SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

[bejackso]

any idea/predictions on when penguin trek will open? thinking about planning a trip to SWO in april/may.

[thrillseeker4552]

I would estimate mid-late May at the earliest, similar to Pipeline last year. The two rides seem to have a similar construction timeline so far. Testing will likely begin in March and commissioning/final touches to the area and theming in April and passholder previews starting in May. Of course the park hasn't announced anything officially yet so the later the better if you're planning a trip.

[DoinItForTheFame]

On 2/14/2024 at 8:52 AM, bejackso said:

any idea/predictions on when penguin trek will open? thinking about planning a trip to SWO in april/may.

2025.

[YoshiFan]

Penguin Trek is opening on July 7th

Pass Previews start on July 2nd. The e-mail was just sent out with the dates for pass holders:

https://www.wesh.com/article/seaworld-orlando-opening-date-penguin-trek/61195796

"Ready to be among the first to ride the ALL-NEW Penguin Trek? As a Pass Member, you can join us for previews from 8 a.m. – park close on select dates based on your tier:

Platinum Pass Members: July 2–3

Platinum and Gold Pass Members: July 4 

Platinum, Gold, and Silver Pass Members: July 5 

Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pass Members plus Fun Card holders: July 6"

 

I'm hoping the previews wont be too crowded with it being a holiday week and schools on summer break. Ice Breaker and Pipeline were 5 minute waits for me during those previews but they were in the winter and spring on days when local schools were open.

[YoshiFan]

I went to SeaWorld today for the first day of Platinum Pass previews.

There are new kiosks at the park entrance that work much better than the old ones. The old ones always were out of service or freezing up. As with past previews, they were checking to make sure everyone entering the line had a Platinum Pass. The wait time sign was posting a 15 minute wait but it was a walk on unless you wanted the front or back rows.

The queue starts outdoors but is mostly indoors which is a welcome addition with the air conditioning. The queue is themed well with some props and then there are stairs and a walkway over the track in the station. It reminded me a little of Kingda Ka's walkway entering and exiting the station.

The first launch was good and the ride is mostly a lot of twists and turns without too many drops. The ride isn't forceful at all but I wasn't expecting it with it being marketed as a family coaster. The second launch is close to the end of the ride before a large banked turn. There was a little bit of a rattle but not too bad.

Penguin Trek is a great addition to SeaWorld and really needed. The park has so many thrill coasters and something much tamer really adds some variety to their lineup. I think it's going to be very popular with it appealing to almost everyone, especially with the low height requirement of 42"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hilltopper39]

Everything I've seen so far on Penguin Trek has been pretty impressive, looks like a really solid edition. I'm not gonna have a chance to make it down for the previews but have a day trip planned in a few weeks with some friends and their kid who is over 42 In but still under 48, so this will be his first "bigger" coaster, so looking forward to that.

[Skysthelimit]

I went for previews yesterday as well and got 3 rides. One in the front, one in the middle and one towards the back. 
 

It’s a little obvious that they had to get creative when shoe-horning the ride into a building that wasn’t meant for this attraction, but I thought SW did an A+ job with what they had to work. The ride fills a void in the park’s lineup and we agreed that the dark ride section into the first launch was the highlight. 
 

That said, I can’t get over how rattly this thing is. Sitting in the front seat, you see B&M track in front of you but it feels like you are on a family coaster from the mid-90s given the level of jank it has. Further back in the train it isn’t quite as noticeable, but it’s still pronounced. If I was a SW exec riding this for the first time, I probably would have been pretty pissed with B&M. I’m not sure what they or Clermont Steel have been doing lately, but their work has been less than stellar. On a brighter note, Mako in the front seat still smooth and gracefas can be. 

[prozach626]

I love to see old office desks, chairs, and inoperable computers being the standard for themeing. 

[YoshiFan]

There are reports that they keep changing the exit procedure for the ride. When I rode the coaster on Tuesday, they allowed everyone to go through an emergency exit that goes right outside. More recently, they are now forcing people to wait in line for the penguin exhibit after the ride and it is taking people up to 25 minutes to exit after waiting and walking through the exhibit. I hope they are just testing different policies and that won't be a permanent policy. Having to wait in line to exit each time you ride the coaster is going to be very frustrating.

[prozach626]

I'm surprised they aren't making people wait in the giftshop. 

[abovethesink]

On 7/3/2024 at 5:12 PM, Skysthelimit said:

That said, I can’t get over how rattly this thing is. Sitting in the front seat, you see B&M track in front of you but it feels like you are on a family coaster from the mid-90s given the level of jank it has. Further back in the train it isn’t quite as noticeable, but it’s still pronounced. If I was a SW exec riding this for the first time, I probably would have been pretty pissed with B&M. I’m not sure what they or Clermont Steel have been doing lately, but their work has been less than stellar. On a brighter note, Mako in the front seat still smooth and gracefas can be. 

