SeaWorld Debuts AnimalVision

SeaWorld Fans “Dive” into the AnimalVision Digital Premiere
AnimalVision
Interactive Platform Officially Launched Today, Providing 24/7 Window into SeaWorld’s Animal Habitats
 
 
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment launched AnimalVision,™ 24/7, on-habitat cameras streaming footage of penguins from Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin at SeaWorld Orlando, rays from Aquatica, SeaWorld’s Waterpark® in San Antonio and turtles from SeaWorld San Diego’s  Turtle Reef®.  AnimalVision.com offers an interactive website experience allowing visitors to create connections with amazing animals right from the comfort of home.
 
httpv://youtu.be/4a4dxRRaHs4
In celebration, viewers from across the nation had the chance to virtually “swim” with penguins at Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, SeaWorld Orlando’s newest attraction.  Fans were encouraged to submit photos of their best penguin expressions through the official SeaWorld social channels and tune in to AnimalVision.com today at 1 p.m. to see themselves swimming with the penguins.  
 
A SeaWorld diver was placed in the chilly 30-degree waters at Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin with an iPad displaying fansubmitted photos as penguins swam by. At SeaWorld San Antonio, viewers also had the chance to interview a SeaWorld educator submerged with rays at Aquatica San Antonio, and in SeaWorld San Diego, they learned fun facts about sea turtles in the park’s Turtle Reef®.
AnimalVision
 
AnimalVision provides animal camera fans with an interactive experience that goes beyond simply watching the animals demonstrating their natural behaviors. The new platform features:
 
  • Video web portal designed to be viewed from any computer, smartphone or tablet
  • The ability to take, share and save photos of their favorite video moment
  • Live Twitter feeds share comments with other AnimalVision viewers and interactive “ask the experts” sessions with animal trainers and zoological staff
  • Education and conservation information and facts about each featured species
  • Downloadable games
  • Additional animal species will be showcased in the near future
 
Each of the six cameras is high definition for the best viewing experience possible, including multiple viewpoints of the habitats. The cameras at SeaWorld Orlando’s newest attraction, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin™, show four different species of penguins both in the water and up on the ice. At Aquatica, SeaWorld’s Waterpark® in San Antonio, more than 200 stingrays and tropical fish including various species of angel, tang and butterfly fish are seen from shallow and deep underwater viewpoints. Turtle Reef® at SeaWorld San Diego features more than 40 threatened green sea turtles ranging in age from four to 50 years old with a view of the 280,000-gallon aquarium they call home.
SeaWorld Park and Entertainment Logo
 
About SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment™ is a leading theme park and entertainment company delivering personal, interactive and educational experiences that blend imagination with nature and enable its customers to celebrate, connect with and care for the natural world we share. The Company owns or licenses a portfolio of globally recognized brands including SeaWorld®, Shamu® and Busch Gardens®. Over its more than 50 year history, the Company has built a diversified portfolio of 11 destination and regional theme parks that are grouped in key markets across the United States, many of which showcase its one-of-a-kind collection of approximately 67,000 marine and terrestrial animals. The Company’s theme parks feature a diverse array of rides, shows and other attractions with broad demographic appeal which deliver memorable experiences and a strong value proposition for its guests. In addition to its theme parks, the company has recently begun to leverage its brands into media, entertainment and consumer products. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: SEAS). Copies of this and other news releases as well as additional information about SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. can be obtained online at www.seaworldentertainment.com.  Shareholders and prospective investors can also register to automatically receive the Company’s press releases, SEC filings and other notices by e-mail.
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SeaWorld’s 50th Brings a Sea of Surprises

image copyright SeaWorld
image copyright SeaWorld

SEAWORLD’S 50TH CELEBRATION WILL BE A SEA OF SURPRISES

Eighteen-month celebration kicks off on March 21, 2014 at all three SeaWorld parks

 

Orlando, Fla. (June 11, 2013) – SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment™ announces a multi-park celebration to commemorate a key event in the company’s history. The original SeaWorld® park opened its gates for the first time in March 1964 on Mission Bay in San Diego.

 

SeaWorld’s 50th Celebration will feature a Sea of Surprises™ starting March 21, 2014. SeaWorld parks in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio will share the excitement throughout an 18-month celebration that highlights some of the most memorable SeaWorld experiences. 

