Post #627198 by jaynh on Thu, Mar 1, 2012 3:27 PM

Hello, I just discovered this wonderful website a few days ago.
I worked at SeaWorld San Diego's Japanese village from 1986 to 1991.
The A-Frame entrance was definitely there in 1986, that was still the main entrance then.
Shamu also still lived and performed at the current Dolphin Stadium (stadium on the northeast side of the park)
A year after I started (sometime around 1987) SeaWorld constructed the new main entrance (where is it now currently).
They also tore down the A-frame old entrance and started construction on the now current Shamu Stadium.
Summer 1988 the new Shamu Stadium opened. I remember it vividly because SeaWorld had a big Employee’s party in the spring to celebrate the opening of the new section of the park. It was during this party that they transported Shamu from the old stadium to the new Shamu stadium with a big crane and sling. HBJ also hired the Goodyear blimp for the party and it circled the park that evening.
During my time working there, the Underwater Theater Building was closed and boarded up.
The Sparkletts water show however was still open and in use. I had a co-worker who controlled the Sparkletts display during the evening shows. I sat in on a couple of the shows. By then, the music, lights, water jets/fountains and laser display controls were all recorded on 1” magnetic tape. He just monitored the control console and made sure everything was up and running and that the show started on time. He could still over-ride the control console, so he would add in extra lights or water displays to make it more interesting.
I worked at the oyster bar where customers would bring their oysters to be opened and pearls cleaned after they received it from the Pearl Divers. The Pearl Divers’ costumes were definitely see through (white cotton), but they would wear white swimsuits/shorty wetsuits underneath. Even though, the girls were gorgeous! Most were college-age and swam on swim teams in their high schools. The Japanese dancers, however, were much older women and were actually Japanese.
My last year working at Seaworld (1991), I helped clear out the the Japanese Village gift shop and Golden Pagoda to make way for construction of the Moray Eel exhibit. Now I see that even those buildings are gone to make way for a new roller-coaster :(
I hope this helps in establishing some timelines concerning San Diego Sea World.