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SeaWorld Orlando: General Discussion

RicketyCricket said:
However I would like to see B&M's take on a multi launch with their clamshells. Surprised we haven't seen it happen yet.
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As much as I agree it would be cool, I don't think we are likely to see it. The multi-launch market is already very saturated, with Mack, Vekoma, Intamin and Gerst, Premier and others have all done some form of Multi-launch. I just don't think it would be a heavily money maker for them, so I don't see them doing it.
 
Since COVID hit in 2020, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin has stood SBNO. Given that it's been shut for nearly 3 years now and the park have removed all references to it, it has long since been assumed to be defunct and awaiting a replacement. However, that replacement could finally be on its way. According to Screamscape, strong rumours are spreading about a partially enclosed family launch coaster being built to replace it in 2024 or 2025. Here's the gist of what Lance has to say regarding the rumour:
Screamscape said:
2024/2025 - Revised Antarctica Attraction / New Coaster - Rumor - (1/1/2023) We don’t know exactly who may supply the new launched coaster being planned for SeaWorld Orlando as a replacement for the closed Antarctica dark ride. Previous speculation has mostly been that it might be Intamin, as they are supplying the hardware for both of the 2023 “straddle” coasters coming to the San Diego and Williamsburg parks, as well as having built the one in Texas. However… the concept for the new coaster may still be out for others to bid on, as we received word from an insider claiming that reps from Mack Rides were also previously seen touring the site several weeks ago. Mack Rides was behind San Diego’s very popular launched Manta roller coaster, which provides for a thrilling multi-launch coaster experience with a layout that remains very close to the ground.

(12/29/2022) Would you believe that SeaWorld Orlando is preparing for another new roller coaster for 2024 or 2025? I’ve been sitting on this news for a bit as some elements were said to be a bit up in the air, but as I’ve pointed out before the park’s former Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin dark ride is kaput… dead… gone and buried. How did a perfectly good dark ride die so quickly? I’m not going to go into details, but from what I’ve heard let’s just say that when the entire park was shut down in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, the old ride system was not left in a state meant for long-term storage. Even when the park opened a few months later, they had no intention of opening the enclosed dark ride just yet, so it just sat idle for far too long.
So what’s next for SeaWorld? Well, the situation here is a bit more tricky, but if you look at what they’ve been building at their other parks you can probably make some good guesses as to what may be planned here… a new enclosed or semi-enclosed family-friendly roller coaster ride. A number of possibilities have been looked at as to just how they are going to do it, which is one reason I was sitting on this news for awhile.
Essentially SeaWorld was looking at options here similar to what they have under construction in SeaWorld San Diego (Arctic Rescue) and Busch Gardens Williamsburg (DarKoaster). However the repurposing of this particular structure is a bit more tricky as unlike those other projects, the former dark ride was integrated much more closely with the existing and still operational penguin habitat.
Well, it’s time to spill the beans on this project because construction work is now starting. Midway Mayhem’s latest video from SeaWorld (see below) mentions the rumor of putting a new coaster in there, and then goes over to discover construction fences have gone up between the pathway to the Pacific Point SeaLion exhibit and the backside of the former dark ride building, which is exactly where the new coaster project is going.
No major heavy lifting, clearing or deep digging just yet of course, but from what Screamscape was told we can expect the entrance to the new coaster to actually be where these new work walls are, and the old dark ride entrance area will be exclusively used for the ongoing use of the penguin exhibit. I don’t know the theme of the ride yet, but it is possible that the shift of the entrance out of the arctic themed section could possibly indicate a theme with a warner climate. I guess it depends on just how much of the coaster will take place inside the enclosed former dark ride structure and how much will be outdoors.
This leads to the question of ride style, which again, I’m not sure if this will be another “straddle” coaster with a Wave Runner or Snow Mobile theme like the Arctic Rescue coming to San Diego, or the previous Wave Breaker that opened in Texas. If so then that style would require a bit more outdoor track sections due to the launch concept, but then again they were said to be looking at smaller concepts like the fully enclosed DarKoaster project going into Williamsburg right now as well. Like all things, it was going to come down to cost, and how much of the old building area they felt they could re-use for the coaster and how much they were going to have to give up to the operations of the Penguin exhibit, along with the cost factor of adding any new buildings in the space available vs just building an open air coaster layout like they are doing in San Diego.
A quick aerial look at the site will reveal that there is very little open space back there, as the back of the Penguin building bumps up against the backside of the Kraken queue and station, with only a narrow but necessary access road between Kraken and Pacific Point that leads out towards Kraken’s Cobra Roll and trenches. With all that in mind, if I had to guess, the best thing we’re going to get for the coaster station to be enclosed in the dark ride building with maybe a short dark ride room or two before the launch that will probably sent the train out and around the backside of Pacific Point and back, and maybe through some of Kraken’s cobra roll area if need be. There is just very little undeveloped land out there to use unless they take some inspiration from the Texas coaster and feature some low-level twists and turns over the retention pond between Kraken and Mako before returning back to the station.
Just keep in mind that the majority of the backstage end of the Penguin building is the oldest section that was originally the Penguin Encounter exhibit, and the former Antarctica dark ride sections were added to the front side of that original structure. Stay tuned and keep your eyes open when visiting the park, as this project is just getting started.
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Source: https://screamscape.com/html/seaworld_florida.htm

