The employee we talked to said they did not have an exact time frame of when the nets would be down. They stated normally they were up before at night times (after the park closed)...They did not have nets in one small part (where they had photographers taking your picture) right when you got off the ride....
I am sure the penguins would not do any real harm (based upon my 2% knowledge on penguins)
It's a nice addition overall. Ride could have been a bit longer. But the live penguins part is much much better then before.