 

For nearly five decades, SeaWorld has surprised and amazed guests with unique entertainment, thrilling rides and up-close encounters with marine animals. During SeaWorld’s 50th Celebration visitors will be invited to take part in the celebration through new interactive experiences, shows and pathway performances, even more up-close animal encounters throughout the park and the SeaWorld “Surprise Squad” treating guests with prizes every day.

 

Just a few weeks ago, SeaWorld Orlando opened Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin™, an all-new realm that combines 30-degree temperatures, upclose encounters with more than 250 penguins and an all-family adventure ride to create the coldest theme park attraction in Orlando and a thrilling, chilling experience of a lifetime.   

 

SeaWorld Orlando will continue to make news later this year when the park announces what’s new for 2014.  Details will be shared this fall.

 

SeaWorld’s 50th Celebration Sea of Surprises Highlights

 

  • SeaWorld San Diego will celebrate 50 years with a new interactive entrance plaza. The area will be called Explorer’s Reef and will open in March for the celebration kick-off. The 16-month construction project will transform the existing front gate area through sculptural and design elements inspired by waves crashing over a reef, as well as up-close encounters with marine life. The new front gate concept will replace existing ticket booths with a beach-themed, concierge-style ticketing area that will provide guests with a single location to purchase admission, as well as sign up for tours, animal interactions and dining experiences.

 

From the moment they enter the park, guests can connect with the sea through multiple touch pools featuring shark pups, stingrays and cleaner fish. Explorer’s Reef encompasses more than three acres, including new and innovative retail and culinary opportunities for guests. The multi-million dollar renovation effort will not only make entering the park faster and more efficient, but will significantly enhance the arrival experience.

  • As part of SeaWorld’s 50th Celebration, there will be more surprise encounters with animal ambassadors throughout the day. A pair of Magellanic penguins, a lemur, or even a parade of flamingos could surprise guests at any moment at all three SeaWorld locations.

 

  • What’s a celebration without surprises? The SeaWorld “Surprise Squad” will roam the SeaWorld parks giving away prizes and special gifts. Guests could receive exclusive access to rides or behind-the-scenes experiences, celebration t-shirts or Shamu-themed merchandise, reserved show seating and more.

 

  • SeaWorld is known for amazing animal shows and each park will have something new for the 50th celebration. Even park pathways will come to life with spontaneous entertainment at unexpected moments, including performers with sea-inspired costumes and props, a bubble brigade and splash mob.

 

  • To underscore SeaWorld’s commitment to the environment and passion for protecting the ocean, a series of giant sea life sculptures will be displayed throughout the parks. SeaWorld commissioned environmental art group Washed Ashore for the large-scale art created from ocean debris. The works serve as a reminder that our animal friends need healthy environments.

 

  • As part of its continuing commitment to new technology that enhances the guest experience, SeaWorld’s 50th Celebration will include new ways for fans to connect to the parks and each other though digital devices. The parks will be launching a variety of enhancements, from interactive apps that provide fun new ways to experience the park to new games and video content.

 

For more information and continuing news about SeaWorld’s 50th Celebration and the Sea of Surprises, visitwww.seaworld.com/celebration.

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6h9kfUQ5O2g

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Antarctica Empire Of The Penguin Is Now Open At SeaWorld Orlando

Antarctica: Empire Of The Penguin

At SeaWorld Orlando

 Antarctica Empire of the Penguin

All-new adventure allows guests to experience the sights, sounds, thrills, chills and penguins of Antarctica, through the eyes of a special penguin hero named Puck

It’s been 16 long months, but finally the penguins have returned to SeaWorld Orlando!!!!

The new realm of Antarctica is an immersive area of SeaWorld full of beautiful icebergs, a base camp that you wish you could actually visit, food for the pickiest of eaters, merchandise with a heart, and most importantly a first-of-its-kind attraction leading you to a penguin encounter you won’t soon forget!

Antarctica

“We’ve taken our guests and fans on astounding journeys,” says Terry Prather, SeaWorld Orlando’s president. “But no one has ever experienced what we’re bringing to Orlando this year. The first-of-its-kind ride, the cold, the wind, the thrills and danger of Antarctica, coupled with getting up close to penguins in their freezing world is something only SeaWorld can do.”

