SeaWorld San Diego oversells zippy and fun Arctic Rescue coaster as more than it is
SeaWorld San Diego has fallen into a classic theme park trap of overselling its new Arctic Rescue ride as something more than it really is — a zippy and fun new launch coaster that’s perfect for younger riders and their families.
The new Arctic Rescue straddle-seat coaster debuts at SeaWorld San Diego on Friday, June 2 — the fourth new roller coaster at the marine animal park since 2018.
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Arctic Rescue simulates a terrain-hugging ride on a snowmobile over otherwise flat ground with a series of whoop-de-doo hills and whipsaw back-and-forth S-curves. The family launch coaster from Intamin Amusement Rides offers quite a bit of action, thrill and excitement for its relatively compact layout with the help of a trio of tire launches/boosts. The modest coaster checks in at 30 feet tall with a top speed of 40 mph over a 2,800-foot-long track.
There are plenty of taller, faster and longer rides in the world, across the United States and on the West Coast. But still SeaWorld feels the need to lay claim to titles local media outlets will misunderstand or overstate.
Theme parks can’t help themselves at this time of year as they unveil the newest, biggest, fastest, tallest, longest and best new rides — each one trying to outdo the last.
SeaWorld San Diego bills Arctic Rescue as the fastest and longest straddle coaster on the West Coast — but the accolades are a bit overblown for a family coaster that really isn’t that fast or long.
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Claiming Arctic Rescue is the fastest and longest straddle coaster on the West Coast means that it is bigger and better than the puny Pony Express at Knott’s Berry Farm. That’s not much of a boast since the 1,250-foot-long Pony Express feels like it’s just getting started as the 38 mph horse-themed straddle coaster comes to an abrupt end after a quick and uneventful gallop on an elongated figure eight course.
SeaWorld is taking aim at Pony Express in hopes that nobody will compare the 2,800-foot-long Arctic Rescue to a pair of stellar straddle coasters on the East Coast — Tron Lightcycle Run at the Magic Kingdom and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Not only are Tron Lightcycle (3,169 feet) and Hagrid’s Motorbike (5,053 feet) longer than Arctic Rescue, they are much faster and far superior when it comes to storytelling prowess.
Arctic Rescue is not even the fastest ride of its kind at a SeaWorld theme park. The similar straddle-seat personal watercraft-themed 2017 Wave Breaker (44 mph) at SeaWorld San Antonio and 2008 Jet Rescue (43 mph) at SeaWorld Australia are just a little faster than Arctic Rescue (40 mph).
From a theming and narrative standpoint, Arctic Rescue lags behind another snowmobile-themed straddle coaster that debuted in 2023 at yet another SeaWorld sister park: DarKoaster: Escape the Storm at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The indoor DarKoaster takes riders through King Ludwig’s abandoned fortress and the cursed castle grounds where they encounter supernatural forces and mysterious phenomena.
Arctic Rescue takes riders outdoors into typically sunny Southern California for a trek through the arctic tundra with the thematic help of a few patches of faux snow on the ground to create the visual illusion of a sub-zero frozen adventure — no matter how improbable and counterintuitive the idea.