SeaWorld San Diego is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).[3] Adjacent to the property is the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, which conducts marine biology research and provides educational and outreach programs on marine issues to the general public.[4]
History
Previous entrance replaced by Explorer's Reef on March 21, 2014
SeaWorld, located on San Diego's Mission Bay, was founded on March 21, 1964 by four alumni of University of California, Los Angeles. It hosted more than 400,000 visitors in its first year of operation.[5]
SeaWorld was privately held before going public in 1968. The second SeaWorld location, SeaWorld Ohio, opened in 1970, followed by SeaWorld Orlando in 1973, and SeaWorld San Antonio in 1988. The partnership later sold SeaWorld Ohio to Six Flags in January 2001.[5]Harcourt Brace Jovanovich owned the parks between 1976 and 1989, when Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. purchased them. After InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch, it sold SeaWorld San Diego and the rest of the company's theme parks to the Blackstone Group in December 2009.[2]
Attractions
Aerial photo of the park from 2012
Shows
Shows operate with seasonal changes and include:
Orca Encounter: a live show highlighting the park's killer whales and various aspects of their lives, biology, and adaptations. Post-2015, the show focuses less on physical entertainment with the trainers and more on showcasing the animals themselves.
The Bayside Skyride is a gondola ride that first opened in 1967. The ride travels along a stretch of wire over Mission Bay.[6]
Ocean Explorer
Ocean Explorer, designed for children, launched on May 27, 2017. It comprises four attractions: Aqua Scout, offering rides in miniature submarines, Octarock, a swinging experience, Sea Dragon Drop, a scaled-down drop tower, and Tentacle Twirl, a wave swing ride with a jellyfish theme.
The realm originally featured Submarine Quest, an outdoor people mover-like ride with indoor segments, themed around deep sea exploration. The attraction would receive negative reviews due to lackluster theming. Due to this, it quietly closed indefinitely in 2018. SeaWorld staff initially indicated that Submarine Quest had been temporarily closed for maintenance, but by May 2018, references to the ride had been removed from SeaWorld's maps and website.[7][8][9] When the park re-opened on April 13, 2021, demolition of the ride track and show buildings began, leaving the animal enclosures intact.[10]
Riptide Rescue
Chuck's feed and seed, a restaurant located in the theme park
Rescue Jr. is an interactive children's play area, which originally opened in 2008 as Sesame Street's Bay of Play[12][13] and closed in April 2023.[citation needed] The re-themed area focuses on Sea Rescue and aquatic sea-life. It includes three rides: Tidepool Twist, a spinning teacup attraction; Rescue Riders, an attraction in the style of Dumbo the Flying Elephant; and Rescue Rafter, a raft themed Tug Boat ride.[14]
Skytower is a 320-foot (98 m) gyro tower that was built in 1968 by Sansei Yusoki.[15] The ride gives passengers a six-minute view of SeaWorld and San Diego via rising at a rate of 150 feet per minute (46 m/min) while spinning slowly (1.02 rpm).
Tentacle Twirl
Tentacle Twirl, opened on May 31, 2017, is a Wave Swinger built by German manufacturer Zierer.[16][17]
Roller coasters
Arctic Rescue
Arctic Rescue is a Intaminlaunched coaster that opened on June 2, 2023. This family coaster features arctic theming, as well as the fastest and longest straddle roller coaster on the west coast of the United States. This new attraction replaced the Wild Arctic simulator ride, which closed on January 11, 2020. Arctic Rescue has 3 launches, reaching a high speed of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), and has a track length of 2,800 feet (850 m), and its straddle seating imitates the feeling of riding a snowmobile.[18][19]
Opened on May 10, 2018, Electric Eel is a Sky Rocket II model by Premier Rides. Electric Eel stands at 150 feet (46 m) tall, with a track length of 853 feet (260 m) and speeds of up to 62 miles per hour (100 km/h).
Journey to Atlantis is a Mack Rideswater coaster that was built in 2004. The ride stands at a height of 95 feet (29 m) and hits a max speed of 42 miles per hour (68 km/h).
Emperor is a Dive Coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. With a height of 153 ft, Emperor is the tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster in California. The ride contains 2,500 feet (760 m) of track, an Immelmann loop that stands at a height of 143 feet (44 m) and has a 90 degree drop that reaches speeds of over 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). The ride opened on March 12, 2022.[20]
On May 26, 2012, SeaWorld San Diego opened a new mega-attraction called Manta, a Macklaunched roller coaster featuring two launches LSM of up to 43 miles per hour (69 km/h) accompanied by a bat ray aquarium and shallow touch pool for touching bat rays, white sturgeons, and shovelnose guitarfish. The two-minute, 2,800-foot (850 m) long ride stands at a height of 30 feet (9.1 m) and features a drop of 54 feet (16 m).[21][22]
Manta roller coaster at SeaWorld San Diego
Tidal Twister
Tidal Twister, opened on May 24, 2019, was a Skywarp Horizon model by Skyline Attractions. The ride reached a top speed of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), with a height of 22 feet (6.7 m) and a track length of 320 feet (98 m).[23][24] In late July 2023, the ride was permanently shut down and was removed a few months later.[25][26]
Animal exhibits
Aquariums
SeaWorld San Diego has 19 fresh and saltwater aquariums, each housing different types of aquatic animals.
Opened on March 21, 2014, Explorer's Reef is an attraction that contains animal attractions and structures.[27] Featuring four different touch pools, Explorer's Reef gives guests the opportunity to interact with a variety of fishes, including 400 brownbanded bamboo sharks and white-spotted bamboo sharks, and more than 4,000 cleaner fishes and horseshoe crabs.
Kasatka performing "The Shamu Adventure"Orca Encounter Exhibit
SeaWorld's main attraction is its collection of orcas, eight of which are housed in SeaWorld San Diego in a 7 million gallon habitat. Shamu was the name of the first orca brought to SeaWorld San Diego in 1965. Shamu is now used as the character name for the costume character at the park entrance. SeaWorld San Diego ended their theatrical orca shows in San Diego in January 2017. San Diego was the first of the three SeaWorld parks to premiere Orca Encounter an educational presentation that gives insight into various aspects of an orca's life.[28]
SeaWorld Entertainment purchased one of the Cedar Fair-owned "Knott's Soak City" water parks in late 2012. In 2013, the water park was opened as Aquatica San Diego.[2][38][39] The park is located approximately 23 mi (37 km) southeast of its sister SeaWorld park, in Chula Vista, California. The park features 26 slides. On October 21, 2019, SeaWorld Entertainment announced that Aquatica San Diego would be converted into Sesame Place San Diego, the first Sesame Place theme park on the West Coast. Aquatica San Diego closed its final season in September 2021, and was re-opened as Sesame Place San Diego on March 26, 2022. The new park retained the water park attractions from Aquatica San Diego.[40]