As soon as you walk into the Antarctica area, you know that you’ve traveled someplace special! There are huge icebergs, mounds of snow, beautiful carvings, and rushing winds that put a chill in the air no matter what the Florida temperature may be!

Antarctica

At the Expedition Café, we are all visitors to Antarctica looking for a meal to warm us up from our frigid environment. In the café, you will find American, Asian, and Italian cuisines featured in a mess hall setting where you are free from queues. There are also hydroponically grown produce and herbs, call ‘freshies’, that are incorporated into your meals. With outside seating available under canvas type sails, and two Quonset-type huts provide seating for guests dining on a mix of cooked-to-order food and quick-serve delights is comfortable.

Antarctica
The outside of Expedition Cafe
Antarctica
Some of the ‘freshies’ grown…today was basil!

Glacial Collections gift shop is the place to shop for anything and everything a penguin fan could ask for! The retail shop’s color scheme of black, bright yellows, oranges and whites, and the penguin-shaped displays welcome guests to browse the cache of splendid penguin-related items.

Antarctica
My mini-Shelley Cup That Cares!

Glacial Collections is where you can also build your very own Cup That Cares!

Also new at Antarctica are souvenir cups created by SeaWorld and Coca-Cola®. The Cup That CaresTMis a novel reusable cup program with a twist of technology: An RFID (radio frequency identification) chip embedded in each cup interacts with software at Antarctica’s CocaCola Freestyle dispensers to calculate CO2 and tell guests how they are being more environmentally responsible by choosing to refill and reuse. And there’s more: SeaWorld will donate $1 from each Cup That Cares purchase to the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens® Conservation Fund, a not-for-profit foundation that helps protect wildlife around the world.

Antarctica

And finally we come to the showpiece of Antarctica… Antarctica Empire of the Penguin!

Antarctica

On board a first-of-its-kind trackless, all-family adventure ride, guests become one with the storyline as they follow Puck’s, a gentoo penguin who is beyond loveable, adventures. Each mobile simulator ride car allows guests to choose one of two levels of exploration – Wild Expedition or Mild Expedition – for various degrees of ride intensity. Designers say each version has multiple variations for a feeling of unpredictability, just like the continent of Antarctica.

“When our little hero penguin learns to waddle and slide, we’ll feel what it’s like as the car moves and reacts to the storyline. When he takes his first swim or barely escapes danger, our guests will feel as if they’re right there with him,” explains Brian Morrow, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment® creative director.

“On this adventure, we learn that we’re a lot like penguins. We’ll find we need each other and our families to survive,” said Morrow.

Antarctica

There’s one more family SeaWorld guests can join at Antarctica … and that’s a huge family of nearly 250 penguins. Stepping off the adventure ride, guests find themselves among a colony of Adelie, gentoo, king and rockhopper penguins in a 30-degree habitat filled with wind, snow, rock and chilly water. It’s what makes Antarctica the coldest theme park attraction in Orlando. New technologies combine to create a freezing – but dry – climate, allowing guests to spend time in the penguins’ amazing world.

Antarctica

Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin also includes educational elements. Kids can “measure up” to all 18 species of penguins carved into the rocks in the plaza. They can engage in kid-height and kid-friendly interactive touch screens and talk with SeaWorld educators to learn more about the importance of community and how penguin colonies work together and rely on each other for survival.

I seriously don’t want to go into too much detail, because I really believe this is one attraction you must really experience to understand it’s true message and beauty.

The official Grand opening of Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin will be held today, Friday, May 24th!

There will be an “Ice-cutting” ceremony beginning  at 8:45 a.m. and includes a live performance by award-winning country artist Lauren Alaina, the voice of the Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin theme song.

SeaWorld Orlando will also be giving out special Antarctica bracelets for the first 700 fans through the front gate, admission is required. SeaWorld Orlando is also encouraging guests to wear black and white to show their penguin pride

If visiting SeaWorld Orlando was even remotely on your ‘To Visit’ list for your next trip to Orlando, you might want to consider moving it to the ‘Must Do’ list…I promise that you won’t regret it!

Antarctica

 

 

 

 

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Cup That Cares Coming To SeaWorld Orlando

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle And…Refill

Cup That Cares

SeaWorld Designs New Conservation Minded Cup

To Interact with Coca-Cola Free Style

Cup That Cares

— Custom Technology Engages Guests on a Personal Level —

 

This penguin-shaped cup may look cute and cuddly, but it has a noble purpose: encourage guests to help the planet, one refill at a time.

