Sea World

I first visited Sea World, and the other Gold Coast theme parks, 1994 when was 4 years old. Sea World is the oldest park on the Gold Coast, having started way back in 1958 as the Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens! in 1971, the owner, Keith Williams, moved the park to the current site on the spit and added marine animals such as dolphins and seals to expand his attraction.

A carousel, train ride, swimming pool and a replica of Captain Cook's ship the Endeavour soon followed. In 1976, Sea World bought out the nearby Marineland (founded in 1965 as the Seaquarium) and transferred all their animals to the Sea World site. The park's first true theme park ride was the Viking's Revenge Flume, opened in 1979.

So, maps ...

2002: The newest attractions at this time were Cartoon Network beach and Polar Bear shores. The white loops of the Corkscrew and the flame-spewing Volcano of Bermuda Triangle were park icons.

2007: Shark Bay and Dugong Discovery added, along with the Sea World Eye ferris wheel. Cartoon Beach is now Seasame Street Beach.

2013: Jet Rescue, Penguin Point, Ray Reef, and Penguin encounter all added. Castaway Bay replaces the water park. Seasame Street Beach had become the generic Beach Break Bay, but the Nickelodeon Characters were appearing in the park. Storm Coaster was under construction after Bermuda Triangle had closed, and the Dinosaur Island exhibit was running. The endeavour replica ship has been removed.

(From around 2005 - 2015, Sea World didn't seem to know what they were doing, with a number of cancelled attractions, like Surfrider, which went to Wet'n'Wild, and the 'Wild' exhibit which actually advertised before they pulled the plug. The Wild exhibit was supposed to have Gorillas, Hippos and Crocodiles, which doesn't even make sense for a marine park...)

2016: The middle of the park is a construction zone while the new plaza is built. Storm Coaster, Seal Harbour and Nickelodeon Land added. The Creatures of the Deep display is there too, replacing the dinosaurs, which didn't make any sense anyway. The Corkscrew/Sea Viper and the Skyway are gone.

2018: A new CGI map, and Viking's Revenge Flume closed.

2020: This year's map has a new style again, with an oversized Jet Rescue to hide the empty space, lol XD. The 'New Atlantis' area is under construction. It is planned to include three new rides, The Vortex (a top spin ride), Trident (a spinning tower ride) and Leviathan (a wooden rollercoaster).