Seaworld San Diego is obviously the least roller coaster oriented park in the Seaworld chain. This park has always focused more on conservation efforts and animal shows. it was the birthplace of the o...
Seaworld San Diego is obviously the least roller coaster oriented park in the Seaworld chain. This park has always focused more on conservation efforts and animal shows. it was the birthplace of the original Shamu, it was the first park to remove their orca shows, heck, it was the first park in the Seaworld chain. The park's future looked to stay that way for a while, maybe Seaworld would've added one or two rides every 5 years, but the park was always gonna be more of a marine park. Then, enter Blackfish, and with all the protesters that surrounded the park every day, Seaworld was forced to change their image from a zoo to a thrill park. This is when they added Electric Eel, a Skyrocket II clone, a huge step up from the family rides they had been adding the last 10 years. 150 foot tall ride with huge inversions and launches. In my opinion, this ride is one of the best coasters ever created. Maybe it's not the greatest ride ever, but the thrills it managed to fit in such a small layout are pretty unbelievable to me. To ride this ride, riders enter an unthemed queue with generally short lines, but long wait times because of the slow operations. Once the wait is over, you proceed to sit down on the train, put on the comfy lap bars, and the maligned comfort collars, which in my opinion, aren't that big of a deal. Once the ops check the restraints, you are launched forwards and go up a bit, then come down again. You go up the track facing forwards, go down backwards, and then the ride gets intense, as you go high up the track facing forwards, drop down, experiencing floater airtime, and gather enough momentum to go to the top of the coaster. By then, the ride crawls through a small straight section before going through an inline twist, which in my opinion, is the best moment of hangtime I've ever experienced. Your body separates from the seat, and it seems like the only thing stopping you from falling is the comfort collars. After that twist, the train goes through a small section of straight track once again, then drops to a non inverting loop, but the loop isn't what impressed me, it was the drop into the loop that did. You just get ejected out of your seat in the back row, and I've heard that moment delivers -2 g's, and it definitely feels like the airtime is that strong. I am torn on which part of the ride is better, that drop or the inline twist. Well, after the non inverting loop, the train heads back to the station, goes backwards and forwards once again, and then the brakes stop the ride. This ride is obviously the best at SWSD, and luckily, the lines are always short since the park's most frequent visitors are elementary schoolers going on school field trips, and most of them can't ride because of the height requirement, so they head over to Manta or Atlantis. That makes the ride really easy to marathon. In conclusion, this ride is short and sweet, with two amazing stand out moments, one with amazing hangtime and one with amazing airtime. And of course, the launches, backward and forward. I'm a big fan of this ride, and even if it isn't loved all that much because of its consant cloning, its comfort collars, and its length, I'm a big fan. Once Emperor opens up, SWSD will have a great top 2, and this ride, the other rides, and the zoo exhibits make me happy this is my home park