? The ride is super super loud? And the ride experience is terrible. And the capacity stinks. The entire thing just has question marks all over it for me.

The great thing about prototypes (Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster) is that you learn what you need to do to improve the experience of the next installation. Not everyone starting a new company in this business can pull off a New Texas Giant right out of the gate. The fact that Skyline sold Tidal Twister at all makes your question marks moot because they obviously have piqued parks' interests.

 

Besides, SeaWorld knows how to take a regular old ride and wrap it in a themed package. Infinity Falls, Mako, Tempesto, Electric Eel, the Ocean Explorer flat rides...

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I didn't even know about Submarine Quest, just watched a POV. And I dunno, that ride looks preeeeetty crappy, even for kids. With the money they're spending on Tidal Twister, I would have preferred them make that Sub Quest ride a lot better. It seems like it had potential. Or I'd prefer they just skip next year and not do Tidal Twister at all.

For a park chain in such a deep financial crisis, why would they think this is a good idea? (You can simulate this in RCT)

And the ride experience is terrible.

if it's anything like Harley Quin, not worth riding after 1 time.

Why would you think Horizon will have comparable ride experience to Harley Quin’s?

And the capacity stinks.

If Disney can run Dumbo in Disneyland this shouldn't be much of a problem.

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Do you think Tidal Twister is a better addition than Submarine Quest? As others have said complaining is fine, but if I was a local I would be a lot happier with this and last year's Electric Eel than 2017's Submarine Quest.

 

FYI, Sub Quest hasn't been open since last December (barely open before that, mind you). The marquee has been taken down and mention of the ride removed everywhere (park maps/website/etc.). The park has seemingly given up on the attraction. I wouldn't be surprised if the park is in litigation with Chance Rides for failing to deliver a product.

 

So yes, Tidal Twister will certainly be a better addition (given that it opens at all).

 

I'm just surprised SWSD went with another prototype attraction after the miserable failure of Sub Quest. Best of luck, guys.

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It just seems like Sub Quest was a low capacity attraction with little to the experience that wasn't worth the wait or the cost to operate. I'd imagine the park's overall satisfaction scores were increased on the days where the ride didn't operate versus those where it did. I'm more curious to see if any effort is made to salvage or re-utilize the ride's purpose-built structures for something else (like the did for the High in the Sky Seuss Sky Trolley at Islands of Adventure years ago) down the road.

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Just because I'm curious and have no life I did invest the time to get a ride on Submarine Quest. Of course the first two times I waited through the queue the ride went down right as I got to the station. On the third try I finally did get on and it was bad. I get that it was made for small children but I doubt that even they would've enjoyed it.

 

You know how some movies are so bad that you have to watch them to see how bad they are because it's hilarious? This was the ride equivalent of that. The one thing I will say is that I enjoyed the kinetic energy the ride vehicles added to the area. Just like the People Mover adds and added energy to Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. The awesome thing about those rides though is that they are fun to ride and watch.

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Doubt chance had anything to do with the show elements of the ride.

That's probably true, but my understanding is that the faulty hardware on the submarine vehicles is what 'killed' the attraction (the touchscreens were often broken too). They seemed to only get up to 2-3 subs (seating 6 per) operating at a time. This was well under the theoretical goal.

 

It just seems like Sub Quest was a low capacity attraction with little to the experience that wasn't worth the wait or the cost to operate. I'd imagine the park's overall satisfaction scores were increased on the days where the ride didn't operate versus those where it did.
I watched a POV of Submarine Quest and thought how ticked off I'd be if I'd waited in line for it.

It's clear that the ride was ill-conceived from the get-go - The scope of theme-ing and ride experience was likely contained by a tight budget. But the actual operating up-time and rider capacity was considerably lower than the park planned/wanted/paid for.

 

From my experience, when the ride was operating it often had the longest wait times in the park. The demand for this type of attraction is there... This one was just a failure.

 

SIDE NOTE - Journey to Atlantis closed today for a 7-month rehab (opening May 24, 2019). We don't know the full scope, but I'd love to see a re-theme and re-name!

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SIDE NOTE - Journey to Atlantis closed today for a 7-month rehab (opening May 24, 2019). We don't know the full scope, but I'd love to see a re-theme and re-name!

Oh wow, that's really extensive. I don't know that Sea World has the money to get it up to Orlando standards at the moment, so it could be just fixing a bunch of stuff on a 15 year old, mechanically complicated ride. Would be cool if they did add theming though.

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SIDE NOTE - Journey to Atlantis closed today for a 7-month rehab (opening May 24, 2019). We don't know the full scope, but I'd love to see a re-theme and re-name!

 

I was there in mid-September and it had a significant amount of downtime. The coaster sections were a little rough, too. It seems like it could probably use some work.

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  • 2 months later...

Trip Report 1/3/19

 

Went with some friends to the park on Thursday. We had a great time! It wasn’t terribly crowded, but it wasn’t empty by any means either. I don't write TRs too often and there’s not a whole ton new at the park but I had a good time and I love this park so I figured I’d share some pictures and experiences real quick.

