Journey to Atlantis history and review (LONG)
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 11:48 am
I think I posted a short review based on Team Member preview day somewhere or another, but here's another one at the request of Cujo! ;-0
As some of you know, the areas surrounding Mission Bay were subject to a 30 foot height limit passed by voters in the mid to late 70's. This explains why the Skytower, Skyride and nearby Hilton hotel are around today! They were built before this rule was put into place. Several years ago, SeaWorld began a campagin to put on the ballot a proposition that would raise the height limit on SeaWorld land to 160 feet (half the height of the Skytower). Proposition D narrowly passed after a long and sometimes bitter campaign. SeaWorld and Anheuser-Busch saw Prop. D as vital to SeaWorld's future success. Many residents, including those that live in and around Mission Bay were vehemently against raising the height limit. To them, anything as tall as half the height of the Skytower would be a visual eye-sore. Many of these neighbors already complain of noise from shows and the nightly fireworks display during the summer. Further, these dissidents raised the specter of increased traffic in and around SeaWorld during peak times when getting to the beach is a nightmare enough!
The passage of Prop. D was only half the battle. Now that the height limit was raised to 160 for *portions* of the property, SeaWorld's Master Plan then had to be updated to reflect that certain areas of the park would be subject to attractions up to 160 feet tall. Park officials have stated in the past that less then 5% of the total park acreage of 160 acres would be developed to 160 feet. The only sticking point is that park officials *did not know* what kind of attraction would be built on this land!! Needless to say, this got the naysayers in a tizzy! Their argument was that how can you know where you'll put something, how many acres it will sit on and yet not know what it is going to be!? The idea that SeaWorld has trying to set the stage for an eventual roller coaster was now out there for debate. SeaWorld officials denied that there were plans for a roller coaster. SeaWorld's cheif critic, City Council Member Donna Frye, claimed otherwise.
Eventually the SeaWorld Master Plan was approved. The park will pay more in rent to the city, will partially finance a transit station should the trolley make it out to the beach communities, construct a new main gate with a 60 foot tall lighthouse icon, an eventual parking garage should attendance creep up in the coming years and eventually a hotel would be built on property after a 10 year moratorium. The compromise plan limits the hotel to 30 feet, not the 90 feet SeaWorld wanted. The last major highlight of the Master Plan was the approval of a splash-down ride called Journey to Atlantis. Phew! As you can see, San Diego politics do not resemble Anaheim politics...
The splash-down ride concept was approved by the City Council and the California Coastal Commission. However, the original site for the ride was modified. The attraction was to be originally built directly east of the Penguin Encounter near the shoreline. SeaWorld agreed to move the attraction several hundred yards away south of Wild Arctic and east of the Hospitality Center. Construction finally began in September 2002!
Slowly but surely, ground was cleared, concrete footings poured, support columns placed, steel shafts went vertical, coaster track bolted together and then boats arrived to the site! After years and years of planning, the ride was finally coming together for a Memorial Day 2004 opening. Nearly one week before the public opening and a week of previews for passholders, SeaWorld's team members were allowed a preview event all to themselves. For the fist time, we were allowed on-site to see what had become of the former education gate and parking lot. Much like the Shipwreck Island area, sea shells were mixed into the concrete. The two main towers appear to have risen straight out of the ocean. To the left are the rare Commerson's dolphins in a pool that resembles a flooded amphitheatre. Straight ahead is the attraction entrance. Three switchbacks surrounded by crumbling walls that even leak water! The queue travels down a darkened hall way before it circles around a fountain that has been known to get those too close to it wet! There are four loading zones; three for guests and one for wheelchair boarding. Three boats load and are sent at a time. One at a time the boats head up the main lift where the ride story is told courtesy of some very modern looking JBL speakers! I believe the main point of the ride is that man and nature have not lived in harmony like we're supposed to. Atlantia, the disembodied voice, is our guide. She tells us that our first peril is approaching. The boat turns a corner high above the ground and we are sent down the 70 foot tall drop. We make a moderate size splash in the ride lake and decently wet. Naturally, for 25 cents, there are 4 water cannons to get riders a bit more misty! Atlantia admires that we braved the first peril but that more lies ahead. The boat heads back to the main tower where two of the three boats launched together enter. The third boat gets to make the last part of the journey on it's own. Once inside, another disembodied voice is angered that we are intruders in Atlantis. A rather small flood occurs on the right. The boats proceed forward into a cabin with 'windows' that look out into the sea. The windows are video screens of course to tell the next part of the plot - unfortunately, the sound is so muddled inside the cabin, I don't know what the talking Commerson's dolphins and gray whale are saying. I believe that they are trying to save us though! Now, the unique part of the ride. In order to get to the top of the tower, the cabin begins to rise up *vertically*, tilting slightly left and right as it rises up. Before you know it, you're at the top of the main tower and the swooping coaster section that leads to the brake run and one final splash down in a lake. The boat begins the descent and at the bottom of the swoop, you pull 3.5 G's. One final S-turn and into the lake where you don't get nearly as wet as the first drop. However, water cannons go off on either side of the boat to ensure you do get one last soaking! Atlantia thanks us and then reminds us that man and nature must live in harmony!! The boat returns to the station, you unload to your left and walk down a flight of stairs to view the on-ride photo screens. Up a flight of stairs and straight ahead is the Commerson's dolphin exhibit, to your right the ride photo purchase booth and to your left is the gift shop. Surprisingly, there is very, very little ride-specific stuff! So there it is. You're Journey to Atlantis is over.