In conjunction with SeaWorld® Orlando’s epic new attraction and ride Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin™ opening Memorial Day weekend, SeaWorld has created the Cup That Cares — a new reusable cup program with a twist of technology. The innovative, interactive cup was designed specifically to connect with Coca-Cola Freestyle beverage dispensers in the new realm.

The new Cup That Cares engages guests in a personalized manner to reuse materials and reduce their carbon footprint.  An RFID chip embedded in each Cup That Cares interacts with software at Coca-Cola Freestyle® dispensers to calculate and tell guests how they are being more environmentally responsible by choosing to reuse.

Plus, SeaWorld will donate $1 from each Cup That Cares purchase to the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens® Conservation Fund, a not-for-profit foundation that helps protect wildlife around the world.

How Does It Work?

Technology embedded in the Cup That Cares calculates the amount of CO2 each guest saves from entering the atmosphere when they choose to reuse the cup for refills at Coca-Cola Freestyle machines in Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. With each refill at the designated machines, exclusive software developed by Coca-Cola and SeaWorld serves up an onscreen message that is customized to that guest’s Cup That Cares history.  The message thanks the guest for choosing to reuse, tracks how many refills the Cup That Cares has been used for, and calculates the running total of CO2 the guest has saved from entering the atmosphere.

Each refill with a reusable cup prevents the emission of approximately 27 grams of CO2.

Birds Of A Feather Conserve Together!

These penguin cups may look cute and cuddly but they have a noble purpose: encourage guests to reuse materials and reduce their carbon footprint. With each purchase of its new Cup That Cares, SeaWorld will donate $1 to the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund that helps animals around the world.

What Does It Look Like?

There are two options, both available exclusively in the new Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin attraction at SeaWorld Orlando:

  • Cup That Cares souvenir reusable cup – available at the two beverage stations inside the attraction for $9.99 – is adorned with photos of Puck™ and his penguin family. Puck is  the hero penguin character featured throughout the new realm,
  • Create Cup That Cares – Guests may build their own personalized penguin-shaped character cup by choosing from more than 40 accessories such as eyes, hair, glasses, hats, bow tie, necklaces and even miniature Shamu ice cream bars and SeaWorld shopping bags. The Create A Cup That Cares will be sold in the Antarcticagift shop, and includes a free first fill at the nearby Antarctica beverage stations. Create A Cup That Cares experience starts at $15.95 with the option to add accessory items.

Cup That Cares

“Just as penguins do within their colonies, humans also can band together to make a big difference through small actions,” said Dan Brown, Chief Operating Officer of SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Aquatica Parks. “We see great potential with this new program because it encourages guests to be more aware of their actions – and reduce their carbon footprint — in an easy, fun and innovative way. Each step may be small, but it all adds up when we work together.”

Refills throughout the park for both Cup That Cares options are $.99 each.

PLUS — NEW custom Coca-Cola flavor served up only at Antarctica 

The Cup That Cares concept was developed in partnership with the park’s beverage partner Coca-Cola, whose Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers offer guests more than 100 different beverage brands.  Also only in Antarctica, Coca-Cola Freestyle will offer an all-new, vanilla-infused choice — South Pole Chill.

Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin:

The biggest expansion in SeaWorld’s history, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin opens Friday, May 24 and combines a state-of-the-art family adventure ride with up-close encounters with hundreds of penguins – kings, gentoos, Adélies and rockhoppers.

For more information, visit www.SeaWorldOrlando.com

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SeaWorld Orlando Partners With Lauren Alaina For Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin

SeaWorld Orlando Annouces Partnership with Lauren Alaina to promote new attraction, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin

 SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has partnered with award-winning country artist Lauren Alaina to perform the official theme song for the new attraction at SeaWorld OrlandoAntarctica: Empire of the Penguin™, opening May 24, 2013.

Alaina recorded two songs for SeaWorld, including the theme song for the ride in Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, and a remix version called “Antarctica: One World, One Family.” Alaina also will be performing the song live at SeaWorld Orlando for the attraction grand opening the week of May 24th. The remix version will be available for free download starting May 9.

