SeaWorld San Diego (SWSD) Discussion Thread

[thrillseeker4552]

^Knott's will most definitely not be dead on the 28th. This is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, weeks of the year for almost all year-round parks. It will be insanely crowded anywhere. Unless you were kidding.... lol

But yeah I would not suggest SWSD if you aren't a fan of animal exhibits or Electric Eel, even though Manta is very good.

[VegasBaby]

On 12/17/2021 at 5:17 PM, thrillseeker4552 said:

^Knott's will most definitely not be dead on the 28th. This is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, weeks of the year for almost all year-round parks. It will be insanely crowded anywhere. Unless you were kidding.... lol

But yeah I would not suggest SWSD if you aren't a fan of animal exhibits or Electric Eel, even though Manta is very good.

Haha, yes, I was kidding, sorry if that didn’t come through in my post.  But I still think your time is better spent at Knotts than going to SW for just one ride.

[hoppedup]

Thanks guys. Will probably skip SWSD. We have a day planned for KBF and maybe two at SFMM. I plan on buying FL and Flash Pass for those.

If we don't need any more time at KBF after a full day with FL, we might do SWSD just so I can get something out of the almost $700 I paid for 2  platinum passes in February 2020. My pass is showing as active in the BGW app, even though I haven't visited since I bought the pass. 

[PKI Jizzman]

After riding Time Traveler and Copperhead this year, these new Mack launched coasters are really high on my list now. I've heard nothing but great things about Manta, it looks amazing! 

[hoppedup]

Weather forecasts made it so that we ended up with two visits to SWSD. Rode Manta 8 times. It was a lot of fun. Nothing crazy on the forces. A good introduction for much more intense launch coasters. The aquarium show before the launch was cool at night. It was hard to see during the day. We even rode Electric Eel because the line was really short. And we saw all the animal exhibits.

I never activated my platinum pass I purchased from BGW at BGW and it still worked at SWSD. YMMV.

[A.J.]

SeaWorld San Diego has announced that Emperor will be opening on March 12th!

https://seaworld.com/san-diego/rides/emperor/

Emperor, the tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster in all of California, will open on March 12. Get ready to plunge 90 degrees and soar up to 60 miles per hour through exhilarating loops on this exciting Emperor penguin-inspired thrill ride, feeling your feet dangle above the track on the state’s only floorless dive coaster!

[VegasBaby]

Glad to see all of the Busch/Sea World new rides finally get opening dates. I'm very tempted to get a Platinum pass this year and check them all out.  I think that Emperor will be a great addition to SWSD and I like that the height requirement is 52 inches instead of 54 inches.  I'd love to see them add a wooden coaster to round out their lineup a la SWSA, but I don't think they have the room for one.

[Dan the Coaster Man]

I'm excited for this one. The pacing looks amazing and (to me) gives it a different look than the other dives

[swfan1988]

I really REALLY like the idea of a more compact dive coaster. I just think the model lends itself to a more compact package, and I hope that between this and Dr. Diabolical we'll see more of these kinds of dive coasters. Only thing I think I'd want out of both this and Dr. D is a little more length, as they both seem a bit on the short side.

Also, still a little impressed that Sea World got the first dive coaster on the west coast, and I am a bit surprised that someone else did knott add one sooner...

[Animal]

13 minutes ago, swfan1988 said:

I really REALLY like the idea of a more compact dive coaster. I just think the model lends itself to a more compact package, and I hope that between this and Dr. Diabolical we'll see more of these kinds of dive coasters. Only thing I think I'd want out of both this and Dr. D is a little more length, as they both seem a bit on the short side.

Also, still a little impressed that Sea World got the first dive coaster on the west coast, and I am a bit surprised that someone else did knott add one sooner...

