After a couple of Name Changes and a serious Delay in opening due to Covid. The Emperor Coaster finally opened up in Sea World San Diego. As SeaWorld transitions away from Animal Attractions and towards becoming a fully fledged ThemePark it is rapidly expanding its Ride Line-up adding a big ride almost every 2 years.
The Biggest and most eagerly anticipated is Emperor. A huge B&M Dive Coaster that plunges 142ft vertically before taking riders through 4 inversions. This is easily the park’s biggest attraction and infact ranks as one of the biggest and fastest coasters on the West Coast. Does this colossal ride have what it takes to draw in coaster fans and help turn the park into the Ride-focused destination it wants to be? We finally got over to have a Ride on this epic Coaster and we are happy to report, it’s absolutely amazing!
- Location – Seaworld – San Diego
- Type – B&M Floorless Dive Coaster
- Duration – 1:10 Mins
- Height Restriction – 52 In
- Average Queue time – 5 mins – 30 Mins
- Skip The Line – YES – $24.99 -Unlimted
- Additional Info – 2,411 ft long, 153ft high, 143ft Drop 63+MPH
Emperor Roller Coaster Review - Sea World San Diego
What is Emperor
All you need to know is Emperor is a Floorless Dive Coaster manufactured by B&M with a 143ft Drop with 4 inversions.
We are coaster geeks and that sentence sums up the ride perfectly, however, not everyone is fluent in Coaster-Geek-Talk and that sentence might sound like complete Gibberish. So What is Emperor to those who speak English?
A Dive coaster is a type of Roller Coaster, made by Bolliger & Mabillard, that literally plummets the riders down a steep vertical drop. Emperors drop is a true, 90° Face First free fall down 14 stories or 143ft. Add into that, the ride’s 2,400ft Track Layout then takes you upside-down 4 times, through large loops, rolls, and spins, at over 63MPH making this the tallest and fastest Dice Coaster in the State. It’s fair to say this is a BIG thrill ride and one of the best coasters on this side of the country.
B&M is probably our favorite Coaster manufacturer and we have rarely ridden a bad example, and Emperor seems to have ALL the right ingredients going for it. So we are really excited to see how this one rides.
Queue and Theme
The Theme of the Ride is Emperor Penguins. However, apart from the odd sign, we are really stretched to see how this is borne out. The Theme is totally underwhelming and this is the perfect example of a Rollercoaster in an empty parking lot vibe. The Ride was originally earmarked to be called Mako and would be shark-themed but this was dropped in place of the Penguin theme.
The Ride is outdoors and the queue line runs through some pretty dull and innocuous landscaping that has a very desert feel about it. There really is nothing to suggest this ride is in any way Penguin-themed. They have used a little bit of whitish stone to look a bit like snow we suppose but it’s very tenuous and overall, this is just a roller coaster with a cute name…Forget the theme.
There is also very little in the way of Queue themig The line just runs under the ride and is largely devoid of interest. The only exception is the Ride itself, you can certainly spend your queue time watching the riders before you plunge down the 143ft vertical drop.
There is a separate Queue line near the end that allows you to queue for the front. This takes an added time and can be longer than the actual overall queue. We stood in line for the front while others literally walked on. But it’s worth the added time.
The Quick-Queue at SeaWorld is a bargain at $24.99 but being honest that is often not needed as we rarely see queues for this over 30 minutes due to the great throughput of the ride. Turnaround time is just over 2 minutes due to the two cars. One loads the other scares. The Quick Queue gives unlimited rides on Emperor and most other rides with just one FastPass to Arctic Rescue.
Ride Experience
The Ride Vehicle is a Floorless carriage, meaning your legs are dangling above the track, or thin air on the side carriages. This is most pronounced on the front row. There are three rows and six people in each row. Restraints are the Lap Belt kind with added soft shoulder pads. These are really comfy and avoid any headbanging as the ride goes round. These are being used more and more and we really like them and love the lack of headaches we get afterward.
The ride starts with the Chug up the 153 ft lift hill. From the top, the view is really spectacular, and you get stunning views of the park and Mission Bay, off in the distance. You do not get long until you round the top bend and can see the drop looming large. As the carriage tips over the edge, you are ready for the fall, and then…it stops!
The carriage is stopped and held at an approximately 75° angle over the drop. For the passengers in the front, this feels essentially face down, your legs swinging over 150+ feet of nothingness. It holds for 2-3 seconds but this feels an indeterminable amount of time, your weight held up against the restraints and just begging for the drop to come!
When it does, it’s an insane rush. The weight of the carriage easily out accelerating a human free fall and pushing you down toward the ground hitting the 63mph top speed. As you get there the fall is caught by the track and you are whisked off and up into the first inversion, an Immelmann Loop. This starts as a regular loop but twists you out of it whilst upside down, a regular Fighter Pilot Move from WW2.
The Second inversion is a Hammerhead Turn, which is only 90% inverted, This flows into a Barrel Rools and then a Corkscrew, which are both pretty similar. There is then a banked turn and the ride then hits the break run. It’s pretty short once loose from the drop, but it’s intense and really fun.
The Ride is silky smooth. Accompanied by the Trademark B&M Roar as the ride screams around the track. There is very little roughness and lots of fast-flowing thrills. There is not much in the way of airtime or anything overly aggressive, more of a flowing flying style of ride. But the lack of any jerkiness is a real plus for us.
Overall
We have to admit we are always a little biased when it Comes to B&M. They just always make the coasters that we find the most agreeable. Every time we ride something from the B&M stable it’s a fantastic ride. Even the more basic and old rides are still absolute corkers. Emperor is pretty much the perfect case point. It’s not game-changing or record-breaking, but it’s executed so well. It’s Silky Smooth, completely headache-free, and just awesome fun.
Intermin makes some of the craziest coasters out there, but there is always an element of rawness, whereas B&M is just perfection…usually. And then there is RMC, which is a whole other kettle of fish.
The lack of any discernable theming is disappointing for us, There are now two arctic-themed rides at San Diego, in the desert, and Emperor has no real Penguin features at all. We are really not sure why they dropped the Mako Theme, it would work much better.
But on the whole, we can easily ignore that. Emperrr is a mighty addition to the Park. It’s worth heading to San Diego just for a ride an elevates SeaWorld SanDiego up the West Coast Themepark list quite away. It’s still behind Magic Mountian and Knotts Berry in terms of Pure Ride Count and Quality, but it is closing in.
Two more big hitters, maybe even just an RMC and it’s right up there.
Have Your Say
Have you ridden Emproer Yet? What did you think of the Ride? Was it a terrifying While Knuckle, or a fun and thrilling blast? How did you find the Hold? How was the drop? And was the ride worth the Queue? Whatever you have to say about Emperor, just fire away in the comments and if you have any questions we are happy to answer if we can.
