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SeaWorld San Diego

I love this project. Turned Wild Arctic, which I think is the best attraction Seaworld has ever made, into a hotspot again.

The new signage looks amazing. The ride is better than I expected. I love how it dumps into the animal exhibits.

Overall win
Theming is fine could be better but won’t complain

My only thing is they didn’t use much of the old attraction and don’t see why it had to go and not just have two attractions there
 
After viewing the POV, I think this looks really fun for a family coaster. I was at SWT for my first time just this past summer, and honestly, Wave Breaker was my favorite ride there (well, after Stingray). It was surprisingly fun, and this looks even better. And pretty long, given the space they had to work with!
 
Well….something is better than nothing. I’ll take it. Just would’ve been nice to at least have some rockwork. The scenic looks like it was made by some guy who just barely learned the scenic tools in RCT2.
There actually appears to be some rockwork along the ride path... Or at least a few individual low-poly rocks lol. I give them points for trying, which is infinitely more than they did for Emperor.
Theming is fine could be better but won’t complain

My only thing is they didn’t use much of the old attraction and don’t see why it had to go and not just have two attractions there
Flying theater in the two remaining simulator bays for 2024. Let's manifest it into existence!!
 
There's actually a whole unused simulator bay in the Arctic building?
Would not be surprised. It used to have an area with just TV screens that people could watch the ride if they didn't want to get bumped around/for young kids.

Most of the ride is outside and only the launch area is using old ride area, even the Q is mostly just the outside Q from before
 
There's actually a whole unused simulator bay in the Arctic building?
Here's a shoddy illustration I did on my phone:
Screenshot_20230530-141135-edit-20230530141515.jpg

I don't have any inside information, but from what I've seen in person/in photos it looks like they only used the right half of the ride building for Arctic Rescue (red). There's a hallway bypassing the simulator ride (black) that I think is still there, and the two simulator bays on the left (blue) seem to be untouched, or at least they still have the exit doors. I could be way off, but my guess is that Arctic Rescue couldn't have extended into the blue area without eliminating that hallway. Haven't looked to see how big the space is or how much space the average flying theater takes, but I'd imagine you could fit at least one in there, probably more if you reconfigure some spaces and enclose part of the existing overhang. Seems like a great way to add a quality ride to the park that conforms to the coastal height limits without burning through limited real estate, plus it would help add more to that corner of the park which is still relatively quiet.
 
Here's a shoddy illustration I did on my phone:
View attachment 18945

I don't have any inside information, but from what I've seen in person/in photos it looks like they only used the right half of the ride building for Arctic Rescue (red). There's a hallway bypassing the simulator ride (black) that I think is still there, and the two simulator bays on the left (blue) seem to be untouched, or at least they still have the exit doors. I could be way off, but my guess is that Arctic Rescue couldn't have extended into the blue area without eliminating that hallway. Haven't looked to see how big the space is or how much space the average flying theater takes, but I'd imagine you could fit at least one in there, probably more if you reconfigure some spaces and enclose part of the existing overhang. Seems like a great way to add a quality ride to the park that conforms to the coastal height limits without burning through limited real estate, plus it would help add more to that corner of the park which is still relatively quiet.

So you currently exit into the black box in your picture and then dump into the animal exhibits?

They could even reuse the Wild Arctic ride system, refurbished and upgraded to 4k.
 
Here's a shoddy illustration I did on my phone:
View attachment 18945

I don't have any inside information, but from what I've seen in person/in photos it looks like they only used the right half of the ride building for Arctic Rescue (red). There's a hallway bypassing the simulator ride (black) that I think is still there, and the two simulator bays on the left (blue) seem to be untouched, or at least they still have the exit doors. I could be way off, but my guess is that Arctic Rescue couldn't have extended into the blue area without eliminating that hallway. Haven't looked to see how big the space is or how much space the average flying theater takes, but I'd imagine you could fit at least one in there, probably more if you reconfigure some spaces and enclose part of the existing overhang. Seems like a great way to add a quality ride to the park that conforms to the coastal height limits without burning through limited real estate, plus it would help add more to that corner of the park which is still relatively quiet.
Oh wow. They probably could cram a flying theater into that space. I’ve been on the flying theater at The Island in Pigeon Forge and it was a surprisingly good flying theater. I enjoyed it more than Disney’s Soarin’. Though it was only one theater, the theater itself took up very little space. So they could probably cram one theater as well as a queue line into that extra space. I guess the only detergent is that they will probably want to use that free space for HoS.
 
So you currently exit into the black box in your picture and then dump into the animal exhibits?

They could even reuse the Wild Arctic ride system, refurbished and upgraded to 4k.
In the original ride you would exit into a horizontal hallway (I didn't mark it in the picture) that runs along the "bottom" of the building and intersects with the other vertical hallway that I colored black; at that intersection is the entrance to the exhibits. For Arctic Rescue they decided to remove the original exit doors and direct guests out into the hallway I marked black.

I'd assume the Wild Arctic ride system isn't an option because the manufacturer went out of business and SeaWorld doesn't want to build custom replacement parts to keep it running. But a modern flying theater or motion simulator shouldn't be too expensive to buy, especially if they can get some sort of bulk discount to implement similar rides at the other parks.

Oh wow. They probably could cram a flying theater into that space. I’ve been on the flying theater at The Island in Pigeon Forge and it was a surprisingly good flying theater. I enjoyed it more than Disney’s Soarin’. Though it was only one theater, the theater itself took up very little space. So they could probably cram one theater as well as a queue line into that extra space. I guess the only detergent is that they will probably want to use that free space for HoS.
Yeah, I've ridden some non-theme park flying theater rides and was impressed with the quality, so I'd think SeaWorld can create something enjoyable as well. For HOS they actually didn't use any of the Wild Arctic space last year, though that might've been due to the Arctic Rescue construction. There would still be the covered outdoor queue space (which is what they used in 2021) unless they enclose it to make room for a second or third theater.
 