 

I grew up going to this park whenever I visited my grandparents in San Diego, so it has a special place in my heart. I stopped going during middle school after I read some youtube comments from animal activists, but I’ve since come to my senses and realized that these parks do a lot more good for animals than they do bad, especially when it comes to education and conservation. This trip was my first time back in 4 years, before that I had a much longer hiatus from visiting, so a lot of the stuff was new to me.

 

The first thing we hit up was the Orca Encounter show. Holy Cow! I loved it! They did such a good job designing and planning this show! It’s not as good as Believe was, but since they banned waterwork it never will be. It is much better than One Ocean, though, and I’m so glad they invested in the giant screen in the new backdrop for the stadium.

 

We hit up Manta before going to Sea Lions Live. It was the same show as 4 years ago with some Fortnite jokes thrown in. A great show, for sure, but I do miss the walrus coming out in the middle! We then visited the freshwater aquarium and shark encounter before going to the dolphin show.

 

I’m not sure if it was because of the new baby dolphin or the christmas show, but I was underwhelmed by this show. They did announce at the beginning that it was the baby’s first week of shows and that they’d be starting off a little slower. You can tell the little guy’s in training; he didn’t do much other than swim around, but he was admittedly cute to watch. I was sad to see that they only have one of their pilot whales left; I guess the other one died? They didn’t use the remaining one in the show, though, which was a little disappointing. They are truly beautiful animals, and last time I saw the show they did some impressive waterwork with them.

 

The Dolphin Connections show at Dolphin Point is not one to miss. There’s usually only 1 per day and it’s not at a stadium, but if you came to Seaworld to touch a dolphin, get there early and ensure you have a spot near the water! The trainers explain a bit about how they train the dolphins and then have a couple of their friendlier ones swim by the edge for guests to reach out and pet. There’s no extra charge for going and is an experience I would highly recommend!

 

This was my first time on Electric Eel, my 102nd credit. It’s nothing to go out of your way for, but it fits really well at the park and is a very fun ride. Of course, Atlantis was closed, but that was no surprise to me.

 

After hitting up Wild Arctic and the penguin encounter, we headed back to Manta for a couple more rides before we left. Holy cow! That thing was hauling. When we rode it earlier in the day, it didn’t quite deliver the airtime I had remembered from my last trip, but at night it was running great! I rode twice, once in the back row and once in the 2nd to front row and I think I like the front better. You can see the door opening better and the transitions feel a little snappier. Overall it’s just a good ride, and one of my friends who I had visited SFMM with earlier this year commented that it was like Twisted Colossus: it’s very re-rideable and overall just fun. What a compliment! I personally love the ride in every way; it’s a fun layout that intertwines with the scenery beautifully. I had to explain to my friends that the tunnel isn’t normally just a few snowflakes and a Santa voiceover, though.

 

Again, I don’t normally post TRs but this park has a special place in my heart and, while I’m happy with the addition of some great rides and the beautiful scenery of the park, I find it very depressing that they can’t do as much with the animals as they used to be able to. I’m glad most of the politics surrounding Seaworld parks has died down. Maybe one day they’ll swing back and start breeding Orcas again but until that happens I guess I’ll start saving money to take my kids to Norway to see these amazing creatures!

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Love the new Orca Stadium!

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The ride was a little more sluggish but more photogenic during the day

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Lots of great moments on this ride. I would love to see more Mack's in the US!

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You can't really see baby in this photo. He didn't make any jumps and stayed by mom when she wasn't doing something acrobatic.

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The entrance to Electric Eel was arguably one of its best features.

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It's a good ride with some fun hangtime! A little less thrilling than I expected, though. If it were up to me I'd replace the non-inverting loop with just a normal vertical loop.

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Manta's trains looking sexy at night

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The whole area of the park is enhanced by this ride and I absolutely love it

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The giant screen is impressive but not too distracting

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How could you not love these animals!

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Beautiful animals in beautiful scenery

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The stadium is very underused without divers and other effects

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SIDE NOTE - Journey to Atlantis closed today for a 7-month rehab (opening May 24, 2019). We don't know the full scope, but I'd love to see a re-theme and re-name!

Oh wow, that's really extensive. I don't know that Sea World has the money to get it up to Orlando standards at the moment, so it could be just fixing a bunch of stuff on a 15 year old, mechanically complicated ride. Would be cool if they did add theming though.

 

There isn't a show building to add anything...All they could do is change the projections inside the silo.

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If this is true and, I don't doubt it, it just further highlights that SEAS has the worst public relations people on the planet. I don't know whether the parks have individual PR responsibilities or if it falls under corporate. Either way it has been a complete mess over the past few years due to cutbacks. Generating positive news for your entity through public relations is not brain surgery.

 

I'm not saying big promotional campaigns and teasers are needed. but major media outlets covering you demographic area should be notified and your socials needed to be used to announce and promote big news.

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