The new Journey to Atlantis water coaster is the chain's third with the title, but, again, a different design than its predecessors. This Mack GMBH of Germany and Guido Brothers Construction design is first of its kind in the United States and only the second in the world.
The ride is similar to other water coasters with a few twists. There are two towers 100 ft high which rotate the boats to give the passengers a 360 degree view of San Antonio. Between the two towers the riders experience a camelback drop backwards. Finally each 16 passenger boat plummets 100 ft down into 400,000 gallons of water. After the main drop, riders will enjoy a leisure boat ride back to the loading station to complete the 3 and half minute ride.
This ride is a great addition to a family oriented park such as Sea World. Thrill seekers will walk away dissatisfied, however families with younger children will be eager to ride it again. The ride has a 42” height requirement and a low intensity which will allow younger family members to participate.
Journey to Atlantis, although fun for the family, could do a better job of story-telling. The entire ride is out-doors and lacks enough props and special effects to create the Atlantis theme. However Dan Decker, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Sea World of San Antonio, expects this to change. According to Decker, Sea World’s primary goal was to open the ride as soon as possible. Decker said that guests can expect more Atlantis themed props to appear in the coming seasons. Other possible additions include water jets and geysers to ensure that the riders will come off the ride soaking wet.
Along with any new ride comes a great deal of testing. Hutchinson “Hutch” Huey is the Maintenance Unit Supervisor and knows first hand what it takes to ensure that a ride like this is safe for the guests. Hutch was involved in testing each boat which must go through at least 24 hours of test time using 174 pound water dummies, which exceeds ASTM testing standards. Hutch and his team spent over 2 months performing fault scenario testing which tested over 2,000 fault cases. In addition, each morning before the park opens, over 8 man hours of inspection and testing are required before the ride is deemed safe for the guests.
Decker outlined three main reasons the park created Journey to Atlantis: Sea World wanted a unique ride, a wet ride (whether you are a rider or a spectator), and a family friendly ride. Journey to Atlantis delivers on all three of these aspects and will be sure the pack the park with families this summer.
Secondly, wow. Previous posters hit it right on the head. This looks lame. I'm not a huge fan of the one at SWO, but compared to this it's now up there with Splash Mountain...
Anyway... Storytelling? At Sea World? The only "story" they're any good at telling is the myth of how great they are.
Keep the peace(es).
The presence of the turntables, though, suggests that there may have been a larger concept in mind. (Budget cuts, perhaps?)
However... No matter how hard I look, I continue to wonder why any oceanarium, places that supposedly exist to educate as well as entertain, even needs rides, "thrill" or otherwise. While I certainly understand (and enjoy!) the idea of getting soaked during hot weather, there are plenty of other ways to do so.
As for coming out to try the ride itself -- No, thank you, I'll pass on that. It would take far more than a new ride to convince myself or my wife to set foot inside the gate of ANY Sea World park again, or to recommend such to friends or family as a viable stop.
If you are curious to know why (I know that you may find such a reaction surprising), please feel free to contact me in private. I do not feel that this is the forum to go into such things in detail. You can, however, get a strong clue by reading my trip report on Discovery Cove.
Thanks again for responding.
I know that the Sea World chain is supposed to be all about education and I believe even the JTA is Orlando is more educational then JTA San Antonio. There's actually a story to tell over there.
I like the fact that my four year old niece can enjoy this new ride, but no one else in my family will. :(
I am one of the ACErs who participated in media day May 11, and we had a fantastic time. So first, I want to say thank you to Dan Decker, Fran Stephenson, Kami Huyse, and the entire Sea World San Antonio staff for giving us a day that went beyond exceptional! It was an honor and a privilege to participate.
I am not ordinarily a fan of water rides (only because I don't care to walk around wet afterwards), but JTA will be high on my list of "must do's" when we are at the SWSA park! Although I love 'thrill' rides, a ride doesn't have to go 80mph, turn me upside down, or exceed 3,000 feet in length to thrill me. And JTA did NOT disappoint.
I personally love the turntables, for the same reason I'm not disappointed that the ride isn't enclosed... the view is breathtaking. Yes, the view from the Tower of the Americas is wonderful, but what catches the eye from there is the main city itself. From JTA you can not only see the "city" (not the "buildings"), but the views of the park and the hill country are exceptional. I kept saying "I sure wish I could bring my camera up here!!"
We were amazed at how quiet the ride is as well. The lift is very quiet, and the turntables are SILENT. All you hear is the sound of the wind. The journey across the 'bridge' is very smooth, and I love the feeling of dropping into the "inverted" camelback in reverse.
For me, the tilt going over the "plunge" drop is what got my heart racing, and the trip down was a blast. What I really enjoyed too was looking around after the splashdown to see how wet everyone got!
I also love the "leisurely" journey around the lake back to the station. As someone who grew up around the ocean and spent a great deal her childhood on a boat, one of my favorite things is to simply coast along the waterways enjoying the breeze, the view, and the ride. And the ride back after splashdown brought that experience back for me.
I have ridden a lot of different rides, but I try not to compare one to another because they're all different in some way. No two rides will be absolutely identical and I prefer to judge a ride on its own merit... to go deeper than the 'outer appearance'... and in doing so, I can't say there are many rides I don't like. But I do have my favorites, and JTA is definitely one of them!
And Kami, my son and daughter-in-law were the ones who got close to the 50-ride mark... they clocked 47! They both really enjoyed the ride as well and I never saw them come back from a cycle without smiles and laughter.
I can't wait until we get our grandson for the summer in two weeks. He's 6 yrs old, and about 45" tall. He loves big rides but isn't tall enough yet for most of them. I was so excited to see the 42" height requirement on JTA and can't wait to take him on his first ride!
So thanks again for a wonderful day!
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
