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Attraction Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Rocky Point Preserve – NOW CLOSED through Mar. 31
Skytower – NOW CLOSED through Feb. 10
Skyride – Mar. 5 through Mar. 23

Park News - (12/30/11) SeaWorld San Diego will hold a special early 5-minute long fireworks show to ring in the new year immediately following the 7:50pm Shamu’s Christmas show on December 31st.
    (12/19/11) Starting January 1st, your beverage options at the 10 SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country will take a sudden shift, as a new 10-year sponsor deal with Coca-Cola Co. will kick into effect, removing Pepsi products from the park. Coke and SeaWorld do have a long history together, as Coke was the official drink sponsor for the SeaWorld parks (or Sea World parks as they were spelled back then, long before they were purchased and merged with the Busch parks).
    Coke was dropped in favor of Pepsi back on Jan. 1st, 1988 by SeaWorld’s then owners, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and the partnership was continued under the ownership of Anheuser-Busch. Pepsi was long rumored to have an edge over Coke under the Busch era because Pepsi was a major client of the Busch owned Metal Container Corporation who supplier Pepsi with a large percentage of their aluminum cans. So after a 24 year run… Coke will return at last.
    (11/14/11) The Toronto Sun reports that Ikaika was removed from Marineland Saturday night by a fleet of trucks with a police escort, in order to transport the killer whale to SeaWorld San Diego.
    (10/24/11) SeaWorld California will raise their admission price starting November 1st to $73 for adults and $65 for ages 3-9. Parking will go up to $14.
    (10/10/11) According to SeaWorld San Diego, they’ve made some changes to the park’s Riptide Rescue ride. They have decided to “increase the rotation speed of the ride-arms” for the ride, making it more thrilling… but this has also required them to increase the height requirement from 40 inches to 45 inches (if accompanied by an adult) and from 48 inches to 50 inches for those unaccompanied by an adult.
    (7/13/11) Good news for SeaWorld California guests this week. According to Amusement Today, rides on the historic Skytower and Bayside Skyride are now free to all guests, ending a decades long practice of selling separate tickets to the rides.

2012 - Manta - (1/18/12) SeaWorld San Diego unveiled one of the Manta ride cars at the park a few hours ago and were kind enough to send us pictures of it to share here on Screamscape. The car will remain on display near the front of the park for the next several months while work on Manta continues.
    The park reports that Manta is still on track to open on May 26th, with 55% of the track now installed, and the rest to be in place before the end of February. The station is about 65% complete and they will begin construction on the “launch tunnel / show building” next week. If everything stays on track, ride testing will begin in April.
    (12/30/11) According to SeaWorld San Diego, they have installed about 25% of Manta’s trackwork so far (25 of the 98 track sections). They also finished pouring the walls of the new Manta exhibit with the help of 9 concrete trucks.
    While I’m talking about Manta, I just came across a nice batch of pictures a reader sent in earlier this month showing off the amazing progress made so far on the track work.
    (12/7/11) A few new pictures of the Manta construction site were posted to Facebook this week showing off what looks like coaster shed and likely unloading area.
    (11/22/11) A new construction update for Manta has been posted to Westcoaster this week. Check it out, because the ride is going up very quickly.
    (11/18/11) SeaWorld and Mack Rides have put the lead car from the new Manta coaster on display at IAAPA this week.
    (11/7/11) A few new construction pictures of Manta at SeaWorld California have been posted to Theme Park Review this week. Quite a bit of track has now been installed as well as vertical construction on the station building structure. With all the track being so low to the ground, I imagine this ride will go up very quickly.
    (11/3/11) SeaWorld California has sent out a few pictures showing off the installation of the first piece of Manta track. This is the first of 98 total track sections, most of which will be installed by the end of the year. I’ve added one extra photo shot from the Skytower by a reader showing off the overall site where track pieces have been dropped into place all over, awaiting installation.
    (10/28/11) While I don’t have a picture yet, I’ve been told that the first pieces of track for Manta have been put into place this week.
    (10/5/11) Today we’ve got a couple of new pictures showing off Manta’s supports going vertical last week.
    (9/29/11) I’ve got a few new Manta photo to share today, thanks to one of our readers. It looks like things are coming right along. Can’t wait to see the steel start to go up on this one.
    (9/15/11) A new construction update showing off the park as well as the start of vertical construction over at Manta has been posted to Westcoaster this week.
    (9/6/11) One of our readers sent in a great photo update showing off the first sections of track for Manta now on site at SeaWorld California.
    (8/16/11) A few new construction pictures of the Manta construction site have been sent in this week. With all the ground clearing done, it should be much longer until we see footers go in and track pieces start to arrive.
    (8/9/11) A great collection of Manta construction site pictures can be found over at SeaWorldInfoAndMore.
    (7/18/11) One of our readers sent in a few new construction pictures of Manta from SeaWorld California this week.
    (7/1/11) A brief video showing off the Manta construction site at SeaWorld California can be found on YouTube. Nothing much to see… just dirt being moved around.
    (6/9/11) A couple of new pictures of the huge dirt clearing for the new Manta ride at SeaWorld California can be found if you scroll down a bit in the latest update from Behind the Thrills.
    (4/29/11) A great construction update from SeaWorld California has been psoted to WestCoaster this week where we take a new look at the Manta construction site, the installation of the park’s new Flat Ride and work on the Turtle Reef animal habitat. Oh… and the Bayside Skyride is now FREE… to everyone. Awesome stuff… still one of my favorite Skyrides at any theme park.
    (4/21/11) A Screamscape reader went by SeaWorld the other day to check on the status of Manta and sent in a great shot taken from the Skytower showing off what a huge construction site they’ve cleared out for this project. For the most part, it looks like they have already demolished the majority of the oldest surviving structures that were still in the park from the old days… back when there was nothing but a parking lot where the current Shamu Stadium is and the old entrance used to cross over a turtle pond about where the bottom of the Shipwreck Rapids lift hill now sits. (Ok… I’m showing my age I guess.)
    (4/18/11) Thanks to a local area reader for sending in some early construction site pictures for SeaWorld’s 2012 Manta coaster. Looks like they’ve already begun working to clear out some of the ride site and put up construction walls.
    (2/18/11) I’ve been sent an update map showing off the location and ride layout of the new Manta coaster project. It’s a bit dark, so I tried to lighten it up to show off the details better. We can see now that the ride will extender closer towards the Rocky Point exhibit and Shipwreck Rapids, as well as all the way up into the empty ‘bowl’ are across from the Skyride. Enjoy the new layout and the overlay of it over an aerial photo of the park.
    (2/14/11) In case anyone was wondering, SeaWorld California was given final permission to build the new Manta coaster late last week from the California Coastal Comission, so everything is full steam ahead from this point on.
    (2/10/11) SeaWorld California announced earlier today, Manta, their new launched roller coaster ride for 2012. While I’m disappointed that they chose to copy the same name of the great Flying coaster in the Florida park, this new Manta is nothing at all like the East coast version.
    It was confirmed to be a Mack Rides creation, based on their successful Blue Fire style launched coaster system and trains, and while the ride will only be 30 feet tall, it will include at least one 54 foot plunge as it dives into an underground track section.
    According to the SeaWorld Blog, the ride will start off with a “launch tunnel” where the riders view larger than life projections of rays on a 270º enveloping screen as they are launched. The existing Forbidden Reef attraction area (featuring rays and eels) will be incorporated into the overall Manta experience. (I’m hoping they run the queue for Manta through the underground tunnels for Manta myself…) And like the Florida version of the ride, the new Manta ride will also feature some fun and special water effects.
    Now for the details…
Manta will have a maximum launch speed of 43mph, using an LSM style launch system and a track length of 2,835 feet, taking just under 2 minutes. Manta will have four trains, each one able to hold 20 riders, for a maximum capacity of 1,400 riders for hour. And the height limit will be 48 inches.

