SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

[JJLehto]

What type of crowds can be expected on a Monday in Feb? I have to imagine not much...but ya know it is Orlando, and well I'm not used to parks being open this time at all lol 
My FL trip has worked out that I do indeed have a free Monday, and since I'll be going to Universal on Tuesday might as well get Ice Breaker in too (and Manta and Mako)

[SharkTums]

Honestly, the FL parks are no longer dead any day. Are you talking about this Monday valentines day, Monday the 21st which is a holiday or the 28th? That will change my answer.

[tndank]

Checking QQ prices will let you know what the park thinks about the crowds.

 

[JJLehto]

20 hours ago, SharkTums said:

Honestly, the FL parks are no longer dead any day. Are you talking about this Monday valentines day, Monday the 21st which is a holiday or the 28th? That will change my answer.

That is kinda what I figured, it is Orlando after all. And yes, Monday the 21st the Holiday.... not what I would prefer but its how things shook out.

[SharkTums]

^Be ready to grab QQ if needed!

[JJLehto]

I have thankfully set aside extra $!

[tndank]

Ice Breaker height requirement changed to 54" today.  It was previously 48".  This happens hours after making a big deal out of the 48" req upon opening the ride. 

https://youtu.be/CD_-8_7EfMA?t=245

[thrillseeker4552]

Surprised there isn't more discussion on ^this. That 48" height requirement was one of their biggest, if not their biggest, marketing points. That's a huge bummer.

[AmyUD06]

LOL and these are the people who wanted to take over Cedar Fair...

[Dan the Coaster Man]

What a shame, obviously the big selling point was that it was the bridge coaster to the big three. I wonder if this is only temporary, because I'm sure a different decision would have been made on installing this if the height requirement was 48 vs 54.

[Garet]

I stand by what I said a few pages back. I really don't know why the focus kept being on on how steep it was, and aiming at thrill seekers. I really think with very few changes to that layout, maybe an ordinary back spike, and trains without comfort collars/lower height restrictions, it could easily have been aimed at families as 'children's first launcher' especially with the 4 launches aspect.

[tndank]

Some under 54" kids that rode it the last month now have some serious coaster credit envy from their friends that can't ride it.

That's not a situation I'd like to be in.  Explaining to my kid he can't ride it for another year even though he's been on it plenty the last few weeks.

 

 

[anonymouscactus]

8 minutes ago, tndank said:

That's not a situation I'd like to be in.  Explaining to my kid he can't ride it for another year even though he's been on it plenty the last few weeks.

Or being the greeter at the attraction telling them they aren't tall enough anymore, despite them showing you a photo they were on it already...  and then trying to explain the situation to a bunch of parents that their kids aren't tall enough (anymore). Mind as well just have a supervisor staked out up front permanently.

That really sucks. I feel like something had to have "happened" to make this change as a knee jerk reaction.... right?

[thrillseeker4552]

I really love Premier's coasters, they are always forceful and unique and fun, but their modern trains are just ass. With or without the comfort collars.

If it was a 2" bump or something then fine, but jumping up 6" immediately after touting the ride as a family coaster is just unfortunate. I would be very upset too.

[KBrylczyk]

Friendly reminder that most RMCs are 48" including the Raptor coasters.  This is just a strange decision.  Maybe now Premier will finally design a new train that's, you know, good.

[southpuddle]

So much for filling that family demographic So it’s a 54”, non-inverting, comfort collar sporting adult attraction now.  

[Dan the Coaster Man]

21 hours ago, anonymouscactus said:

That really sucks. I feel like something had to have "happened" to make this change as a knee jerk reaction.... right?

I second this. I have a hard time believing they would add this if they knew all along it would be 54. Something went wrong somewhere.

[tndank]

Saw a story today with a kid that had ridden IB several times during previews. Was going to ride with Vanilla Ice yesterday and wasn't tall enough anymore.  Literally had a pic of them walking to the ride in the story. 

SeaWorld....crushing dreams. 

[CaptainUnknown]

Premier trains of this style (at least in the US) have all had a minimum height requirement of 54" alone (some have a 52" accompanied requirement). Even those without the (un)comfort collars. Is there any noticeable change between Ice Breaker's trains and other Sky Rocket II trains?

[Hilltopper39]

Yesterday Ice Breaker was only 40 minutes when everything else was like an hour plus, if it had stayed a 48 In height requirement it probably would have had the longest line so maybe we should be thankful for that lol.

I'm hoping that they switch it back to 48", or maybe even 50" at some point? I mean to market it as a 48" and run it that was during previews has to mean that their intentions were to operate it that way long term before "something" happened. Hopefully there's some kind of slight modification that will get it back to 48" because that park desperately needs something in that height range.

