Amusement Park News

SeaWorld San Diego had originally planned to open its new Jewels of the Sea: A Jellyfish Experience in 2024, but the opening is now rescheduled for March 15, 2025. Anticipation is high for the attraction, which is a first for SeaWorld parks. The jellies will offer what the park calls an immersive aquarium experience, featuring a range of jellyfish types from moon jellies to comb jellies and Pacific Sea Nettles. The attraction will offer plenty of viewing fun for guests of all ages, but it will also feature educational interactive exhibit elements.

The new attraction will include an impressive 10-foot-tall jellyfish archway, allowing viewing of the creatures from all sides. The arch will also serve as a key photo-op spot. A massive 18-foot jellyfish cylinder, one of the tallest in the U.S., will serve as a showcase for the jellyfish and their graceful movements. There will also be a touchable globe holding water and jellies.

The exhibit features three separate galleries with colorful, easily accessible displays. Storytelling goes hand in hand with the jellyfish and the park's visual presentation of the species, with a focus on educating guests about ocean life in general, and these creatures in particular.

The final gallery space is virtual, with the walls and ceiling of the room covered from floor to ceiling in LED panels for digital video. These panels will present immersive ocean scenes. The captivatingly real video will display a wide variety of images, including peaceful seas, tremendous waves, and the flora and fauna that inhabit the deep. The 360-degree experience is designed specifically to make guests feel as if they have entered an underwater space.

Guests will also be able to upgrade their jellyfish experience with the chance to have a behind-the-scenes tour led by an aquarist to learn more about the jellyfish and have a hands-on experience.



With SeaWorld having faced past concerns about animal treatment, the care of the jellyfish in the exhibit is being treated very meticulously. SeaWorld San Diego park president Tyler Carter asserts that “SeaWorld San Diego is committed to providing the jellyfish the highest standards of care while also ensuring each detail of the exhibit is perfect and ready to exceed guest expectations when we open.” He adds that “Visiting the new jellyfish experience is an amazing opportunity like no other – a chance for our guests to see up close the spectacular details of these underwater marvels and witness how they live their lives in astonishing clarity.”

Eric Otjen, VP of zoological at SeaWorld San Diego, explains that guests enter and walk through a series of “striking habitats and…vivid displays to learn more about these wonderful creatures.” He notes that the new exhibit is specifically designed to fit the park's “mission of educating and inspiring guests to learn more about our oceans and the world around us.”

The emphasis on education made fun is important to SeaWorld parks, dovetailing with the theme parks' growing mission to promote the appreciation of marine life and educate the public about it, a new direction for the parks.



Parkgoers will move from the shoreline to the depths of the ocean as they traverse the exhibit space. Dr. Chris Dold, Chief Zoological Officer of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, relates that a visit to the new exhibit will be like no other experience, “a chance for our guests to see up close the spectacular details of these underwater marvels and witness how they live their lives in astonishing clarity.”

Speaking of new, SeaWorld San Diego's first-ever coaster, Journey to Atlantis, will have a new look in 2025. While paying homage to the original roller coaster ride, new elements and current tech are being added to enhance its visual appeal and offer more excitement for guests.

The ride revamp will contain new water and visual effects as well as new twists on the coaster's storyline.  Like the new jellyfish attraction, the changes to Journey to Atlantis will focus on providing a more immersive experience for parkgoers. The ride itself will remain a combination of a log flume experience with the thrills of a more traditional roller coaster.

SeaWorld's public relations team describes the coaster as being “reinvented…to create a more exciting and immersive experience than ever before.” The ride has now closed while changes are being made as of press time and will remain so through the beginning of the new year, until the reimagining is completed. SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Antonio have not announced any changes to their own Journey to Atlantis coasters.



Journey to Atlantis was originally themed to match the park's Commerson's dolphins exhibit, which had been removed. With the dolphins themselves gone, the images that used to play and entertain guests during the coaster's vertical lift was also removed. The 2025 revamp will allow new storytelling to emerge during the lift sequence.

Earlier this year there was also a revamp: the big wave design of the park's entrance was taken down and reopened with a simpler mid-century-modern look in late April.

Pass Members will receive VIP access to the new jellyfish aquarium and be the first attendees to ride the new Journey to Atlantis, as well as receiving free parking, guest tickets, and savings on merch.