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SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

P. 276: Penguin Trek construction update!

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I always chuckle when people say America doesn't work with Intamin anymore. They may not have built a massive hyper coaster in the last couple years but it seems like every year thee still pumping rides into ameraica via Rapids, drop towers tire launch coasters ect

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I still don't "get" this attraction at all, but it certainly looks nice.

 

Same, as much as I like rapids rides I like not being totally soaked more. (I still want one of these in a waterpark, then I'd ride it all day)

 

I feel you, but obviously these rapids rides are quite popular as they get lines and keep getting built. I can tell you that kids LOVE them. KT is at a Disney camp this week and the highlight for most of the kids is riding Kali River Rapids, maybe because all of us no fun adults don't normally let them ride and get soaked in their clothes?

 

Also, it's hot here like 11 months out of the year so it's a good place for a rapids!

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I feel like people will enjoy the ride when they're in the park, I'm just skeptical that anyone's going to be driving down I-4 and see an Infinity Falls billboard between the Harry Potter billboard and the Pandora billboard and plan a trip to SeaWorld... especially since Disney and Universal already have very similar attractions.

 

I just don't know if a ride with a heavy staffing commitment that's expensive to operate is the right move for SeaWorld unless it actually draws some gate. I'm sure it'll be fun and I'm sure they'll make it look great and maybe this is why they get paid the big bucks and I don't but I'm pretty confused by Infinity Falls.

 

That said, I love the Sesame Street move. I love it even more because it's opening in the same year that Star Wars land and Potter coaster are opening. SeaWorld can't compete with that, so capitalizing on a strong kids IP that appeals to an entirely different demographic than those areas seems brilliant. I don't know how much faith I have in Infinity Falls moving the needle though.

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I just don't know if a ride with a heavy staffing commitment that's expensive to operate is the right move for SeaWorld unless it actually draws some gate. I'm sure it'll be fun and I'm sure they'll make it look great and maybe this is why they get paid the big bucks and I don't but I'm pretty confused by Infinity Falls.

 

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I'm as ignorant as anyone about the industry but I would guess that the initial cost of the attraction was considerably less than Mako or another full size coaster. Concrete is a lot cheaper than steel so maybe the costs of the project off set the long term operations expense.

 

I feel like people will enjoy the ride when they're in the park, I'm just skeptical that anyone's going to be driving down I-4 and see an Infinity Falls billboard between the Harry Potter billboard and the Pandora billboard and plan a trip to SeaWorld... especially since Disney and Universal already have very similar attractions.

 

I mean realistically would anything SeaWorld built attract people over Universal or Disney? I feel like generally speaking people come to Orlando for multi day trips to Disney and Universal, then maybe add on some other parks/attractions here and there in between so similar rides at other parks maybe isn't that big of a deal. If it does matter then maybe this will tick of Universal enough to build a Flying Dinosaur Coaster in Jurassic Park haha.

 

"Oh you wanna build a rapids ride huh, two can play this game, get B&M on the phone! stick to you're fish shows and Sesame Street....."

-Some Universal Executive (probably not)

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At the end of the day I don't know, and that's why I don't work in marketing for SeaWorld. I'm 100% confident that Universal and Disney have zero interest in what SeaWorld does, but SeaWorld has mentioned on conference calls that they're very in tune with what everyone else is doing because they pretty much have to be. Hell, they even blamed the late opening of Diagon Alley for their attendance drop once.

 

Again, I hope I'm wrong and Infinity Falls is a huge hit.

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It really feels like this attraction was designed to give Sea World a great water ride (for the Florida heat) and a tag line (big drop on a river rapids ride). I don't think this ride will make tourist change their plans but, it gives Sea World a nice new ride to attract those local passholder crowds. With Florida's population now the 3rd biggest of any state, with over 20 million, they may just find their new growth model with becoming the 'ticket' for locals.

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Hopefully this ride will be ready to go soon. It looks like a great addition to the park. I think once the landscaping grows in over the next few years it will really complement Sea World's beautiful grounds.

 

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The new store.

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It looks like this ride will really shine after dark.

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Holiday giant Thomas Cook has announced it will stop selling trips to animal parks that keep killer whales.

 

The firm said more than 90% of its customers were concerned about animal welfare.

 

The two parks it will stop selling tickets to as a result are SeaWorld, in Florida, and Loro Parque in Tenerife.

 

"This was not a decision we took lightly," chief executive Peter Fankhauser said as he announced the new policy.

 

In a blog post, he acknowledged that both parks had met standards and had made improvements to how animals were kept.

 

But, he said: "From next summer, we will no longer sell any animal attractions that keep orcas in captivity.

 

"We have actively engaged with a range of animal welfare specialists in the last 18 months, and taken account of the scientific evidence they have provided.

 

"We have also taken feedback from our customers, more than 90% of whom told us that it was important that their holiday company takes animal welfare seriously.

 

"And when so many of our customers are so clear in their view, I could not allow our business to ignore them," Mr Fankhauser said.

 

"I am clear about the kind of business that we want to be. That's why we introduced our animal welfare policy 18 months ago, and that's why we've taken this decision today."

