SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

^Light up the night is my favorite of the various Shamu shows. The music is catchy, it's really cheesy good fun. A good concert followed by that show and then a late night ride on a coaster should satisfy just about anybody!

I don't like the way Mako is being advertised. It says the coaster will be unrivaled. Don't get me wrong Mako is a good addition to Sea World Orlando and will probably be the best coaster there. But to say with all the hypers out there that it will be "unrivaled" is totally false and arrogant.

^I'm confused, when's the last time you saw 'not as good as the other ones out there' on a billboard?

^I'm confused, when's the last time you saw 'not as good as the other ones out there' on a billboard?

Obviously you forgot this.

Went to seaworld yesterday as a surprise visit but did not ride anything due of the waits the first time in a while I seen big waits for every ride there manta was 50 mins kraken was 30 mins with journey to Atlantis,sky tower, and Antarctica.they have been really improving the merchandise and improving the plants inside the park by removing a lot of the bushes and replacing them with nice flowers and stuff like that.

^I'm confused, when's the last time you saw 'not as good as the other ones out there' on a billboard?

Or, "There are worse coasters you could be riding!"

^I'm confused, when's the last time you saw 'not as good as the other ones out there' on a billboard?

 

Obviously you forgot this.

Tonight Theme Park Review was invited to attend the first night of SeaWorld Orlando's 2015 run of Summer Nights. This year's event features the return of the Shamu's Celebration: Light Up the Night show and extended park hours, coupled with the introduction of a new weekend Summer Concert Series featuring different musical acts each weekend. All of this is included in normal park admission to enjoy in addition to all year round offerings at the park.

Our evening at Summer Nights began with a concert by Trick Pony in the Nautilus Theater, previous home of the recently-closed A'Lure: Call of the Ocean show.

Trick Pony is a country band who rose to billboard success in the 90's but has been touring ever since.

They put on quite a good show!

Even if you're not a country fan, the concerts are worth checking out since they are included in general park admission.

A fun show to see!

It is nice to see the Nautilus Theater in use again!

Next week's acts...

We visited Shamu over at the Killer Whale viewing area behind Shamu Stadium.

The former games area has been demolished to make way for a new pretzel eatery set to debut later this year.

The Pretzel Bacon Fury from Busch Gardens Tampa is expected to be offered here as well!

The Pearl Divers are back at The Waterfront after being previously laid off in a round of budget cuts.

It is great to see this space being put to its intended use.

Passholders can enjoy "Happy Hour" discounts on alcoholic beverages at The Sandbar, Sharks Underwater Grill and the Terrace BBQ.

We had to indulge.

Since we're already here...

Let's check out some penguins!

As the sun began to set and the rain slowed to a near-stop...

A huge rainbow began to appear...

And shortly after, the full rainbow (along with second larger rainbow above it.

Shamu's Celebration: Light Up the Night features a DJ hyping the show along as it goes.

Pretty!

Get ready for some Killer Whale photos!

The show concludes with some fantastic fireworks.

Well worth the wait!

Come by and check out Summer Nights at SeaWorld Orlando when you get a chance--you'll have a great time!

Special thanks to SeaWorld for allowing us to join for another fantastic night at the park! We'll definitely be revisiting Summer Nights before it is over (and you should too)!

When they say "summer 2016" for Mako can anyone give an idea of when it may open? I'm planning to visit Florida late April and would be devastated to see it almost ready but being unable to ride it. Same with Cobras Curse.

When they say summer, sometimes they mean Memorial Day weekend as that's kind of the beginning of the summer season for theme parks. Or it could actually mean the season of summer, which would mean June. So for Mako, I'm expecting late May to possibly early July. As for Cobra's Curse, they haven't given a timeframe at all besides 2016. I doubt it will be open by April. I've heard they're hoping to have it ready for Memorial Day weekend, but are just a little shy to give too specific of a time after the whole Falcon's Fury delay of opening.

Well judging off Manta, Antarctica and Kraken, since B&M's go up pretty quick and also since this is B&M, I doubt their will be many problems delaying this coaster. I'd say that the end of May(20th-31st) is a safe bet for when the coaster will be open. They've even already begun work on the area with clearings and stuff like that.

^ and ^^ thanks although not the answer I was hoping for. I fear I may just miss out on both.

