SeaWorld plans major aquarium-based attraction for San Diego theme park
As SeaWorld continues to reshape and rebuild its brand, restore its public image and turn around lagging attendances, the operator has unveiled new plans for a major aquarium-based attraction, featuring a submarine ride at its park in San Diego.
Conceptualised around SeaWorld’s new enhanced focus on conservation and creating meaningful experiences for guests, Ocean Explorer will comprise a series of aquariums combined with exciting rides and digital technology, creating an experience centred on exploration and adventure for kids.
Coming in 2017, the new attraction will feature a signature submarine ride, taking visitors on an undersea adventure as researchers on a mission to help animals, some of which have never been seen at the park before, including jellyfish, octopuses and Japanese spider crabs. The three-minute experience will include an onboard digital navigation dashboard, acting as an educational tool as riders learn about the ocean’s ecosystem.
The new multi-million dollar attraction will also feature a swing ride, where guests will sit in giant bubbles suspended from the tentacles of a jellyfish.
“Ocean Explorer is the next chapter in creating experiences that matter for our guests,” said Brian Morrow, SeaWorld Entertainment’s vice president of theme park experience design.
“Ocean Explorer demonstrates our ongoing commitment to creating new and fresh attractions, exhibits and events that provide the exciting, educational and entertaining experiences SeaWorld is known for.”
Construction is set to begin in Q3 of this year on the 12,000sq m (130,000sq ft) site where SeaWorld San Diego’s Animal Connections exhibit and Circle of Flags are currently located. The attraction is set to open in Q1 2017.
SeaWorld Joel Manby Ocean Explorer San Diego Aquarium Visitor AttractionSeaWorld agrees to stricter orca trainer safety guidelines in California
SeaWorld's conservation focus continues with upcoming Mako coaster
SeaWorld CEO reveals plans for conservation-focused launch coaster
IAAPA 2015: SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby outlines company's vision for the future
Europe's premier Evian Spa unveiled at Hôtel Royal in France
Clinique La Prairie unveils health resort in China after two-year project
GoCo Health Innovation City in Sweden plans to lead the world in delivering wellness and new science
Four Seasons announces luxury wellness resort and residences at Amaala
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Aman sister brand Janu launching in Tokyo in 2024 with design by Denniston's Jean-Michel Gathy
Across Denmark, a charity is turning industrial buildings into centres for street sport and art. As the concept prepares to go global, we speak to the people making it happen
Three years after Pegasus Capital bought Six Senses, how close is the private equity firm to realising its goals for its first spa and hospitality investment? Pegasus’ founder Craig Cogut tells us what’s been achieved and what comes next
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates