Phenomenal! I haven't been to Seaworld in 30 years. I was about 4 or 5 years old since my last…read morevisit, so of course I expected changes. When I went here long ago, Shamu was popular. He's been dead, but his memory is still alive here. New orcas, dolphins, sea otters etc. existed.
My friend and I came here since his father owns a timeshare 5 minutes away from Seaworld and we both had vacation time. We were at the Marriott hotel in downtown San Diego where the parking structure was on the top floor, unusual for sure, but necessary in order to park there due to the poor surrounding environment. A lot of places nearby including the boat museum maritime.
Seaworld, changed! In the most interesting and good way possible. New rides, more things to do. Last time I went to Seaworld there were only shows involving orcas swimming in a pool of water splashing guests as the highlight, it still is there as usual, which I loved by the way and was enjoyable to witness.
Rides:
1. Emperor - 5/5 amazing 90 degree drop dive coaster, with ejector air time and intense g forces, my favorite ride due to having a fresh breeze of the ocean air at the top and a beautiful view of the park.
2. Electric Eel - 5/5 bizarre coaster with a launch and a positive g roll at the top. Not that intense unfortunately, fun and intimidating, but enjoyable to go on with a friend. I enjoyed it.
3. Atlantis - 5/5 intense hybrid water ride and coaster. Two drops, the water drop was meh, but the coaster drop after was taller and more intense g forces on the drop and swivel loop below. My personal favorite tier with emperor
4. Manta - 5/5 most intense coaster there, super fun, launch coaster with strong g forces throughout. Shockingly the most intense ride at the park with the intense factor of the launches and ejector air time and speed.
5. Arctic Rescue - 5/5 super cool ice ride, it's near the penguins in the back and has a bike you sit on that has great launches and strong positive g forces on the launch, not as good as manta, but super fun, went on it more than once and enjoyed it the most. Theming of the ocean from the start before the launch was cool.
6. Skytower/skyride - admission fee rides, very relaxing, $6 per person, the skyride was fun, you sit in a carriage and observe the scenery of the ocean with a slight breeze. The skytower is a tall swiveling cylindrical seated container that overlooks sea world.
7. Closed attractions - dolphin show was closed, looks promising but was not open during spring for whatever reason, roaring rapids ride was closed in spring reopens in summer, the sea otter show closed due to renovation.
Food was very nice, I enjoyed it, I got a vegetarian salad wrap at the cafeteria near the orca show. They had pretzels, fried foods, pizza and sandwiches, burgers that looked and smelled good. I saw some people with turkey leg and they had other foods at the food court.
My friend liked touching the small fishies that eat dead skin near the entrance. Place is good for older kids and young adults who have children. Not as family friendly as Disneyland and Legoland due to the intensity of the attractions, especially that emperor and manta. Those two rides are more intense than any of the rides at Disneyland, better off comparing those to magic mountain and knotts berry farm level of intense.
Outside of the top 2 mentioned (manta and emperor) the other three were relatively good rides with strong intensity (electric eel, Atlantis and arctic rescue) that Atlantis ride was closed for like 6 hours which was annoying and the wait time was long too maybe 2 hours, so rode that ride last just before going home. We were there right when it opened and left before the place closed. I bought a dolphin souvenir t shirt at the shop and I love it.
Overall a solid 5/5 for entertainment, ambiance and overall experience. It had great themes and a beautiful environment similar to universal studios but sea based. The orca show was nice, cute host for the show and the little kids sea lion show was relatively meh. I would come back again. I enjoyed it but it is so far Southern California. Unless you live in San Diego, this place is a treat.