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SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

P. 276: Penguin Trek construction update!

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Planning a trip to SWO for the last full week in April, and I wondered whether it'd really be necessary for me to get QQU for my kids and myself. It's not even good for Kraken, and my previous experience was that SWO doesn't have really bad waits for their rides. I'll be going on either a Monday or Tuesday of that week. Thanks in advance for the input!

 

Honestly, I don’t think that you’ll need it. We went on a Tuesday in August and walked on Manta at opening and then rode it again with a short wait. We rode Mako 4 times in a row and never waited more than 10 minutes. We rode it a couple more times later in the day and it was still only a 10-15 min wait. We did wait about 45 minutes for Kraken, but that was with the stupid VR. Now that they’ve taken the VR off, you won’t have that problem.

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The VR is listed as "temporarily unavailable." When I was there this past week, Quick Queue was valid on Kraken. You could only use it on Row 7 though.

 

If you get to SeaWorld at opening (9 am), you should be able to get rides on Manta, Atlantis, Kraken, and Antarctica in the first hour. Mako opens at 10 and is a capacity machine. I haven't seen the line longer than 10 minutes myself.

 

By midday, I've seen Antarctica, Journey, and Manta post 30 minute waits, but the lines seem to dwindle back down towards closing like many parks.

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On busier days, just watch the time of the dolphin show, when that lets out they all go to Journey to Atlantis and Turtle Trek (and to a lesser degree Manta). JTAs line, on a hot day, will jump dramatically when that show lets out. At least it always used to -- Same goes with Wild Arctic when the Orca show lets out. Just something to keep in mind if you are watching the shows. Get in quick, or go farther away from the stadium.

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The VR is listed as "temporarily unavailable." When I was there this past week, Quick Queue was valid on Kraken. You could only use it on Row 7 though.

 

If you get to SeaWorld at opening (9 am), you should be able to get rides on Manta, Atlantis, Kraken, and Antarctica in the first hour. Mako opens at 10 and is a capacity machine. I haven't seen the line longer than 10 minutes myself.

 

By midday, I've seen Antarctica, Journey, and Manta post 30 minute waits, but the lines seem to dwindle back down towards closing like many parks.

They open at 10am on the weekdays when they are going. This also means that Mako may not open until 11am (I've had this happen to me on a couple occasions). But the rest however is about on point for a weekday around that time.

 

On a side note, on peak attendance days (like Spring Break, Bring a Friend month on weekends- usually in Sept., and holidays I've seen the line reach over 90 minutes for Mako. Of course they aren't going on a busy day so it doesn't apply.

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The only rides that carry lines at SeaWorld is Journey to Atlantis and Empire of the Penguin. The coasters are mostly walk ons. I visited this past weekend and Quick Queue was not needed. I've never needed it when visiting SeaWorld. The shows will be full, so always get there early for a decent seat. VR was not on Kraken and it doesn't look like it's going to return anytime soon.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today was the last day to ride Shamu Express. They have been announcing it at the ride all day (as can be heard in the video in the link below). It appears they have decided to get a move on with the Sesame Street transformation. The splash pad in the area has been blocked off for a couple months at least already. There has also been a lot of seating removed from around the play structure (which is to be removed permanently for the project). It just kills me with people taking the date the park gave last year as 2022 as if that's the end all...lol If I recall correctly, it was stayed by 2022 which means anytime before that.

 

https://www.facebook.com/RollerCoasterPro/posts/10155233515296965

Edited by bgtlover
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Went to the park on Saturday to check out the Food Festival. Few thoughts and observations;

 

-FINALLY bit the bullet and rode Mako in the front seat for the first time thanks to Boldikus and Coasterbill's recommendations, and... holy crap. While the back is definitely better down the first drop and is a bit more forceful on those final turns, front is absolutely my new go-to. Insanely strong floater, borderline ejector even, on the first few hills, and the view down the first drop is INCREDIBLE. Gives off SheiKra vibes, except way more intimidating with no OTSR on your body. So good. Gets me hyped to try out Apollo's Chariot since the last time I went to the park (2013) to compare the two.

 

-The food was great! First time going to the SeaWorld version, and while I only went to four booths, everything I got was superb. Favorite thing was the Bacon Cheddar Hushpuppies from the North Atlantic Market. I swear I saw Jesus when I bit into one. Not the best thing bacon-related at the Busch parks, but it's close.

 

-Rode Journey to Atlantis for the first time since the... um... "improvement"... yeah, not much to say here. Killed off basically any remnant of a comprehensible story the ride had, but the new score was a nice touch. The ride was as fun as ever, the infamous second drop didn't drown everyone on board this time to my pleasant surprise, and the coaster portion, while painfully short, has some wild laterals. I miss Allura.

