Photo TR: SeaWorld Orlando

[Disney Freak Andrew]

Hello all, this would be my very first Photo TR! That being said, I have not perfected the art like many of you and this will not be perfect, so here goes nothing. Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures, I did the best that I could.

 

I went to SeaWorld Orlando on Tuesday, March 30 for some spring break fun. You can see the trouble in that statement, Orlando and Spring Break in the same sentence. I'll talk more about that in just a moment. We didn't arrive at the entrance 'til about 9:45 (to my disapproval) but did not get in the gates until around 10:45! Turns out that the line to get into the parking lot would luckily be our longest all day.

 

Walked in and straight to Manta which had about a 75 minute wait. We figured that lines would be long all day and we wouldn't be able to avoid them, luckily I was wrong. We couldn't have waited longer than 45 minutes, and the excellently themed queue made the wait easy. The verdict: Manta is my new favorite ride at SeaWorld. The drop is okay, but the pretzel loop is intense with some serious airtime at the top and insane G's at the bottom. I know that is what a pretzel loop is supposed to do, but it was far better than those on the Superman clones I have ridden. The rest of the ride was pretty good, but the theming after the break run made Manta an excellent ride.

 

Quick lunch and headed over to Clyde and Seymour. This has quickly become my favorite show in the park, especially after the corny re-theming of the Shamu show. The stadium was packed, the incident earlier this month obviously hasn't affected crowds too much . The animals weren't quite cooperating today which made the show all the better. Plus the mime at the beginning is hilarious, overall making a great show.

 

After a trip through Pacific Preserve and Penguin Encounter (the entrance has strangely been flipped to the exit making the puffins come first) we headed over to Journey to Atlantis, which was having issues that day. Again, the line was posted at 45 mins. but we only waited 30. As usual, it was a good ride but it was having problems (no surprises).

 

Next came Blue Horizons which was again packed. It is my belief that humans take up too much showtime and the dolphins should be featured more. Also, much to my dismay, the false killer whales were MIA. Overall, this show has become only good with a fantastic ending and a few high points. We headed to Dolphin cove, the stingray pool and turtle point before heading over to Kraken.

 

Kraken, as usual, was delivering great rides, however it was suffering from slow dispatch rides. I have now ridden this ride 28 times and I still love it. It definitely delivers the best rides from the back row.

 

At this point, we were wearing down so we headed over to Believe for a quick break for the feet. The whale shows were the only shows all day that weren't packed full. It was also nice to see two of the killer whales playing with the crowd before the show without prompting. The show was pretty good, if not very corny (but I was expecting that as I have already seen it), though it is way better with the trainers IN the water instead of around it.

 

After sitting a while at Happy Harbor, we walked over to see Pets Ahoy, which was also packed even at the end of the day. For some reason, it had been shortened a little, but luckily the pig was still there . Before a quick spin on Wild Arctic, we did a re-run on Kraken and Manta in the dark.

 

It was a typical ride on WA, however, afterwards instead of seeing the polar bear conked out like usual, he was up and pouncing on his ball. It was hilarious.

 

To end the night we saw Shamu Rocks, which was better than believe, but still needed the trainers in with the whales. Afterwards we headed over to see the new evening extravaganza, Reflections. This was a 10 minute commercial to convince you to buy a year pass and come back again. Aside from the pyrotechnics and some fountain action, all it was was a family talking about how great there day at SeaWorld was! BORING! SeaWorld needs to ditch the story lines for their evening shows and work on their mediocre pyrotechnics. The only redeeming quality was the fountains. It was quite anti-climactic.

 

Overall, it was a great day at SeaWorld with a few disappointments but enough pros to greatly outweigh the cons. Please comment as I will be doing a couple more of these this year and want to know what I can do better.

As always, we were welcomed in by this inspiring site.

I was surprised by how soon you come to Manta once you enter the park.

Manta between the trees.

The part where I got my knees wet. Both times.