Alaina is currently in the studio working on her forthcoming sophomore album, and is scheduled to perform her new single “Barefoot And Buckwild” on American Idol Thursday, May 9, airing nationwide on Fox networks.

“I have such great memories of growing up and going to SeaWorld with my family, so being a part of the theme park and their new attraction is so exciting,” says Alaina.  “Recording the official theme song for the ride was so much fun – SeaWorld even brought a penguin named Pete to the studio to help inspire me!”

Georgia native Alaina captured America’s hearts when she appeared on Season 10 of American Idol.  Her first album, Wildflower, debuted at no.1 on the iTunes Country chart and no.2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in 2011, and was the best-selling digital album by a debut country female. Alaina has been nominated for several Teen Choice and CMT Music Awards, and recently took home the Artist of the Year: New Artist trophy at the 2012 American Country Awards.

Alaina is also the Special Olympics Project UNIFY® Ambassador for North America and traveled to   Pyeongchang, South Korea in January for the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games. In celebration of this partnership and their mutual support, SeaWorld will make a donation to Special Olympics. A Special Olympics athlete and family members also will receive a special visit to SeaWorld Orlando for the grand opening of Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, courtesy of Lauren Alaina.

“We’re excited to continue our strategy of expanding beyond family theme parks into different types of entertainment enterprises,” said Scott Helmstedter, Chief Creative Officer of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. “We’re so thrilled to welcome Lauren into our family and look forward to working with her on this project and many more into the future.”

For the behind-the-scenes story of Lauren Alaina recording the theme song for Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, watch an exclusive webisode at www.SeaWorldOrlando.com/Antarctica .

About SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment™ is a leading theme park and entertainment company delivering personal, interactive and educational experiences that blend imagination with nature and enable its customers to celebrate, connect with and care for the natural world we share. The Company owns or licenses a portfolio of globally recognized brands including SeaWorld®, Shamu® and Busch Gardens®. Over its more than 50 year history, the Company has built a diversified portfolio of 11 destination and regional theme parks that are grouped in key markets across the United States, many of which showcase its one-of-a-kind collection of approximately 67,000 marine and terrestrial animals. The Company’s theme parks feature a diverse array of rides, shows and other attractions with broad demographic appeal which deliver memorable experiences and a strong value proposition for its guests. In addition to its theme parks, the company has recently begun to leverage its brands into media, entertainment and consumer products.   SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: SEAS). Copies of this and other news releases as well as additional information about SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. can be obtained online at www.seaworldentertainment.com.  Shareholders and prospective investors can also register to automatically receive the Company’s press releases, SEC filings and other notices by e-mail.

About Lauren Alaina

Georgia native Lauren Alaina captured America’s hearts when she appeared on Season 10 of American Idol.  Her first album, Wildflower, debuted at no.1 on the iTunes Country chart and no.2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in 2011, and was the best-selling digital album by a debut country female.  She was also the youngest female to have her album debut that high since LeAnn Rimes 15 years prior.  Alaina has been nominated for several Teen Choice and CMT Music Awards, and recently took home the Artist Of The Year: New Artist trophy at the 2012 American Country Awards. She has toured with superstars Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Sugarland. She is also the Special Olympics Project UNIFY® Ambassador for North America, and traveled to   Pyeongchang, South Korea in January for the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.   Lauren is currently in the studio working on her forthcoming sophomore album.  For more information, visit www.laurenalainaofficial.com or follow her on twitter @Lauren_Alaina. Lauren Alaina has partnered with SeaWorld to promote their new attraction, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, by recording the ride’s official theme song. Lauren Alaina appears courtesy of Mercury Nashville / 19Recordings / Interscope Records.

 

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SeaWorld Orlando and Discovery Cove Expansions for 2012 and 2013

Earlier this morning SeaWorld Orlando had a HUGE announcement about new attractions and experiences coming to both SeaWorld and Discovery Cove in 2012 and 2013, and I cannot tell you how excited I am about them!!!

These new attractions represent the biggest attraction expansions in the history of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the parks’ parent company.

Terry Prather, president of the company’s Orlando parks, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Aquatica, said, “With TurtleTrek at SeaWorld Orlando and Freshwater Oasis at Discovery Cove, travelers will have all new reasons to visit Orlando. What we’re creating will take you places you’ve never been before, places only SeaWorld can take you.”

