If we got anything like Apollo's Chariot over at BGW, I would be the happiest camper ever.
Only got to do AC once, great coaster...I've been dying for something like that in FL
I care less about height and more about air time. Some of my favorite coasters are under the 200 mark, but so damn amazing you don't even care. Some of my least favorite are over 200, and make me think that the park was so focused on building the biggest/tallest/fastest/longest that they forgot all about making the entire ride awesome. I can see a 200ish footer being great for Sea World. Lots of potential with this coaster.
I care less about height and more about air time. Some of my favorite coasters are under the 200 mark, but so damn amazing you don't even care. Some of my least favorite are over 200, and make me think that the park was so focused on building the biggest/tallest/fastest/longest that they forgot all about making the entire ride awesome. I can see a 200ish footer being great for Sea World. Lots of potential with this coaster.
Perception has a lot to do with a drop thrill. I'd rather have a climb & then a long drop into a ravine, like the Griffin, Loch Ness Monster at BGW and Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, rather than the parking lot coasters that take you up 200 feet & drop you 200 feet. Falling into a ravine is a heck of a lot more thrilling. So the terrain has a lot to do with the ride's entertainment factor.
More like a ditch, really.doesn't HRRR technically drops into a ravine after the last block break before you go into the final helix up?
I care less about height and more about air time.
I know what you mean, but you can't look south from the Convention Center and see air time. You can see a 200' coaster. I think this is largely about reminding the traffic on I-Drive, "hey, we're still here!"
I've been pretty critical of the height simply because I fear it will not have the anticipated effect attendance they're hoping for. I just think the 200ft height advertising once it comes time to Open will be on peoples minds but with Kong and Frozen next year it will be an afterthought in many tourists vacations. Another thing to consider is SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Tampa have NEVER opened thrill rides in the same year? Both will open a new coaster next year so it's very possible SW's coaster outshines it's sister park and BGT suffers instead. So many possibilities but until I see the full breakdown I remain optimistic it will be the thing SW really needs in todays themepark wars.
SeaWorld doesn't need to worry about tourists coming in for Frozen and King Kong (altho honestly King Kong should be scared of Frozen too). They took enough of a hit that they'll be happy with more attendance from locals. I bet they're gonna really be gunning to sell annual passes too. Given that park's size, they don't need to bring in Disney/Universal size numbers to be successful on their own scale. You mention the "theme park wars" but really, SeaWorld isn't a part of that, they're just competing against their own standards.
Yes, I think the coaster will attract locals for the most part. It should give them a bit of an attendance bump. Many of the tourists will be coming from areas that are within driving distance of the large coaster heavy regional parks that have lots of coasters similar or better than what's coming so it probably won't be much of a draw for them.