More Thrills in the Shows Than the Rides...
Written: Sep 20 '01 (Updated Mar 30 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Gotta love Shamu!
Cons: Mediocre rides, high prices, poor hours, some hokey shows
The Bottom Line: Decent theme park for families with young kids--Shamu is great. Otherwise average attractions with high prices.
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| mrkstvns's Full Review: Sea World Texas |
One of the perils of becoming a family man is that you have to give up things like going to theme parks just for the thrills of the coasters. You start to actually look for places that have things that will interest very short people who have equally short attention spans -- in short, you look for places that are more like SeaWorld and less like Six Flags. A few weeks ago I took my family to SeaWorld, where we were going to meet some friends who also have young children. The kids had a great time -- but me (the guy with the credit card), a little less great. Here's why...
Go For the Shows...
The show is the thing at SeaWorld. The park emphasizes their whale and dolphin shows, especially their star attraction -- Shamu the killer whale. If you're not a coaster-head and you plan to build your day around the shows -- or if you have kids who want to see Shamu, then you'll really be in your element at SeaWorld.
You're familiar with boxer George Foreman, right? Did you know that he named all his kids "George Foreman"? Well, evidently George Foreman is in charge of naming the whales at SeaWorld. They might have a half dozen of the beasts, but no matter which ones you're watching, they're all named Shamu! Makes things easy, I guess...especially for SeaWorld's marketing guys (and other folks with a poverty of imagination).
Shamu is really the best show at SeaWorld. Sure they've got newer shows, sure they've got more elaborate shows, but none really capture the imagination of kids or are as fun and uncontrived as the whale show. For one thing, the whales really have center stage here and they really show off their intelligence and grace. It's hard to imagine an animal who weighs more than a fully loaded railroad boxcar having "grace" but these whales really do. They play with their trainers, splash the audience with their massive tails, and jump out of the water onto platforms at the side of the pool. You can see them jump fully out of the water in a breech movement, and you can see them work together like a choreagraphed dance troup. It's really an amazing show, and to me, represented the highpoint of the day at SeaWorld. Don't miss it!
Some of the other shows were less inspiring to me, and I could miss them without shedding too many tears. I'd heard a lot about the new Viva show, which is supposedly a dolphin show, but the dolphins only race across the pool a couple times and that's about it. Most of the show involves high divers in ugly costumes climbing out of the pool and diving back in. The show starts off with the Fools with Tools guy pretending to fix leaks around the stadium -- this part of the show is pretty much just an excuse to spray a few hoses around. I found it contrived and overdone, and not even particularly wet... If I go back again, I might skip the Viva show.
Over at the water ski area is a show called Intensity Games. This is mostly a lot of shouting and hype surrounding a combined water ski and gymnastics show. I wasn't particularly impressed with it -- mostly because of the silly announcer and the silly gimmicks of having "teams" compete in an obviously contrived "competition". The performers though were quite good and some of the moves obviously required real talent and athletic ability. I'm kind of one the fence about whether I really liked it or thought it was hokey, but I think that if you're the kind of person who thinks that doing the wave is the high point of going to a ball game, then it would probably be right up your alley!
Bottom line on the shows is that they are generally well done and will capture the interest of a lot of people, especially the Shamu show, which in my opinion, is nothing short of excellent.
Tip for folks who are seriously interested in the animals themselves: SeaWorld does have some limited opportunities for behind the scenes tours and the ability to meet animals and trainers up close and personal. These aren't widely advertised or known, but if it's the animals you're interested in, get there early and check in with Reservation office near the front gate.
But Don't Go For the Rides...
I'm a huge coaster fan. Huge!
In my opinion, the more coasters a park has the better, and the better the coasters, the more likely I'll be back. If I go back to SeaWorld, it sure won't be because of the rides.
