Antarctica - Empire of the Penguin

[OhHaiInternet95]

I miss the days when the Busch family ran the parks. Night and day. Lots of shows, street live musical entertainment and street actors. Rides besides coasters. Better balanced parks, all around....They've slightly nudged upward since the Evil Empire Blackstone is out of the management position, but they're still just a shadow of what they were with Busch. I used to attend BGW like I do Universal now. Nevermore, nevermore. There's plenty of Coaster parks near here. No reason to travel far for those.

Each park in the company has gotten / will get what could be considered its respective best coaster ever in the span of 2016-22 (Mako, Stingray, Emperor, Pantheon, IG). So it's a shame they can't have both that and all the special little things they had when Busch owned them (aside from the animal shows, couldn't care less about them). InBev is the real evil empire here.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I mean, wouldn't the fact that they're distinguishing the exhibit from the ride imply that they're still acknowledging the ride's existence? I would think if they were going to just give up on reopening the ride they would just advertise it as Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin and pretend it's always just been an exhibit, the same way they pretend Kraken Unleashed never had a VR upgrade and Journey To Atlantis never had story elements or effects. Also, not that it necessarily means much but as of mid-August when I was last there the staff were still telling guests they'd been told the ride would reopen "soon", so take from that what you will.:shrug:
Same goes for Wild Arctic--they're still making a point to tell guests that the ride portion isn't running... Idk, maybe it's just wishful thinking, I don't want to accept that SeaWorld is seriously planning to go indefinitely with no indoor rides lol

 

[anihilnation]

Wild Arctic is no longer running either?

Lol, maybe Project penguin will see them move the habitat

 

[GAcoaster]

Wild Arctic is no longer running either?

Lol, maybe Project penguin will see them move the habitat

Doubtful-- they put a LOT of money into the rebuild of the penguin habitat as part of the Antarctica build out. I can't see them build a whole new habitat on the other side of the park.

 

[anihilnation]

Doubtful-- they put a LOT of money into the rebuild of the penguin habitat as part of the Antarctica build out. I can't see them build a whole new habitat on the other side of the park.

I agree, was more of a joke. Makes you wonder though, if Antarctica ride really is done, what will they do with the space there? Could they demo the part of the building that is purely for the ride, or just gut the interior and put something else inside?

 

[shiekra38]

I agree, was more of a joke. Makes you wonder though, if Antarctica ride really is done, what will they do with the space there? Could they demo the part of the building that is purely for the ride, or just gut the interior and put something else inside?

I imagine it will sit empty for quite some time

Again, it would be nice if they just let us walk through the ride path and made it a guided tour

But I don't think they installed show doors in between the screen scenes and they would need to build some ramps

In other words, probably not worth it to them

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I imagine it will sit empty for quite some time

Again, it would be nice if they just let us walk through the ride path and made it a guided tour

But I don't think they installed show doors in between the screen scenes and they would need to build some ramps

In other words, probably not worth it to them

Oof, that's so sad! Right now the park is left without a single family ride (unless you count the water rides, but those are both marketed explicitly as thrill rides), and they basically only have five rides left if they choose not to reopen the two indoor ones. I'd hope they recognize those as big enough issues to be worth addressing, especially since many families are now looking for an affordable alternative to Disney and SeaWorld is clearly trying to appeal to families.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Oof, that's so sad! Right now the park is left without a single family ride (unless you count the water rides, but those are both marketed explicitly as thrill rides), and they basically only have five rides left if they choose not to reopen the two indoor ones. I'd hope they recognize those as big enough issues to be worth addressing, especially since many families are now looking for an affordable alternative to Disney and SeaWorld is clearly trying to appeal to families.

They could both use a couple of indoor rides TBH. But Sesame Street is quite a good option, plus I'd imagine the animal exhibits are still a draw. Ice Breaker will also be a good family coaster.

 

[shiekra38]

They could both use a couple of indoor rides TBH. But Sesame Street is quite a good option, plus I'd imagine the animal exhibits are still a draw. Ice Breaker will also be a good family coaster.

Yes, the shows and exhibits do matter

Although, a Sesame Dark ride would really be a nice fit

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Yes, the shows and exhibits do matter

Although, a Sesame Dark ride would really be a nice fit

Im perfectly fine with them doing away with the shows of course. Butif they can ever afford it a Sesame Street dark ride would be great. It can even be mostly screen based.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Screamscape is now reporting rumors that SeaWorld is now in the early stages of designing a replacement for the ride portion of Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. If true, that's great news, assuming whatever it is is still a themed dark ride, and it'll be interesting to see what that might look like.

 

[Freak]

If it's a simple busbar dark ride with improved scenes and sets, I'll take it. The park could use a legit indoor ride to break from the heat.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

If it's a simple busbar dark ride with improved scenes and sets, I'll take it. The park could use a legit indoor ride to break from the heat.

Which is what it should've been from the beginning.

 

[xxbrothawizxx]

If it's a simple busbar dark ride with improved scenes and sets, I'll take it. The park could use a legit indoor ride to break from the heat.

Yea, I'd take that. That queue and area really deserves a ride that people actually care to get on other than to get out of the heat for a bit.

Just something the Seas w/ Nemo and friends level would be enough. Save the budget for Sesame Street's Arctic Blast Adventure that'll take over Wild Arctic in the future.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Can they get rid of the preshows and maybe try and improve the smell situation from the exhibit?

 

[GAcoaster]

Can they get rid of the preshows and maybe try and improve the smell situation from the exhibit?

Unfortunately there's no way to get rid of the smell without getting rid of the penguins. Even in the old exhibit where they were behind glass it still permeated the building. The preshows are actually necessary as drying rooms for transitioning from hot humid Florida to cold dry Antarctica. They help people adjust or they would have all kinds of issues with the shock of heat to cold. They are supposed to be "drying rooms" reducing the humidity in the air as part of the transition into the exhibit.

 

[JoeCamel]

Unfortunately there's no way to get rid of the smell without getting rid of the penguins. Even in the old exhibit where they were behind glass it still permeated the building. The preshows are actually necessary as drying rooms for transitioning from hot humid Florida to cold dry Antarctica. They help people adjust or they would have all kinds of issues with the shock of heat to cold. They are supposed to be "drying rooms" reducing the humidity in the air as part of the transition into the exhibit.

So they could bottle "penguin air"? Hmmm, worse ideas have made money

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Unfortunately there's no way to get rid of the smell without getting rid of the penguins. Even in the old exhibit where they were behind glass it still permeated the building. The preshows are actually necessary as drying rooms for transitioning from hot humid Florida to cold dry Antarctica. They help people adjust or they would have all kinds of issues with the shock of heat to cold. They are supposed to be "drying rooms" reducing the humidity in the air as part of the transition into the exhibit.

Yeah I knew the smell was a hard ask unless they build a separate building. Didn’t realize the preshow significance, thanks!

 

[anihilnation]

Unfortunately there's no way to get rid of the smell without getting rid of the penguins. Even in the old exhibit where they were behind glass it still permeated the building. The preshows are actually necessary as drying rooms for transitioning from hot humid Florida to cold dry Antarctica. They help people adjust or they would have all kinds of issues with the shock of heat to cold. They are supposed to be "drying rooms" reducing the humidity in the air as part of the transition into the exhibit.

Hadn't thought of that yet, thanks!

Would it be possible to erect a new building for an indoor queue so that all the current existing indoor space can be used for a new ride? I'd be good with a cat-in-the-hate meets penguins ride.

 

[shiekra38]

I often wondered if the ride path could be used as a walkthrough