    (2/3/11) Good news for SeaWorld California, the California Coastal Comission has recommended approval for the park’s new Manta themed coaster attraction, with a few conditions. These will be discussed at a Feb. 11th meeting, but it did mention that the maximum height of the coaster was only 30 feet. SeaWorld is expected to make an announcement about the ride sometime next week, which will include an aquarium viewing area and ray pool.
    (1/12/11) According to the LA Times, SeaWorld California has confirmed that they will make an announcement about a new attraction on the way in 2012 this February.
    (1/10/11) One of our readers has dug up a little more info on the 2012 Manta themed coaster project going in. According to this link the project is out for bidding through to Jan. 21st and is officially listed as “Sea World Manta Exhibit & Ride Attraction 2012”.
    (1/7/11) I received a strange e-mail today that contained a few very wonderful images that claim to be what SeaWorld California has in store for 2012. If I had to guess, it looks like the former 2010 coaster project that the park once had in development (Project: Abyss/ Project: Reef Runner) with Premier Rides has went in a new direction with a new company. Judging from the one drawing of the train itself and the indications of two separate launches on the layout drawings, I’d say without a doubt we are looking at the next Mack Launched Coaster. Though in this case, a much smaller sibling to the amazing BlueFire coaster system that premiered at Europa Park in 2009. It also looks like they’re adding a small little “Manta” style Sting Ray decoration piece to the front of the train, so at least we know the theme they are going for as well.
    The layout has two clearly labeled launch zones, one right after the train turns to the right out of the station area, and the other about half way through the ride. I’m not sure if there are any inversions on this ride or not, though I see a spot that could be a zero-g roll or corkscrew possibly, though the old 2010 concept did not have any inversions.  And like the old concept, I’m assuming that this new ride may feature both indoor and outdoor elements, but I’m not sure if they will attempt a splash-down effect at some point or not.
    Looking back at the old artwork and layouts I had for the former coaster project, if we assume the park is still looking to locate this new coaster in the same basic location, I can plop down the layout drawing over an aerial picture of the park to get a pretty good idea of just about where the 2012 coaster project will be located. As before, putting the old empty ‘bowl’ site across from the Skyride to good use, as well as seeming to involve the demolition of the park’s very old former Japanese Village building, about the only thing remaining from the old Pearl Dive show from the 70’s to mid 80’s. The location of the nearby Forbidden Reef Ray and Eel caverns also fits right in with a Manta style theme as well. Of course this is all assumption that they are using the same site as the cancelled 2010 coaster project from Premier Rides, but given that these two projects share numerous design similarities, I’d say it’s a pretty good bet I’m on the right track. More as I dig it up and keep your eyes open in the park, as I assume they’ll have to begin construction on a project this size within the next 3-4 months to get it open in time for 2012.

2013 - New Attraction - Rumor - (9/30/11) Screamscape sources tell us that the 2013 plans to replace the Cirque De La Mer show with some kind of new project elsewhere in the park. From what I understand, once construction on Manta begins to wrap up in Spring 2012, the work to clear our space for this new project will soon begin. Stay tuned!
    (7/19/11) The early rumor from SeaWorld California is that the park is looking to replace Cirque De La Mer with a new show by 2013. Given that this show theater has open access to Mission Bay, you just never know what they may try to install here.

2014 - 50th Anniversary - Rumor - (7/19/11) SeaWorld California, the first of all the SeaWorld parks, will turn 50 in 2014. We’ve heard rumors about possibly building a new themed main entrance area, possibly similar to the one used in Orlando, and some new special attractions to celebrate the big event. One of these may be a new special night-time version show in the Blue Horizons stadium.