Attraction Expedition Odyssey
- Thread starter MakoMania
- Start date
Hopefully the Wild Arctic sim building is not flattened. Weather has repeatedly been cited during earnings calls as an issue affecting attendance. It was stated during the Q4 2023 earnings call, "...weather related impacts reduced attendance by over 370,000 visits for the full year.” If SEAS wants to mitigate the impact that bad weather has on their parks, adding indoor attractions would be a great strategy. Building an indoor attraction has a bigger upfront cost, but they most likely have better returns in the long term, since guests will have a reason to stay in the park during bad weather. As Zachary mentioned, they would be able to save cost by retrofitting the existing building rather than having to build brand new building in the feature.
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This, very much this. The Wild Arctic building seems like basically the park's final chance to deliver an indoor ride for the foreseeable future, at least as long as Scott Ross remains micromanager in chief. You don't have to be a theme park enthusiast to see that this park clearly needs an indoor ride and does not need another coaster, which is why it really irks me that the park/company leadership seems fully intent on ignoring that reality and phoning in coasterz from the boardroom year after year after year until attendance and profits plummet.
I can't persuade my family, some of whom can't ride roller coasters, or even my friends who love roller coasters, to come to SeaWorld for free with a guest ticket anymore because there's nothing to do except ride roller coasters, and I know my case isn't an isolated anecdote. The solution is to add indoor family attractions like the flying theater that should clearly go in this space, and I'm really praying the company cares enough about its own success to make that happen.
I couldn't agree more with the fact that this park is in desperate need of anything but a coaster. But, at the end of the day, Universal is building a massive park just a few miles away and SeaWorld needs to compete. As much as I love Mako, Manta, and Kraken, The park is actively trying to over compensate for years of no development. Why else would we get possibly get 4 coasters back to back to back. They need to stack this park to keep it reverent for all of the thrill seekers coming in for epic.
SeaWorld has made it known that they are slowly moving away from the animals and more into a theme park with sea themed rides. I am hearing that the park is going to get a major flat ride in 2026 which is nice because it breaks up the ride experiences at the park. But with that being said, its not going to be an indoor attraction. Well, maybe, but who knows. I honestly think if they are going to put a flying theater ride anywhere in the park it should be in the turtle trek building. That area needs development and fast as most guests don't even know that part of the park exists. As much as this park needs a true indoor dark ride, personally I don't really trust them to invest the money into it to make it last more than a few seasons. If they can't keep up with providing a top tier ride experience by investing the money into them year after year, then i don't want them to build it, and personally that's why i think they aren't.
As for flats, the only one i don't want to see is a screamin' swing but lets be serious, united parks loves them. A flat package would do this park wonders. It just wouldn't change the fact that the park would have no rides open during a storm. The thing to remember though is that the saving grace this park does have is the animal exhibits that do remain open during the storm which is much more than other parks can say. Guests can experience sharks, wild arctic, the JTA aquarium, and what ever is left of turtle trek. While not ideal, it is something.
SeaWorld has made it known that they are slowly moving away from the animals and more into a theme park with sea themed rides. I am hearing that the park is going to get a major flat ride in 2026 which is nice because it breaks up the ride experiences at the park. But with that being said, its not going to be an indoor attraction. Well, maybe, but who knows. I honestly think if they are going to put a flying theater ride anywhere in the park it should be in the turtle trek building. That area needs development and fast as most guests don't even know that part of the park exists. As much as this park needs a true indoor dark ride, personally I don't really trust them to invest the money into it to make it last more than a few seasons. If they can't keep up with providing a top tier ride experience by investing the money into them year after year, then i don't want them to build it, and personally that's why i think they aren't.
As for flats, the only one i don't want to see is a screamin' swing but lets be serious, united parks loves them. A flat package would do this park wonders. It just wouldn't change the fact that the park would have no rides open during a storm. The thing to remember though is that the saving grace this park does have is the animal exhibits that do remain open during the storm which is much more than other parks can say. Guests can experience sharks, wild arctic, the JTA aquarium, and what ever is left of turtle trek. While not ideal, it is something.
Small update as of 5.8.24!
Not a ton of visible progress can be seen to the outside of Wild Arctic. One key thing to note is that there is now a large dumpster onsite being filled with materials from the inside of the ride building. Work can heard happening inside the ride building as well. Behind the work wall, it seems like they have either begun removing the simulator doors or other large pieces of steel, it is very hard to see and tell what it is.
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Not a ton of visible progress can be seen to the outside of Wild Arctic. One key thing to note is that there is now a large dumpster onsite being filled with materials from the inside of the ride building. Work can heard happening inside the ride building as well. Behind the work wall, it seems like they have either begun removing the simulator doors or other large pieces of steel, it is very hard to see and tell what it is.
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If the ultimate goal was to compete with epic, I don't think a small scale coaster would be the greatest option. If they are trying to compete with a park, they should do something that the other parks don't. I understand they try to put "kinks" in their rides, but there are not lots of rides in their lineup that is different from any other amusement park. All their coasters can be closely related to others in the world, other than JTA imo.
Even with Pipeline being the first "Surf Coaster", people still liken it to regular stand ups.
If they want the attendance they are seeking, they have to go BIG. If not big, then a new unique experience you can't get anywhere else.
