SeaWorld San Diego

[Rideguy70]

Visited on Sunday... while there were a few bright spots, overall a not so great trip. If you plan on visiting, seriously lower your expectations.

The good:

• Most of the specialty food for the holiday event is pretty good
• Manta is still pretty decent
• Some fun merch (just in general)
• Park looks well maintained for the most part... no peeling paint or falling apart buildings visible. And park greenery is still great.
• The mini holiday parade is more of a character cavalcade, but is cute for what it is.

The bad... this is a pretty long list:

• So many closed rides and attractions. Arctic Rescue, Riptide Rescue, Shipwreck Rapids, Tentacle Twister, Tidepool Twist, Dolphin Stadium, Bayside Stadium, Shark Reef (which is being updated). All closed all day. Journey to Atlantis was closed, but did later open up (seemed to be a technical issue). Emperor had a sign saying it wouldn't open until 11am (the park opened at 10am).
• Ripe ops are horribly slow... it's pretty easy to tell the employees don't care about their work too much. Imagine the worst ops Magic Mountain ever had, and go below that.
• The app doesn't even tell you that rides will be closed all day... it just listed them as a "0" min wait, leading to a lot of confusion. Oddly, it does list when rides are temporarily down, but if they're closed all day, many are listed as "No wait!" all day. Really, really bad.
• No one knew the location of a certain specialty food both I was looking for. When I finally found it, they said they wouldn't open until 1pm. It was noon when I found them, and they were supposed to be open at 11am. (To their credit, the other food booths did seem to open on time as far as I could see)

I'm really wondering what's going on with Arctic Rescue. I know it was initially caught up when all the Straddle Coasters went down at the same time, but as I understand it, they can now be open. I thought I had heard it had been open a few months ago, but now it seems to be down again for a very extended time. Anyone know what's happening with it? And Riptide Rescue, for that matter?

 

[Jerroddragon]

Yeah

Sounds like similar issues we had a few weeks ago

I was a USH today and literally one of the managers at the Karl was telling ti guests abs telling them how sad sea world change has been and how great it used to be

Sucks with six flags management trying to improve the park but sea world just clearly doesn’t care what people think

 

[Wild Atlantis]

Private investment firms always have the quality of the business and guest experience as there 1st priority.

 

[Wild Atlantis]

 

[HandsomePete]

Private investment firms always have the quality of the business and guest experience as there 1st priority.

I know you’re joking … but it’s absolutely zero exaggeration that this is how United Park’s VP of Strategy describes the parks:

“Lead strategy and value creation for the company's largest business unit - an ~$850M recurring-revenue membership portfolio across 12 locations within a $2B PE-backed platform. Own the multi-year value creation roadmap across pricing & product architecture, retention and churn management, digital GTM and funnel optimization, and customer economics, partnering closely with PE sponsors and the executive team.”

And while these Former McKinsey Muppets are running the parks into the ground, they’re not only oblivious to it but outright lie about the performance of the company:

“Designed and executed a multi-year value creation roadmap with 40+ high-impact initiatives, aligning executive leadership and field operators on priorities and sequencing, resulting in sustained membership growth, higher visitation, and meaningful EBITDA expansion.”

The only expansion going on at SW over the last few years is an expanding number of people laughing at the sad attractions they keep pumping out.

 

[Rideguy70]

Is there a TL;DR summary version of that interview?

The interesting thing I observed is that the aquariums (the few they now have) are pretty popular. They easily have space for more (they tore down the one between Tidal Twister/Shipwreck Rapids, and there's a totally unused one that's been sitting there for maybe a good decade or more behind the old 4D theater/Water show space). They could invest in those, which must be a lot cheaper than a full ride, and still be bringing in some crowds, as well as stay on brand as a marine life space.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I just don't get why they never made a Aquarium ride or attraction like a moving theater like the one at the Phoenix aquarium

Seems like a slam dunk kind of idea....you want a ride...and people want to see sea life

 

[Wild Atlantis]

Atlantis is receiving even more new effects with a set of 4 massive water pipes leading to the sign and got new textured concrete paths The Mardi Gras event is also high-quality and well done but operations and open rides are worse than ever. Half the rides are closed and most effects are broken

 

[Rideguy70]

but operations and open rides are worse than ever. Half the rides are closed and most effects are broken

Totally agree. I've been going to Sea World for a while, and it feels this is the worst ops have been for a long time. I don't see myself returning for a while unless they get something new.

Has Arctic Rescue re-reopened again yet? I know it was closed forever when ALL the saddle coaster were closed, but now they all reopened, and I thought that had too, but it seems to have closed for an extended time yet again. Went three times throughout last year (summer through Christmas 2025), and it was closed every single time

 

[Wild Atlantis]

Totally agree. I've been going to Sea World for a while, and it feels this is the worst ops have been for a long time. I don't see myself returning for a while unless they get something new.

Has Arctic Rescue re-reopened again yet? I know it was closed forever when ALL the saddle coaster were closed, but now they all reopened, and I thought that had too, but it seems to have closed for an extended time yet again. Went three times throughout last year (summer through Christmas 2025), and it was closed every single time

It was open yesterday but broke down halfway through the day