 

 

While creating TurtleTrek (opening at SeaWorld Orlando in spring 2012), designers stayed true to SeaWorld’s unique blend of nose-to-nose animal encounters and state-of-the art entertainment.

Guests first visit two massive naturalistic habitats, one filled with hundreds of freshwater fish and gentle manatees, the other home to more than 1,500 saltwater fish and more than a dozen sea turtles.  Many of the manatees and sea turtles were rescued by the park’s animal team.  Since SeaWorld Orlando’s rescue programs began, the team has cared for and returned to the wild nearly 240 manatees and more than 1,200 sea turtles.

Moving on from the habitat, guests enter a domed theater, and what happens next has never before been seen and is a first at any theme park in the world.

Coming to life is a first-of-its-kind 3-D/360-degree dome theater film that is completely immersive. The dome allows a hyper-realistic 3-D movie to be shown all around guests and even above them – not just in front them or on only one screen. It’s this unique and immersive way of showcasing a sea turtle’s epic and astounding journey that is the heart of TurtleTrek. And for the first time, SeaWorld guests are given a turtle’s eye view of the ocean’s wonders.

TurtleTrek is as inspirational as it is astounding. There’s a call-to-action at the end of the experience:  SeaWorld calls on guests to join them in conserving the world we share. “Do a little, do a lot, but join us and do something to help the world and its animals,” said Brian Morrow, the attraction’s chief designer. “TurtleTrek is about the everyday heroes who can make a difference in nature.”

 

Opening at Discovery Cove in spring 2012 is Freshwater Oasis, an all-new attraction featuring swimming and wading adventures and face-to-face encounters with playful otters and curious marmosets.

Designed with a rainforest canopy above and sparkling-clear springs below, Freshwater Oasis is a natural fit within Discovery Cove’s tropical vibe. Guests can relax at the In-Water Relaxation Station and explore in the unique water ways and water-filled trails to discover marmosets and playful Asian otters. No matter where they turn, they’ll find endless discoveries.

Admission to the Freshwater Oasis is included with admission to Discovery Cove, a limited-admission, all-inclusive tropical resort where guests swim with dolphins, hand-feed tropical birds in a free-flight aviary, snorkel among thousands of colorful fish and rays and relax on pristine beaches.

 

 

Antarctica – Empire of the Penguin

Also announced was SeaWorld Orlando’s biggest-ever attraction expansion, Antarctica – Empire of the Penguin, opening spring 2013.

Through the years, SeaWorld Orlando has taken guests to far-flung corners of the globe, immersing them in the character and feel of exotic places and introducing them to unique worlds of adventure.

At the park’s “Wild Arctic” guests ride a simulated jet copter to the frozen north, into a habitat of polar bears, beluga whales and huge walruses. “Key West at SeaWorld” sets guests down in the funky ambience of the Florida Keys, with dolphins, stingrays and colorful birds. The rocky northern California coast is found at “Pacific Point Preserve,” with dozens of seals and sea lions. The park’s other attractions take guests into the worlds of sharks, sea turtles and manatees, or let guests soar like a ray on the Manta roller coaster or ride the back of a mythical beast, the Kraken.

But no journey is bigger — or as incredible — as the one to come in 2013. It’s a voyage to the bottom-of-the-world, to the coldest and windiest continent, to a place of ice more than 9,000- feet thick. It’s a journey to Antarctica and to the empire of the penguin.

Guests will be surrounded by the sights, sounds and awesome encounters found in this frozen place, embarking on a one-of-a-kind ride and an incredible family adventure.

They’ll experience the mystery and wonder of life on the ice through the eyes of a penguin, sensing the beauty and drama of their sometimes-dangerous habitat. Antarctica – Empire of the Penguin combines closer-then-ever animal connections with state-of-the-art interactive ride technologies for adventures that are different each time.

It’s an all-family experience that could only come from SeaWorld and can only be found at SeaWorld Orlando. And, it’s safe to say Antarctica – Empire of the Penguin will be the coldest theme park attraction in the world.

A year-and-a-half from opening at SeaWorld Orlando, details are few. For now, SeaWorld Orlando’s Antarctica will stay as mysterious as its namesake continent. “Only SeaWorld and its parks can take you on these journeys or bring these experiences to you,” said Prather. “We’re excited about what the future holds for our parks and our fans.”

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