BryceM
Well-Known Member
7 HOURS?!
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Antartica opens on May 24
- Thread starter drew81
- Start date
Do you know if it is possible to mingle with the penguins without riding the attraction? Can you just walk in and see them like you could in the old enclosure?
That's what I read on another forum - joined queue at 8:45, queued till 10:30 before a member of staff (what do you call SeaWorld CMs?) told them it would be 3 hours from that point, and 6-7 if you were joining the back of it. They said that they left without riding, went to MK, and talked to some other people who had queued for 2 hours before a member of staff told them that they would have another 5 hours to go - don't know if they stayed to ride or not, but people seem to be unhappy at the lack of queue time updates being given out by staff.
It's not going to be good if people are queuing for 7 hours and then being disappointed after they've ridden it!
But, it would be interesting to compare Antarctica queues to Manta/Kraken/Atlantis/Wild Arctic queues today.
OFTeric
Well-Known Member
no you must queue for the experience.
Well that's a shame, although I can understand why it's the case, especially with how long the queues will probably be to ride, but it would have been nice to just be able to walk in and be able to watch the penguins/cool down, like at The Living Seas at Epcot, without having to queue for hours to ride the ride.
Of course, we plan to ride the attraction when we go next year, but it would be nice if the queues start to reduce if it would be possible to just watch the real penguins like you used to be able to.
cheezbat
Well-Known Member
Yeah it gets hot way too fast. Without shade people are burning up and getting dehydrated faster. They need tarps or something pretty soon.
It surely was busy...crazy busy. And not just in the Antarctica section.
cheezbat
Well-Known Member
Not true. They were letting people back in the revolving doors around back a bit later on in the day to see the Penguins. I saw a handful come in as I was exiting.
Also, my opinion...it's a well themed area and a step up for Sea World. I liked the exhibit, loved the penguins, thought the animation was pretty good, and liked the first couple rooms of the ride...but it was way too short and the storyline basically got thrown out the window right at the beginning of the ride.
I didn't expect too much from Sea World, seeing as how they don't have the money the Big Two do to build a ride like this. I cannot wait to see Universals take on this, which I'm sure would be longer and maybe a bit more exciting...or Disneys take by possibly bringing a clone of Mystic Manor over or something.
Great concept....but could be done even better by the competition.
Definitely not worth waiting over an hour for.
JordanNite
Well-Known Member
Sea World dissapointing again?
Quel suprise ... who remembers the damp squib that was Aquatica.
Quel suprise ... who remembers the damp squib that was Aquatica.
Thrill Seeker
Well-Known Member
Just watched a POV video posted by Inside the Magic. It looks pretty good. I hope to check it out in the not too distant future...
ISTCrew20
Well-Known Member
After attending opening day yesterday, just wanted to share some thoughts:
-I thought the opening ceremony was pretty well done. Short, sweet, to the point, and even pulled at the heartstrings a bit. Terry Prather, park president, took the stage and talked for a bit. He shared that Antarctica is just the beginning of a new era at SeaWorld, one where they are dedicated to bringing immersive environments, animals encounters, and attractions to the park like they never have before.
- The park was prepared to handle guests standing in the heat. Complimentary cups and water coolers were set up throughout the outdoor queue and they were handing out sunscreen and bottled water later in the day. Many employees to entertain kids and answer questions.
-The entire realm is very well done. The rockwork (glacier/ice) far outshines anything done previously in other Orlando parks.
-The pre/post shows were the absolute highlight. The queue is a masterpiece and really works to transport you. I loved the whole vehicle boarding process. Gave me chills with just how seamless it was executed. The postshow was great, too. SeaWorld really blends these animal encounters in well.
-The ride ... I'm hoping it's still a work in progress. I didn't HATE it (I was expecting that range of motion and type of "thrill" the whole time, so I wasn't hyping it to be something it wasn't) but there just wasn't anything going on. The story that is setup for you in the queue falls apart and after 2 very nicely themed rooms (fun to look at but do nothing to further the story) in the beginning, the ride quickly turns into large black rooms with screens noisy liftup garage doors. The whole penguin reveal at the end could have worked really well if we could just soak in the ride experience a little more and been given more time to understand what was actually going on. The vehicles are awesome though - fun to watch and fun to ride in.
- It IS cold. I thought the whole cold thing would just be hype and it would be refreshingly cool in there at most (like Wild Arctic Post Show) but it was COLD. Not only cold, but windy. Really adds to the atmosphere but doesn't allow you the ability to stay with the penguins long. I was shivering by the time the ride was over.
