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.

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The outside of Expedition Cafe
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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.

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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!

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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!

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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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