PROS:
A much-needed attraction to SeaWorld
Overall theming quite good
Fairly long ride experience (6-7 minutes although some of that is floating time)
Smiles on the faces of riders!
"Sit upright, hold on tight!" or "Sit erect or you will eject!" ;-0
CONS:
Speakers/ monitoring cameras visible EVERYWHERE
Incoherent storyline
Bad views from ride towers of backstage areas and the parking lot
While my memories of the Florida version are vague, that version was much more immersive but that storyline was incoherent as well!
Still, JTA is a vital part of SeaWorld's future success. It's a good first start - we'll have to see what the future of themed thrill rides with an animal component has in store in the future. The next big thing could happen in 2007. Next year sees a new Sea Lion and Otter show and 2006 sees a revamped Shamu show and the main gate re-do. So, the immediate future for SeaWorld looks good. Hope to see some of you folks come down and experience JTA for yourself. It isn't completely Disney in it's themeing and execution, but considering the history of the thing, it's amazing the thing is even here!
Thanks for reading!
As some of you know, the areas surrounding Mission Bay were subject to a 30 foot height limit passed by voters in the mid to late 70's. This explains why the Skytower, Skyride and nearby Hilton hotel are around today! They were built before this rule was put into place. Several years ago, SeaWorld began a campagin to put on the ballot a proposition that would raise the height limit on SeaWorld land to 160 feet (half the height of the Skytower). Proposition D narrowly passed after a long and sometimes bitter campaign. SeaWorld and Anheuser-Busch saw Prop. D as vital to SeaWorld's future success. Many residents, including those that live in and around Mission Bay were vehemently against raising the height limit. To them, anything as tall as half the height of the Skytower would be a visual eye-sore. Many of these neighbors already complain of noise from shows and the nightly fireworks display during the summer. Further, these dissidents raised the specter of increased traffic in and around SeaWorld during peak times when getting to the beach is a nightmare enough!
The passage of Prop. D was only half the battle. Now that the height limit was raised to 160 for *portions* of the property, SeaWorld's Master Plan then had to be updated to reflect that certain areas of the park would be subject to attractions up to 160 feet tall. Park officials have stated in the past that less then 5% of the total park acreage of 160 acres would be developed to 160 feet. The only sticking point is that park officials *did not know* what kind of attraction would be built on this land!! Needless to say, this got the naysayers in a tizzy! Their argument was that how can you know where you'll put something, how many acres it will sit on and yet not know what it is going to be!? The idea that SeaWorld has trying to set the stage for an eventual roller coaster was now out there for debate. SeaWorld officials denied that there were plans for a roller coaster. SeaWorld's cheif critic, City Council Member Donna Frye, claimed otherwise.
Eventually the SeaWorld Master Plan was approved. The park will pay more in rent to the city, will partially finance a transit station should the trolley make it out to the beach communities, construct a new main gate with a 60 foot tall lighthouse icon, an eventual parking garage should attendance creep up in the coming years and eventually a hotel would be built on property after a 10 year moratorium. The compromise plan limits the hotel to 30 feet, not the 90 feet SeaWorld wanted. The last major highlight of the Master Plan was the approval of a splash-down ride called Journey to Atlantis. Phew! As you can see, San Diego politics do not resemble Anaheim politics...
