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SeaWorld San Diego

It’s not the park’s fault, but it’s a tiny version of an already just okay coaster model. I have more hope for the rumored Wild Arctic coaster.
 
Forgot to post a trip report, but I went a week ago and rode Emperor twice. I liked it. Didn't have terribly high expectations but it's a fun ride. The only big complain I have....well, two actually which I'll address shortly: the vest restraints. Ugh those vest restraints really suck. The first ride I had, the ride op stapled me and I could barely breathe. I had to tell him to let up the restraint a little so I can have some breathing room. Both rides I got the front row, far right side. Best seat in the house for a B&M dive.

Now the second complaint: lack of shade or roofing over the station. Like, c'mon. I get you have only so much money to spend on a brand new coaster, but you couldn't at least put a little shade on top? Even metal sheeting would be cheap and fit the theme. Hopefully they address that sooner than later like SFMM did with Full Throttle's station.

So I've only been on three B&M dive coasters: Valravyn (My first one), Oblivion (My first one without the bloody vest restraints), and then this. Of the three I've been on I'm really debating if Oblivion or Emperor is the weakest of the three B&M dives I've been on. Now, a fully fleshed-out coaster such as this vs. the one-trick pony that is Oblivion may seem like a no-brainer to you, but on Oblivion, at least on my first ride, I got some great airtime over that drop. Plus, that drop is deceptively long. Oblivion may be a one-trick pony, but it's a good one-trick pony. But one really good pop of airtime vs a more fleshed out ride probably wins....just slightly. I will say this is the middle of the three, but if the ride didn't have those stupid vest restraints, this would win easily. Hopefully I will get to go on a real B&M dive coaster this fall at Busch Gardens Tampa.

While Emperor is a good ride, I still think Manta is the best coaster in the park. I'm still impressed to this day how good that ride is despite all of the restrictions it had going against it. I sadly only got to ride it once as I waited 45 min for it and didn't feel like waiting an hour for it, but it still holds up! Great forces, fairly powerful launch, and really good pops of airtime! It's definitely the rest coaster I've been on that's under 50 ft in height.

All in all, I'm glad to see SoCal get a B&M dive machine. For anyone who's been on a fair amount of coasters, it's probably not going to make anyone's top 20 list, it's probably the weakest coaster in the park IMO but it's a very fun ride. It will sure to be a crowd-pleaser. If anything it will suck up people from Electric Eel and Manta so that's a win.
 
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Then don't do them, This coaster could be sooooo epically themed but no...its nothing at all but a 2ish mins coaster that while kinda fun also loads slow and I just don't see why people want more of these over real rides with themes and mayve you know educate us....we have 3 coasters at this point and would like to see more rides that tell a story or at least teach you something
I actually agree I’m not sure why Sea World has given up on theming their rides sans Infinity Falls ?

It seems like after the Blackfish situation they shifted priorities from aquarium style theme park to a amusement park with animals.

They honestly need to go back to that because it’s not that hard to do a little more than the bare minimum.
 
I also had low expectations for Emperor, but I did enjoy it for what it is. I do agree with the lack of shade and theming, though. And it's such an odd dead end location.

I am going to figure Tidal Twister was still down for the count? I got to ride it in that one week period it actually was open recently, but seems like it's been closed ever since.
 
Apparently track is on site for the new Wild Arctic coaster:
 
Looks good, if themed then hot dam might be the best ride in the park and glad they are not having to use much theme park land for it, mostly parking lots spaces
 
Apparently track is on site for the new Wild Arctic coaster:
Disappointing that they're going with another roller coaster instead of reusing the simulator ride building for a flying theater (which are a dime a dozen these days and being added to much smaller tourist attractions), but at least they're building something. Even with Emperor open the park is massively lacking in rides. I do hope they'll try harder on theming than they did with Emperor though. That ride somehow makes Six Flags look high-budget... It even makes Electric Eel look well-themed by comparison, and that's an extremely low bar.
Hopefully the next move after the Wild Arctic coaster will be to upgrade some of the other animal exhibits while incorporating them into new rides. After growing up with the Orlando park all my life I was shocked to see so many of the old-school aquarium/zoo type walkthroughs still in place here in 2022. With Wild Arctic and penguins in one spot and sharks and turtles in another, seems like you could easily reconfigure those into "icy" and "reef" lands anchored by some themed E-ticket attractions.

I also had low expectations for Emperor, but I did enjoy it for what it is. I do agree with the lack of shade and theming, though. And it's such an odd dead end location.

I am going to figure Tidal Twister was still down for the count? I got to ride it in that one week period it actually was open recently, but seems like it's been closed ever since.

Maybe wishful thinking but I suspect Tidal Twister may never reopen. Honestly though I think it was a good failure for the company to learn from: that cutting corners with cheap, unthemed mall parking lot carnival-caliber rides isn't a winning strategy. Either increase the budget to build a real ride or use the money to upgrade an existing one.
 
