I had fun @ Seaworld Orlando with the filming of a new Extreme Coasters show for the Travel Channel. I would of posted this in that thread, but this was an all out trip report that included more than that. I figured it deserved it's own thread.
I got up at 4am so I could get ready to head to Orlando (I live in Gainesville). I think I slept for all of an hour, if that. We left about 5 and arrived at the park just before 7.
After parking and heading to the gate, we all signed waivers and went into the park. I obviously edited the form above so not to show my personal info.
Today’s coaster was Manta. (They did filming for Kraken yesterday.) After receiving some general directions on what was to take place, it definitely was a process of waiting & watching and seemed to go on forever. There were about 52 of us and several were picked for interviews, wear hand cams and/or camera harnesses during the ride. It was interesting to see and be part of filming this type of show. It can be complex, yet simple at the same time.
It’s just a waiting game between takes. It was interesting hearing others points of view about the ride experience in person vs. reading them over a forum post.
When it comes to the camera, I’m a bit shy at speaking, so I didn’t do an interview. I should still show up there somewhere giving a thumbs up and/or smiling in footage on the ride and queue areas.
My friend Kijofa however, did an exit interview. He had quite a different perspective of the ride compared to the others. You’ll just have to see the show to see what I mean…lol. It should air sometime in mid-late July; with re-runs most likely for some time after that.
Filming ended around 10am and all those who participated were allowed to stay in the park for the rest of the day. This was nice of them as some parks will escort you out after the filming/event is over and you have to either pay or have a pass to come back in. Parking was free for participants as well and was kind of funny not having someone greet us at the parking toll booths. Since we both have annual passes, we would have got in/free parking anyways. We did end up parking in the preferred area, so it was nice to have a freebie.
The park was quite busy even before the official opening @ 9am. While riding Manta during filming, I could see a huge group of people waiting behind the ropes at the holding area. On my last ride @ around 9:15, they had opened the queue for Manta, and I could see it backed up to the splash down effect. I was like wow. I know it’s spring break plus Easter weekend, so I expected the park to be quite packed today. Since this was the case, the rides that were open had long waits, and show theaters filled up quite fast. I knew I wasn't about to wait an hour (or more) for rides I've been on many times. Plus we were running on little sleep and only intended to stay a little while anyway.
I was a bit disappointed that several attractions were down for various reasons. Some were to be expected due to construction of new & updated attractions.
The Manatee area is still under construction for Turtle Trek; opens April 27…
The Penguin Encounter turned into Antarctica; opens Spring 2013…
& the underwater viewing area for the Killer Whales still under construction (& Dine With Shamu), so we didn’t get to see them this time. This was all to be expected since I follow several forums…no biggie.
In addition to the above, some attractions were closed due to weather and/or technical difficulties. The Skytower was closed due to high winds, so I was unable to take pics of the construction from overhead. Not sure if it ever opened later.
Kraken was down when we went over after filming (not sure if it was running prior). We were given a usual PC reason when we approached (sorry the ride is not operational at this time but please check back later in the day, etc.). So I was a bit bummed I didn't get to ride my favorite coaster this trip. It was still not running when we left around 3PM. I did ride Manta during the filming, which was the main reason for going to the park, so it was not a wasted trip. I do feel bad for some people however who actually paid to come to the park or first timers with all these areas/attractions being closed, but hey, progress is coming and things happen. Of course safety should always come first.
We did manage to see Clyde & Seamore…
Have lunch @ Spice Mill…
Go through the Shark Encounter…
Play skeeball (won a couple prizes too)…
& see some of the animal exhibits as we made our way around the park.
We passed on One Ocean this time since we just saw it in December. It was between it and Blue Horizons, and Blue Horizons won since it’s my favorite show there.
So we went over to catch the 2PM showing and then planned to leave after that. However when we arrived about 20 minutes before show time, the theater was already at capacity and they had it closed off. I've seen it more times than I can remember, so I guess that's ok.
Of course I had to take the obligatory lighthouse photo on the way out since I didn't do so earlier. Despite the crowds and attraction closures, we still had a good time. We had both been to the park several times in the past and I’ve been going since ‘07. As stated before it was mostly to go for the filming and stay a little bit thereafter. We left around 3 mainly to avoid the afternoon traffic after walking through the Waterfront shops. We’ll be going back after they open up the new attractions sometime next year.