 

EDIT:

Today was the last day to ride Shamu Express. It appears they have decided to get a move on with the Sesame Street transformation. The splash pad in the area has been blocked off for a couple months at least already. There has also been a lot of seating removed from around the play structure (which is to be removed permanently for the project). It just kills me with people taking the date the park gave last year as 2022 as if that's the end all...lol If I recall correctly, it was stayed by 2022 which means anytime before that.

 

Woah, what? That's crazy that they'd close down the only kiddie coaster in the park without any warning. I was at the park yesterday, and there were no signs or anything. Weird.

 

EDIT PART 2:

Shamu is now listed as SBNO on RCDb. RIP Happy Harbor I guess.

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There is more:

More walls up in the area (the splash pad has been walled up for awhile).

[EDIT] I was informed the awning was removed some time ago ( I hadn't noticed my last visit). I looked back at photos and found it was. That is a new wall however in front of Swishy Fishies ( mini teacups).

https://twitter.com/thrillgeek/status/983102791097909249

 

DaSueuhXkAEqLvi.jpg

 

Woah, what? That's crazy that they'd close down the only kiddie coaster in the park without any warning. I was at the park yesterday, and there were no signs or anything. Weird.

 

I would assume since spring break is pretty much over they are getting a head start. I was thinking they would wait until Infinity Falls opened at least. People in the SW groups on Facebook are going nuts...lol

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^The park has always said Summer. They have finally gone vertical recently and have most of the troughs done. Even a bit of rock work is done in certain areas and the station appears to be getting it's roof. There is still a whole lot of work to be done. I'll be surprised if it's open before July 4th. There are pictures if you search for them. I would share them, but they appear to be drone pics, and not sure from where they were taken.

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-FINALLY bit the bullet and rode Mako in the front seat for the first time thanks to Boldikus and Coasterbill's recommendations, and... holy crap. While the back is definitely better down the first drop and is a bit more forceful on those final turns, front is absolutely my new go-to. Insanely strong floater, borderline ejector even, on the first few hills, and the view down the first drop is INCREDIBLE. Gives off SheiKra vibes, except way more intimidating with no OTSR on your body. So good. Gets me hyped to try out Apollo's Chariot since the last time I went to the park (2013) to compare the two.

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Quick question...

Does anybody know why they removed the Kraken eggs at the exit of the coaster?

We noticed this last week, and wondering why they are gone.

 

Those were actually cocoons that were being watched by Kraken. See, Godzilla is going to attack the Willis tower here in Chicago any minute now and Rahm paid SeaWorld to come up with a defense solution. Hopefully, we'll have at least 8 Mothras to keep us safe here from the impending doom of Godzilla.

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Quick question...

Does anybody know why they removed the Kraken eggs at the exit of the coaster?

We noticed this last week, and wondering why they are gone.

 

Those were actually cocoons that were being watched by Kraken. See, Godzilla is going to attack the Willis tower here in Chicago any minute now and Rahm paid SeaWorld to come up with a defense solution. Hopefully, we'll have at least 8 Mothras to keep us safe here from the impending doom of Godzilla.

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Was just there last week, and it looks like they have a ways to go.

 

Yes, there is a lot of work left. There is still another section of troughs they have to build after they get through with the crane building the drop (from the looks of it).

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  • 2 weeks later...

I visited this park yesterday and everything was an absolute walk on. Ironically I brought the quick queue, and it was so worthless that the line attendants stopped even checking. I pretty much only used it so that I walk in through the shorter queue and not walk by unused queue lines.

 

What do you guys think that this mostly attributable to?

1. The fact that it is a Monday (but 71.4% of all days of the week are not on the weekend, so I'm not sure how much weight this holds).

2. The fact that its an inconvenient time of the year for most families... kids are still in school, and finals are coming up, so its not a highly prioritized time of the year to travel.

3. The forecast was for storms... but it always rains in Florida. It'll usually rain for 15-20 minutes and go away, this happens almost daily when the summer starts.

4. The most intriguing option...: has Blackfish and the other smearing against SeaWorld been hurting its imagine and making it less popular?

5. Or.... other? Something I'm not thinking about.

 

It seems a little odd that the park from what I'm reading is usually pretty deserted. The admission price is still somewhat high, so its not like they're slashing prices to get people in. It pretty much as the undisputed best coaster in Florida (Mako). Orlando is a hub for people to visit to go to parks. Which leads to another intriguing option brought up by The Florida Project:

 

6. Does Disney dominate Central Florida SO MUCH these days that people are more likely to just stay on Disney's campus these days and more or less never leave to explore the rest of the area?

