SeaWorld San Diego facts for kids
| Previously known as SeaWorld of California, SeaWorld Adventure Park | |
 |
|
| Location | 500 Sea World Drive, San Diego, California, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°45′57″N 117°13′38″W / 32.765751°N 117.227275°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opened | March 21, 1964 |
| Owner | SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment |
| Operated by | SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment |
| General manager | Marilyn Hannes |
| Theme | Ocean Adventure and Exploration |
| Slogan | Real. Amazing. |
| Operating season | Year Round |
| Attendance | 4.311 million (2013) |
| Area | 189 acres (76 ha) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 16 |
| Roller coasters | 5 |
| Water rides | 2 |
| Website | SeaWorld San Diego |
SeaWorld San Diego is a fun park in San Diego, California, USA. It's a special place where you can see amazing ocean animals and enjoy exciting rides. It's like an animal theme park, an oceanarium, and a big public aquarium all in one! You can find it inside Mission Bay Park.
SeaWorld San Diego is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). This means it meets high standards for animal care. Right next door is the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. They study marine life and teach people about the ocean.
Contents
History of SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld started on March 21, 1964. Four friends from the University of California, Los Angeles had an idea. They wanted to create an underwater restaurant. When that didn't work out, they decided to build a marine animal park instead.
The park opened on 22-acre (8.9 ha) of land in San Diego. It cost about $1.5 million to build. When it first opened, it had 45 employees, some dolphins, sea lions, and two aquariums. In its first year, over 400,000 people visited!
SeaWorld grew over the years. They opened more parks like SeaWorld Ohio (1970) and SeaWorld Orlando (1973). The biggest park, SeaWorld San Antonio, opened in 1988. Different companies have owned SeaWorld over time. Now, Blackstone Group owns and runs the parks through its SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment division.
SeaWorld rents its land from the City of San Diego. The park has been closed since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attractions at SeaWorld
SeaWorld has many exciting shows and rides. Some shows change depending on the time of year.
Amazing Shows
- Orca Encounter: This show teaches you about the park's killer whales. You'll learn about their lives and what makes them special.
- Dolphin Days: Here, you can see the park's dolphins and learn about their trainers. It's a chance to meet the whale and dolphin family!
- Sea Lions Live: This is a funny show with California sea lions and Asian small-clawed otters. They act out spoofs of TV shows and music.
- Sea Rescue: In this indoor theater, you can watch episodes of ABC's Sea Rescue. It shows how SeaWorld helps injured marine animals.
- Cirque Electrique: This is a cool evening show in the summer. It features amazing acrobats. It used to be called Cirque de la Mer.
-
Orca Encounter
-
Orca Encounter
-
Sea Lions Live
-
Sea Lions Live
-
Dolphin Days
Exciting Rides
Bayside Skyride
The Bayside Skyride is a gondola ride that opened in 1967. It takes you on a 6-minute trip over Perez Cove. You'll travel between two 80-foot (24 m) towers. It has the longest distance between towers of any ride like it, at 925 feet (282 m)! You get a great view of the park and the bay.
Ocean Explorer
Ocean Explorer is a fun area for kids that opened in 2017. It has four rides:
- Aqua Scout: Mini submarines that bounce up and down.
- Octarock: A swing that rocks back and forth.
- Sea Dragon Drop: A small drop tower for kids.
- Tentacle Twirl: A jellyfish-themed ride that swings you around.
Riptide Rescue
Riptide Rescue is a spinning ride located near Turtle Reef. The ride vehicles look like SeaWorld's rescue boats. You'll spin around as if you're on a rescue mission!
Sesame Street's Bay of Play
Sesame Street's Bay of Play opened in 2008. It's an interactive play area for children based on the TV show Sesame Street. It has three rides:
- Abby's Seastar Spin: A spinning "teacup" ride.
- Elmo's Flying Fish: A ride where you fly in fish-shaped vehicles.
- Oscar's Rockin' Eel: An eel-themed "Tug Boat" ride.
Shipwreck Rapids
Shipwreck Rapids is a river rapids ride that feels like a shipwreck on a deserted island. You'll float past a sea turtle exhibit. At one point, you even go under a waterfall into a cave!
Skytower
The Skytower is a 320-foot (98 m) tall tower built in 1969. It slowly spins as it rises, giving you a 6-minute view of SeaWorld and San Diego. It's a great way to see everything from above!
Awesome Roller Coasters
Electric Eel
Opened in 2018, Electric Eel is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in San Diego. It stands 150 feet (46 m) tall and reaches speeds of up to 62 miles per hour (100 km/h)! It's a thrilling ride with lots of twists and turns.
Journey to Atlantis
Journey to Atlantis is a water coaster that opened in 2004. It's 95 feet (29 m) tall and has three drops. You'll also go up an elevator lift. The ride can reach speeds of 42 miles per hour (68 km/h). Get ready to get wet!
