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SeaWorld Orlando: General Discussion

MakoMania said:
For a few weeks I've been hearing rumblings about the CEO of Parques Reunidos, Fernando Eiroa, becoming the new CEO of SeaWorld Entertainment. Mr Eiroa has now suddenly resigned from Parques Reunidos.

It was only a few months ago that Parques Reunidos attempted to buy all 12 SeaWorld parks.

Infinity Falls has reopened, by the way :)
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Glad it’s reopened as just waiting at the park gates waiting for the park to open!

Edit: having now been on it, it is a fantastic ride especially with the relatively small area the rides takes up. It’s presented very well with great theming and excellent soundtrack. The ride itself is one of the best rapids I have done, prob still prefer Grizzly river run at California adventure but liked Infinity more than Popeye at IOA. SeaWorld and Intamin have done a fantastic job. It is a complete soaker, however I somehow managed not get completely soaked unlike everyone else on the raft.
 
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Maelstrom said:
Glad it’s reopened as just waiting at the park gates waiting for the park to open!

Edit: having now been on it, it is a fantastic ride especially with the relatively small area the rides takes up. It’s presented very well with great theming and excellent soundtrack. The ride itself is one of the best rapids I have done, prob still prefer Grizzly river run at California adventure but liked Infinity more than Popeye at IOA. SeaWorld and Intamin have done a fantastic job. It is a complete soaker, however I somehow managed not get completely soaked unlike everyone else on the raft.
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Glad to hear you liked Infinity Falls!

What did you think of the rest of SeaWorld, out of interest?
 
Matt N said:
Glad to hear you liked Infinity Falls!

What did you think of the rest of SeaWorld, out of interest?
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I have been a number of times before (the last time being 2016) so have rode all the coasters before.

We mainly only go for the coasters and give most of the shows a miss. Today though operations were poor and worst they have been on any of our previous visits and can see where budget cuts have started to effect things. Things started off great in the morning but then all the coasters were on a 1 train service, I assume done to sell lots of quick queue which worked as there were lots of people using it especially as only $20 for unlimited use, we didn’t purchase though. Also no batcher’s in the station so lots of empty seats. Meaning a queue for Mako that would normally be 15 mins turned into 1 hr and what would normally be 5 mins for kraken was 30 mins (half the train being filled with quick queue due to amount of quick queue guests waiting).

On the plus side still love the 3 B&M coasters and the unlike at Merlin the budget cuts don’t seem to have impact the standards across the park as the park looked good and is well presented.

We originally weren’t going to visit this trip but got a good deal on 2 day tickets with all day dinning for virtually same price as 1 day entry. So we might visit again for half a day sometime next week.(today our first day in Orlando).
 
Ops have not been the best recently. It's been like Thorpe Park with one train specials on off peak days, which is okay in January etc but not in October. Hitting the coasters during the shows is your best bet I think. Weekends have been decent as far as I'm aware.

The wait times displayed at ride close today were:

Infinity Falls: 45mins
Mako: 40mins
Kraken: 5mins
Turtle Trek: 10mins
Journey to Atlantis: 15mins
Manta: 10mins
Antarctica: 5mins
Sky Tower: 10mins
Wild Arctic: 10mins

So not too bad but still over what you would expect on an off peak day at SeaWorld.
 
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SeaWorld must definitely be busier than it was in 2016, then, because the longest queue I waited in at SeaWorld was a roughly 25 minute queue for Manta!

And thanks for the review @Maelstrom!
 
A bit late on my part but it was the SEAS Q3 results yesterday. Attendance and revenue have continued to increase (attendance up by 10% for the quarter).

Key things to take away from the conference call:

-Cost cutting is being done by looking at vendors (i.e-food & merchandise suppliers & land rental at the corporate head office in Orlando). Front line services at the parks (staff etc) are not being cut in order to preserve a good guest experience.

-The plan remains to open a brand new ride, animal habitat, show or event in all 6 markets every year.

-The Killer Whale productions in Orlando and San Antonio will be changing "over the next year or so". Interestingly, unlike in San Diego the stadiums will not need to be temporarily closed during the turnover.
 
What is the 6th market, Mako? I can think of BGT, BGW and the 3 SeaWorlds, but I can't think of the 6th unless it's Sesame Place in Pennsylvania.

Good to see positive progress at SeaWorld, though!
 
TimTracker has done a great overview of this year's Christmas Celebration event:



Best Christmas event in Orlando? I know Universal's is garbage but I've never done Disney at Christmas.
 
Disney are leagues ahead of Sea World when it comes to Christmas events and always will be. I've done both.
 
Danny said:
Disney are leagues ahead of Sea World when it comes to Christmas events and always will be. I've done both.
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Fair enough. Don't often hear that opinion but I can't talk from personal experience.

I'll have to go out and try it now, you just cost me $300 :p
 
SEAS have broken ground on the new company headquarters at SeaWorld Orlando:

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Infinity Falls has been suffering again recently, it has been shut for the past few days due to technical issues as we are about to head into the busiest week of the year for theme parks.

Christmas Celebration is still in full swing though, lots of new lights and features have been added since opening day. I believe the Sea of Trees has also recieved a new show sequence.

I am definitely visiting Disney for Christmas next year, but I have still yet to hear from a local that thinks their event is superior.



If anybody is in Orlando during January, Inside Look is returning to the park weekends from Jan 12th-27th. The event allows guests the rare chance to visit behind the scenes at many of the parks animal care areas and ask any questions directly to the people who know the animals best. I believe this time the areas that will be opened up behind the scenes are Manta Aquarium, Wild Arctic (Beluga Whale/Walrus), Rescue & Rehab Center & Fish House. There will also be appearances from conservationists and animal experts including Dr Guy Harvey & Jack Hanna. Definitely check it out if you are in the area; even I haven't been to the top of Manta Aquarium, I would be very jealous indeed!
 
They tried to reopen Infinity Falls this morning. Didn't go so well, lasted around 20 minutes.

Another try tomorrow morning apparently.
 
Wonder how much compensation Intamin have had to pay out over the years?

If I purchased Furious Baco for a example I'd want a full refund!
 
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