On January 3, 2017, SeaWorld San Diego announced their intention to add the Electric Eel roller coaster in time for the summer 2018 season.

[1][2] Electric Eel was first proposed in January 2017 to be located on the park's eastern side, adjacent to the existing Journey to Atlantis water coaster, and, given its 150-foot height, would be painted lighter colors from the 60-foot mark and above in order to comply with city transparency requirements.

[3] Work began later that year, and crews installed more than 200 6-foot (1.8 m) diameter columns, up to 40’ below ground, in order to support the ride's 11,000-square-foot foundation mat, which was completed by November 2017.

[6] However, on April 17, the date was changed to two days earlier than originally planned, to May 10, while park representatives cited the project to be well-ahead of schedule.

The usage of handrails and permanent shade structures is minimal, and educational signage spread throughout the queue offer facts about electric eels.

The attraction has also been cloned elsewhere, with the original being Superman: Ultimate Flight (2012) at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California, although unlike many of the other units installed the SeaWorld coasters operate with a longer train, increasing capacity by 50%.