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SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

P. 276: Penguin Trek construction update!

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They are a few years late with this, but that is a really cool thing to offer to all guests. I did something similar for Sea World San Diego a few years ago on a media tour and it was fascinating. This should have been the immediate response to Blackfish, showing how much overall good they do...

 

Yeah, I feel like the blackfish reactionary people are just armchair animal rights activists/SJW's who have never lifted a finger to actually protect any animals in their lives. They want animals on their plate, extinct, or where they can't see them. I personally think that incorporating exotic and endangered animals into shows and in viewing areas is a good way to keep them in the public's eyes and increases support for their preservation.

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SeaWorld definitely appears busy with school vacation. I don't think I have ever seen Mako with anything more than a 5-10 minute wait.

 

I was curious why Infinity Falls wasn't listed and the ride page explains why; it is temporarily down due to maintenance.

Screenshot_20181227-181755.thumb.png.76d35cd67cdab76ef5915e5dd38c6c57.png

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I went to SeaWorld after work on Friday the 28th. I kind of wanted to see what the park would be like with some lines, I wanted to pick a day it would be open until 10 PM, and I wanted to get a chance to do the Christmasfest. Here's my experience:

 

Kraken 8x: This was the first time I've ever seen this with a line, but it still never got above 20 minutes even at the peak. Four of the eight were in the front row. I snuck on the front as a single rider when I saw an empty seat, and the last three were absolute walk-ons. I'd say from 9-10 PM everything was an absolute walk-on, like you'd expect normally at SWO.

 

Mako 5x: Again, maybe 20-25 minutes at most. I think I got in the back once, and I snuck on the front once when I hawked an empty seat. I bought a beer and drank it in line twice, so that helped with the waits.

 

Manta x2: Maybe 25-30 minutes of wait time. This consistently had a line all day, but never got too bad.

 

Journey to Atlantis x1: Surprisingly, I saw a line for this where the queue house was getting pretty full and they were posting an hour wait. Very surprising as I've never been on this when it wasn't a walk-on. I got a lap in at 9:30 when it was a walk-on though.

 

Ice dancing Christmas show: This was in the stadium where I think that they do the Shamu show. I actually thought it was very good. I'm also a big fan of good shows and a chance to sitdown, relax, and enjoy myself.

 

So I wouldn't worry about crowds too much. Its a 365 park, and I've usually gone on the weekends, and its still always been pretty dead. This was the most crowded I've seen it, and it still wasn't too bad.

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It's tricky. Sometimes they'll run one train per side, sometimes they'll run two trains on the same side. I think it all depends on how many team members they have available to work, since you basically need double the staffing to run both sides.

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Out of curiosity, was that busy enough for them to open the second side of Manta's load platform?

 

I've been five times in 2018, and I believe that both sides have been open every single time, even though as I was saying the park is usually deserted when I go. It won't open with both sides running, but after an hour or two they open the other side up to. Manta is one of the few rides that actually does get a line there. Its the first ride that the GP sees when they enter the park, and its slow to load. Without the second station open even with two trains it becomes a low capacity ride. The only two other rides that get lines are the penguin dark ride and the river rapids ride (mainly because the river rapids ride just opened). Its amazing to me how dead Kumba, Montu, Kraken, and Mako usually are. They range from complete walk-ons where even the front is a walk-on, to complete walk-ons to 20-30 minutes tops. Well, obviously I wouldn't be surprised if they get to an hour if you really don't do your homework and go on crowded days.

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Ah I usually I either rope drop Manta or come back in the late afternoon, figuring it gets the heaviest crowds right after it opens.

 

Yeah, its a little tricky at SWO. Due to the fact that Manta opens its second station up later and its the first thing that Basic GP see when they enter the park, you might be better off skipping it and coming back later. But then almost everything else at the park is capacity and never gets a line either. Even Atlantis is pretty high capacity, easy to load, and old enough so its usually a walk-on the majority of the day.

 

My observation is that the penguin ride and the river rapids rides are the only rides that really get lines in the park other than Manta and Mako, so the best bet is probably to get 1-2 rides in on them each (penguin ride and river rapids) and then clean up on Mako until it starts to get a line (which may not actually happen at all). Later in the day you can clean up on Atlantis and Kraken and catch the shows and the Turtle ride. At some point you can circle back to Manta, and it will probably have the same 20-30 minute wait that's waiting for you pretty much all day.

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I haven't been since Infinity Falls opened (I missed it by a week), but that's why I ride Antarctica towards the beginning of the day as well. It's not worth the wait and I've heard it tends to break down quite a bit.

 

Journey to Atlantis always seems to have a large posted wait in the afternoon even though the queue usually isn't more than 15 minutes (for me at least).

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When I go in at opening on the weekends, it's always Kraken > Mako > Manta. I don't think that I've ever waited longer than fifteen minutes for Manta any weekend morning that I've gone, even with a mix of single- and double-station operations.

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When I go in at opening on the weekends, it's always Kraken > Mako > Manta. I don't think that I've ever waited longer than fifteen minutes for Manta any weekend morning that I've gone, even with a mix of single- and double-station operations.

 

Why in the world would you ropedrop Kraken? It has the least wait on any ride in the park.

