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Analysis of Electric Eel, New for 2018 at SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego has joined the trend of announcing theme park attractions early, following suit of sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg with their early 2016-announced GCI wooden coaster 'InvadR,' by letting the cat, or in this case a cloned launch coaster, out of the bag. The SoCal park will be adding a Premier Rides Sky Rocket II model named 'Electric Eel' for the summer 2018 season. It will be identical to the aforementioned sister park's Sky Rocket II, named 'Tempesto,' except for the difference in color schemes.
Electric Eel will be the fourth Sky Rocket II model installed in America. Others include Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Phobia Phear Coaster at Lake Compounce, and, of course, Tempesto. Electric Eel will be 150 feet tall and will launch riders three times, twice forward and once backward, at a maximum speed of 62 mph. The 863-foot long coaster's trains will most likely feature comfort collars, a more simple version of the soft over-the-shoulder restraint strap featured on Intamin roller coasters such as Maverick at Cedar Point and Storm Runner at Hersheypark, but rather from Premier Rides. Comfort collars are also included on Tempesto's trains as both SeaWorld San Diego and Busch Gardens Williamsburg have significant family demographics. The Sky Rocket II model is intended to be an extreme and compact coaster, so it naturally features only a lap bar with shin guards to restrain riders, but parks can request additional measures of restraining riders by adding comfort collars to make their installations appeal to families.
While I have not ridden very many Premier Rides roller coasters, and sadly none of which are Sky Rocket II models, I can almost be certain that Electric Eel will be a great coaster. Premier Rides is a fantastic roller coaster manufacturer, which is what I have concluded after experiencing what I believe is the best coaster from the company, MR. FREEZE: Reverse Blast at Six Flags St. Louis. Premier Rides is known for their coasters being intense (most of the time), so, as I have said, I have not ridden a Sky Rocket II, but I can assume that Electric Eel will be the best coaster at the park, if not, just a tad behind Manta with a silver medal. I also really like the color scheme of this coaster. (I must admit blue is my favorite color.)
Many agree that this coaster is probably not the best fit for SeaWorld San Diego, as it will be the second coaster at the park to be launched, after Manta opened in 2012. The only other coaster at the park, Adventure to Atlantis, is a water coaster, leaving the true coaster collection at SeaWorld San Diego to be very unconventional and uniform when compared to coaster line-ups at other parks across the country, and even the SeaWorld brand.
I'd also like to mention, keep in mind that those comfort collars should be a sign to you to not get your hopes up about this coaster being as good as the other Sky Rocket II installations. As almost all of us know, having the feeling of a restraint, strap, or vest over your shoulders is not super enjoyable, and can sometimes make a good coaster just "okay." It does seem likely that Electric Eel will feature comfort collars, as you can see in this concept art (from SeaWorld) of a train on the Electric Eel launch track. The rider in the last seat of the train on the left can be seen with some sort of over-the-shoulder restrain over him. (Please remember that the comfort collars aren't confirmed, but this concept art definitely supports the rumor.)
Currently, only two roller coasters have been announced for 2018 in North America, but expect more parks to announce their coasters for 2018 in the coming months during the offseason for many of them. You can watch the Electric Eel teaser below.
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Electric Eel photos and teaser video courtesy of SeaWorld San Diego.
