Antarctica - Empire of the Penguin

[anihilnation]

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

Since Penguins used to be where you stood on a moving walkway they could go for Puck meets Villain-Con lol
Another thought that just struck me, could they also not just separate the attraction and exhibit, or perhaps incorporate the exhibit the way the manta-exhibit is incorporated in the Manta queue?

 

[shiekra38]

Since Penguins used to be where you stood on a moving walkway they could go for Puck meets Villain-Con lol
Another thought that just struck me, could they also not just separate the attraction and exhibit, or perhaps incorporate the exhibit the way the manta-exhibit is incorporated in the Manta queue?

If Pacific Point was removed you could do a really interesting coaster back there using the exhibit as a station and exiting through the walkthrough

But I don't want to get all excited and such

 

[GAcoaster]

The problem is the building is small. Theoretically you could fit a buss bar dark ride in there which was quite substantial (Snow White's space was smaller at MK), but sets would have to be small.

 

[shiekra38]

The problem is the building is small. Theoretically you could fit a buss bar dark ride in there which was quite substantial (Snow White's space was smaller at MK), but sets would have to be small.

Yeah, IMO it just wouldn't be worth it

Partially why I'd rather just make it a walkthrough is because I believe that's a really interesting compenent of SeaWorld that's often glanced over

For instance the Shark Encounter is an interesting exhibit and Wild Arctic is a fun time as well

My issue with the walking portion of Antarctica is that it is too cramped

Making the ride path walkable with some signage would really help things

 

[Freak]

Yeah, IMO it just wouldn't be worth it

Partially why I'd rather just make it a walkthrough is because I believe that's a really interesting compenent of SeaWorld that's often glanced over

For instance the Shark Encounter is an interesting exhibit and Wild Arctic is a fun time as well

My issue with the walking portion of Antarctica is that it is too cramped

Making the ride path walkable with some signage would really help things

Unless they're going to make this a year-round house with demonic penguins jumping out at you, I'll take a short dark ride any day over a walkthru. I mean, how many walk-thrus does SWO have already?

You could still pull off a three minute dark ride in that small space with smaller sets. Snorri Tourren at Europa Park is a good example, albeit capacity is pretty low. Though they could probably have two-car "trains" for the ride to up capacity.

Another example would be Gangster Granny at Alton Towers as it has better capacity and are able to draw out a four-minute dark ride in a much smaller space. They can make a dark ride out of it if they want to.

Worst case scenario, they can probably put another simulator of some sort in there. I know that's not what they want to do, but the park needs some indoor rides. Anything. They've gone from two to zero post-Covid. You need some indoor rides to beat the Florida weather.

 

[shiekra38]

Unless they're going to make this a year-round house with demonic penguins jumping out at you, I'll take a short dark ride any day over a walkthru. I mean, how many walk-thrus does SWO have already?

You could still pull off a three minute dark ride in that small space with smaller sets. Snorri Tourren at Europa Park is a good example, albeit capacity is pretty low. Though they could probably have two-car "trains" for the ride to up capacity.

Another example would be Gangster Granny at Alton Towers as it has better capacity and are able to draw out a four-minute dark ride in a much smaller space. They can make a dark ride out of it if they want to.

Worst case scenario, they can probably put another simulator of some sort in there. I know that's not what they want to do, but the park needs some indoor rides. Anything. They've gone from two to zero post-Covid. You need some indoor rides to beat the Florida weather.

I love the idea of something like Snorri

I think the biggest miss here is that they tried to do something trackless is such tight quarters

trackless works with something more dynamic like Rise or Runaway Railway

This should have been a slow moving busbar or omnimover type ride and it would have been brilliant...and probably cheaper

I think the worst case scenario is that they continue to ignore it

 

[MikePat]

Unless they're going to make this a year-round house with demonic penguins jumping out at you, I'll take a short dark ride any day over a walkthru. I mean, how many walk-thrus does SWO have already?

Actually, the old trackless ride space is being used for a future walkthrough haunted house for Howl O Scream. Rumored name is Penguin: Terror of the Antarctica.

In all seriousness, I think it's very good to hear Sea World Entertainment is looking to reusing a dark ride building for a dark ride and not a coaster. I think this project is still very early in development so a lot can happen.

 

[shiekra38]

Actually, the old trackless ride space is being used for a future walkthrough haunted house for Howl O Scream. Rumored name is Penguin: Terror of the Antarctica.

In all seriousness, I think it's very good to hear Sea World Entertainment is looking to reusing a dark ride building for a dark ride and not a coaster.

dey look harmless, but dem red eyes...dem red eyes mean def

 

[GA-MBIT]

A second expensive and poorly recieved dark ride in this space would be a very bad result. Seaworld is on kind of a winning streak and a walkthrough is a much safer bet. I would much prefer they spend their goodwill and money wisely when it comes to this.

 

[Freak]

A second expensive and poorly recieved dark ride in this space would be a very bad result. Seaworld is on kind of a winning streak and a walkthrough is a much safer bet. I would much prefer they spend their goodwill and money wisely when it comes to this.

Well, I can't imagine it being more expensive than building Empire. I also can't imagine a walkthrough being as marketable/attractive as a ride of some sort. There's gotta be some ride that gives us a break from the Florida weather instead of another dime-in-a-dozen walk-throughs.

 

[shiekra38]

A second expensive and poorly recieved dark ride in this space would be a very bad result. Seaworld is on kind of a winning streak and a walkthrough is a much safer bet. I would much prefer they spend their goodwill and money wisely when it comes to this.