The first of many picture fails that day.

Sky tower looming over Manta.

My favorite part of the ride.

Picture fail #2.

Upskirt shot of a not Manta ray.

Leafy sea dragon...wait, where'd he go?

What a lovely picture of the stage, hey look, a Kraken train just happens to be in the background.

Mr. Mime just doin' his thing.

This show is Elissa approved!

What is Clyde doing to...I'm not even gonna ask.

Let's play Whack-a-Seal!

Maybe if I stare at you long enough, you'll give me a fish.

LET ME OUT!!!!

No honey, don't eat THAT snow.

See the broken down boat?

Just to give you an idea of the crowds that day.

We have a two-dolphin pile up in mid-air.

Peta-"Stop torturing that poor animal or else I will send you a copy-paste chain letter from Matt Damon!"

Lawn ornaments.

Dolphin butt.

Oh no, he's dead!

Is it just me, or is that Sea Gull eying that turtle nest?

Release the Kraken.

Wheeeeeeeeee! What can I tell you, I've run out of creative comments.

Peta-"Stop torturing those poor humans or else I will send you a copy-paste chain letter from Matt Damon!"

"Hey mama, what is that sitting out in the audience?"

"Dinner."

I am Killer Whale!

Help me! I'm being tortured.

I've got a whale of a tale to tell you now.

Manta across the pond.

B&M goodness.

Manta is very photogenic.

And I leave you with this picture of SeaWorld's new redheaded step child.

[coasterfreaksrttd]

Nice TR! I really enjoyed some of these pics. Check out my Florida TR: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54749

 

There's some Seaworld pics in there too..

[tiger01]

O love the pictures. Sea World is now officially amazing and i just can't wait to visit! but sadly i have no time this year to go to florida because i don't have the time. Maybe next year. But this year i can look forward to Blackpool and Alton Towers! Can't Wait! My First B&M!!!!!

[Ledgy]

...but sadly i have no time ... because i don't have the time. ...

 

That´s reasonable!

 

By the way, nice TR.

 

-Wanted to post that, because I posted that -

[SharkTums]

Clyde and Seamore has always been my favorite Sea World show as well. It's just so corny and terrible, but at least it's not all preachy and artistic like the whale and dolphin shows.

 

And Mime's and awesome should never be used in the same sentence, but I'll agree this once that the preshow entertainment at Sea World is often better than the actual show!

[crazydaveh]

Great report. Please know that people who knew the trainer that was killed are regulars on TPR. I enjoyed your pics, your lunch caption was personally a bit over the top.

 

Glad you had fun! I was out there Friday, and yes, it was packed.

[Disney Freak Andrew]

^Im sorry, I didn't mean to offend anybody. Please don't take offense to what I said, I should have been more sensitive to the situation.

[crazydaveh]

^ No Worries. I know there was no harm intended, but a few trainers and other current and former SeaWorld employees do wonder on this site more than you might think, so you can see what I'm saying.

 

How was the line for Manta on the day you went? Friday, at 930 am, it was already 75 minutes. JTA was 90 and Kraken was a walk on.

[Disney Freak Andrew]

The wait was posted as 75 minutes but we didn't wait longer than 45. Most of the others were around 30 minutes.

[coasterfreaksrttd]

^ On the day I went, I skipped believe. During the show, the wait went down to 20 minutes because everyone was watching Shamu... I've seen Shamu do his thing before, so I didn't really need to see it again.

[themeparkman25]

Have I told anyone that I LOVE MANTA? ha!

 

Glad you had a good day, even if it was rather busy. Sounds like you got most everything in, except a few million rides on Manta.

[Disney Freak Andrew]

Sounds like you got most everything in, except a few million rides on Manta.

A few million wouldn't have been enough for me! I love almost any B&M that you will plop down in front of me. Have I mentioned I have ridden Kraken over 28 times? You have a fellow Manta lover on TPR.