- The ride works well as part of the experience - much like Nemo at Epcot would be terrible if it was a standalone ride, the experience of the aquarium after makes it work. This is similar. But honestly, they could eliminate the ride portion all together and just have that amazing queue lead you through the story and end in the penguin exhibit and have it just be a walk-through attraction. That would be an experience just as great.
-The restaurant area reminds me a lot of Dinoland (which has an incredible amount of detail and backstory in the Restaurantasaurus area if you look for it) .. There are a lot of little details and tongue in cheek elements throughout the eating area. Enjoy your food while listening to the radio playing (station W-KOLD, of course)
-The cup that cares is a really cool concept and we saw many people purchasing them.
So people may be bashing the ride, which I think is because people had much larger expectations in terms of thrill. Just like tweaks/new animation debuted at TurtleTrek months after opening due to complaints, I'm sure Empire of the Penguin will be undergoing some adjustments soon, too.
It is something everyone should absolutely visit. Not so much for ONLY the ride but for the entire experience.
-I thought the opening ceremony was pretty well done. Short, sweet, to the point, and even pulled at the heartstrings a bit. Terry Prather, park president, took the stage and talked for a bit. He shared that Antarctica is just the beginning of a new era at SeaWorld, one where they are dedicated to bringing immersive environments, animals encounters, and attractions to the park like they never have before.
- The park was prepared to handle guests standing in the heat. Complimentary cups and water coolers were set up throughout the outdoor queue and they were handing out sunscreen and bottled water later in the day. Many employees to entertain kids and answer questions.
-The entire realm is very well done. The rockwork (glacier/ice) far outshines anything done previously in other Orlando parks.
-The pre/post shows were the absolute highlight. The queue is a masterpiece and really works to transport you. I loved the whole vehicle boarding process. Gave me chills with just how seamless it was executed. The postshow was great, too. SeaWorld really blends these animal encounters in well.
-The ride ... I'm hoping it's still a work in progress. I didn't HATE it (I was expecting that range of motion and type of "thrill" the whole time, so I wasn't hyping it to be something it wasn't) but there just wasn't anything going on. The story that is setup for you in the queue falls apart and after 2 very nicely themed rooms (fun to look at but do nothing to further the story) in the beginning, the ride quickly turns into large black rooms with screens noisy liftup garage doors. The whole penguin reveal at the end could have worked really well if we could just soak in the ride experience a little more and been given more time to understand what was actually going on. The vehicles are awesome though - fun to watch and fun to ride in.
- It IS cold. I thought the whole cold thing would just be hype and it would be refreshingly cool in there at most (like Wild Arctic Post Show) but it was COLD. Not only cold, but windy. Really adds to the atmosphere but doesn't allow you the ability to stay with the penguins long. I was shivering by the time the ride was over.
- The ride works well as part of the experience - much like Nemo at Epcot would be terrible if it was a standalone ride, the experience of the aquarium after makes it work. This is similar. But honestly, they could eliminate the ride portion all together and just have that amazing queue lead you through the story and end in the penguin exhibit and have it just be a walk-through attraction. That would be an experience just as great.
-The restaurant area reminds me a lot of Dinoland (which has an incredible amount of detail and backstory in the Restaurantasaurus area if you look for it) .. There are a lot of little details and tongue in cheek elements throughout the eating area. Enjoy your food while listening to the radio playing (station W-KOLD, of course)
-The cup that cares is a really cool concept and we saw many people purchasing them.
So people may be bashing the ride, which I think is because people had much larger expectations in terms of thrill. Just like tweaks/new animation debuted at TurtleTrek months after opening due to complaints, I'm sure Empire of the Penguin will be undergoing some adjustments soon, too.
It is something everyone should absolutely visit. Not so much for ONLY the ride but for the entire experience.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
This was my experience with the previous Wild Arctic experience. The Attraction leading up to it is downright awful, but the exhibits after the fact are awesome.
The other forum must've been exaggerating. The opening ceremony started at 8:45 and nobody was let in until about 7-8 minutes later. I was at the opening ceremony and we joined the queue for the line at 8:55am. We were out of the ride (after two breakdowns while waiting) shortly after 10am. There's no way it was 3-4 hours unless they joined around 9:30. My friend got to the park at 9:30 and by then, they were advertising the wait as 3-4 hours.
