SeaWorld Orlando's Antarctica Opens

[bkroz]

After much hubbub, the brand new, totally impressive looking themed area at SeaWorld Orlando, Antarctica, opened today after media previews yesterday. The land is really an impressive step for SeaWorld in that it's highly stylized, detailed, and large-scale, clearly following in the footsteps of the new thought process that among these huge international operators, a single new attraction just won't do - you need a whole LAND, with themed shopping, rock work, appropriate facades, and at least one or two signature, exclusive dining options that you can't get anywhere else.

As for the land's main ride, Empire of the Penguin, it was cheered early on for being the first application of LPS-guided, trackless ride system in the U.S. We saw great success with this system in Tokyo on Pooh's Hunny Hunt and Aquatopia (shameless link to my recent photo trip report) and then most of the theme park industry was stunned with the technology's application in Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor.

The consensus on Empire of the Penguin? Meh.

After concept art displayed huge, open, light scenes of trackless videos sliding whimsically across the ice, the ride ended up being quite a bit different - indecisive about what to be, and very disjointed and awkward.

In a nutshell, you follow the life of a CGI animated penguin. First it dances in rainbow-colored booger-shaped stalactites, then you spend a good portion of the ride swirling around a dark room with blacklight-style ice rainbows. Following that, you pull in front of a "screensaver" scene of a penguin marching against the winds of a blizzard and spin there for 45 seconds as nothing happens waiting for the other cars to enter the room, then you move on to a poorly done "motion simulator" with really awful animation. Did I mention, too, that all of this is inexplicably narrated by a British man? Then, an overly-emotional, triumphant voice starts singing about Antarctica as you finally reach the most impressive moment of the ride - when your vehicle turns to see real penguins.

The technology is impressive, but I (and apparently many others) had expected a bright, plot-free trip through Arctic scenes with real penguin exhibits and perhaps animatronics throughout. The ride instead seems to be an unfortunate misuse of a really incredible technology - perhaps the designers thought it could coast on that?

What are your thoughts?

[BB1]

To be honest, I feel the same on the topic. The whole ride just seemed not right to feel for the penguin, now yes there is a time of auroras occurring in the pole, but it did not cover the full or better yet, a true experience of an penguin's life. As well, why was there no dips or hills that were traversed? The penguins do slide down hills in the wild.

Consensus: This ride could have been done better than it has been, I just hope that it can get better and not be another ride that just embellishes true things, ie Matterhorn.

[The Interpreter]

Never, ever use Matterhorn as an exemplar of mediocre or mundane. It is neither. Historic, gloriously tacky and incredibly fun, Matterhorn is uniquely a Disneyland experience, and a striking example of why Disneyland is one of Terp's favorites.

Just embellishes true things? Just?

Harumph!

[Delirium_Guy]

I just got back from SeaWorld a few minutes ago. Park opened an hour early due to the anticipated crowds. Fortunately, we were able to walk right into the ride. First of all, let me say the entire area is BEAUTIFUL. They really did an outstanding job at transforming what was a very dated area of the park. It is rich in detail, in a very Disney or Universal like fashion, and has a lot of hidden corners and areas to explore.

The exhibit itself is very well done. You can get incredibly close to the penguins and the Park has continued its recent trend and enriching the animal encounters. The underwater viewing area is fantastic. Again, I think it is a nice improvement over what used to be.

The ride? I'm not sure where to begin. The queue line is wonderful. The preshow rooms do a nice job of setting up the story of Puck. Unfortunately, that's about where it ends. The ride system is stunning and it was awesome to finally experience it after seeing prior installations that GYK pointed out. Our "wild" ride ended up with our pod being the only one going through. I've read that multiple pods are capable of going through the show, and it seems that way based on my observations, so I think it would be interesting to see them interact with one another.

The ride does absolutely nothing and telling the story that was set up so well in the preshow. It is mostly a lot of pointless meandering with a few screens along the way with the animation of Puck. The elaborate theming from the queue doesn't quite carry over as much into the ride itself. There were a lot of dead spots with little to no theming at all. The ride ends with a quick view of the real penguins. It is incredibly short and if I waited more than 30 minutes for it I would be quite disappointed. I'm incredibly disappointed with the execution of this.

It dumps you out into the exhibit, which really is 30 degrees inside. Crazy cold when you are in shorts and flip flops, but a nice touch and making the experience authentic. What I am disappointed to see is that it seems like you HAVE to ride the ride in order to see the penguins. This trend started with Turtle Trek and I don't like it at all. Hopefully with time, as the popularity dies down, this will change and you'll be able to by pass the attraction.

Overall, the area really is a solid addition for SeaWorld and I do think it will be a game changer for them. While it is easy for us, as enthusiasts, to pick everything apart, the guests seemed to really be enjoying it. I do think that SeaWorld raised the bar for themselves as far as executing the area and it really does look spectacular. I'm looking forward to heading back after the Memorial Day crowds go away to try some of the new food options as well as the South Pole Chill.

-Todd

[BB1]

Never, ever use Matterhorn as an exemplar of mediocre or mundane. It is neither. Historic, gloriously tacky and incredibly fun, Matterhorn is uniquely a Disneyland experience, and a striking example of why Disneyland is one of Terp's favorites.

Just embellishes true things? Just?

Harumph!

I mean the crystals that are found with magical colors, only found in the fabrication of a Disney classic. Now really don't get me wrong MH is a great ride, it just has a bit of more fantasy features than real, IE, Abominable Snowman, we all know he is taller than his size. (We all know he is 6 foot tall)