Emperor
Emperor is a Dive Coaster that will be the tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster in California. It will be 153 feet (47 m) tall and have a 143 feet (44 m) tall 90-degree drop! It will reach speeds over 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). It is planned to open in 2021.
Manta
Manta opened in 2012. It's a launched roller coaster that goes up to 43 miles per hour (69 km/h). Before the ride, you can see bat rays in an aquarium and even touch them! The ride itself is 2,800-foot (850 m) long and has a 54 feet (16 m) drop. It feels like you're soaring like a ray!
Tidal Twister
Tidal Twister opened in 2019. It's a unique coaster that reaches a top speed of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). It's 22 feet (6.7 m) tall and has a track length of 320 feet (98 m). It's a fun ride that twists and turns!
Animal Exhibits
SeaWorld San Diego is home to many amazing animals. You can see them in different exhibits and aquariums.
Aquariums
SeaWorld San Diego has three main aquariums. They are home to many different types of water animals.
- Aquaria: World of Fishes: This was the park's first aquarium. It has many animals like piranhas, alligator gar, leopard sharks, and an olive ridley sea turtle.
- Octopus Aquarium: This aquarium is home to different kinds of octopus, cuttlefish, and nautilus.
- Ray Aquarium: Located near Journey to Atlantis, this aquarium has many different rays and fish.
Explorer's Reef
Explorer's Reef opened in 2014. It has four touch pools where you can interact with fish. You can touch over 400 Brownbanded bamboo sharks and white-spotted bamboo sharks. You can also see more than 4,000 cleaner fish and horseshoe crabs!
Dolphins
SeaWorld San Diego has three types of dolphins: common dolphin hybrids, Atlantic, and Pacific bottlenose dolphins. They also have Pacific & Atlantic short-finned pilot whales. The dolphins move between different areas like Dolphin Amphitheater and Dolphin Point.
- Dolphin Point (12 dolphins): Crunch, Cascade, Kolohe, Dottie, Razzle, Tobie, Belle, Beaker, Daphne, Bugs, Bodie, and Sarasota.
- Dolphin Amphitheater (18 Dolphins): Sandy, Melanie, Bullet, Malibu, Corona, Zana, Maguire, Venus, Captain, Cocoa, Kali, Koa, Avalon, Connie, Lanikai, Blue, Jack, and Skye.
- Dolphin Amphitheater (4 Pilot Whales): Argo, Ava, Ace, and Piper.
Killer whales
The killer whales are a main attraction at SeaWorld. Ten of them live in San Diego in a huge 7-million-gallon habitat. "Shamu" was the name of the first killer whale at SeaWorld San Diego in 1965. Now, "Shamu" is the name of the character at the park entrance.
SeaWorld San Diego stopped its traditional killer whale shows in 2017. Now, they have "Orca Encounter." This is a more educational show that teaches you about the killer whales' lives.
- Killer whales: Corky, Ulises, Orkid, Keet, Shouka, Nakai, Ikaika, Kalia, Makani, and Amaya.
Wild Arctic
SeaWorld's Wild Arctic is home to animals that live in cold water. This includes beluga whales and different types of seals.
- Belugas: Ferdinand, Allua, and Klondike.
- Harbor seals: B.B., Gunnar, and Denali.
- Ringed seal: Natchek.
- Northern Sea otters: Cinder and Spruce.
- Walruses: Dozer, Basa, Kulu, and Chouchou.
Seals & Sea Lions
SeaWorld San Diego has California sea lions in two places: Sea Lion Point and Sea Lion & Otter Amphitheater.
- Sea Lion & Otter Amphitheater (Sea Lions): Duke, Harvey, Jorge, Victor, Kiawe, Murdoch, Ozzy, Tank, and Jay.
- Sea Lion Point (Sea Lions): Chita, Diamond, Khloe, Deisel, Rebar, and Fancy.
- Sea Lion Point (Harbor Seals): Tomas, Olaf, Cyclops, Anna, Annie, and Grimsey.
- Sea Lion Point (Guadalupe Fur Seals): Megan and Boldt.
Park Visitors
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,000,000 | 4,000,000 | N/A | 4,260,000 | 4,260,000 | 4,147,000 | 4,200,000 | 3,800,000 | 4,294,000 | 4,444,000 |
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |||||
| 4,311,000 | 3,794,000 | 3,528,000 | 3,528,000 | 3,100,000 |
Aquatica San Diego
SeaWorld Entertainment bought a water park called "Knott's Soak City" in 2012. In 2013, it opened as Aquatica San Diego. This water park is about 23 mi (37 km) southeast of SeaWorld San Diego. It has 26 slides!
In 2019, SeaWorld announced that Aquatica San Diego would change into Sesame Place. This will be the first Sesame Place theme park on the West Coast. Aquatica closed in 2020 and will reopen as Sesame Place in 2022. The new park will keep some of the water rides.
See also
In Spanish: SeaWorld San Diego para niños