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Why in the world would you ropedrop Kraken? It has the least wait on any ride in the park.

Because I want to. I usually park my car around 9:15-9:30, and by the time I get in, take a spin on Kraken, and meander over to the Sky Tower, they're about to let people back to Mako's plaza and I can get a ride in the front or back (or both!) with minimal wait. After doing something else or exploring, I queue up for Manta before I leave. I'm only ever at the park for a few hours, I always have other errands to run.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Was at SWO yesterday. Its pretty awesome how much of a commitment that SeaWorld/Busch have to letting people drink and enjoy themselves. Silver and up passholders get a free craft beer with every trip to SWO in January now. However, I was pretty disturbed to see Mako at single train ops. What should have been a walk-on was more or less a 20 minute wait. I didn't even stick around for when the crowds really piled up.

 

Anybody know if this is just temporary for Mako?

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Was at SWO yesterday. Its pretty awesome how much of a commitment that SeaWorld/Busch have to letting people drink and enjoy themselves. Silver and up passholders get a free craft beer with every trip to SWO in January now. However, I was pretty disturbed to see Mako at single train ops. What should have been a walk-on was more or less a 20 minute wait. I didn't even stick around for when the crowds really piled up.

 

Anybody know if this is just temporary for Mako?

 

Wind played a factor in that. I know the ride was closed 2-3 hours due to it. They likely decided one train was all that was needed. They do however only start with one train most days and add on later when the line gets to 30+ min (in my experience). So if the line was only 20 minutes, they weren't adding another train.

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Was at SWO yesterday. Its pretty awesome how much of a commitment that SeaWorld/Busch have to letting people drink and enjoy themselves. Silver and up passholders get a free craft beer with every trip to SWO in January now. However, I was pretty disturbed to see Mako at single train ops. What should have been a walk-on was more or less a 20 minute wait. I didn't even stick around for when the crowds really piled up.

 

Anybody know if this is just temporary for Mako?

 

Wind played a factor in that. I know the ride was closed 2-3 hours due to it. They likely decided one train was all that was needed. They do however only start with one train most days and add on later when the line gets to 30+ min (in my experience). So if the line was only 20 minutes, they weren't adding another train.

 

I've been there a lot, and have never seen it below two trains, even when its a walk-on. That's one of the things I usually like about the park. I don't know how you can say that a ride "doesn't need it." When its a walk-on with two trains, but a 25 minute wait with one train, I'd say that yes, it NEEDS it. You only don't "need" two trains when it would be a walk-on with one train.

 

The coaster was designed for three trains. Going down to one is unacceptable.

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I went to seaworld on April 30th 2018. The place was dead. All 3 coasters were running ONE train. And even though everything was one train we never waited more then 5 minutes for anything. It was great. I would rather have a slow day with 1 train ops then a crazy busy day where it needs to be running 3 trains and is still a 45 minute wait. .02

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I went to seaworld on April 30th 2018. The place was dead. All 3 coasters were running ONE train. And even though everything was one train we never waited more then 5 minutes for anything. It was great. I would rather have a slow day with 1 train ops then a crazy busy day where it needs to be running 3 trains and is still a 45 minute wait. .02

 

I understand that maintenance becomes an issue and parks do what they can. I just like to see parks doing their due diligence and giving a good faith effort to keep lines as short as possible. Short lines has traditionally been SWO's big appeal to me in the past. I just hope that the single train ops doesn't become a habit. Its the first time I've ever seen it at SWO.

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They've had 1 train ops on slow forecast days for some time. It's been like that. The last time I went on a weekend day...they opened with one train. Thought it odd since it was a weekend, but I only got one ride (waited about 15 -20 minutes) as I had other things to do. I believe they put another train on later, but I had family that joined us after lunch who wanted to do the shows so I didn't get back later on. Yes it would be nice for them to always start with 2, but they are looking at it as saving on unnecessary maintenance.

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They've had 1 train ops on slow forecast days for some time. It's been like that. The last time I went on a weekend day...they opened with one train. Thought it odd since it was a weekend, but I only got one ride (waited about 15 -20 minutes) as I had other things to do. I believe they put another train on later, but I had family that joined us after lunch who wanted to do the shows so I didn't get back later on. Yes it would be nice for them to always start with 2, but they are looking at it as saving on unnecessary maintenance.

 

I'm just trying out to figure out the game plan. If the plan going forward is going to be to wait to put the second train on, it might make sense to prioritize other rides first, and come back to Mako later. My gameplan there has been to squeak out 2-3 rides on Manta rope drop (first walk-on and the rest I have to wait for) do the penguin ride, do the river rapids ride, and then clean up on Mako before getting to Kraken and Atlantis. Now I might put Mako on the backburner if its going to start out at 1 train ops. Mako is really a coaster that deserves 5-10 laps in a row walk-ons. Its so smooth and fun that I never get sick of it. But its not quite gripping and thrilling enough to warrant 30+ minutes for when I've been on it over 40 times.

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However, I was pretty disturbed to see Mako at single train ops.
The coaster was designed for three trains. Going down to one is unacceptable.
Mako is really a coaster that deserves 5-10 laps in a row walk-ons.

Obvious troll is obvious?

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