 SeaWorld California San Diego, CA SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
Attraction Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Riptide Rescue – 4/30/12 through 5/4/12
Park News - (3/23/12) SeaWorld San Diego will hold the first ever Pole to Pole Fun Run event on April 28th, to benefit the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. Register now to join in on the 5K race that will take you by Sea Lions, Dolphins, Birds, Shamu and more. Click here for details. (12/19/11) Starting January 1st, your beverage options at the 10 SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country will take a sudden shift, as a new 10-year sponsor deal with Coca-Cola Co. will kick into effect, removing Pepsi products from the park. Coke and SeaWorld do have a long history together, as Coke was the official drink sponsor for the SeaWorld parks (or Sea World parks as they were spelled back then, long before they were purchased and merged with the Busch parks). Coke was dropped in favor of Pepsi back on Jan. 1st, 1988 by SeaWorld’s then owners, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and the partnership was continued under the ownership of Anheuser-Busch. Pepsi was long rumored to have an edge over Coke under the Busch era because Pepsi was a major client of the Busch owned Metal Container Corporation who supplier Pepsi with a large percentage of their aluminum cans. So after a 24 year run… Coke will return at last. (11/14/11) The Toronto Sun reports that Ikaika was removed from Marineland Saturday night by a fleet of trucks with a police escort, in order to transport the killer whale to SeaWorld San Diego. (10/10/11) According to SeaWorld San Diego, they’ve made some changes to the park’s Riptide Rescue ride. They have decided to “increase the rotation speed of the ride-arms” for the ride, making it more thrilling… but this has also required them to increase the height requirement from 40 inches to 45 inches (if accompanied by an adult) and from 48 inches to 50 inches for those unaccompanied by an adult. (7/13/11) Good news for SeaWorld California guests this week. According to Amusement Today, rides on the historic Skytower and Bayside Skyride are now free to all guests, ending a decades long practice of selling separate tickets to the rides.
2012 - Manta - (5/15/12) A reader has sent in a picture (see below) of the new Manta ride sign now in place at SeaWorld. (5/7/12) Some new pictures of Manta have been posted to Theme Park Review this week, including a look at one of the trains entering the launch tunnel. There is also another great video showing off Manta making test runs from all around the park. Is it me or are the wheels squealing a bit too much?
(4/30/12) A couple of videos showing off Manta making test runs have been posted to YouTube this week. Check them out below.
(4/25/12) Great news from SeaWorld California… according to eye witness reports, Manta has begun testing. (4/24/12) Quick Update – The link to the Manta launch tunnel photos has been removed as the pictures were removed from that site at the request of SeaWorld. (3/13/12) A ton of great Manta photos have been posted online in a nice collection here. (3/6/12) SeaWorld San Diego has installed the final pie
ce of Manta track this week. (3/1/12) WestCoaster went by SeaWorld this week to check out Manta’s progress. Looks like they only have a couple of pieces of track left to go when you get to the site pics on Page 11. (2/27/12) Incredible new pictures of Manta have been posted to RCPro this week, along with a great look at the park’s existing Journey To Altlantis flume ride. (2/7/12) A fun construction update video for Manta has been sent out from SeaWorld with a great look at the ride’s sections from the station structure. Check it out below!
(2/10/11) SeaWorld California announced earlier today, Manta, their new launched roller coaster ride for 2012. While I’m disappointed that they chose to copy the same name of the great Flying coaster in the Florida park, this new Manta is nothing at all like the East coast version. It was confirmed to be a Mack Rides creation, based on their successful Blue Fire style launched coaster system and trains, and while the ride will only be 30 feet tall, it will include at least one 54 foot plunge as it dives into an underground track section. According to the SeaWorld Blog, the ride will start off with a “launch tunnel” where the riders view larger than life projections of rays on a 270º enveloping screen as they are launched. The existing Forbidden Reef attraction area (featuring rays and eels) will be incorporated into the overall Manta experience. (I’m hoping they run the queue for Manta through the underground tunnels for Manta myself…) And like the Florida version of the ride, the new Manta ride will also feature some fun and special water effects. Now for the details… Manta will have a maximum launch speed of 43mph, using an LSM style launch system and a track length of 2,835 feet, taking just under 2 minutes. Manta will have four trains, each one able to hold 20 riders, for a maximum capacity of 1,400 riders for hour. And the height limit will be 48 inches.
2013 - New Attraction - Rumor - (9/30/11) Screamscape sources tell us that the 2013 plans to replace the Cirque De La Mer show with some kind of new project elsewhere in the park. From what I understand, once construction on Manta begins to wrap up in Spring 2012, the work to clear our space for this new project will soon begin. Stay tuned! (7/19/11) The early rumor from SeaWorld California is that the park is looking to replace Cirque De La Mer with a new show by 2013. Given that this show theater has open access to Mission Bay, you just never know what they may try to install here.
2014 - 50th Anniversary - Rumor - (7/19/11) SeaWorld California, the first of all the SeaWorld parks, will turn 50 in 2014. We’ve heard rumors about possibly building a new themed main entrance area, possibly similar to the one used in Orlando, and some new special attractions to celebrate the big event. One of these may be a new special night-time version show in the Blue Horizons stadium.
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