The Parkz Update: Sea World January 2013

Sea World becomes Seal World in our first Parkz Update for 2013.

Update By Richard Wilson
25 January 2013

Seal Harbour

Seal Harbour is the newest animal exhibit at Sea World.

A suspension bridge leads across into the area from Dolphin Cove.

Access is also provided from Penguin Point.

The area consists of an number of boardwalks and viewing platforms above the waterline.

Some of the residents.

At the time of our visit some of the pools were empty, and only a small number of Seals had been moved into their new home.

Seal Exhibits often have the seals down quite a distance vertically to prevent them jumping out or "interacting" with guests. Given the low level of the board walks the tradeoff is that Sea World have had to use electric fences to keep the seals in.

The guest feeding area is in the old Animal Adventures building.

The fish selling counter isn't open yet though.

The exhibit has a number of varied locations for the seals to keep things interesting for the animals.

There's a shaded beach area.

There's also floating pontoons in the vein of Pier 39 in San Francisco.

A rocky beach.

We heard the name Pinniped Pier was knocked back for the exhibit.

Seals can climb stairs?

The exhibit seems quite quiet at the moment. Once the number of seals increase the number of guests in the area should increase too.

The area feels comfortable and relaxing for guests too.

Some more of the viewing area structures.

One of the pontoons still is yet to be finished.

Overall it's a nicely done area, and great to see the Seals back on display in the park again.

Vikings Revenge Flume Modification

In late 2012, Vikings Revenge had it's layout modified to accomodate the new water coaster under construction (Keen observers will note the station roof had a bit hacked out of the eave to accomodate a column for the new coaster.

The ride is significantly shorter than the old version.

The transition between the existing and new sections.

Approaching the lift hill. Overall you could say it dillydallies a bit less than the old one, but some paint on the trough and some bits of Viking theming would be welcome on the first section of the ride.

Storm Water Coaster

Sea Worlds storm water coaster is really starting to become recognisable. The poster was true, "it's gonna be a big one."

The old bermuda building has been opened up, with excavation taking place within.

It's suprising how compact the space inside actually was relative the amount of ride it contained

The opening closest is the point in Bermuda Triangle where you were pulled through the tractor beam.

The rear end of the building, closest to Seal Harbour.

At the other end of the site footings have been placed in the pathway beside Vikings Revenge.

It seems like it will be the biggest coaster in the park by a long shot.

The line of footers in the background look like what would be under a lift hill, or straight drop.

One final look at the site.

General

What else is there to see from the Skyway? We thought this was a nice shot.

You can even spot the seagulls that gather around the fish food dispenser from here.

Don't forget, Dinosaur Island won't be here forever, so make sure you check it out before a giant meteorite hits the park (That's how they planned on closing the attraction right?)

Rare photograph of Jet Rescue with a queue.

Sand is being piled up at the old Pirate Ship site.

We wonder if it will be used to reclaim land for the 2014 attraction?

The Short 'n' Sweet shop has lost its submarine theming we covered in a past update, but has gained a carousel conveyer with hanging bags of fairy floss.

A bottled soft drink for $2.25 at a theme park?! Cheap! Oh wait it's Ginger Beer.

That wraps up this edition of the Parkz update. We're sure the new water coaster won't be the only thing to see in 2013, so stay tuned for the latest pictures from all the theme parks.