SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

[Animal]

3 hours ago, michaellynn4 said:

I think it may be a Busch thing, too. The only versions of the Sky Rocket model I see with collars are the ones installed at Busch / Seaworld parks. Phobia up at Lake Compounce operates without the collars, and two installations over in China from a couple years ago also don't operate with them. Either way, having ridden models both with and without the collars, I also don't get them as they seemingly serve no purpose aside from the lower insurance costs rumor that keeps getting bantered about.

I would agree on the Seaworld/Busch thing but they did add them to West Coast Racers at SFMM as well.

[SharkTums]

I honestly think that Universal Tweet is pretty pathetic.  Why do they need to shade on Sea World!?!? Have some confidence and focus on your own park. 

[cfc]

^Yeah, that tweet was obviously written by someone who thinks he's awfully witty.

[coneyislandchris]

^^ I thought that's just the state of corporate Twitter accounts in 2020, aren't they supposed to be "throwing shade" and "dropping mics" and "shots fired" and "giving sick burns" to anyone and everyone? No? Just Wendy's?

It looks like SeaWorld replied back, but then thought better of it and deleted their tweet:

[SharkTums]

1 hour ago, coneyislandchris said:

^^ I thought that's just the state of corporate Twitter accounts in 2020, aren't they supposed to be "throwing shade" and "dropping mics" and "shots fired" and "giving sick burns" to anyone and everyone? No? Just Wendy's?

It looks like SeaWorld replied back, but then thought better of it and deleted their tweet:

...and I don't like Wendy's!

Seriously though, I thought we had passed the snarky corporate twitter phase but I guess not.  Good for Sea World to let others come to their defense and take down the post even acknowledging the dig. 

[BRTeller]

13 hours ago, SharkTums said:

I honestly think that Universal Tweet is pretty pathetic.  Why do they need to shade on Sea World!?!? Have some confidence and focus on your own park. 

I agree, friendly competition is fine and all. These parks and companies are hurting though across the board, attacking neighboring parks in social media posts isn't tasteful right now. Ice Breaker was supposed to open sooner and had to push back for circumstances out of their control.

Universal keeps building this reputation that they don't play nice with others, which is ironic since they're number two in Orlando anyways. It's like second place making fun of third place and acting like their first.

It would take one post by Sea World addressing the pandemic and not being able to open on time and Universals witty comment could backfire. I love both parks, and in a normal climate I'd find it funny. However, I really would just like to see parks stay open and keep adding new rides.

Just my two cents on the whole thing.

[Domm]

Heading here for the first time this Monday 11/30. Fast lane required?? Or are waits 15ish mins or less? Any guidance is appreciated

[coasterbill]

They might be expecting a few people to extend their holiday week since they’re running two Orca encounter shows but it’s really hard to say. Note that Kraken may be closed for budget since it’s a Monday but it also may not. They just make shit up as the go along. The website no longer lists that it’s closed on weekdays but it’s a holiday week now. They might throw that message back up.

[Domm]

3 hours ago, coasterbill said:

They might be expecting a few people to extend their holiday week since they’re running two Orca encounter shows but it’s really hard to say. Note that Kraken may be closed for budget since it’s a Monday but it also may not. They just make shit up as the go along. The website no longer lists that it’s closed on weekdays but it’s a holiday week now. They might throw that message back up.

Thanks for the heads up Bill! Is it easy to upgrade a regular ticket to the fast lane once in the park if it is a little busy?

[coasterbill]

Yup, very easy.

[Hilltopper39]

We spent yesterday at SeaWorld for the first time since they reopened this year and honestly it was probably one of the best days we've ever had at the park. I had read some mixed reviews on how they had been handling everything operationally during the pandemic but I was pretty impressed, guests mostly seemed to be following the rules everywhere and the park looked great with everything out for Christmas.  We were there from open til about 4 pm so maybe as it gets more crowded and people have had more drinks from the festival tents later in the evening things change but the 6 hours we spent there I saw no issues with anything. For the Orca Encounter they even had team members dismissing individual sections of Shamu Stadium after the show ended and I was kind of amazed at how smoothly it worked and that a solid 95% of the audience actually followed the instructions.

 

Ice breaker looks really fun in person so I can't wait for that thing to open, and the new Ice Breaker bar area is really nice. They had all of the NFL games on the tvs there so if I didn't have to supervise my kids in Sesame Street land I could have easily sat there for the first half and had a few drinks. 

[tndank]

First ever visit to SeaWorld last Friday. Wasn't sure what to expect but the park was great. We had a great day and stayed opened to close, caught most all the shows, and got plenty of rides. 

I'm more a coaster fanatic but SW was a good change of pace. Probably won't visit very often, but they surprised me and I look forward to checking out the SA and SD locations next year. 

Side note, Busch on Sunday was not as good as I was expected. Perhaps it just wasn't my day to visit. I'll try it again. 

