Penguin Trek (2024)

[IzzyB]

For those who care...

Batteries need to be used. If they sit around, they swell and seals break. It's why old AA's are useless.

They let that ride sit unpowered for like a year. no cycling. no upkeep. no checks. The batteries swelled, broke, and are no no longer useful.

Apparently, the cost to replace them was so high that they threw in the towel.

I mean I think I would throw in the towel too, that ride was awful.

Multiple times. The ride was terrible. Truly nonsensical. BUT... it was the only dark ride in the park! (Unless you count Journey to Atlantis with none of it's original dark ride effects..) And one of the only things you could do as a family, plus it was nice and cool in there on a hot day. So regardless it was a loss for the park and its attraction mix.

When you factor in they would have to repair it and they are lacking a family coaster, I feel this was a good move as long as they move on to Arctic and make that an indoor dark ride. I agree they need that next and probably would be nice to have two of them. The good part is you can still see the penguins and get the cold part to cool down. I don't always agree with Sea World, but in this case I feel they did the right thing. That building wasn't big enough to do a true indoor family ride properly and with how new the building and that enclosure for the penguins was I can see why they took this option.

 

[GAcoaster]

Just rode and it’s a solid addition to the lineup. Lots of small kids riding and loving it.

The indoor portion was much better than I anticipated, and well done overall.

I was kind of surprised that it was a bit rattle-y and rougher than expected for a B&M. I’m hoping that’s a growing pain as they get the correct wheel consistency on the trains. I know they make several types of wheels and they take a little trial and error to get the correct makeup for the track/train/conditions.

I was impressed with all the new merch I saw throughout the park, and Penguin Trek’s merch was all decent looking.

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

The queue, the load/unload area, & indoor themed rockwork tunnel all look great! The coaster looks fun. It's nice seeing a "snow" covered ground below the coaster (unlike Emperor or Arctic Rescue), just wish it wasn't so "flat". A few snow-covered boulders would do wonders.

My ONLY nitpick is the giant solid plain blue show-building wall on the side it launches/returns. Everything else looks great, but then... naked blue wall. Give me ice, snow & rockwork! Or rust-it-up too match the warehouse Basecamp vibes of the interior. /End nitpick

Glad I'm not the only one bothered by the dark blue wall lol. I honestly think the previous washed-out light blue color looked better; at least it was closer to "ice" color. The whole outdoor part of the ride is pretty barebones theming-wise, but it's hard to complain when they did create a solid ~40 seconds of dark ride that looks surprisingly good.

Now if only SWSD would overhaul its own Antarctica area with icy rockwork, an indoor queue and station for Emperor, and a new penguin encounter integrated with the ride...

 

[Nick]

I honestly had no idea this was open yet until I saw something about it today. Nobody seems to be talking about this thing at all.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I honestly had no idea this was open yet until I saw something about it today. Nobody seems to be talking about this thing at all.

Seaworld opens a fine coaster once every year. Even with the dark ride segment, I don't think there's anything that warrants much discussion.

You know what would get people talking? A Sesame Street: Street Mission clone .

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Seaworld opens a fine coaster once every year. Even with the dark ride segment, I don't think there's anything that warrants much discussion.

You know what would get people talking? A Sesame Street: Street Mission clone .

Seems like a lot of the PRKS discussion has migrated to the ParkFans forums these days. I try to keep it alive on here just to hear more people's thoughts on stuff

Something worth talking about is the Mack flying theater ride rumored to be coming to Wild Arctic in 2025, but that should be in its own thread.

 

[wutisgood]

For me given season pass prices and the fact that sea world is adding more rides I think 5 coasters I want to ride, a good rapids, and a flying theater is enought to get me to renew out of state. They really need that dark ride and Atlantis resoration though. It would make the park so well rounded. Atlantis is stil an ok ride but it would be a great ride again with just some investment.