Welcome To Screamscape!

Buy SeaWorld Orlando Tickets

Park News - (2/8/10) A fun SeaWorld Orlando photo update has been posted to RCPro this week which includes several pictures of Journey To Atlantis.
    (2/3/10) A reader reports that SeaWorld is currently finishing up a new sidewalk pathway that will run down the street (Sea Harbor) outside SeaWorld’s Bus & Taxi lot down to International Drive taking guests to the entrance of Aquatica.
    (2/1/10) Behind the Thrills has posted some new pictures of Journey To Atlantis, both on and off ride.
    (1/29/10) A few pictures of the newly reopened Journey To Atlantis can be found at Orlando United.
    (1/27/10) If all goes as planned, look for Journey To Atlantis to possibly reopen today.  As we mentioned before, you’ll see a improvements all around, but the journey has just started, as many more improvements will be returned to the ride over the coming weeks and months as they whip it back into shape.
    (1/21/10) Discovery Cove is offering three special Valentine’s package offers for couples, available for the entire month of February. There is the “Honey” package ($74.95) which gives you a 6x8 souvenir photo, a box of chocolates and a keepsake buoy with a personalized message on it, delivered to your significant other by one of the park’s dolphins. Then there is the Sweetheart package ($215.95) which has everything from the Honey package plus a dozen red roses, a private cabana, a bottle of champagne and two souvenir toasting flutes.  Finally there is the Romance package ($295.95) which has everything from the first two packages plus a champagne chiller and special DVD of your Discovery Cove experience. This is all in addition to paying the regular park admission fee for each of your, with at least one scheduled Dolphin swim. Of course this not only includes your admission, but also a light continental breakfast, your lunch and a few snacks throughout the day, free locker and gear for the day as well as a 14 day unlimited use pass to SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa or Aquatica. Call 1-877-434-7234 for more information and to make a reservation.
    (1/18/10) Behind the Thrills has posted a great look at the rehab taking place on Journey To Atlantis.
    (1/7/10) Heads up to anyone planning a trip to SeaWorld Florida. I’ve been told that Journey To Atlantis just closed for the next several weeks for a major winter rehab, which is typical for this time of year. From what I’m told the ride will likely reopen around Jan. 25th. The good news is that Blackstone has apparently dropped a little money-bomb on this project and are asking the park to try to restore as much of JTA’s special effects back to the way it was when it first opened. Longtime JTA fans have long complained about just how many of the ride’s more impressive effects have been lost over the years, so this is great news. However, don’t look for it to be fully restored by the end of this little rehab. This will be an ongoing project being done little by little over the next several months. More importantly, this is a great sign of quality things to come from Blackstone’s ownership of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.
    (1/6/10) Aquatica has confirmed on their website that the park will be closed through to this Friday due to the extremely cold weather. It MIGHT reopen on Saturday (Jan. 9) however, if weather conditions permit. If you also check the park’s operational calendar it looks like they have a few weekdays in early February (1-4 & 8-11) that they will also be closed.
    (1/4/10) Apparently some “modifications” to Manta are on the way, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Not to worry however, this doesn’t seem to involve any changes to the ride everyone loves, only to the aquarium queue and to some of the exterior themeing.
    (12/30/09) I’ve been told by a few readers that all of the Budweiser Clydesdales, the Donkey, Dalmations, the Bud wagon and the remainder of the Bud / Busch themeing has all been removed from SeaWorld Florida at this point in time. However the horses have been replaced by new Percherons which have moved into their new home.
    (12/22/09) SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa have announced a new replacement event for the former Bud & BBQ Weekend. They are now calling it “Bands, Brew & BBQ” and it will take place every weekend in February with a variety of concerts. SeaWorld concerts will take place on Saturday nights and will feature: LeAnn Rimes (Feb 6), Montgomery Gentry (Feb 13), John Rich of Big & Rich (Feb 20) and Yes (Feb 27). Busch Gardens Tampa concerts will take place on Sundays: Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx (Feb 7), Willie Nelson (Feb 14), Huey Lewis & The News (Feb 21) and Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo (Feb 28).