I think the public will be more impressed with Americas first hypersphere and attractions like that. Videos of such attraction in Florida would look so cool and easy to advertise. What does a small scale GCI bring? How can they even market it.
FLORIDA'S SECOND TALLEST WOODEN ROLLER COASTER!!!! Doesn't sound appealing, does it. I'm not saying that a small roller coaster wouldn't help benefit the lineup, especially for the small thrill seekers, I'm saying it can't compete with a brand new park.
I agree. Personally I think it’s more of trying to draw people away for a day or so while they come to universal. Universal is more for an experience and SeaWorld will be more for thrills, I believe that’s why they are pushing the coaster capital of Orlando so hard.
SeaWorld is really not competing with Epic. All they are doing is keeping locals coming back year after year. The audience is not the national/international audience of Disney and Universal. When Epic will cost as much for a day as a SeaWorld annual pass, it's a very different market. Is there and will there be spill over between the parks, only among the enthusiasts or the people from other markets with passes (Sesame, BGW) where they were going to Orlando for Disney and Universal and add on time at SeaWorld. The days of SeaWorld being a real player in the Orlando market are gone without the Busch budgets.
I respectfully disagree with you. Being someone that goes to the park weekly, they definitely do see a very high international audience. Now are these international guests coming for just SeaWorld? Absolutely not and i will never claim that they do. They come for Disney and Universal for a week or so and when they do, they plan on Disney for a few days and tack on SeaWorld to save some money and experience something different. They are for sure competing with Disney and Universal, just not for the entirety of someone's trip, just for a day or two of it. Trying to pull a day or two from another park is competing in my eyes.
But on that note, here is an update on the 2025 project as of 5-11-2024!
-Nothing new to report on the outside of the show building that I could notice.
-When walking to check out the inside for an update, I noticed two doors open that I have never seen open before. While trying to see if i could see anything, I noticed two guests walking out of the building! This sparked my interest, so I checked the area out to see if there was any signage stating to not be in that area and to my shock there wasn't. At first thought I thought they may have blocked areas off inside the building and had a guest path going through it for some reason which would have been strange, but when i got up to the double doors that were propped open, there was nothing but a construction site and a gutted room. Please note that I DID NOT GO INSIDE OF THE BUILDING. All the footage you see has been shot from outside of the double doors, out side of the building, and on the ramp. After seeing this I told a team member working in the gift shop and they called management but nothing was done later in the day.
-Inside the building you could see that the pre show area/old haunted house area was completely cleared and was being gutted. Nothing else really to note besides a empty room. If you see something i didn't please let me know!
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I worked at SeaWorld for 8 years (2011-2020) and I live just down the street (Central Florida Parkway) so I have been a frequent guest for the past 4 years, and I have watched the decline of guests who were prioritizing the park as part of their Orlando trip. Yes, there are still people who book SeaWorld as part of their trip on international visits, but it's not what it used to be by a LONG SHOT. The primary market is the locals, school groups, and people who get deals on tickets. Any others they get are a bonus. Like any regional theme park, the locals keep the lights on and anyone who comes from out of market is a bonus.
So you think it’s the right idea to have a small scale woodie?
definitely looks like an expanded haunt venue to me…
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The doors in question here lead into the preload area for the former wild arctic ride. This was the room in question that I mentioned earlier in the thread where merchandise and entertainment were being yelled at to leave ASAP. Looking at what you’ve caught they’ve already gutted one, possibly 2 of the simulator vehicles already.
I have doubts about this, however. The amount of space those simulators, their bays, and the exit took up is gargantuan for a haunt house. Keep in mind the house they had there was already pretty long as it was, and that didn’t even take up a fraction of the space this will have freed up. I find it more likely this is for a new ride entirely.
I'm not doubting you that locals keep the lights on but the point i'm tryin to make is the fact that SeaWorld has built all of these new coasters strictly to try to compete with the crowds that universal is going to have when they open epic. Like you said, they don't have the same numbers of international guest coming to park, so the best way to fix it is to over compensate for roller coasters and grab the attention of those guests coming for epic. At no point am i saying that SeaWorld is trying to be the reason people come here. They are just competing for some of the guests visit, not the whole thing. And when epic opens, it will be a so much more.
Someone save the Philips-CDI in the beluga exhibit. I forgot exactly where it is but that’s worth like 600 bucks. Iirc it’s by the radio equipment/keyboards. If someone goes, take a pic and send here
I would rather them pause the wild arctic edition if it is a coaster. Just please, put a dark ride here. Sesame Streets BIGGEST EXPANSION, does that not sound appealing? I'm just thinking of the ads that showcase the best parts of the park. They would get the chance to show off everything great in the park again, meet and greets, parades, splash zone offer with one big new addition.
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I might add, SeaWorld appears to be positioning itself to at least some extent as a destination for non-locals with the addition of their first two onsite resorts. That inherently means they're competing with the other Orlando theme parks for at least some chunk of guests' vacations. For that strategy to work, SWO needs to offer a full day of activities that appeal to the full spectrum of guests under a full spectrum of weather conditions.
When we went down in October, I wanted to hit up BGT for Iron Gwazi. On Groupon they had discounted 2-day tickets good for SWO/Aquatica/BGT/Adventure Island, so we ended up getting off the plane and driving right to SWO for a few hours. I can't imagine doing the same with a WDW park.
I like to think of SWO/BGT as more complimentary to Universal, than outright competing.