SeaWorld California
& Aquatica California
San Diego, CA
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
Ride Rehabs - The following dates are subject to change
Skyride - NOW CLOSED through TBD
Tentacle Twirl - Nov. 2 through Nov. 9
Emperor - Nov. 9 through Nov. 20
Arctic Rescue - Nov. 30 through Dec. 11
Electric Eel - Dec. 15 through Dec 17
See Arctic Rescue (2023) in Action Here
Click Here to read our review of Howl-O-Scream 2023
Park News - (8/13/2026) A quick heads up, SeaWorld San Diego is now offering the 2027 Fun Card for just $94.99. This will get you into the park as much as you want for the remainder of 2026 as well as all of 2027. Visit the official website for details on how to buy it, and keep in mind that this is a limited time sale price that won’t last forever.
(8/3/2026) According to the local news SeaWorld San Diego suffered from more power outage problems on Saturday, which forced the park to close many attractions and rides, as well as cancel a scheduled concert from Jordin Sparks.
(8/1/2026) SeaWorld San Diego was forced to close early on Friday when smoke was discovered coming from an electrical box located in the parking lot. Between the arrival of fire and power crews to determine the problem that was also causing electrical issues within the theme park, the park was forced to close early for the day around 2pm. Guests affected were offered a ticket to return on any other future visit.
It was expected that things would be returning to normal operations today.
 (7/31/2026) The SeaWorld parks are getting in on the IP bandwagon this year and will bring a “I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch” theme haunted house to the Howl-O-Scream events taking place at SeaWorld Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio this year. Themed to the famous Sony Pictures horror series, the haunted house will be based on the first installment, bringing the 1997 classic to life.
“Guests will wander through horrifying recreations of several unforgettable movie scenes and into the events that unfold during the original Southport massacre. The movie, and the haunted houses, tell the story of a group of friends who desperately attempt to hide a deadly accident, but their shared secret awakens a killer determined to make them pay. Now, SeaWorld guests will become part of that terrifying story.”
Details for the San Diego event seem clear now, with all six haunted houses revealed now. In addition to I Know What You Did Last Summer, the San Diego HOS event will also feature the 3D Circus of the Damned, Simon’s Slaughterhouse, Death Water Bayou Awakening, Nightmare Experiment Sweet DreamzZz, and Area 64: MOTHERSHIP. From the look of things, they just have some details about scare zones still to be revealed.
(7/17/2026) Howl-O-Scream will return to SeaWorld San Diego this fall, featuring a bigger than ever event with six haunted houses, new scare zones, live shows and more! Look for Howl-O-Scream on select nights from Sept. 11 through to Oct. 31st, 2026. New this year is Area 64: MOTHERSHIP, a new SciFi themed haunted house that will serve as a prequel to the previous Area 64: Alien Outbreak haunt. Guests will “navigate the wreckage of a crashed alien mothership and government research labs where hybrid experiments have gone horribly wrong, coming face-to-face with a threat from beyond the stars.”
A new mysterious 6th haunted house is also coming this year, and will be announced in the next few weeks. Returning haunts include Circus of the Damned 3D, Simon’s Slaughterhouse, Deathwater Bayou: Awakening and Nightmare Experiment: Sweet DreamzZz.
2027/2028 - Flying Theater - Speculation - (3/20/2025) So what does the future have in store for SeaWorld San Diego? Chances are that the next major attraction to come to SeaWorld San Diego in 2026 or 2027 will be a copy of the Expedition Odyssey flying theater attraction opening this summer at SeaWorld Orlando. Just as in was for the original Wild Arctic simulator attraction, the plan will be to have guests ride the new Flying Theater and then exit and be able to walk through the Wild Arctic animal exhibit.
While in Orlando they are simply just transforming two of the former three simulator bays into new flying theater attractions, the Wild Arctic when it was originally built as Mission: Bermuda Triangle had four simulator bays, along with a pass-through hallway in-between bays 2 and 3, to allow guests who didn’t care to ride a way to still see the exhibit.
Now, you may be wondering how they will be able to do this with the Arctic Rescue coaster now in place, but that shouldn’t be a problem as the installation of Arctic Rescue only took over the left two simulator bays, leaving the right two bays (3 & 4) inactive and guests have been using the pass-through hallway to still access the Wild Arctic animal exhibit ever since they closed the simulators down.
With the right two bays still in place, my guess is that as long as guests enjoy the new Expedition Odyssey flying theater in Orlando, it wont be long before the budget is approved to move forward with a clone for San Diego. After all, the filming, editing and programing for the new attraction will already be complete, so all that needs to be done is to buy and install the new ride hardware from Mack Rides.