Well as we know Knotts did add a “dive” coaster in Hangtime. Personally I really like Hangtime and can’t wait to try Emperor so I can compare the two. At the time I thought it was a missed opportunity for Knotts not to go with B&M for their dive coaster and have it drop and have its turn around wrap around the Sky Tower. In hindsight I’m happy they didn’t because SeaWorld added their own and now we have a two different rides. 
 

The only B&M dive I have experienced was Valravyn at Cedar Point and I was a little underwhelmed. The drop was great but the rest was kinda meh to me. I’m hoping without the MCBR on Emperor it will pack a bit more of a punch after the drop!!

[swfan1988]

2 hours ago, Animal said:

Well as we know Knotts did add a “dive” coaster in Hangtime.

Well, it was supposed to be a joke and thus the deliberate spelling error on my part... (no worries)

I do agree though that I hope the lack of a mid course really helps the rides pacing. I also hopeful that the more compact elements make the ride a bit more "snappy" as it seems to me (having ridden none of them) that the great failure of dive coasters is that the elements are too drawn out to draw any real force.  Maybe a snappier ride will make them less of a "one trick pony", and a little more well rounded.

[Animal]

Does anyone know if they ever built a cover on the station yet? I’ll reserve my thoughts for the final product but from what I’ve seen the theming and area looks very cheap for this ride. Almost worse than what Six Flags would do.

[JJLehto]

Superb! Least based on the animated POVs....this felt like it may be the best dive at least in North America, as it looks more compact and doesn't have the MCBR that kills all its speed, (dont care, the 2nd dive is never that special and the rest of layout is always ass, would gladly take the lack of 2nd dive if it means no MCBR). We shall see I guess, at least it's a little different. 

[Animal]

Well here’s the answer to my question. Thanks to some extremely cheesy local San Diego news. It’s no wonder Will Ferrell chose San Diego for Anchorman . In all seriousness though, is this the worlds first coaster to not have a station cover? I can’t think of any

[Manic Monte]

Patriot at CGA?

[Animal]

12 minutes ago, Manic Monte said:

Patriot at CGA?

Actually now that you mention that, Flight Deck at CGA has no station cover or cover over the queue line. Patriot doesn’t have a cover over the actual track but does have a cover over the queue line. Ok so Emperor won’t be a worlds first

[AmyUD06]

2 hours ago, Animal said:

 In all seriousness though, is this the worlds first coaster to not have a station cover? I can’t think of any

Whizzer at SFGAm.

[SharkTums]

I feel like there are a lot of uncovered stations in California. I always figured it was some weird flex about their good weather?

[Jew]

9 hours ago, SharkTums said:

I feel like there are a lot of uncovered stations in California. I always figured it was some weird flex about their good weather?

I think it’s really just the extra headaches that come with building codes.

[leqant]

11 hours ago, SharkTums said:

I feel like there are a lot of uncovered stations in California. I always figured it was some weird flex about their good weather?

Coaster stations are far from the only thing that are uncovered here in CA.   I had always suspected it's cause of the good weather

[DBru]

I don't mind open-air stations, but this coaster really just feels plopped-down for a park as pretty as SeaWorld.

[Hilltopper39]

Steel Eel in San Antonio also doesn't have a covered station as far as I can remember.

[KarlaKoaster]

18 minutes ago, DBru said:

I don't mind open-air stations, but this coaster really just feels plopped-down for a park as pretty as SeaWorld.

I feel like the presentation of Sea World's coasters lately has been pretty disappointing. I really used to like their minimalist but well thought out pseudo theming, but Pantheon, Ice Breaker and this make Cedar Fair and Six Flags look immersive by comparison. Ice Breaker seems to be a particular carbuncle. 

[CedarFlags]

I wish they'd at least do a shade cover  The weather in San Diego is nice, but when visiting a park for a day it's really nice to have shade in the queues and stations since you're standing stationary in the sun. 

[ryder]

Journey to Atlantis doesn't have a covered station either, and it's been that way since 2004.  Not sure why every one's suddenly so upset about an uncovered station now.