I might just be missing it, but I feel like this is kind of an underdiscussed development in the industry. I haven't ridden any of them myself yet, but a lot of people have gotten off Penguin Trek, Pipeline, Iron Menace, and Dr. Diabolical noting that they are pretty rattly out of the gate. This did not use to happen with B&M. The rattle that developed over time used to take years. 

[Hilltopper39]

1 hour ago, abovethesink said:

I might just be missing it, but I feel like this is kind of an underdiscussed development in the industry. I haven't ridden any of them myself yet, but a lot of people have gotten off Penguin Trek, Pipeline, Iron Menace, and Dr. Diabolical noting that they are pretty rattly out of the gate. This did not use to happen with B&M. The rattle that developed over time used to take years. 

I've seen some discussion about this recently and I swear I've ridden Pipeline 30 times and never once did I think it was the slightest bit uncomfortable. Is there a little bit of a rattle? Kind of, I mean you can sort of feel vibrating a little bit also I think that the only reason I even noticed it was because in my head I thinking to look for it. 

I'm gonna try to ride Penguin Trek in a few weeks so I'm interested to see what that one feels like but I feel like this whole discussion about the rattle is WAY overblown. Maybe it's just my tolerance for roughness on coasters and all of the Arrow looping coasters I've ridden as a younger man in this hobby lol, but I have still yet to ride a B&M that I thought was even remotely uncomfortable. 

 

[abovethesink]

2 hours ago, Hilltopper39 said:

I've seen some discussion about this recently and I swear I've ridden Pipeline 30 times and never once did I think it was the slightest bit uncomfortable. Is there a little bit of a rattle? Kind of, I mean you can sort of feel vibrating a little bit also I think that the only reason I even noticed it was because in my head I thinking to look for it. 

I'm gonna try to ride Penguin Trek in a few weeks so I'm interested to see what that one feels like but I feel like this whole discussion about the rattle is WAY overblown. Maybe it's just my tolerance for roughness on coasters and all of the Arrow looping coasters I've ridden as a younger man in this hobby lol, but I have still yet to ride a B&M that I thought was even remotely uncomfortable. 

 

Again, no first hand experience, but what I have read from others isn't that these are necessarily rough, it is just that you can feel a noticeable rattle which is a departure for how most B&Ms used to stay glass smooth for years after install. 

[prozach626]

Banshee, Diamondback, Fury, and all the slight to moderate head banging on the B&M's of the 90's. All standups and floorless conversions beat the piss out of you. 

A lot of the 2000's into the early teens seemed to be the most smooth B&M's, but nerds complained about them not being intense enough.

[Hilltopper39]

On 7/10/2024 at 9:02 AM, Hilltopper39 said:

I've seen some discussion about this recently and I swear I've ridden Pipeline 30 times and never once did I think it was the slightest bit uncomfortable. Is there a little bit of a rattle? Kind of, I mean you can sort of feel vibrating a little bit also I think that the only reason I even noticed it was because in my head I thinking to look for it. 

I'm gonna try to ride Penguin Trek in a few weeks so I'm interested to see what that one feels like but I feel like this whole discussion about the rattle is WAY overblown. Maybe it's just my tolerance for roughness on coasters and all of the Arrow looping coasters I've ridden as a younger man in this hobby lol, but I have still yet to ride a B&M that I thought was even remotely uncomfortable. 

 

Okay I got a few rides on Penguin Trek yesterday and in regards to the "rattle" I didn't feel anything that was even the slightest bit uncomfortable, it's barely even noticeable. It's a family coaster with a 42 inch height restriction that goes like 40 mph and felt absolutely fine to me.

 

Other than that, it's a pretty great attraction but just kind of an okay ride? Nothing wrong with it at all, the ride itself is just kind of forceless but again for a 42 inch kiddie coaster that's fine. The indoor que and dark ride sections did look fantastic so kudos to SW for doing that. For a non-existent as the themeing is on Ice Breaker and Pipeline (which I think is fine honestly) Penguin Trek really is the perfect little mix of just enough to make it feel like a real attraction. So all around pretty solid addition IMO.

A far as the exit procedures, both rides we were routed through the exhibit and had a small wait but it really wasn't that big of a deal? 

[thepoint4life23]

I feel like at this point Rattle is more like a door panel sound in your car. Its not doing anything you just hear it. 

[jedimaster1227]

This weekend I had a chance to stop into SeaWorld Orlando for the first time in a while, both to experience this year's SeaWorld Spooktacular fun with my family but also to ride Penguin Trek for the first time. SeaWorld Spooktacular is the park's daytime Halloween event, offering trick or treating, characters and some light entertainment offerings to supplement the normal day at the park before it closes to turn over the operation to Howl-O-Scream Orlando, which is a more mature, separately ticketed event. 