???? - The Next Roller Coaster - (10/5/2023) Screamscape is hearing that long term planning may have begun to add yet another roller coaster to SeaWorld San Diego. The early rumor is that they may have asked B&M to come up with a layout for a Wing Coaster. Given that the park has a sensitive relationship with the local governing agencies, especially when it comes to building anything with height, I would suspect that if SeaWorld San Diego were to build a B&M Wing Coaster, they would take inspiration from Thunderbirg at Holiday World, which uses a magnetic launch system rather than a lift hill.
Another great possibility, and one that would definitely tie into the California surf culture, would be for the San Diego park to build a copy (or near clone) of the Pipeline Surf Coaster that opened at the Orlando park earlier this year (see video below). This next-gen stand-up coaster is themed like a giant surf board and also uses a magnetic launch to keep the action fast and low when needed. The real surprise is the hidden piston built into every restraint unit that quite literally lifts the riders off their feet for a true Hang 10 moment of airtime at the peak of every hill that is guaranteed to make you squeal with glee.
Stay tuned!
Future Masterplan - (7/12/2026) SeaWorld San Diego has placed an updated long-term master plan before San Diego’s Planning Commission, which has an interesting feature. For about 40 years now the master plans for the park have included the idea of building an on-site hotel along Mission Bay, a concept first proposed back in 1985. While those plans were said to be abandoned in 2018, the park is keeping it in the master plan as a possible long term option and now the City gets to decide if they want to allow it to stay or not.
The big question most wonder is why are they keeping it in the plan if they’re not planning on building it, and my best guest would be that having it in the approved plans would be of extreme value if the park or chain of parks were to be put up to sale to a new owner. Especially one who might have the better background and financial ability to follow through with such a plan.
New Attraction Footage -
2023 - Arctic Rescue - (7/3/2023) Screamscape was invited to send a local member of the crew down to give the new Arctic Rescue roller coaster at SeaWorld San Diego a spin. The video below shows off a POV of the coaster in action from the front row and from the back as it passes through three launch zones throughout the journey.
Howl-O-Scream 2023 Review -
(10/4/2023) Screamscape was invited to try out this year’s Howl-O-Scream event and I decided to send in my good friend Andy to check it out. For a little history, back in the day, growing up in San Diego, Andy and I would often frequent all the haunts we could find in town, which included several years of visits to the city’s once famous ‘Scream in the Dark’ haunt, the Haunted Museum and others from years past. They managed to shoot an awesome video for us that captures all the fun of Howl-O-Scream and sent back a quick review as well, so enjoy!
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SeaWorld opens its doors to sirens and slaughterhouses in 2023's Howl-O-Scream, featuring 5 haunted mazes, multiple vignette areas, spooktacular cocktails, roaming haunts, environmental effects, and dark rides. Contained in the southern section of the park, SeaWorld has concocted a trail of screams and haunts worthy of adults and children alike. Honestly, it takes a brave child to deal with what we had to endure. Some of this is NOT for the faint of heart. SeaWorld claims "nowhere is safe!" - and that is true as actors dressed as monsters can startle you at every turn. That is, unless you don a magic blinking medallion (available for
$15 within the park) to guarantee a spook-free experience.
For those brave souls who wish to venture further, the park provided Five (Count-em!) Five themed mazes of jump scares, curated scenes, animatronic ghouls, sparking chainsaws, and more. Within the various themed encounters careful attention to detail was taken, making sure you were looking in the wrong place so that the live ghouls could get the drop on you.
For the extremely observant- there are no less than TWO hidden speakeasies nestled within the haunts (don't forget the password: "Gauntlet"). Fiendish, yet delicious cocktails were available inside including frighteningly authentic "blood bags" filled with what we hope was a cocktail and not the real thing! Collectable, color-changing skull mugs were also purchasable.
Along the dark, smokey paths between mazes were a motley assortment of various monsters to keep you on your toes. Also speckled throughout your adventure are themed "Vignettes" like mini-musicals to enjoy while eating, drinking or planning your next move:
Dark Coasters! What's scarier than a 14-story vertical drop? The turn after- in pitch blackness! When you can't see it coming, it's even scarier. The park offered three coasters of various fear levels to satisfy guests, Emperor, Arctic Rescue, and Electric Eel. A great way to end your visit to the creepiest seaside spectacle you've ever seen this side of the pacific! We were truly taken to another world that hardly seemed like the park we visited a few months earlier.
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