By: Andrew Bermudez
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the SeaWorld Parks, the entrance plaza and front gate to the original SeaWorld, the one in San Diego, was entirely re-vamped with new decor, a new entry, and all-new touch pools. So, how did this new entrance pan out? Let's take a "dive" and find out.
After passing through the wood-thatched security check point, you now enter the park underneath a massive wave, suggesting that you are travelling to the bottom of the ocean to experience the world of marine life up-close. The wave even has light and sound effects to further convey the wave concept.
Once inside the park, the first attraction that you will encounter is Explorer's Reef, a series of touch pools covered by coral-shaped coverings. There are several touch pools, each of which is dedicated to a specific species of animal. There are only three different species that can be touched, which are cleaner fish, bamboo sharks, and horseshoe crabs. There are other animals on display, but you are not allowed to touch them. Near the back of the exhibit are sinks to wash your hands and shark eggs. From there, you can head out to explore the rest of the park.
While I do not have photos of them, both guest services and the main gift shop have been revamped and expanded to match the new theme. However, the main building utilities remain the same.
So, what are my thoughts? Well, in order to properly judge it, I'll look at Explorer's Reef from two perspectives: as a park entrance and as an attraction (you'll see why in a little bit).
As an entrance to the park, I think it works very well. Yes, it may not be as immersive as Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure, but it does a very good job setting up the concept of the park as a whole: as a tribute and celebration of the ocean and all that inhabit it. There is even a sign above the exit that reads, "Thank you for celebrating the sea with us!" Overall, this new addition works well as an introduction to what the park is all about.
But, what about the touch pools themselves? To be perfectly honest, I was kind of underwhelmed by the variety of animals, especially since there are only three species of animals you can touch. Even then, the cleaner fish were too small to make worth while, and the horseshoe crabs were too algae-covered to tempt me to touch them. So, overall, not the best touch pools around, especially since better touch pools can be found elsewhere in the park.
So, overall, it's not the best touch pool around. However, it functions very well as an entrance to the park. It's worth checking out the visuals, even if the animals you can touch aren't that interesting.
P.S. As SeaWorld's 50'th Celebration continues, keep an eye out for signs throughout the park that pay tribute to the park's dearly departed attractions, including a Shamu ride, Haunted Lighthouse 4-D, and something I saw in my childhood, J.J. the gray whale.