The splash-down ride concept was approved by the City Council and the California Coastal Commission. However, the original site for the ride was modified. The attraction was to be originally built directly east of the Penguin Encounter near the shoreline. SeaWorld agreed to move the attraction several hundred yards away south of Wild Arctic and east of the Hospitality Center. Construction finally began in September 2002!
Slowly but surely, ground was cleared, concrete footings poured, support columns placed, steel shafts went vertical, coaster track bolted together and then boats arrived to the site! After years and years of planning, the ride was finally coming together for a Memorial Day 2004 opening. Nearly one week before the public opening and a week of previews for passholders, SeaWorld's team members were allowed a preview event all to themselves. For the fist time, we were allowed on-site to see what had become of the former education gate and parking lot. Much like the Shipwreck Island area, sea shells were mixed into the concrete. The two main towers appear to have risen straight out of the ocean. To the left are the rare Commerson's dolphins in a pool that resembles a flooded amphitheatre. Straight ahead is the attraction entrance. Three switchbacks surrounded by crumbling walls that even leak water! The queue travels down a darkened hall way before it circles around a fountain that has been known to get those too close to it wet! There are four loading zones; three for guests and one for wheelchair boarding. Three boats load and are sent at a time. One at a time the boats head up the main lift where the ride story is told courtesy of some very modern looking JBL speakers! I believe the main point of the ride is that man and nature have not lived in harmony like we're supposed to. Atlantia, the disembodied voice, is our guide. She tells us that our first peril is approaching. The boat turns a corner high above the ground and we are sent down the 70 foot tall drop. We make a moderate size splash in the ride lake and decently wet. Naturally, for 25 cents, there are 4 water cannons to get riders a bit more misty! Atlantia admires that we braved the first peril but that more lies ahead. The boat heads back to the main tower where two of the three boats launched together enter. The third boat gets to make the last part of the journey on it's own. Once inside, another disembodied voice is angered that we are intruders in Atlantis. A rather small flood occurs on the right. The boats proceed forward into a cabin with 'windows' that look out into the sea. The windows are video screens of course to tell the next part of the plot - unfortunately, the sound is so muddled inside the cabin, I don't know what the talking Commerson's dolphins and gray whale are saying. I believe that they are trying to save us though! Now, the unique part of the ride. In order to get to the top of the tower, the cabin begins to rise up *vertically*, tilting slightly left and right as it rises up. Before you know it, you're at the top of the main tower and the swooping coaster section that leads to the brake run and one final splash down in a lake. The boat begins the descent and at the bottom of the swoop, you pull 3.5 G's. One final S-turn and into the lake where you don't get nearly as wet as the first drop. However, water cannons go off on either side of the boat to ensure you do get one last soaking! Atlantia thanks us and then reminds us that man and nature must live in harmony!! The boat returns to the station, you unload to your left and walk down a flight of stairs to view the on-ride photo screens. Up a flight of stairs and straight ahead is the Commerson's dolphin exhibit, to your right the ride photo purchase booth and to your left is the gift shop. Surprisingly, there is very, very little ride-specific stuff! So there it is. You're Journey to Atlantis is over.
PROS:
A much-needed attraction to SeaWorld
Overall theming quite good
Fairly long ride experience (6-7 minutes although some of that is floating time)
Smiles on the faces of riders!
"Sit upright, hold on tight!" or "Sit erect or you will eject!" ;-0
CONS:
Speakers/ monitoring cameras visible EVERYWHERE
Incoherent storyline
Bad views from ride towers of backstage areas and the parking lot
While my memories of the Florida version are vague, that version was much more immersive but that storyline was incoherent as well!
Still, JTA is a vital part of SeaWorld's future success. It's a good first start - we'll have to see what the future of themed thrill rides with an animal component has in store in the future. The next big thing could happen in 2007. Next year sees a new Sea Lion and Otter show and 2006 sees a revamped Shamu show and the main gate re-do. So, the immediate future for SeaWorld looks good. Hope to see some of you folks come down and experience JTA for yourself. It isn't completely Disney in it's themeing and execution, but considering the history of the thing, it's amazing the thing is even here!
Thanks for reading!