The Parkz Update: Sea World's Carnivale... by day

Sea World's summer is in full swing with shows, entertainment, food, rides and more rides*! We don't have all the bristling nightlife of Carnivale 2017, but we do take you for a pleasant wander through Sea World on a summer's day.

Image: Parkz. Viking's Revenge Flume Ride lives on!

Update By Richard Wilson
11 January 2017

What you report on when there's nothing to report on: the fullness of the car park. At 12pm we're seeing a mostly full car park, no overflow.

More car park. And a particularly boring skinless monorail. Can't they advertise a show that was discontinued several years ago or something to brighten things up?

Queue rails to handle the busy summer crowds. We're Savvy Parkzerz™ so we rock up a few hours after gates open and waltz right through. Go us!

The Sea World lake is still perhaps the most picturesque sight at any Australian theme park. It's just a shame it's not put to more use for both day guests and night events.

Can't blame these guys for just hanging out on the cold air vents in this weather... even though their environment is climate controlled and filled with ice.

It's great to see that they even put the sprinklers on to cool the dolphins down in summer!

Car. Niv. Ale.

We love weirdly spaced letters almost as much as we love digital zoom.

Odd letter spacing. Severed heads on poles. Carnivale has it all!

The Gold Coast's second-best all-weather theme park events area (sorry Dreamworld) makes Carnivale a possibility at Sea World.

The monorail was only able to fit through the plaza if they removed its skins and had a plain white train. That vinyl wrap takes up valuable millimeters!

Here's what Carnivale's food stalls look like during the day. Pretty dead.

More boring shut stalls.

Here's an empty stage for Carnivale.

The closed midway games that fill half of the plaza.

The view from the main path along the back has all the charm of a local sports club kiosk.

The main stage. We'd show you some bands playing here during Carnivale, but you know... daytime and all...

Our favourite theme park bar is still great. You know what would help staff and guests here though? Clear signage instructing where to queue, and also noting that you should have a table number ready before you order food. The staff here spend their days trying to kindly convey these two points to guests.

The Ninja Turtles show draws a sizeable crowd in the afternoon sun.

Viking's Revenge closure

AusParks.com.au say it's a long shot that we'll see a B&M coaster replace Viking's Revenge Flume Ride in 2019. I'd say it's a long shot that Sea World even know what they're filling the area with given how far off its replacement is and Sea World's penchant for changing their minds.

The basketball game has been relocated from the front of the park to make way for Carnivale's main stage.

Rubble has appeared in the Viking's Revenge station, though doesn't appear to have come from anywhere nearby on the ride. It does create the illusion that something's happening with the ride though.