Super fun ride though, I was very surprised by it. Got one ride in the front seat and thought it was really a fun little coaster.

Side note, yesterday at SeaWorld was one of the most crowded parks I've ever seen. 

Inside the Shark Encounter Exhibit the conveyer belt was turned off for some reason so you had to walk through the tunnel, and it was just a massive traffic jam/cluster F like I've never seen before. People were opening up the emergency exit doors and walking out into the backstage areas with the filtration equipment it was so bad. Ended up taking like 40 minutes to just walk through the exhibit.

The parking lot was at capacity around 3pm and people were parking on the sidewalks and in the bushes and stuff, there were cars lined up parked on the side road BEFORE the toll booths. I've been praising SeaWorld for years but I finally had a day where I showed up just said nope. We got one ride on Ice Breaker so it wasn't a complete waste but man that place was crowded. I mean I know it's a holiday weekend but is a Sunday of Presidents day normally this bad? It might be a long season for the parks in Orlando.

 

[Dan the Coaster Man]

14 hours ago, tndank said:

Saw a story today with a kid that had ridden IB several times during previews. Was going to ride with Vanilla Ice yesterday and wasn't tall enough anymore.  Literally had a pic of them walking to the ride in the story. 

SeaWorld....crushing dreams. 

I kinda want to see this but at the same time this is just so sad. Alexa play Fix You by Coldplay

[grsupercity]

A family coaster only half the family can ride. This park needs a junior gravity group like Oscars wacky taxi 

[pianojohn]

5 hours ago, Hilltopper39 said:

Yesterday Ice Breaker was only 40 minutes when everything else was like an hour plus, if it had stayed a 48 In height requirement it probably would have had the longest line so maybe we should be thankful for that lol.

I'm hoping that they switch it back to 48", or maybe even 50" at some point? I mean to market it as a 48" and run it that was during previews has to mean that their intentions were to operate it that way long term before "something" happened. Hopefully there's some kind of slight modification that will get it back to 48" because that park desperately needs something in that height range.

Super fun ride though, I was very surprised by it. Got one ride in the front seat and thought it was really a fun little coaster.

Side note, yesterday at SeaWorld was one of the most crowded parks I've ever seen. 

Inside the Shark Encounter Exhibit the conveyer belt was turned off for some reason so you had to walk through the tunnel, and it was just a massive traffic jam/cluster F like I've never seen before. People were opening up the emergency exit doors and walking out into the backstage areas with the filtration equipment it was so bad. Ended up taking like 40 minutes to just walk through the exhibit.

The parking lot was at capacity around 3pm and people were parking on the sidewalks and in the bushes and stuff, there were cars lined up parked on the side road BEFORE the toll booths. I've been praising SeaWorld for years but I finally had a day where I showed up just said nope. We got one ride on Ice Breaker so it wasn't a complete waste but man that place was crowded. I mean I know it's a holiday weekend but is a Sunday of Presidents day normally this bad? It might be a long season for the parks in Orlando.

 

Yes.  It's a holiday weekend, great weather, AND all NYC schools are off this week. They should have opened the parking lot across the street, but other than that, this is how crowded it can get.

[Hilltopper39]

2 hours ago, pianojohn said:

Yes.  It's a holiday weekend, great weather, AND all NYC schools are off this week. They should have opened the parking lot across the street, but other than that, this is how crowded it can get.

Here I thought the Village People had some kind of crazy following that I didn't know about but yeah it really was the perfect storm this weekend.

[IronWolfman]

Gonna be at the park on Thursday & Friday, and per the Queue Times site I'm not thinking it'll be too busy. Glad everything other than JTA is open (well.. except for now Ice Breaker to those under 54" I guess ), and was able to get some discounted Quick Queue's a while back for Thursday that should allow for maximum marathon-ing of the big three B&Ms. I have a few questions if anyone might be able to answer them:

• Does the park start allowing people in prior to 10? We have bus option (Lynx 111) that gets us as ~10min walk from the park entrance, arriving at either 9:08 or 9:38. If they start letting guests in at 9:30, I'd rather take the earlier option to get there and set up QQ/lockers/dining plan before 10, so we can rope-drop Ice Breaker (not included in the QQ). 
  • Someone was saying that this park may open Manta at 10 but the rest of the park at 11, similar to how SWSA just opens Steel Eel for the first hour, making this above question moot. Is that their typical ride opening process?
• If I wanted to get wrist bands for the dining pass/QQ, do I just do so at Guest Services? It'd be a little bit of a nuisance carrying around the page print-outs all day, and since I have both QQ passes on my phone, it'd be a little bit of a hassle to swipe between them every time we use them (in comparison to a wristband). 

Heavily looking forward to this first time visit!