Sea World Carnivale 2023

[themagician]

Carnivale is back at Sea World on select nights in January and February. The event appears to be much the same as this years and might even be a simpler version as there doesn’t seem to be many extras available this year. The big marketing aspect for this event is the opening of the New Atlantis.

[Ogre]

Super excited to (hopefully) get that Leviathan night ride!

[New display name]

14 hours ago, themagician said:

Carnivale is back at Sea World on select nights in January and February. The event appears to be much the same as this years and might even be a simpler version as there doesn’t seem to be many extras available this year. The big marketing aspect for this event is the opening of the New Atlantis.

The event looks like a shadow of its former self.

[themagician]

I believe ticket prices have gone up to, with them being $69 for adults and $49 for kids 

[Gazza]

11 minutes ago, themagician said:

$69 for adults

Nice.

****

Oh wait, i have a pass again, I can actually go!

Edited December 16, 2022 by Gazza

[rappa]

2 hours ago, New display name said:

The event looks like a shadow of its former self.

Given I’ve hated every single thing about the event since it left Movie World (where it was awesome!) I’d be happy if they purely focussed on good food offering and the big laser show. Tailor it more to suit Sea World than shoehorn it in…

…food and drink trail through the whole park anyone? Caribbean cocktail party in  Castaway bay?

[Rivals]

26 minutes ago, rappa said:

Given I’ve hated every single thing about the event since it left Movie World (where it was awesome!)

I might be the only one but i feel like the events never been great? It was definitely the weakest of the 3 events when it was at MovieWorld, then it moved to SeaWorld as the only night event and could stand on its own but now they have Spooky Nights, which is better then Carnivale. 

To me, the events always just been long lines, average overpriced food and a good parade / performances. But who knows i could’ve just had poor experiences / memory and the events actually pretty good

[New display name]

Weren't you a young teenager when it was at MW @Rivals

[Rivals]

51 minutes ago, New display name said:

Weren't you a young teenager when it was at MW @Rivals

I was, that’s why i said “i could’ve just had poor experiences / memory and the events actually pretty good” at the end. Im genuinely asking if it’s ever been great cause i’m just thinking back of what i can remember and even though i liked it, i’m looking back on what i remember now being like it doesn’t seem the best. 

[New display name]

I don't know if MW Carnival was aimed for teenagers.🤷‍♀️

[aaronm]

$69 is pretty steep for an event primarily about selling people food. That said, all VRTP pricing is aimed at selling annual passes so most people are probably getting in that way.

I've always enjoyed Carnivale for what it is, fingers crossed Leviathan's operations a running well for some night rides.

[Spotty]

5 hours ago, rappa said:

Given I’ve hated every single thing about the event since it left Movie World (where it was awesome!) I’d be happy if they purely focussed on good food offering and the big laser show. Tailor it more to suit Sea World than shoehorn it in…

…food and drink trail through the whole park anyone? Caribbean cocktail party in  Castaway bay?

I miss Carnivale at Movie World. I went both years that it was there and honestly it was one of my fave night time events. The food, and the atmosphere and the parade was just great. Did it at Sea World in it's first year and 2nd year and it was meh... Like it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly good. I love the idea of a food and drink trail though!

[Brad2912]

Carnivalle at MW was fantastic.

whilst it’s not horrible at SW I think it’s fallen into repetitive mode like FN & WC had over the last few years. By all accounts WC is a marked improvement this year (I’ll be checking it out next week) so hopefully Carnivalle get a decent update/refresh for 2024

[themagician]

Preparations have already begun for the event 

[themagician]

The events decorations, lighting and floats are all set up for the event beginning tomorrow night 

[aaronm]

Enjoyed Carnivale this evening, pretty similar to previous years but obviously a stronger ride selection on offer. Enjoyed the dusk ride on Leviathan - the preshow works well when it’s dark outside.

Food offerings seemed a little more limited, tried the shrimp bowl which was great and had a generous helping of prawns. Everything else was fairly standard theme park fare. I definitely miss the seafood chowder and key lime pie of years past.

Can’t fault the atmosphere, plenty of music and entertainment around. Former parade floats make for a decent scenic addition to the gardens. Even the (retired) AOS elephant made an appearance. 
 

