SeaWorld San Antonio released footage on February 4th social media of the first test run of their new B&M family inverted coaster Barracuda Strike. This is the second consecutive year the park will be adding a coaster and it’s 3rd new coaster in the last 6 years. The park has put out a lot of great graphics and concept art related to the ride’s theme, so it will be great to watch in the coming weeks as some of these elements come more into focus. Anytime there is a new coaster test cycling, no matter if it’s a family coaster or a new thrill coaster, there’s still a ton of excitement in the air.

Sound on. A major milestone in motion. 🎢💫 Check out the first test run of Barracuda Strike! pic.twitter.com/bl2R0Lyrls

— seaworldtexas (@SeaWorldTexas) February 4, 2026

This construction seems to have flown by, taking just a few months from initial track to completion. The pictures below are from the end of November and a mere two months later they’re already testing trains. It was great to see the park fully embraced the construction too with signage and even a window in the construction barrier to allow you to watch the work. There also seems to be minimal interruption to the rest of park operations even though there is some interplay with Steel Eel and a midway. It was also interesting to see how they partially drained and created a dam in part of the lagoon to allow work on the over water part.

The ride is quite similar to Phoenix Rising at Busch Gardens Tampa, which was B&M’s first family invert in the United States, so there’s a good chance most of the bugs were worked out there. Barracuda Strike is 10 feet taller (90 feet versus 80 feet), but they are more similar than different with nearly identical lengths of ~1,800 feet and speed of 44 mph. The main difference with Barracuda Strike is that large portions of it will be built over the water, adding an extra level of excitement with the inverted trains. You should also get great views of it from all around the park.

This ride will fill a great niche for SeaWorld San Antonio providing an invert less intense than Great White and more intense than the new Beach Rescue Racer. There is also Wave Breaker, but it has a 48″ height requirement, so if Barracuda Strike comes in at 42″ like Phoenix Rising, it should be much more forgiving for the littles. Hopefully it won’t be long before we have an opening day announcement on Barracuda Strike and hopefully some pass holder preview days!