This looks like a water coaster, but it’s a traditional gravity-powered slide, and the racing elements are fun, but very brief as raft zip past open sections where you can quickly glimpse the raft in the adjacent slide. Aquatica debuted a new slide for 2022, Riptide Race, which is a toboggan-style raft slide complex where guests can race down dueling slides. Unfortunately, the slide is the only way guests can access this underwater viewing area, and the currents force lifeguards to push rafts quickly through, so there’s not much time to look at the rays before being asked to leave the raft. The signature attraction is Stingray falls, where guests board a circular raft and plunge down and around the stingray lagoon, eventually plunging into a tunnel that features an underwater view of the stingrays. Speaking of Aquatica, we did spend a few hours in SeaWorld’s waterpark, and it was very nice despite its very compact layout. Due to the late showtime, we chose not to hang out for 2+ hours after we finished our day in Aquatica. The park was also running Electric Ocean during our visit, but the main show did not start until 9 PM. SeaWorld San Antonio also features the obligatory Orca Encounter and a Sea Lion and Otter Spotlight show (eliminating the Clyde and Seamore branding to emphasize the educational elements). There’s nothing wrong with Wave Breaker, but there’s nothing special about this coaster despite the unique riding position and track layout that is predominantly over water.
The course involves a number of twists, turns, and hills along with a second launch to power the train through the second half of the track. The launch itself is pretty mild, but on par with other attractions billed as family coasters. However, aside from some soft music playing in the background, the train just stops and waits in the tunnel until it launches – there’s nothing projected on the walls, no sound effects or crescendo, just an awkward pause before the train blasts into its course. The second downside of this coaster is that after the train leaves the station, riders enter a launch tunnel similar to the one on Manta at SeaWorld San Diego. The first is that riders are instructed to sit straight up in their seats, not leaning forward like you would expect to position yourself on a Jet Ski. However, there are a number of aspects of this ride that could have been done so much better. Overall, the coaster is decent when considering it’s billed as a family coaster. Wave Breaker is a launching steel roller coaster from Intamin that takes riders out over the park’s lagoon on trains themed to look like Jet Skis. The ride itself is a blast and has a high thrill factor without being overly intense.īeyond Great White is the other new roller coaster since our previous visit, Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster. SeaWorld added some reef-like accents to the structure, but there’s no other thematic elements on the attraction. The pneumatically powered giant swing ride is the largest of its type in the world (a bit taller than Skyhawk at Cedar Point), and the placement of the attraction on the edge of the park’s lagoon really intensifies the visuals while riding. The park’s newest ride, Tidal Surge, opened earlier this year, and is an S&S “Screamin’ Swing”. SeaWorld has done a good job of spreading attractions around the entirety of the lagoon, so while there are big gaps between rides, there aren’t as many dead zones I recall from our previous visit when park only had 3 big rides (Great White, Electric Eel, and Journey to Atlantis). In the main part of the park, there’s vast open space between attractions and show amphitheaters, and a giant lagoon in the center of the park that is grossly underutilized. It’s a bit of an odd setup, because some of the animal exhibits (Turtle Reef, Pacific Point Preserve, and Penguin Encounter) are found the main section of the park, while Explorer’s Reef and Dolphin Lagoon are found in Discovery Point. While Aquatica is a separately ticketed admission, Discovery Point is included in a SeaWorld admission (or annual pass/membership) despite the name being similar to Orlando’s Discovery Cove that operates as a separate gate. What has changed since our last visit is that SeaWorld has added an Aquatica waterpark and separated some of the park’s animal exhibits into Discovery Point. It’s quite a grand entrance for what is a relatively minor park.
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