The Aqua Light Show was a highlight. It’s not the most innovative or sophisticated use of fountains and fireworks but this show is pretty great for a regional park. Performers were giving 100% even at the third show of the night. It’s a great use of the lagoon and gives the crowd a high to finish the night (even if some of them might still be waiting to exit the carpark…)

While I’m not sure I’d pay $69 for a ticket Carnivale is a great inclusion in the annual pass and we’ll happily attend and drop our cash on food & drinks each year. 

[Brad2912]

29 minutes ago, aaronm said:

pretty great for a regional park

I wouldn’t classify SW as a regional park. 
 

if it’s a regional park, then that means Australia only has regional parks….

[aaronm]

8 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Australia only has regional parks

Yes. The parks do well with what they have but there’s nothing on the level of Efteling or Busch Gardens, let alone Disney/Universal.

[TBoy]

3 hours ago, aaronm said:

Yes. The parks do well with what they have but there’s nothing on the level of Efteling or Busch Gardens, let alone Disney/Universal.

The closest I would say we have of a Universal park is Movie World. It may not be as big as them but we do have more coasters than Hollywood, Japan, Beijing and on-par with Singapore. When we get the SFC, Boomerang and Half Pipe we will have 8. IMO I can compare Movie World to Universal more than Disney.

[Tricoart]

4 minutes ago, TBoy said:

The closest I would say we have of a Universal park is Movie World. It may not be as big as them but we do have more coasters than Hollywood, Japan, Beijing and on-par with Singapore. When we get the SFC, Boomerang and Half Pipe we will have 8. IMO I can compare Movie World to Universal more than Disney.

MW is also definitely the park with the most international draw due to DCR, but in comparison to other, even non-Disney/Universal parks, it’s still kind of ‘regional’. And they don’t even care about unique events, unlike SW and DW, instead opting for the general regional park formula of ‘Scary event in October’ and ‘Festive event in December’.

[joz]

I would argue our parks have no international appeal, and that anyone who travels for them is a rounding error. I'm not sure that many people travel from all over Australia to visit SW/MW/DW, I think the 'theme parks' as a collective is pretty compelling as a domestic destination. You can split hairs till the cows come home on wether this makes the individual parks regional or not. I'd say you could call them either regional parks, or destination parks, and in both cases you're right.

[TBoy]

Something that can be noted is that Movie World was "good enough" to inspire other parks to make attractions similar to the ones here. For example:

• Gremlins Adventure was also made at Movie Park Germany
• Main Street at Movie Park Germany is based off Main Street here
• Looney Tunes River Ride was recreated at Movie Park Germany
• Batman Adventure The Ride was recreated at Movie Park Germany/Parque Warner Madrid
• Police Academy Stunt Show was recreated at Six Flags Magic Mountain/Movie Park Germany/Parque Warner Madrid
• Wild Wild West was recreated as Rio Bravo at Parque Warner Madrid
• Movie Park Germany/Parque Warner Madrid were originally named Warner Bros. Movie World

So other parks around the world must have taken note of us. Yes I know they don't now but it shows how we can be spotted on the international map, even know not as much as Disney/Universal. 

[REGIE]

3 hours ago, joz said:

would argue our parks have no international appeal

DCR is literally basically the very top of every enthusiasts bucket list. 

[aaronm]

41 minutes ago, REGIE said:

DCR is literally basically the very top of every enthusiasts bucket list. 

So is Expedition GeForce but nobody is suggesting Holiday Park is anything other than regional. It’s not an insult, it’s just a classification of the scale of a park and the budgets they have to work with.

[Noll_57]

I would say that early Movie World (early 90’s to the early 2000’s) was a lot closer to Universal’s standard then what we have today. I think the shift to focusing on adding thrill rides and less about theming and immersion has cheapened the experience (even though we have more attractions now than we did back them). Still, I wouldn’t call it a “regional park”, but I’d say it’s teetering on the edge of being one in its current state. It will be interesting to see what happens after WOO opens. If the area is finished off to the high standard they’ve been promising and is as well themed as the concept art, it could improve the overall image of the park and increase its international appeal. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.