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From new rescue adventures to exciting new entertainment, it’s going to be a spectacular summer at SeaWorld San Diego!

See new shows like the SeaWorld Summer Splashtacular Parade and Pirates Ahoy! The Battle for Mermaid Cove water stunt spectacular. Have fun learning about saving animals with the new Feathers, Scales & Rescue Tales show, Arthur C. Turtle’s Rescue Ready Training Camp, and more. Catch live music from Vanilla Ice, Jordin Sparks, and many others at our Summer Concert Series presented by Coca-Cola®. And end your night with the dazzling FantaSEA of Dreams Fireworks Spectacular.

These are just a few of the fresh surprises waiting for you during Summer Spectacular at SeaWorld San Diego. From kid-friendly fun and education in the ALL-NEW Rescue Jr. to joining the icy mission of our ALL-NEW Arctic Rescue snowmobile-style coaster, we have something to inspire and amaze everyone this season! Check out the full lineup and start making your summer plans today.


Concerts are every Sunday – June 25 through August 6!


Overall a Pretty good summer event, concerts every Sunday, new fireworks show, a Birds and Reptile show, along with a new Bayside show and some other fun shows/parades.
 




Overall a Pretty good summer event, concerts every Sunday, new fireworks show, a Birds and Reptile show, along with a new Bayside show and some other fun shows/parades.
I think the fireworks show is actually gonna be the same one from Seven Seas (not that I'm complaining, it's way better than SWSD's weird mishmashed version of Ignite), but yes! Definitely a big step up in entertainment this summer, or at least it sounds like it should be. The park got a new entertainment director late last year and his influence really shows. I'm excited to see what we get for HOS and Christmas after how good Seven Seas was this year.
 
I think the fireworks show is actually gonna be the same one from Seven Seas (not that I'm complaining, it's way better than SWSD's weird mishmashed version of Ignite), but yes! Definitely a big step up in entertainment this summer, or at least it sounds like it should be. The park got a new entertainment director late last year and his influence really shows. I'm excited to see what we get for HOS and Christmas after how good Seven Seas was this year.
Ahh yes might not be new on the Fireworks, thanks for pointing that out


I'll be going for sure this summer and really not sure how I'll be able to do everything in one day, which is always a good problem to have.
 
Finally rode Arctic Rescue today. I thought the theming in the ride area was a highlight, which feels weird to say about a new SEAS ride in the Scott Ross era. It felt like something was missing though... Like, there was no video or spiel or anything anywhere before or during the ride to hype you up or brief you on the ride or your "mission". You sorta just show up, inexplicably hop on a jet ski-turned-snowmobile, zoom around an animal-less Arctic-themed area for a bit, and then exit into Wild Arctic, all without any context or explanation. It does look like maybe there's a video that'll eventually be added in the station (currently there are monitors that are turned off and there's weirdly no music or audio in the station), but I expected at minimum some video of a SeaWorld Rescue "team leader" telling you that you're at Base Station Wild Arctic and you're being asked to board a snowmobile to go rescue XYZ animal because the team is short staffed or something. You'd think it'd be an obvious thing to include when they clearly made a nonzero attempt to theme the ride, but we'll see if that ever gets added.

As for the ride itself, well, it's certainly more of a family ride than a thrill ride. The tire launches are more like gentle accelerations, and the flat layout is pretty tame. I think it's a great first coaster for kids, but it'll probably disappoint some adults who've been led to believe it's a scream machine from all the superlative-laden marketing. With this addition I'd say SWSD has a pretty full spectrum of coasters, so hopefully this'll be the last one added to the park for a while and the next addition will be something different and interesting like a flying theater. The >30-foot launch coasters are getting repetitive (there's technically already 3 at this park now) and that'd be pretty much the only option if they wanted to build another coaster here.
 
I was there Saturday. I really liked it, but yes, it's just a fun family coaster. Not a high thrill machine.

I also noticed the video screens above the station, and they weren't turned on yet.

It's also great this offers Single Rider. It appears any ride that has a grouper assigning rows at the station (Arctic Rescue, Electric Eel, and Journey to Atlantis) all offer it. Bummer that Manta and Emperor don't offer it as well (Manta sort of has a grouper, but they don't assign specific rows to people).

We also saw them rehearsing the upcoming Pirate/Mermaid show, and it appears it'll have jet skies and a Flyboard!
 
I was there Saturday. I really liked it, but yes, it's just a fun family coaster. Not a high thrill machine.

I also noticed the video screens above the station, and they weren't turned on yet.

It's also great this offers Single Rider. It appears any ride that has a grouper assigning rows at the station (Arctic Rescue, Electric Eel, and Journey to Atlantis) all offer it. Bummer that Manta and Emperor don't offer it as well (Manta sort of has a grouper, but they don't assign specific rows to people).

We also saw them rehearsing the upcoming Pirate/Mermaid show, and it appears it'll have jet skies and a Flyboard!

Nice

Most people online seemed worried these would not come back with this show

Great to see it looks like we will have another fun show at the Bay this summer
 
Hmm, definitely interested to see how jet skis and flyboards are gonna fit into a mermaids and pirates show lol. I wonder if that pop/latin(?) music is just being played in the background at the park or if that's actually the soundtrack. I was imagining something like the music from Blue Horizons, but this would be an interesting twist :lmao:
 
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