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Disappointing that they're going with another roller coaster instead of reusing the simulator ride building for a flying theater (which are a dime a dozen these days and being added to much smaller tourist attractions), but at least they're building something. Even with Emperor open the park is massively lacking in rides. I do hope they'll try harder on theming than they did with Emperor though. That ride somehow makes Six Flags look high-budget... It even makes Electric Eel look well-themed by comparison, and that's an extremely low bar.
Hopefully the next move after the Wild Arctic coaster will be to upgrade some of the other animal exhibits while incorporating them into new rides. After growing up with the Orlando park all my life I was shocked to see so many of the old-school aquarium/zoo type walkthroughs still in place here in 2022. With Wild Arctic and penguins in one spot and sharks and turtles in another, seems like you could easily reconfigure those into "icy" and "reef" lands anchored by some themed E-ticket attractions.
A multi-generational coaster collection is their aim now

It used to be that the animals were allowed to fill in some of the gaps, but in an effort to deemphasize them family coasters are filling the void

Personally, I think it's going to do bangers for their image in 10 years, all the while Cedar Fair is building restaurants
 
Maybe wishful thinking but I suspect Tidal Twister may never reopen. Honestly though I think it was a good failure for the company to learn from: that cutting corners with cheap, unthemed mall parking lot carnival-caliber rides isn't a winning strategy. Either increase the budget to build a real ride or use the money to upgrade an existing one.

In this particular case, I don’t think it was the fact it was a “cheap, unthemed” flat ride that was the downfall. Its really the fact they went with an unproven test model that is/was the larger issue.
if Sean World is truely going the family ride route in the future, some more family flats wouldn’t be a bad idea to have.
 
The issue with a flying theater/simulator is SeaWorld doesn't have the budget to compete. I know Disneyland is hours away, but everyone in CA knows Disneyland and compares every other park to it. You can't build a cheap knock off of Soarin' and expect people to love it. You can do something Disney doesn't do very well (roller coasters) and create your own niche market at a reasonable budget.
 
The issue with a flying theater/simulator is SeaWorld doesn't have the budget to compete. I know Disneyland is hours away, but everyone in CA knows Disneyland and compares every other park to it. You can't build a cheap knock off of Soarin' and expect people to love it. You can do something Disney doesn't do very well (roller coasters) and create your own niche market at a reasonable budget.
I hear ya, but the park could really benefit from an indoor ride of some sort in Wild Arctic’s absence.
 
Disney copied LEGOLAND's 6 year old Ninjago for Spidey, but nobody made a fuss.

Scarlet Witch: "That doesn't seem fair"

You can do something Disney doesn't do very well (roller coasters) and create your own niche market at a reasonable budget.
Space Mountain (DLand & Paris!), Big Thunder, even Matterhorn (sorry not sorry), Rockin Roller Coaster, Grizzly Runaway Railroad (or wtf it's called), TRON (minus the outdoor segment), Raging Spirits, etc etc.... Let's not try to act like Disney hasn't given the world some great coasters.

Sea World doesn't need to compete when it comes to new rides, it just needs to make good quality (preferably immersive) rides. The nakedness of Emperor & Ice Breaker is terrible.
 
Space Mountain (DLand & Paris!), Big Thunder, even Matterhorn (sorry not sorry), Rockin Roller Coaster, Grizzly Runaway Railroad (or wtf it's called), TRON (minus the outdoor segment), Raging Spirits, etc etc.... Let's not try to act like Disney hasn't given the world some great coasters.

Sea World doesn't need to compete when it comes to new rides, it just needs to make good quality (preferably immersive) rides. The nakedness of Emperor & Ice Breaker is terrible.

Those are ok coasters made better with theme elements. If any other park built any of those without theme elements they'd be considered mediocre rides.

SeaWorld is doing what they are doing in all their other parks-- building new attractions to attract locals. They don't have to be fancy, they just need to be new and offer a new experience not currently available from LOCAL competition. They're not trying to be a destination park, just a local destination park.
 
Let's not downplay the coasters at Disney, especially the really good ones as "mediocre". Not everything needs to be something that Cedar Fair or Six Flags pooped out trying to keep the golden ticket.

And as for Sea World, sorry but I don't care who they're trying to cater to. They set the standard when they built immersively themed rides like Atlantis, Manta, and others on some type of level. So I expect that level of quality going forward, post-apocalypse or not.
 
Let's not downplay the coasters at Disney, especially the really good ones as "mediocre". Not everything needs to be something that Cedar Fair or Six Flags pooped out trying to keep the golden ticket.
No, Disney's coasters with few exceptions ARE mediocre if you strip away the theme elements. They aren't meant to be great coasters, just great themed attractions. There's a big difference.

And as for Sea World, sorry but I don't care who they're trying to cater to. They set the standard when they built immersively themed rides like Atlantis, Manta, and others on some type of level. So I expect that level of quality going forward, post-apocalypse or not.
SeaWorld is a much different company than they used to be. Just because they did something in the past doesn't mean that's the way things are going forward. Their priority for the new ride budgets is the hardware, not the thematic elements. I don't like it, but it's a fact of life under the new management and spending priorities.
 
I mean after this...a dark ride would be nice Sesame Street visits the Aquarium, would just be a cool little ride that anyone can enjoy and fits with the theme of the park
 
The penguin encounter is looking super rough these days. Its honestly kinda sad and hard to see through the old dirty glass. I hope after the coaster they completely redo it. It will be the last thing on the far right of the park to not be updated or refreshed.


Also doing the measurements on Tidal twister, they could fit another small flat there. Basically one side of a Maters/Alien Swirling saucers could fit. They will probably just take it out and put in some plants though
 
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