Penguin Trek took over the former Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin dark ride, but also manages to take up a significant portion of the land outside of the former ride's show building. It is hard to understand just how creative they got with plugging this coaster into the building until you're walking through it all... Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. The queue is improved for its (expanded) of the former interior space--it makes you wonder just how much space the short, short-lived dark ride actually took up inside. The path to the station has you going upstairs and downstairs, at levels that the previous attraction never utilized, making you realize how tall these buildings were for no prior experiential reason. Where it gets a little wonky is the exit path from the ride, which ultimately leads you back to the existing penguin exhibit, crossing through the ride's entrance queue and stopping at the exit of the exhibit which now has a SeaWorld team member pulsing guests between doors that must be opened and closed in order to minimize the loss of cold air in the exhibit. This wasn't a challenge in the space before (as the exit used a revolving door) so I'm not sure why this change was made but it makes for a strange bottleneck in a space where Guests may not want to be stuck for an extended time due to the cold. 

On to the photos!

This cute billboard marks the start of the SeaWorld Spooktacular treat trail.

That's about as spooky at this gets.

You can meet a mermaid here...

The trick or treating starts at 11:00 AM and the initial rush can be a little surprising but it dies down later in the afternoon.

Keep in mind, to participate in the trick or treating (at least to the full extent) you must buy a SeaWorld bucket or bag from the park. I've seen other people use other bags and in some cases be turned away, in others, be given less candy than those with one of the park-sold bags.

I love Haribo candies, so this was right up my alley.

Portions of the park are decorated for the event.

A look at all of this year's sponsors/candy providers.

Some more character meet and greets along the way.

Behind the dogfish and catfish is a space where story time takes place during scheduled portions of the day.

For the parents there are drinks and bites to get you through the Halloween day.

You bring your bag up to a station and the SeaWorld team member drops the candy through the chute.

My son's favorite part of the event...

Is it even a Halloween event if you don't walk through a giant pumpkin head?

New this year is the Harvest Maze, a cute little maze that is backstage near Journey to Atlantis.

A cute little diversion.

This was my candy haul at the end of one lap. We could go back as many times as we wanted to but with the heat being what it was, this was plenty for us.

There is a DJ booth over by Journey to Atlantis which marks the end of the treat trail.

Why I really was here today...

Portions of the former Antartica queue are still intact but the building was definitely updated to accommodate the new coaster. I went through the Quick Queue line so I didn't have the chance to experience the standby queue during this visit. 

I had no where in the existing building I was at this point of the queue.

This does feel radically different than what was here before.

The train does look pretty sleek. 

I was pleased to find that despite this being a two-train operation with two-across seats, the operation moved abnormally fast (by SeaWorld standards). 

The coaster exits from the same station as you load, but dumps you out to an expanded window which used to be where the Antarctica ride vehicle would look into the exhibit before returning to the station.

Perhaps the reason it is called Penguin Trek is because of the hike you have to make back to the exit.

My sense of where this was in the former attraction is so lost.

Next thing you know you're walking through the old interior queue--this was where the "mild" or "wild" experience used to be split up. 

And then you end up back in one of the pods that led to the exhibit.

You're dumped out into the exhibit but walking along a path created by having walled off the former Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin ride exit station.

You can still see the penguins up close.

But now you have to wait to be pulsed between exit doors...

Not sure what went into this decision making process but I'd argue that it is the one misstep I spotted with Penguin Trek over its predecessor. 

After leading you back out into the existing two-story viewing area of the exhibit, you finally exit into the newly-built, enclosed gift shop.

Queue logistics aside, Penguin Trek is a really solid coaster. The launches aren't as aggressive as you'll find on other launch coasters but the track is B&M smooth and the maneuvers are fun to experience. 

Plus it is a pretty fun coaster to watch from the ground!

My favorite elements of the coaster are these two twisty hills.

Just a really solid addition to the park.

Over at Wild Arctic, work continues on whatever is replacing the former simulators.

Here's hoping we'll find out more soon.

And obviously the most important update of the day is the addition of a new boba bar at The Waterfront.

[Hilltopper39]

Nice update, I always have a good time at their Spooktacular festival with my kids when they were younger and overall it still looks like a pretty solid way to spend a day.

[jedimaster1227]

SeaWorld Orlando has announced a new first-of-its-kind flying theater attraction opening in Spring 2025. This new four and a half minute long, Arctic-themed experience will be family friendly with a minimum height requirement of 39 inches. 

