Attendance soared that year - 11 percent, according to industry estimates. SeaWorld had better luck when it opened Kraken in 2000. “Blackfish,” which focused on SeaWorld, came out a few months after Antarctica debuted. SeaWorld also ran into difficult timing in 2013 when it opened Antarctica.Įstimates from the Themed Entertainment Association and the consulting company AECOM show the park’s attendance dropped 5 percent that year. Amid the Great Recession, attendance at SeaWorld dropped both that year and in 2010, according to industry estimates. Orlando’s tallest current roller coaster is the 167-foot-tall Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, which opened in 2009 at Universal Studios. Now if they want to switch and become a rides park, we’re talking millions, if not billions, of dollars in investment to get them to the level of the Disney and Universal parks.” Images of the Manta roller coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. “SeaWorld needs to really figure out what their brand is and what it stands for, because it really doesn’t stand for rides and roller coasters. “Building a roller coaster is not going to make enough of a splash to offset the competition,” he said. Scott Smith, an assistant hospitality professor at the University of South Carolina, was skeptical about how much a new thrill ride can fix SeaWorld’s problems. SeaWorld will need to continually invest to keep up with its competitors, Amobi said. Located near the front entrance of SeaWorld Orlando, Manta is a sight to behold. The question is how much and given it’s just one attraction, I tend to be a little more conservative in my expectation and projections.” Manta Offers a Giddy, Wonderful Sensation of Flying. The ride should provide “some kind of lift to attendance,” said Tuna Amobi, an analyst with S&P Capital IQ. The attraction allows guests to encounter numerous species of ray before boarding a manta ray-shaped train that takes them on a 3,359-foot-long (1,024 m) roller coaster ride above the park, reaching top speeds of 56 miles per hour (90 km/h). In response, Erstad said, SeaWorld “had to have something new and refreshing.” Manta is a steel flying roller coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. The rivals have a slew of new things coming up, including Universal’s water park and King Kong attractions, and Disney’s Frozen ride and Avatar land.

In the past two years, Walt Disney World revamped Fantasyland and Universal Orlando added its second Harry Potter land. Orlando’s competitive landscape poses another challenge for SeaWorld.

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