Yeah, pretty much every major ride in the SeaWorld/Busch family (except for those that faced delays like FF) opened the Friday before Memorial Day, except for Kraken, which opened the Friday after Memorial Day. So if all goes well, expect it to be open May 27th. That's my best guess at least.

^ did any of those rides have soft openings earlier than that?

Manta had about 3 weeks of soft opens for a couple hours a day. Cheetah Hunt didn't have any non-media/employee soft opens, so the general public had to wait until opening day for that (well actually, more of the day after opening day, as it was down for almost the entire day it opened). So still don't expect it to be open in April, but there might be a soft open early to mid-May.

^thanks again. Will hold off the trips there as late as possible and hope for the best!

The summer nights even looks great, I wish they would release the artists who are performing more than a week in advance. Also, I wonder why they chose to use the Nautilus instead of Bayside Stadium for the concerts this year?

The summer nights even looks great, I wish they would release the artists who are performing more than a week in advance. Also, I wonder why they chose to use the Nautilus instead of Bayside Stadium for the concerts this year?

I don't know either however, I saw a picture of the Trick Pony concert and it didn't look full at all so I'd assume the Bayside would have been way too big.

The summer nights even looks great, I wish they would release the artists who are performing more than a week in advance. Also, I wonder why they chose to use the Nautilus instead of Bayside Stadium for the concerts this year?

I don't know either however, I saw a picture of the Trick Pony concert and it didn't look full at all so I'd assume the Bayside would have been way too big.

Yeah, maybe they knew that the acts they booked weren't big enough to draw a huge crowd so they decied to do it inside? Then again it doesn't really matter who is playing having live music kind of adds to the ambiance of the park at night a bit during the summer. And with summer crowds I would think anyone playing would draw some people to the stadium especially in the eveneing near Shamu stadium.

I still wish they would release the artists mroe than a week in advance, I'm definatley planning to make it down once or twice over the summer and would love to know who was playing so I could plan ahead accordingly.

I would guess its a combination of the groups not being major draws as well as summer rain for why the concerts are not in the Basyside stadium.So far I have no clue who the groups announced are.A website has Foghat listed as a group that's coming but not announced by Sea World yet,also not a big draw but at least I've heard some of their songs

I would guess its a combination of the groups not being major draws as well as summer rain for why the concerts are not in the Basyside stadium.So far I have no clue who the groups announced are.A website has Foghat listed as a group that's coming but not announced by Sea World yet,also not a big draw but at least I've heard some of their songs

But are you a "fool for the city"?

Just went to SeaWorld Orlando this past Sunday here are some of my favorite photos I took:

I recently got an annual pass so if you have any photo requests, I'd be happy to take them next time I come and post them here.

Baby flamingo following mom!

Not only can you find sea turtles at TurtleTrek, there are still some smaller ones at the pelican exhibit (formally Turtle Pointe)

Lots of big active eels in the Jewels of the Sea Aquarium near Journey to Atlantis

Sea lion with baby!

Shamu underwater viewing

Shamu underwater viewing

Panoramic Blue Horizons photo towards beginning of show - unfortunately no pilot whales at the 4:30 show when I was there

^I hadn't seen them in the show for several years. . I hadn't been coming to the park as often as I used to so I was unaware they had even added the rescued pilot whales to the show. It is so much better then they have that segment. I last came in March but was not feeling well. I left after I made sure all my family had gotten in (I got them all 50% of tickets using my annual pass). I'm hoping to get there at least once next month.

^I spoke to an employee and she said that they're only in the show sometimes (I guess they're still getting used to it/learning the behaviors)

Video and more info here: http://www.iloveseaworld.com/pilot-whales-now-display-seaworld-orlando/

Yesterday we were at the park with campers getting off of Turtle Trek when it went code purple (lightning within 5 miles, stay under shelter) and we had to stay in the exit listening to the song on a loop for almost two hours! I calculated that it's about a 3 minute loop and it says the word "journey" 27 times each loop, so an average of about once every 6.6 seconds. We heard the word roughly 1000 times during that period before we were able to shuttle our counsellors out of there!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do any rides or shows due to the weather (still not used to this crazy Florida weather!) but we did get to sleep in the beluga viewing area!