Coasters are simply a better investment for SeaWorld rn

However, a part of me is still pining for a cute Sesame dark ride

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I love dark rides, but what can they possibly do within the space limitations they have and probably a cheap budget?

They should save for a true family coaster or a Sesame dark ride. I don't think dark rides favor SeaWorld unless they have an IP to base it off.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

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.

I wonder if that includes the indoor queue section? You could probably add another two scenes to the ride by eliminating the separate "mild" and "wild" queues and replacing it with a short walk to a new loading station (which would probably be needed anyway if they're scrapping the trackless vehicles). Maybe have a new secondary pre-show inside the station with a projection wall like they've done on DarKastle, Battle for Eire, and Cobra's Curse?
The next step would be to break up those big empty rooms from the beginning of the old ride into multiple sets, which should be easy enough with a few props and screens here and there. I'd say the last two rooms (the small screen room and the larger one after it) and the rest of the ride path are probably good enough as is, just add a track and modify the unloading platform to accommodate the new ride vehicles.

What confuses/worries me is that they're supposedly looking to replace the ride when they could've just replaced the batteries in the ride vehicles. Does that mean they want to invest more to make it a better dark ride than before, or does that mean they want to spend less by using the space for something inferior to what was already there? Hopefully we can at least find out sooner rather than later.

 

[GAcoaster]

What confuses/worries me is that they're supposedly looking to replace the ride when they could've just replaced the batteries in the ride vehicles. Does that mean they want to invest more to make it a better dark ride than before, or does that mean they want to spend less by using the space for something inferior to what was already there? Hopefully we can at least find out sooner rather than later.

I think the idea is if they have to spend money it makes more sense to make it a better ride than before. It wasn't setting the world on fire before, and dropping more money on re-opening a bad ride instead of building something better just doesn't make sense. Almost anything could be an improvement. Gut the ride portion of the building and add an indoor flat ride. Add a small buss bar flat ride. Just about anything would be better than what they built.

I really liked the idea of Antarctica, but they spent the budget on the gimmick of trackless vehicles and forgot to add any real scenery or story. The old management fell for a gimmick and missed the big picture. The old management was sold a bill of goods by Brian Morrow and friends. Had they spent a little more and made it longer and gave it a real purpose it would have been a huge success.

 

[shiekra38]

I really liked the idea of Antarctica, but they spent the budget on the gimmick of trackless vehicles and forgot to add any real scenery or story. The old management fell for a gimmick and missed the big picture. The old management was sold a bill of goods by Brian Morrow and friends. Had they spent a little more and made it longer and gave it a real purpose it would have been a huge success.

I agree, I have no idea of costs of things like this, but I feel they could have done something cheaper with a busbar or omnimover system and it could have been SeaWorld's first great dark ride

Instead we got a mess that doesn't fully utilize the trackless tech the way it's supposed to

I get this was supposed to be the FJ of Antarctica...but it clearly didn't work out...

I'm glad SeaWorld has moved on from the replication phase and seems to be expanding in their own direction

Honestly the Penguin Encounter used to be very good

 

[GAcoaster]

That particular era for SeaWorld was BAD. Between the Submarine Quest in San Diego and Antarctica the company spent a fortune on rides that were poorly planned and really poorly executed. I don't know who made those decisions, but thank goodness that era seems to be the past now!

I think it's very interesting to see SeaWorld Orlando's new marketing tagline "Coaster Capital of Orlando" (and if you haven't see the back and forth between SWO and Universal on Twitter, YOU NEED TO!). They did a media event for it the other day, and I am kind of surprised they didn't do more to tease the new coaster. They have found their niche in the market and they are building on that. New batteries to reopen a poorly executed and poorly received attraction just is not a logical expenditure.

 

[shiekra38]

I think it's very interesting to see SeaWorld Orlando's new marketing tagline "Coaster Capital of Orlando" (and if you haven't see the back and forth between SWO and Universal on Twitter, YOU NEED TO!). They did a media event for it the other day, and I am kind of surprised they didn't do more to tease the new coaster. They have found their niche in the market and they are building on that.

Which is funny because BGT has been a coaster park with animal encounters and walkthroughs this whole time, but SW somehow was taken in a different direction during that era

 

[GAcoaster]

BGT was always a "local" park, while SWO tried to compete with Disney and Universal. The realization that SWO is also a local park means they have to offer things the others don't. They're trying to be the upscale Cedar Fair/Six Flags that might snag a few tourists from out of town or even overseas, but the majority of their audience is locals who are looking for thrill rides and festivals and buy APs to enjoy it all at a value price point.

 

[anihilnation]

I have always said Seaworld should just become Orlando's thrill park. I know people often say but that's just six flags or regional etc. ... but for us who live here, we can really use this and they will still drawn in tourists regardless. Focus on coasters and thrills, set a lower price point and tourists will still come, if anything if Seaworld seriously becomes Orlando's coaster capital it might even bring in more visitors, only thing is it will take some tourist visitors to BGT away. Since I don't drive, whenever I go to BGT I take the free shuttle, and well, those busses tend to be all full.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

BGT was always a "local" park, while SWO tried to compete with Disney and Universal. The realization that SWO is also a local park means they have to offer things the others don't. They're trying to be the upscale Cedar Fair/Six Flags that might snag a few tourists from out of town or even overseas, but the majority of their audience is locals who are looking for thrill rides and festivals and buy APs to enjoy it all at a value price point.

Even if Universal is definitely more in the Disney type of market, it's nice that they offer some of the appeal of local parks (re: big coasters).