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It's a little bit of all of your reasons which all added up to a pretty easy day.

 

The forecast yesterday was actually for rain all day which is more rare in Florida. Granted, it didn't actually rain for more than about an hour total, but forecasts can change a lot of peoples minds.

 

All schools are in session around the world this week.

 

Universal and Disney almost never see these absolute dead days anymore, but this week is pretty quiet.

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I visited this park yesterday and everything was an absolute walk on. Ironically I brought the quick queue, and it was so worthless that the line attendants stopped even checking. I pretty much only used it so that I walk in through the shorter queue and not walk by unused queue lines.

 

No offense, but that's not irony, that's just stupidity. I sound like a broken record by this point about this, but THIS is exactly why you don't buy skip-the-lines in advance. What makes it worse is if you just poked around a bit on this thread most people would have told you that you wouldn't need it @ Seaworld.

 

It pretty much as the undisputed best coaster in Florida (Mako).

Admittedly I love Mako to death but you better watch your mouth around here with statements like that.

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I visited this park yesterday and everything was an absolute walk on. Ironically I brought the quick queue, and it was so worthless that the line attendants stopped even checking. I pretty much only used it so that I walk in through the shorter queue and not walk by unused queue lines.

 

No offense, but that's not irony, that's just stupidity. I sound like a broken record by this point about this, but THIS is exactly why you don't buy skip-the-lines in advance. What makes it worse is if you just poked around a bit on this thread most people would have told you that you wouldn't need it @ Seaworld.

 

It pretty much as the undisputed best coaster in Florida (Mako).

Admittedly I love Mako to death but you better watch your mouth around here with statements like that.

 

Well, I hurt my knee the other day, and wanted to whatever I could to minimize standing around. This was an extreme case where there NO lines, but usually on dead days, I'll at least wait here and there.

 

I recently moved to Miami from Boston, so I guess that the Orlando parks are kind of my home parks, despite how long it takes to get around Miami traffic, and how long it takes to get there.

 

I appreciate the hell out of the theming of a lot of the Disney rides, but let's face it, from a raw coaster standpoint, there isn't exactly a whole lot of airtime, speed, or intensity.

 

The only coaster that I could see in the argument as a truly great coaster in the same category as Mako may be Cheetah Run, but I haven't been to BGT since it was added. I just love Maverick so much that I want to give any blitz coaster a chance to match its greatness. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of wooden coasters, so there isn't a lot of room from RMC converstion, but I think that with Sea World's light crowds, they would be an excellant candidate for a raptor. I could also see it fitting in well with the marine life theme.

Edited by Trackmaster
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It pretty much as the undisputed best coaster in Florida (Mako).

Admittedly I love Mako to death but you better watch your mouth around here with statements like that.

You know, if they had left the trims off the return camelback, I don't think that would be such a bold statement ... I love Mako to death too.

Edited by RollerManic
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Yeah I don't know about "undisputed", I love Mako to death but I can think of quite a few coasters in Florida I prefer. To each his own though. I could absolutely see why someone would find Mako the best coaster in Florida. I definitely prefer a handful of coasters at BGT, Mummy, a certain yeti infested mountain at Animal Kingdom and a flying coaster on the other side of the same park but that's just me.

 

Then again... I'm awful at ranking coasters. If you ask me what my favorite coaster in Florida is every day for 3 days you might get 3 different answers between Montu, Kumba and Everest. It's insane how many awesome coasters and rides are all located within 90 minutes of each other and I'm jealous of everyone that lives there.

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Yeah I don't know about "undisputed", I love Mako to death but I can think of quite a few coasters in Florida I prefer. To each his own though. I could absolutely see why someone would find Mako the best coaster in Florida. I definitely prefer a handful of coasters at BGT, Mummy, a certain yeti infested mountain at Animal Kingdom and a flying coaster on the other side of the same park but that's just me.

 

Then again... I'm awful at ranking coasters. If you ask me what my favorite coaster in Florida is every day for 3 days you might get 3 different answers between Montu, Kumba and Everest.

 

Well, I've been out of the game for several years. I was a big enthusiast in my teen years, off and on for about 10 years, and have been getting more recently into it. My coaster is 233, but many of them I haven't ridden in a while. I've only ridden three B&M hypers, and I could see how if you've ridden a lot, you would be a bit de-sensitized by them. I thought that it was just OK as I rode it in the middle first, then the front -- I was getting a little skeptical by that point -- but then I rode it on the back. From that point on, I know every lap was going to have to be in the back. Its an airtime machine back there. Even after the MCBR you get great forces.

 

So maybe when I say "undisputed" its an existential battle within my facilities and mind that I'm referring to. I know that everyone has their own preferences.

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