2010 - Omaka Rocka at Aquatica - (1/21/10) A few new construction shots of Omaka Rocka can be seen this week at Orlando United, just scroll down towards the bottom of the page.
    (1/14/10) A reader sends in a few more pictures of the Omaka Rocka construction site, showing off the new large funnel slide pieces waiting to be installed.
    (1/11/10) Vertical construction on the new Omaka Rocka slides can be seen at Orlando United this week.
    (12/24/09) Aquatica has officially announced their new attraction for the 2010 season… Omaka Rocka, which translates into “Rocking River”. The two new slides should be ready to open by March and will put guests in two-seater tubes though an enclosed slide that will drop through a total of three funnels along the way before your ride is done. Portions of the slides will travel through sections of semi-transparent tubing as well.
    (12/8/09) New construction pictures of Aquatica’s newest slide has been posted to Orlando United this week where you can see several mini funnels in the staging area.
    (11/23/09) According to a new post at the LA Times, the Aquatica expansion will feature not just two new slides, but four. They claim that 2 of the slides will feature Proslide’s Hydromagnetic technology to shoot 6 rider rafts up into “Tornado Walls” where they will turn around and drop down and go over a small hill before coming to a stop. I’ve got to wonder if the Tornado Wall is one of the two new slide designs seen in this picture over at Westcoaster’s IAAPA coverage. The LA Times also reports that the other two slides will be a Proslide Topsy-Turvey project with each slide featuring two of the mini-Tornado funnels along the route. I’m not quite sure what the difference is between a Topsy-Turvey and the TantrumAlley or TantrumTwist seen here.
    (11/19/09) I’ve been sent a rumor containing the rumored new name for Aquatica’s newest slides… Omaka Rocka. I’ve also been told that there will be two slides, so I wonder if each will have it’s own funnel, or if we should be looking for another special feature for the second slide.
    (11/18/09) A reader sent in a nice close-up picture of the new funnel slide piece sitting at Aquatica.
    (11/17/09) The latest update to the A Walk In The Park Blog shows off a picture taken from the Skytower showing off the new slide pieces at Aquatica. The Green and Blue pieces are now forming the start of a funnel slide of some kind. Given that Wet ‘n Wild has the full sized Brain Wash version of the Proslide Tornado experience, I’m going to assume that this may be one of the smaller Tantrum slides or perhaps even a Tantrum Alley. Give that there are also purple and dark blue pieces on site too, I’m guessing we’re going to see two different kinds of slides added.
    (11/16/09) I’ve been told that new waterslide pieces are now on site at the park in an empty lot next to the employee parking lot. The pieces on site are said to be a deep purple and dark blue color, along with a few lime green pieces. Workers were see putting them together, and from the report sent to me, the slide pieces look to be much slimmer than those used on Whanau Way, indicating that these may be body slides instead of tube slides. Work on a new pool is also said to be well under way.

Holiday 2010 - Christmas Celebration - Rumor - (1/27/10) According to the latest rumors we can expect to see quite a large Christmas holiday celebration coming to SeaWorld Florida in 2010. In general the positive numbers that not only SeaWorld has seen from the winter holiday season mixed with the fantastic launch of ChristmasTown at Busch Gardens Williamsburg has left the new corporate masters hungry to capitalize even more.

2011/2012 - Discovery Cove Expansion - Rumor - (1/26/10) I’ve been sent a little update about that proposed Discovery Cove expansion. I’m told that right now they would like to have it complete around late summer or fall 2011. However instead of a new large mammal interaction program, I’ve told that the plan is to build some kind of large salt water environment that may feature a small cave. However the really cool idea here is that guests will be able to pay an extra fee to use Sea Trek dive helmets to experience it all… walking around at the bottom of the exhibit. You can see a good how-to video from the Sea Trek attraction in Hawaii here.  On a side note however, they may convert the existing reef pool into a new fresh water attraction due to the ongoing problems the park has had with “leaks” on the bottom since it was first filled up back in 2000 when the park opened.
    (1/22/10) Screamscape sources tell us that with Manta still riding high at the main park and Omaka Rocka filling in as a much needed expansion of Aquatica in 2010, the next focus for Orlando will be to finally get back Discovery Cove.  Yes, it seems that the long awaited expansion of Discovery Cove is now on the books, complete with a brand new animal interaction opportunity. According to our sources the experts at SeaWorld are looking into interactive experiences with either Pseudorcas or Pilot Whales. A previously announced expansion to the park that never was completed, made just before 9-11, had the focus purely on adding a large new ray pool for guests to swim in, but it’s safe to say that they have bigger plans this time around as Discovery Cove has been a huge success for SeaWorld over the last decade. Yep… this summer it will have been a decade since Discovery Cove opened in the summer of 2000. Sounds like a perfect time to make a big announcement about the park’s expansion, doesn’t it?
    (2/27/07) I’ve heard a new rumor today claiming that the next big project for SeaWorld after Aquatica would be a major expansion of Discovery Cove to add more animal interaction opportunities. This rumor does have a little history behind it as Discovery Cove did announce an expansion that was to have been completed by 2002 that would have not only expanded the bird aviary area (which did happen) but also expanded the far end of the park out to add a new lagoon where guests could swim with sting rays. Other than finishing the basic infrastructure and expanding the roadways around the perimeter to allow for this expansion, the project was put on indefinite hold after 9/11. If the new rumors are true, once Aquatica is finally complete Busch will turn their attention to finally expanding the experiences available to Discovery Cove. The experience to swim with Dolphins is not unique to Discovery Cove and was just one of three animal interaction programs SeaWorld had been testing out of their parks over the years leading up to the creation of Discovery Cove. In the early days it was marketed in SeaWorld California as DIP, the Dolphin Interaction Program.  Soon after new Interaction Programs were also set in motion for Sea Lions (aka: SLIP) as well as Beluga Whales (aka: BIP), both of which are currently in operation at SeaWorld Texas. If all the rumors and history line up, guests coming to Discovery Cove could soon have their choice of interaction with any of the three species, or all three as part of a mega-package option. This kind of plan would not only justify return trips to the already amazing Discovery Cove park for past guests, but also expand the daily capacity of the park by adding even more animal interaction opportunities and as well as expanding the size of the park. I wouldn’t expect to hear much more about this however until Aquatica is closer to completion.