Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego
Dangling over the dropmost of all in the front row Upside down 3 times

SeaWorld San Diego, San Diego, California

Emperor

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“Still a fun smooth comfortable ride.”

POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
a sunset ride on Emperor and it was perfect!
What riders love
  • I found the ride to be a lot scarier there as there's no track beneath you and you can REALLY see that.
  • The first drop is good in any row, although the most forceful experience would have to be in the back edge seats.
  • You can even make out Giant Dipper at Belmont Park from the top of the drop.
  • It has great moments of hangtime in the inversions and pulls pretty good forces.
  • The first drop is really fun, and the inversions right after are very smooth.
  • I thought that the first drop was pretty sweet and the inversions were pretty intense.
  • This one is super compact and keeps the gas down the entire time.
  • The layout is also good, because while it's short, that also means it's better paced, causing it to be more intense and whippy than I've heard people say other dive coasters are.
Emperor Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Emperor Front Row (HD POV) SeaWorld San Diego

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Emperor Back Row HD POV SeaWorld San Diego 2023

youtube.com › CoasterOrca

EMPEROR POV in 4K | One of The Most Anticipated Rides in The U.S.

youtube.com › SeaWorld San Diego

Emperor Off-Ride Footage, SeaWorld San Diego B&M Dive Coaster | Non-Copyright

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Emperor Review | SeaWorld San Diego's B&M Dive Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Pass Members Review EMPEROR | SeaWorld San Diego's All-New Dive Coaster

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Emperor Review, SeaWorld San Diego B&M Dive Coaster | Best Paced Dive Machine!

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

EMPEROR | Diving In On California's Tallest and Fastest Dive Coaster

youtube.com › SeaWorld San Diego

Emperor Opening March 12, 2022 | SeaWorld San Diego | Dare To Dive In

youtube.com › SeaWorld San Diego

EMPEROR | Dare to Dive in on California's TALLEST and FASTEST Dive Coaster

youtube.com › SeaWorld San Diego

Emperor TESTING! - SeaWorld San Diego

youtube.com › Behind The Thrills

Performance

Vs. other coasters at SeaWorld San Diego

Drop has good floater but the rest of the ride is comically graceful, with no forces to be seen.

Francisco Perez

Decent airtime on the first drop if you put your hands up, but not crazy aside from that.

Samuel Cozart

I actually thought this ride was pretty fun in the front with the drop giving some good floater and the ride being pretty smooth, but in the back the drop is still good and it has some forces but idk...

Inverted Thrills

based on my ride the vest restraints didn’t bother me and somehow still gave me some ejector airtime off that drop but its a good ride in my opinion

@Aspecto13

Everyone gets good floater airtime and it has a bit more of a kick at the start if you’re in back.

Canobie Coaster

Very very short (yes I know it’s a dive coaster but still.) It is pretty smooth and you get a nice view of mission bay and the rest of the park.

H Coasters --

The first drop is great, as I’d assume they pretty much all are, and then it goes through several very smooth, swooping inversions.

Patrick H.

Still a fun smooth comfortable ride.

Eric Esty

The inversions are smooth and graceful; it’s not super intense but I think that’s okay.

Gabe S

...pretty fun in the front with the drop giving some good floater and the ride being pretty smooth, but in the back the drop is still good and it has some forces but idk why it’s so rough in the back.

Inverted Thrills

The layout is also good, because while it’s short, that also means it’s better paced, causing it to be more intense and whippy than I’ve heard people say other dive coasters are.

Eli Lassiter Michael

I thought that the first drop was pretty sweet and the inversions were pretty intense.

Ryan Hanna

The pullout pummels riders with positive Gs, which is a recurring theme on this coaster.

Canobie Coaster

Good dive coaster that’s swift because there’s no MCBR, but it’ll never be better than Griffon.

Josh Ragotskie

Great first drop, smooth fast inversions, great pacing.

Eric Esty

The pace that you fly through the course is literally breath-taking.

Elan Godoy

This one is super compact and keeps the gas down the entire time.

Alexander Sims

The way to the top feels so fast and it looks slow on camera but trust me it is way faster

@Nicoadrica122

I think that might have been even faster than the other ones that I have ever done.

Canobie Coaster

Nice and smooth, and a pretty good people-eater for a park that mostly has low-capacity stuff.

Evangelion Martini

Only drawback is the short length, but even the capacity was great with no lines.

Alexander Sims

There is also NEVER a line because of the row capacity.

Elan Godoy

I rode it on Wednesday and it was a literal walk on.

@samuelbrewster97

Capacity is sometimes an issue because of the 18 rider trains.

Dylan JM

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

153 ftHeight
153 Emperor 150 ElectricEel 95 Journey toAtlantis 30 Manta
143 ftFirst drop
143 Emperor 135 ElectricEel 60 Journey toAtlantis 54 Manta
60 mphTop speed
Electric Eel62 Emperor60 Manta43 Journey toAtlantis42 Arctic Rescue40 062 mph
90°Drop angle
3Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Smooth rideGreat inversionsGreat viewsShort waits

Criticised for

Weak themingToo short

Nice and smooth, and a pretty good people-eater for a park that mostly has low-capacity stuff.

Evangelion Martini, Captain Coaster review

After this ride was delayed two years, it opened in disappointing fashion.

Adam Tortorello, Captain Coaster review

Drop has good floater but the rest of the ride is comically graceful, with no forces to be seen.

Francisco Perez, Captain Coaster review

The first drop is good in any row, although the most forceful experience would have to be in the back edge seats.

Elan Godoy, Captain Coaster review

I thought that the first drop was pretty sweet and the inversions were pretty intense.

Ryan Hanna, Captain Coaster review

The layout is also good, because while it’s short, that also means it’s better paced, causing it to be more intense and whippy than I’ve heard people say other dive coasters are.

Eli Lassiter Michael, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Emperor's viewing area
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Emperor at night
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
An Emperor Penguin in San Diego's Sea World Aquarium
John Salatas, CC BY-SA 4.0
Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego
Struthious Bandersnatch, CC BY-SA 3.0
Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego
Struthious Bandersnatch, CC BY-SA 3.0
Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego
Jose Lopez, Jr., Public domain

7 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

March 12, 2022Opened

A dive coaster, built by Bolliger & Mabillard, designed by Bolliger & Mabillard.

$11 millionTo build

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), John Salatas (CC BY-SA 4.0), Struthious Bandersnatch (CC BY-SA 3.0), Jose Lopez, Jr. (Public domain). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: Eric Esty, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Eli Lassiter Michael, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The actual "dive" gimmick was actually pretty enjoyable, especially…”; Patrick H., rider review on Captain Coaster: “I found the ride to be a lot scarier…”; Elan Godoy, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop is good in any row, although…”; Nathan F, rider review on Captain Coaster: “You can even make out Giant Dipper at Belmont…”; Gabe S, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The inversions are smooth and graceful; it's not super…”; joe m, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has great moments of hangtime in the inversions…”; cres sidalia, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop is really fun, and the inversions…”; Ryan Hanna, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I thought that the first drop was pretty sweet…”; Elan Godoy, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The pace that you fly through the course is…”; Alexander Sims, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This one is super compact and keeps the gas…”; Eli Lassiter Michael, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The layout is also good, because while it's short,…”; Zach Payne, rider review on Captain Coaster: “My first visit to the park, I got a…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: CoasterOrca 's back row POV, Emperor Back Row HD POV SeaWorld San Diego 2023 (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.