 

Criticism of keeping orcas in captivity has intensified since a 2013 Netflix documentary Blackfish about a performing killer whale called Tilikum.

 

SeaWorld's visitor numbers fell, although the theme park described Blackfish as "manipulative".

 

Last year, Thomas Cook began an audit of 49 animal parks to see if they met its policy on animal welfare, based on standards set by ABTA (the Association of British Travel Agents). Some 29 failed, and the travel firm stopped selling tickets.

 

The latest ban was announced on Sunday.

 

Mr Fankhauser said: "We will work with both [theme parks] over the next 12 months to prepare for our exit.... We will also continue to work ourselves to identify more sustainable alternatives.

Source

 

5 years later and Blackfish is still a thing making news?

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Ugh, Blackfish. I'm into animal rights. I don't believe circuses should be using elephants, tigers, etc. I don't eat meat. I think it's disgusting what we do to animals on a daily basis. BUT even I found Blackfish to be very one sided. Most documentaries are so skewed for the audience to see what the filmmaker wants them to see. I don't understand how people don't realize this.

I support Sea World and their conservation efforts. They said they're stopping breeding the Orca, what more do people want? They can't be released into the wild. I'm gonna stop because I could go on forever about this subject.

I love that Cook won't sell to parks that have substandard care for their animals, but Sea World isn't one of them.

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Sounds like they're saying that Sea World met their standards but they're still not selling tickets. That seems biased to me, like they did this audit of the 49 parks specifically to exclude SeaWorld, and when their own audit showed SeaWorld's one of the good ones, they just went according to their pre-conceived idea anyway.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey everyone -

 

I'm considering driving down for the Thrill Fest event tonight, and I'm also considering an annual pass to SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa. Have they ever offered discounts on annual passes throughout the year, or is the $220 the best you can get?

 

I want to go to each park at least once a year, so it ends up being the same cost to do both parks once plus parking than it does to get an annual pass.

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Hey everyone -

 

I'm considering driving down for the Thrill Fest event tonight, and I'm also considering an annual pass to SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa. Have they ever offered discounts on annual passes throughout the year, or is the $220 the best you can get?

 

I want to go to each park at least once a year, so it ends up being the same cost to do both parks once plus parking than it does to get an annual pass.

 

If you can wait a few months and can make the deal work for you the past couple of years they have had huge sales on "Blue" (Black) Friday. A few years back when I bought one it was BOGO annual passes and last year it was maybe buy 1 get one half off or something. Might not be the most practical discount if you're buying one for yourself only but if someone goes in on it with you might be a pretty decent savings.

 

EDIT: here's a link to the Orlando Sentinel article about last years sale, there were BOGO single day tickets as well, which I'm guessing could have been used at both SWO and BGT. And the AP's were buy one get one half off but in years past they were buy one get one free so no telling what this year's promotion will be.

www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-blog/os-bz-seaworld-blue-friday-bogo-tickets-20171102-story.html#

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If you can wait a few months and can make the deal work for you the past couple of years they have had huge sales on "Blue" (Black) Friday. A few years back when I bought one it was BOGO annual passes and last year it was maybe buy 1 get one half off or something. Might not be the most practical discount if you're buying one for yourself only but if someone goes in on it with you might be a pretty decent savings.

That's fair, I've just been looking for an excuse to get a pass and the thingie tonight seems like a pretty good excuse.

 

EDIT: Was just looking at buy-one-get-one half off tickets on the website. $150 and then still having to pay for $45 parking between the two parks still makes a pass look like a better buy.

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Yeah, I've got my fingers crossed for BOGO passes again this year but I doubt that deal will return since the park seems to be doing pretty well. I like the different multi-day ticket options they offer but once you factor in parking they really don't make any sense. $170 for unlimited visits over 14 days seem great but once you pay to park 4 times you've already bought a SWO+BGT+Aquatica pass. I guess you can always Uber on vacation but not as practical for locals.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
The construction walls are down for Infinity Falls. A good sign the ride will be opening soon.

www.amusementinsider.com/2018/09/infinity-falls-soft-opening-soon.html

Oh, good... nice to see the walls are down on their new for 2018 summer attraction.... in Mid-September... I'll bet it soft opens in the next day or two just so they can say it "opened Summer 2018"

Edited by robbalvey
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The ride looks great. I don't understand why it's there or why they think this will draw a single person to the park but I mean... it's pretty.

Sums up my thoughts perfectly. I see nothing wrong with this attraction at all. But I can't think of the last time a rapids ride is something that made people go out of their way to create an extra click through a turnstile.

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I will say it is nice to see a new rapids ride be built. The usual water rides are becoming less and less common it seems. I doubt anybody in Virginia or wherever is like LETS GO TO FLORIDA FOR THE NEW RAPIDS RIDE but it will be a cool ride to ride whenever I go to SWO for the first time.

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The ride looks great. I don't understand why it's there or why they think this will draw a single person to the park but I mean... it's pretty.

 

This. So much. This.

 

The ride really does look great, and I'm sure it will be fun... But I when I think of people planning a vacation, (both enthusiasts and the general public) I just can't see someone saying "Holy crap Martha! Did you see this new rapids ride at Sea World?? We MUST GO THERE NOW!!!"

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