SeaWorld Orlando Impressions from a Pair of First Timers

Two Coaster101 writers recently visited SeaWorld Orlando for the first time. We ask them all about their experience including first impressions, the best coaster at SeaWorld, thoughts on Pipeline, what the best animal exhibit is, and who is this park intended for. Join us as we embark on a thrilling journey into an aquatic wonderland!

Q: What was your first impression of SeaWorld Orlando?

Nick: My first impression of SeaWorld Orlando was how beautiful the park is. The landscaping and water features found throughout are expertly done. There was much more theming than I thought there would be too. Definitely should be in the running for one of those “Most Beautiful Theme Park” awards.

seaworld orlando impresssions

Eric: Like Nick, my first impression was probably that it looked really nice, with some surprisingly good theming. Mostly theming we rushed past on our way to Pipeline, but as we walked more slowly it stood out. I think the other thing that stood out was how similar it felt in terms of layout to SeaWorld San Antonio, which I went to for the first time last year. Big lake in the middle surrounded by mostly coasters. Orlando felt a little bit bigger with some stuff off the side, but similar vibe.

Q: How does SeaWorld Orlando compare to the other SeaWorld parks (or animal based-parks in general)?

Nick: The only other SeaWorld I have been to is SeaWorld Ohio, more than twenty years ago (as well as Six Flags Worlds of Adventure). Needless to say, SeaWorld Orlando has much more to offer. The closest other parks I’ve been to in combining animals and thrills are Busch Gardens Tampa, Animal Kingdom, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Eric: Unlike Nick, I’ve been to all three pretty recently. This definitely felt like the most coaster heavy of them, not surprisingly. Last year I talked about how San Diego still has very much a zoo/animal park character, and is very pretty. SeaWorld Orlando is definitely not that. But I think it was also a little bit nicer and prettier a park than San Antonio (sorry Texas). For coaster fans this is definitely the one to go to.

Q: Favorite roller coaster at SeaWorld?

Nick: Mako. It’s a top five roller coaster in the entire state of Florida. It’s probably the most varied B&M hyper coaster arrangement in terms of not really repeating any elements two times in a row, not to mention the incredible airtime.

Eric: Yep, I’m with Nick, Mako was definitely me favorite. Manta was good (and intense), and I actually liked a lot about Pipeline, but Mako is definitely tops.

Q: Favorite animal experience, exhibit, or show?

Eric: I really loved the ray tanks around Manta and in the queue. For some reason I feel like you get places with rays in touch pools a lot, but not often ones where you can see them swimming from below. Very cool watching them glide by.

Nick: My home zoo is the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium which is often considered one of the top ten zoos in the country. I always thought Columbus had great seal lion and manatee exhibits. But SeaWorld’s Pacific Point Preserve and Manatee Rescue exhibits really blew me away by their scale and design.

I also appreciated the animal shows as an opportunity to sit for an extended period of time in the shade and relax, especially after a 5:30am flight from Ohio in order to get to the park by 9am.

Q: What was the biggest surprise?

Nick: I was shocked when I realized, outside of the seven roller coasters and Sesame Street Land, there are no other rides (besides the observation tower and paddle boats which you have to pay extra for). They did have the trackless dark ride but that has since been removed.

Worth an upcharge? I guess if you want something other than a coaster ride.

Eric: Agree with Nick again here again. I think most surprising to me was how few “family-friendly” rides there are. I think of the SeaWorld parks as mostly family oriented, with the animal exhibits and not-too-extreme rides. But SeaWorld Orlando basically has either animals and pretty high intensity rides. Ice Breaker is probably the “tamest” major coaster, and it’s much more extreme than San Diego’s Manta or San Antonio’s Wave Breaker. There’s not really anything in between (except for the kiddie area).

Q: Thoughts on Pipeline?

Nick: One of the most unique coasters out there. Really, there’s nothing else quite like flying over the airtime hills with those movable seats. The big downsides to this ride are one: the vest restraints dig right into my collar bones and two: it’s a very slow loading coaster. On a day when every other coaster was a walk-on, Pipeline had a 20-30 minute wait because the dispatch times were so slow.

Eric: It really surprised me, and mostly in a positive way! The air-time experience in those moveable seats might be one of my new favorite roller coaster sensations. Why fly out of your seat into a lap bar when you could just have the whole seat fly up? You really do float in a way like no other coaster. As Nick said, though, the restraints are a big downside. The shape and stiffness of them makes them drive into your collar bone (or at least for me, a pretty averaged sized man). The ops also seemed to struggle related to the trains. I would have wanted to ride it a bunch more if it weren’t for those two things. But, I cut them a little slack on those since it’s new. If B&M can slightly modify the restraint design and figure out how to make it easier to operate, I would love to see more of these.

Both our sentiments I think are pretty similar to Shane and Mike’s feelings when they rode it at opening. You can get a lot more detail on Pipeline in their review.

Q: Is SeaWorld the coaster capital of Orlando?

Nick: It definitely has more thrilling coasters than any of the other Orlando parks. But yes, especially since they’re apparently adding yet another roller coaster in 2024, safe to call SeaWorld Orlando the Coaster Capital of Florida.

Eric: If we limit ourselves to just Orlando, I think that’s probably fair – although the Hagrid’s – Hulk – Velocicoaster combo is pretty amazing. But if we’re willing to expand to an hour or two drive away, Busch Gardens Tampa I think is the real central Florida coaster capital. I’d easily take the combo of SheiKra, Cheetah Hunt, Montu, and Iron Gwazi any day.

Q: Final thoughts on SeaWorld Orlando?

Nick: The one question I kept asking myself as we were walking around is: “who is this park for?” Would I bring my family of four to this park right now? And the answer right now it no, I would not because there is not a single interesting ride that my whole family could enjoy together. For the cost of the ticket, we would rather go to almost any of the other nearby theme parks instead. At least until everyone is tall enough and brave enough to ride B&Ms.

Eric: Nick hit the nail on the head here. I had a good time at the park, but it sort of feels like it’s missing something. SeaWorld San Diego is a park that I think is very clearly for people or families who want to see the animal exhibits, with maybe a little bit of thrilling fun on the side (or a place where a teenage kid can go on a big coaster while the little kids see animals). But Orlando didn’t really feel like it had enough of either for most non-coaster enthusiasts to want to spend a whole day there. I feel like if you wanted a non-Disney or Universal Park, you’d make the drive to the Busch Gardens instead for more animal exhibits and a wider collection of shows and coasters. I didn’t have a bad time at SeaWorld Orlando or anything, but it feels like despite how big it is it needs more to fill out its lineup.

SeaWorld Ride Count