Sea World Texas- 3/10

We made our first trip to SWT yesterday and had a great time. We remembered how great the Busch theme park experience was. We wanted to take in as much as possible this visit; animal exhibits, shows, and coasters, and we certainly accomplished that goal.

We started the day with the Shamu show and truly enjoyed it. It was at this early stage of our visit that one of our two complaints arose. The snack stand outside Shamu stadium was inadequately stocked and after waiting 20 minutes in line and finally arriving to the clerk I learned that they were sold out of all fountain drinks, and the only bottled variety left was pink lemonade, further they had sold out of ice cream and only had popcorn. Waiting twenty minutes to find that everything was sold out was less than enjoyable. However, the show was fun and amazing and my displeasure quickly faded.

After the orca show we quickly moved to the Ski show. While waiting for the show to start an announcement was made that showed how responsive to guest needs Busch is. Sensing that the number of patrons in the park was more than anticipated the park decided to add shows at each stadium in response. A clear move to increase guest pleasure and much appreciated. The ski show was great, and the boats are just incredible. These things can turn on a dime, and the skiers were very talented.

After the ski show we took our first coaster spin on Great White. A typical B:TR but it just seemed to run a little faster (probably just my imagination) and was smooth as usual with B&Ms. It was a fun ride, although short and unoriginal.
After our spin on GW we hustled to the dolphin and beluga whale stadium for the Viva show. This was my favorite. The belugas were beautiful and after the show the keepers stayed out and we were able to get some close up exposure to the animals.

We then had to go through the unpleasure experience of processing our season passes. This was the second negative experience of the day. The processing center had only two cameras operating, and it took them 20 minutes to process each group. After a whole hour of waiting we had our passes and were off to Steel Eel. This wonderful coaster made us quickly put the bad memories of the pass processing in the past. I love air time and this coaster totally delivered. My rearend probably was in contact with the seat for less than 10 seconds after the lift. Each hill gave powerful air, and there was an abundance of hills, with a great ending of bunny hills. This coaster has jumped into my Top 5.

We also caught the Sea Lion show while we were there and enjoyed the dolphin encounter. I learned how to best interact with the animals and probably was able to pet approximately 10-15 of them. Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait to return. San Antonio surely has become my location of choice for parks. While others may prefer SFoT, I will take the combo of SWT & SFFT anyday. I rarely leave SFoT as happy as I do after my visits to the San Antonio parks. A must for anybody coastering in Texas.
*** This post was edited by Enigma13 3/12/2003 11:51:27 AM ***

Thanks for the trip report. Texas is one of the states I'm eager to visit, and TR's like this just make it easier to talk my wife into letting me book the airfare.

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

A morgan with great air-time? How's the double-dip (the second and third hills). Very strange looking.... do you approve of it?

The double dip was incredible. You get airtime coming off the second drop, and as you ascend the third hill it literally slams you back in your seat for a second, just to lift you back off as you crest the hill. My wife found the butt-slamming a little painful, but I thought it was incredible and very unique. Apollo's Chariot at BGW is still my favorite coaster, but Steel Eel moved into a close battle with S:KC for second.