As Lance mentions, construction fences have now been erected around the area that backs onto the Antarctica ride building, as shown in Midway Mayhem's latest construction update on Pipeline:

(Go to 7:41 for the relevant section)

To me, this strongly suggests that something is happening with the area.

It was originally thought that the ride would be an Intamin straddle coaster, similar to Wave Breaker, DarKoaster and Arctic Rescue, but Mack Rides' name is now being thrown into the ring after Mack Rides staff were seen on the construction site. Due to much of Antarctica's former building being utilised for the penguin exhibit, it is thought that large sections of the ride will be outdoors, stretching over the ride area of Kraken and onto the lake between Kraken and Mako.

Interestingly, the ride's entrance area is thought to be located on the new area of land being cleared, with the current heavily-themed Antarctica area being kept solely for the penguin exhibit.

What do you guys reckon to this rumour? I think that coaster sounds like a good fit for the park if true; SeaWorld does lack a family coaster, seeing as even Ice Breaker has had issues meaning that it is now unable to fill this void. With that in mind, I think a family launch coaster would be a really nice addition!
 
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This park may well need a family coaster but it seems a silly stragety to add one straight after pipeline. I do question SeaWorlds usage of cash, it reminds me of how Six Flags went bust, I honestly will start to get concerned for there future if they continue to spend like this.
 
JAperson said:
This park may well need a family coaster but it seems a silly stragety to add one straight after pipeline. I do question SeaWorlds usage of cash, it reminds me of how Six Flags went bust, I honestly will start to get concerned for there future if they continue to spend like this.
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There are a number of key differences between SeaWorld and 2000s Six Flags.

The first is that Six Flags also purchased a number of lower tier parks and chucked the best part of $100m of ride hardware at them, often with fairly limited results, at the same time as building umpteen different coasters per year.

You’d also often get a scenario where the Six Flags parks would build more than one huge thrill coaster per year each, while SeaWorld are at least limiting themselves to one coaster per park per year.

Furthermore, I seem to remember hearing that Six Flags slashed its entry fees and massive cut annual pass prices (their annual pass prices were something phenomenally low like $25 each, if I’m remembering correctly). SeaWorld still has fairly expensive entry fees and annual passes to each of its parks; there’s certainly been no substantial cut as far as I can tell.

There was much more to Six Flags’ bankruptcy than simply building lots of coasters. Their whole investment and pricing strategy in the 2000s could be likened to a theme park equivalent of “Trussonomics”, wherein investment ramped up and pricing was cut so drastically that it would have required a huge rise in guest figures to make the investment viable. From what I gather, SeaWorld’s current strategy is not nearly as extreme.

SeaWorld’s recent financial results paint a positive picture. If I’m remembering correctly, their company profit margins were at their highest level ever in 2021 and 2022!
 
Matt N said:
There are a number of key differences between SeaWorld and 2000s Six Flags.

The first is that Six Flags also purchased a number of lower tier parks and chucked the best part of $100m of ride hardware at them, often with fairly limited results, at the same time as building umpteen different coasters per year.

You’d also often get a scenario where the Six Flags parks would build more than one huge thrill coaster per year each, while SeaWorld are at least limiting themselves to one coaster per year.

Furthermore, I seem to remember hearing that Six Flags slashed its entry fees and massive cut annual pass prices (their annual pass prices were something phenomenally low like $25 each, if I’m remembering correctly). SeaWorld still has fairly expensive entry fees and annual passes to each of its parks; there’s certainly been no substantial cut as far as I can tell.

There was much more to Six Flags’ bankruptcy than simply building lots of coasters. Their whole investment and pricing strategy in the 2000s could be likened to a theme park equivalent of “Trussonomics”, wherein investment ramped up and pricing was cut so drastically that it would have required a huge rise in guest figures to make the investment viable. From what I gather, SeaWorld’s current strategy is not nearly as extreme.

SeaWorld’s recent financial results paint a positive picture. If I’m remembering correctly, their company profit margins were at their highest level ever in 2021 and 2022!
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There are a few key differences and perhaps I'm generalising a bit but it does seem far to risky to get yourself into lots of debt over several coasters at once all of which might not perform well. They're throwing a lot of money at there parks trying to do a transition to fast, I get they want to move away from animals after black fish, but for my money it would make more sense to do this slowly, moving people's perceptions of the parks over time, rather than trying to do it all in just a few years. They can't change the imagine of somewhere easily just to throwing money at new stuff, it need so be changed in the publics perspectives.
 
JAperson said:
There are a few key differences and perhaps I'm generalising a bit but it does seem far to risky to get yourself into lots of debt over several coasters at once all of which might not perform well. They're throwing a lot of money at there parks trying to do a transition to fast, I get they want to move away from animals after black fish, but for my money it would make more sense to do this slowly, moving people's perceptions of the parks over time, rather than trying to do it all in just a few years. They can't change the imagine of somewhere easily just to throwing money at new stuff, it need so be changed in the publics perspectives.
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A fast transition of this vein has worked before. Look at Thorpe Park, for instance; Tussauds threw everything and the kitchen sink at Thorpe Park during the 2000s to convert it from a family park into a thrill park, and that strategy really delivered the goods in terms of transitioning the park from family to thrill and growing its guest figures.

Between 2000 and 2007, park guest figures roughly doubled (in 2000, the park got ~937,500 guests, and in 2007, the park got ~1,843,750 guests; that’s an attendance boost of about 97%), and guests’ perception of Thorpe Park was changed pretty drastically. I’m aware that this bubble burst from about 2012 onwards, but I don’t think that it was the initial fast transition of the 2000s that caused that bubble burst to occur. Other factors played into that; the initial fast transition to thrill actually did very well for Thorpe Park, and had some degree of momentum continued into other areas, I think it could still have produced great results for them to this day.
 
Matt N said:
A fast transition of this vein has worked before. Look at Thorpe Park, for instance; Tussauds threw everything and the kitchen sink at Thorpe Park during the 2000s to convert it from a family park into a thrill park,
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I’m not really sure these scenarios are comparable, Seaworld has a serious image problem, Thorpe Park had no such issue.
 
They need the dark ride really. Reworking the original ride would have been my preferred option, but I’m not sure if they could actually have delivered an interesting penguin themed dark ride without going for an IP. But Seaworld really needs things that aren’t coasters. Yes they lack a family coaster but they also lack dark rides.
 
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