SeaWorld Orlando, the Coaster Capital of Orlando renowned for its impressive selection of thrilling and unique rides, unveiled plans for its latest groundbreaking attraction planned to open in Spring 2025: the World's first-of-its-kind Arctic flying theater. This new experience invites families to soar over icy landscapes, dive beneath frozen waters and come face-to-face with some of the planet's most magnificent creatures. From majestic beluga whales to awe-inspiring orcas and walruses, this adventure puts riders right in the middle of the action. It's also all indoors, so rain or shine, this attraction guarantees a cool, thrilling escape for the entire family all year round.

Building on the family-friendly thrills of the park's newest attraction, Penguin Trek, this new ride accommodates guests with a minimum height requirement of just 39 inches, ensuring the whole family can enjoy the adventure together. Riders will embark on this 4:30 minute journey within one of two of the attraction's immersive multi-level theaters, each accommodating 30 guests. They will experience the Arctic as if they were truly there, witnessing jaw-dropping visuals both in the air and underwater, including the stunning Aurora Borealis and remote, untouched areas of the Arctic.

Only at SeaWorld Orlando will riders have the rare opportunity to experience a seamless journey from underwater views of the Arctic's marine life to the outer atmosphere, providing a satellite perspective of this incredible and expansive region. This attraction emphasizes SeaWorld Orlando's commitment to blending education with entertainment, offering guests a comprehensive view of the Arctic's vast and varied ecosystem.

Thanks to custom filming equipment specifically created for this project, the award-winning production team was able to film in some of the most remote parts of the Arctic, capturing its diverse environment in stunning detail. From lush, green landscapes that challenge the typical perceptions of the Arctic to the snow-capped vistas and crystal-clear waters teeming with marine life, guests will be transported to locations that are otherwise inaccessible to most.

"We are thrilled to introduce this first-of-its-kind attraction to SeaWorld Orlando," said Jon Peterson, President of SeaWorld Orlando. "This indoor immersive flying theater experience reinforces our commitment to education, animal care and research. As guests disembark from the attraction, they'll find themselves in the awe-inspiring wonder of one of the world's most remote places, face-to-face with some of those very animals found within the Arctic such as beluga whales, walruses and more. By bringing the wonders of the Arctic to life, we are offering guests an unparalleled and immersive experience that will create lasting memories for people of all ages."

With the launch of this Arctic-themed flying theater, SeaWorld Orlando continues to innovate and expand its lineup of world-class attractions, solidifying its status as a premier destination for thrill-seekers and families alike. SeaWorld 2025 Annual Pass Members will have the exclusive opportunity to be among the first to ride this groundbreaking attraction before it opens to the general public. Passes are on sale now, so guests will want to grab their passes for the chance to be part of this exhilarating adventure.

 

Be Among the First to Ride the Upcoming 2025 Attraction with a SeaWorld Annual Pass
Guests can experience the best of SeaWorld Orlando with a 2025 annual pass including unbeatable benefits, unlimited visits and the opportunity to be the first to experience this new 2025 attraction before it opens to the public. Annual passes for 2025 are on sale now and starting as low as $15.75 per month with no down payment. For a limited time offer, guests can buy their 2025 annual pass and upgrade to the next tier for free. Membership includes unlimited admission, access to vibrant seasonal events and exclusive Pass Member benefits like FREE guest tickets, FREE parking and special savings on merchandise as well as food and beverage. Plus, Pass Members receive special monthly rewards throughout the year such as exclusive Pass Member merchandise, behind-the-scenes animal experiences, festival-exclusive food and beverage deals and discounts on admission to SeaWorld's separately ticketed Howl-O-Scream event. The SeaWorld Orlando Annual Pass program features the bronze, silver, gold and platinum annual pass options. The platinum pass grants access to all 11 parks in the U.S. that are in the United Parks & Resorts parks portfolio, including three SeaWorld parks, two Busch Gardens parks, two Sesame Place parks and several award-winning water parks. Annual Pass Members also get exclusive discounts at Discovery Cove in Orlando. The Annual Pass program is structured in a guest-friendly way that allows visitors to choose the pass, the benefits and the parks that best fit their needs. Restrictions apply.

For more information, park hours and to purchase tickets, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com. Follow SeaWorld Orlando on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for the latest news from SeaWorld.

[tndank]

It'll be really awesome if they make you go through an animal exhibit afterwards instead of just a simple exit.

[Satans Hockey]

This is a great replacement to what was there. I wonder if Williamsburg adds one of these now to replace Battle of Eire. 

[prozach626]

I'd vomit, unfortunately. Cool addition, though.

[Hilltopper39]

Ya know I've never been on a flying theatre attraction that I just absolutely loved, but I've never been on one that I hated either.

 

I have no idea what this ride system looks like or how good or bad the video and overall experience is, but it's already a 6.5/10 which is absolutely perfect.