SeaWorld ups its game in Abu Dhabi
If money can't buy happiness, a whole heck of a lot of it sure can build a theme park that will leave you elated.
So let's talk about the new SeaWorld Yas Island, which opened last week in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates. Though the park carries the SeaWorld name, it was built and will be operated by Miral, the Emirati company that owns and develops the Yas Island resort. Miral, unlike licensor SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, has billions of dollars to spend, and it dropped a nice chunk of that building this spectacular, multilevel indoor theme park that redefines what a SeaWorld park can be.
There are no orcas here. Instead, the star of this SeaWorld is the building itself, which features eight themed “realms” simulating ocean habitats around the world. The first, Abu Dhabi Ocean, is to SeaWorld what Main Street, U.S.A. is to Disneyland — an opening statement that grounds what lies beyond in a nostalgic appeal to an idealized past. A full-size dhow boat sits in a harbor opposite touch pools, creating an environment designed to evoke the emirate before oil.
Beyond that lies the park's hub, One Ocean, which both physically and symbolically links all of this SeaWorld's realms. Surrounding the 230-foot-wide plaza is what the park bills as the world's largest LED screen, a 360-degree surface showing a hypnotic loop of larger-thanlife underwater scenes filmed in 8K video. Below that, visitors will find the entries to the park's remaining six realms.
MicroOcean is SeaWorld's children's land, which looks much like a version of Tokyo DisneySea's Triton's Kingdom without the intellectual property elements. That's not the only similarity here to Disney. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi also themes several attractions to a group called the S.E.A., which here stands for “scientists, explorers and adventurers,” rather than Disney's Society of Explorers and Adventurers.
The main S.E.A. attraction is Hypersphere 360, in the park's arctic zone, an innovative, gravitronlike attraction from Intamin that provides the all-encompassing visual immersion of virtual reality without the isolating goggles. But the best ride in the park is Manta, the third SeaWorld roller coaster to carry that name. This one is a launch coaster, also from Intamin, and not only is it the best new coaster of the year in my book, it's also the best coaster in the Middle East. (I have posted a video of Manta on Theme Park Insider's YouTube channel.)
Endless Ocean features what SeaWorld is calling the world's largest single-tank aquarium. The curious could spend hours wandering the multiple levels that offer views into this fascinating underwater environment, including a 65-foot-tall window called the Endless Vista.
The park does offer two shows, or “presentations,” as SeaWorld calls them: a sea lion production in the Pacific Northwestthemed Rocky Point realm, and a dolphin presentation in Tropical Ocean. Forget the concrete stadiums in San Diego and Orlando, Florida. Both of these theaters offer lush decoration, creating a well-themed setting.
In Abu Dhabi, SeaWorld finally has a park that rivals Disney and Universal for immersive environments. It's a stunning reimagining of what a SeaWorld park can be.