Admittedly, SeaWorld puts the emphasis on sea mammals, and not on rides. The shows are the thing at SeaWorld, and that's all fine, but they do have rides, and they do try to compete at some level with other nearby theme parks, especially Six Flags Fiesta Texas. For people who love rides, this competition is a paper tiger...Six Flags has nothing to worry about.
There's very little variety in the rides at SeaWorld: two steel coasters, a log flume, and a river ride are pretty much it.
The Steel Eel is a standard steel coaster, but a pretty tame one on El Tio Gringo's Thrill Scale(tm). A quick initial drop, a few ups and downs, a roundabout loopback that crosses under itself, and that's about it -- no wicked twists, no loops, no tunnels -- no nothing really. The layout feels similar to King's Dominion's Rebel Yell -- which is fine for a wood coaster but terrible for a steel coaster. This is one coaster where it's easy to keep your hands up! I don't think it would even scare my Granny. Lame, lame, lame!
The Great White is SeaWorld's other steel coaster, and this one actually does provide a few thrills. It's an inverted coaster where you hang down suspended from an overhead track (sort of like the Big Bad Wolf, if you're familiar with the rides at Busch Gardens). I count about four loops on this viscious little beast plus the chairs swing wide on the curves. It's fast, it's wicked, I wish it lasted more than 32 seconds. Scores "Good" on the Thrill Scale.
Rio Loco is a pretty typical river ride that's intended to simulate white water rafting. You run through some lightly rolling water, pass under a couple chutes that dump copious gallons of water into your boat and then make a short drop. If you're familiar with the rides at theme parks in Virginia, it's pretty much a clone of Roman Rapids, but without all the ancient Rome doodads. Scores "very low" on the thrill scale, but that's not really its purpose -- this is a ride that will get you wet and cool you off a bit if you've been out in that hot Texas sun a little too long...so give it a "good" on the Wetness Potential scale...
Texas Splashdown is a typical log flume ride. Two short drops plus one big drop that might actually get somebody wet. Scores "low" on the Thrill Scale and "low" on the Wetness Potential scale.
Bottom line is that the rides seem to be an afterthought at SeaWorld, not a real people magnet in themselves. They're generally okay, but there's not many rides and none seem better than what I find at other theme parks. If it's thrills that I'm after, I'll skip SeaWorld...
Logistics
Getting There: Seaworld is located just off Texas route 151 on the northeast side of San Antonio -- about 15 minutes from downtown. Get a map or directions before you go because there aren't a lot of signs directing you to the park.
Parking: Parking is plentiful but they gouge you on high parking fees ($7). Criminey! They're already charging exorbitant gate fees, why do they have to screw people out of parking fees to boot?? It's not like they're downtown where land values are high...
Hours: SeaWorld opens at 10 each day, but varies the closing hours, which are usually best on Saturday (which is when there are the most crowds). Check the hours before you go. SeaWorld is open decent hours during June and July, but their hours are ridiculously short in September and inadequate in many other months. Sorry SeaWorld, but a 6pm closing hour on Sundays just does not give a person enough time to do everything and it represents a pitiful value since SeaWorld does not even cut you a price break for screwing you out of 3-4 hours of activity. (BTW: They can have a more reasonable 9pm closing hour in October -- why not September too???)
Prices: SeaWorld is very expensive at $34.95 per day. It only represents a decent value if you're a local who can take advantage of the season pass deals, which at about $50, is not bad provided you use it at least twice during a season. Most people will probably only go once, and for them, the prices represent a poor value, like most American theme parks.
Bottom Line
Overall, SeaWorld is a decent enough theme park, especially for families with young kids who will enjoy seeing Shamu. Otherwise, the park is fairly small without a lot of variety and is overpriced for what you get. It's clean, it's fun for a once-a-year day trip, but I'm not super impressed with it. Overall, an average theme park that earns an average rating...
BTW: Epinions has SeaWorld in the "Zoos and Aquariums" category. As an aquarium, I would have to give SeaWorld a 1-star rating because that's NOT what it is. As a theme park though, it'll get 3.
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Recommended:
Yes
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