[CP_RULES]

Ice breaker is testing, there is a video of it completing the circuit on YouTube posted yesterday: 

 

[coasterbill]

When we were there the other day we saw it testing a partial circuit. I thought of recording it but I was pretty sure there would be some nerd camped out all day waiting a crazy camera waiting for it to cycle so I bought a beer and rode Manta instead. It looks like I made the right call...

Speaking of SeaWorld, Dolphin Days has very quietly been budget cut for a month and replaced with a trainer occasionally showing up around the dolphin pool which they occasionally do anyway. It's listed as being closed "for refurbishment" but I mean... what are they doing? Polishing the dolphins?

[boldikus]

3 hours ago, coasterbill said:

Polishing the dolphins?

Is this like spanking the monkeys?

[coasternut]

5 hours ago, boldikus said:

Is this like spanking the monkeys?

Or "waxing the dolphin?"

[coasternut79]

So I screwed up back in November and purchased a one day ticket for the family to do a day at SeaWorld while we are at Disney for spring break.  The screw up was me scheduling our day to visit on a Saturday when it turns out the ticket I purchased is only good on weekdays.  I have called the customer service number for SeaWorld numerous times and held and held and held and left messages for them to return my call with no success.  I have also done an online submission to customer service with no luck either.  I was hoping to see if they could change my tickets for an added fee of course without me having to purchase completely new tickets without any refund on the old ones.  It is absolutely ridiculous that you cannot even speak to a customer service rep about a problem.  I miss the days of AB ownership.  If I ever do get to talk to someone do you think they will help me?

[coasterbill]

I've never had an issue getting through to SeaWorld. Maybe they're just crazy since it's Spring Break?

[coasternut79]

47 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

I've never had an issue getting through to SeaWorld. Maybe they're just crazy since it's Spring Break?

When you call the number it gives you the "due to staffing issues during Covid we are experiencing extremely long hold times" mumbo jumbo.  In other words they've laid everyone off and there is no one to answer the phone.  It's frustrating because this is something I will have to speak to an actual person to resolve.

[coasterbill]

LOL... I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised

[tndank]

Quickest way to get ahold of them is typically Facebook messages.  I asked a question about official hotel perks last night and they got back to me this afternoon.  

 

[SharkTums]

Went to Aquatica this morning to try out their new slide Riptide Race.  It's a fun, two person, double tube slide. Here's a short video we did, bigger video soon!  I will say this ride is  best enjoyed with a lot of weight in the tubes and make sure you're actually racing someone. It's pretty long for a tube slide so that's also nice. 

 

If you're on mobile, tap below for video!

[coasternut79]

So this will be a trip report sort of post about my visit to Sea World Orlando today.  Before I start let me say that I have spent the week in Disney prior to this visit and had a great time and was impressed with how they are handling the Covid situation.  Before the visit even started I had tried to reach out to Sea World to help me with an issue where I mistakenly purchased the wrong type of ticket (my fault) but just needed to get it corrected.  After multiple 30 minute stints on the phone and an email later no one ever contacted me.  We got to the park about 30 minutes before opening and made it in no problem and headed for Manta.  We got in line and realized pretty quickly the mask enforcement would be much different.  There were people all around us either not wearing them or wearing them incorrectly.  This would be a recurring them throughout the day.  

We then rode Journey to Atlantis and Kraken.  On no ride could you choose where to sit and all the ride operations were absolutely terrible.  the park was packed by 10:00am and the staff was woefully short.  I felt sorry for the folks working food stands by themselves with hordes of people standing in line waiting on them.  The management seemed to have understaffed everything and the ride ops acted like they couldn't care less about trying to load in a timely fashion.  

At the shows we attended the did try to spread you out by skipping rows but by the time the show started they had let so many people in they were sitting everywhere and squeezing in anywhere there was an open spot.  All the while almost half of them were not wearing masks or wearing them incorrectly.  

All in all it was a disappointing experience to say the least.  We only got 1 ride on the big 3 coasters each and saw a couple shows and did a couple exhibits and decided to leave.  

The ownership seems to be trying to run these parks into the ground.  The difference between our experience at Disney and Sea World was like staying at the Ritz Carlton vs a Motel 6.  I know this isn't a fair comparison but it just shows how far this park continues to fall in my opinion.  At this point I"m worried about my trip to Busch Gardens in VA in June.  We'll see I guess.  

[tndank]

Running into the ground? Did you see how many people were there? 

[coasterbill]

A few updates:

The Temperature Check Tent at SeaWorld Orlando is gone.

Social distancing has been changed to 3 feet

For those following along, this is a 3 foot reduction from what the sign used to say but a 3 foot increase from the typical level of social distancing that has occurred at SeaWorld since reopening last year. The second part doesn't really matter since this will not be followed by anyone but it will probably raise their self-imposed guest cap if they even still have one which they probably don't and even if they do they never hit it anyway.

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