SeaWorld Orlando
Discovery Cove and Aquatica
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(4/26/21) SeaWorld Orlando Getting Close To Opening Ice Breaker (MORE...)
(4/17/21) SeaWorld Orlando To Celebrate Cinco De Mayo with Seven Seas Food Festival (MORE...)
(4/10/21) Experience the new Riptide Race (VIDEO)
(4/4/21) Riptide Race Now Open (MORE...)
(3/28/21) Aquatica Orlando Ready To Open Riptide Race This Week (MORE...)
 Park News - (4/17/21) SeaWorld Orlando has announced that they will celebrate the Cinco De Mayo holiday at the park’s Seven Seas Food Festival from April 30th through May 9 where it will all be about the sights, sounds and flavors of Cinco De Mayo.
This will include a Fiesta in the Street party with live entertainers in front of Wild Arctic as well as DJ and Live Music stations throughout the park.
(3/3/21) Orlando Experience has posted a quick video tour of the Seven Seas and Mardi Gras Festivals at SeaWorld Orlando.
(2/2/21) SeaWorld Orlando is set to kick off a new Seven Seas Food Festival event at the park that will run from Feb. 5th through to May 9th on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. According to SeaWorld this will be the park’s “biggest and boldest culinary adventure” yet, featuring over 200 food and beverage items to try. As an extra surprise the event will feature a concert series as well to be held at the park’s Bayside Stadium.
The concerts will begin with a performance by Air Supply at 6pm on Feb. 6th, and go on through the event to feature performances by Chris Janson, Blue Oyster Cult, Jeremy Camp and more. The various performers will be announced by the park throughout the festival so you’ll have to check back with them frequently.
(10/26/20) SeaWorld Orlando has opened a new bar for guests to sip an adult beverage and relax. They are calling it the Glacier Bar and it appears to be located where Wild Arctic’s former outdoor queue was located. Beyond adult drinks the park does offer a limited menu of food and desert items as well as ICEEs and some exclusive Coke flavors from the Freestyle machines. The bar also offers some big screen TVs as well, allowing guests to catch up on some major sporting events while inside the park.
2021 - Ice Breaker - (4/26/21) It looks like SeaWorld Orlando is getting closer to opening Ice Breaker. The local news has posted pictures of the coaster now testing with human riders aboard, as Team Member previews have begun. This is likely the last step before the park is ready to open the new coaster to guests, which will likely happen sometime between now and Memorial Day weekend.
(2/4/21) Our friends at Orlando Experience have posted a new video featuring Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando making full speed test runs at last. Check it out below!
(1/16/21) A new tweet from Midway Mayhem reports that work crews from Premier Rides are back on site at SeaWorld Orlando this week, which seems to indicate that testing on Ice Breaker will begin again very soon.
(1/15/21) A collection of new photos of SeaWorld’s Ice Breaker coaster have been posted to TheCoasterKings site this week, including an entire batch dedicated to some stunning sunset coaster photography. Check it out!
(1/5/21) A new current collection of photos showing off Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando has been posted to TheCoasterKings this week, giving us an extensive look at the queue and the various elements on the roller coaster layout.
(12/16/20) A new collection of photos showing off crews working to finish up Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando can be found this week at The Coaster Kings.
(11/22/20) It has been a long time coming, especially since the track has been entirely in place for a few months now, but SeaWorld Orlando has now posted the official Ice Breaker ANIMATED POV video of the ride’s layout. Of course they reimagined the entire background around the ride to appear as if the ride was in the a frozen arctic world and not in the true park environment, but it gives you a good idea of what the final ride experience will be like.
(6/18/20) I figured this announcement would pop up before too long. According to ClickOrlando, SeaWorld Orlando has had a $2.7 million construction lien filed against them for the Ice Breaker coaster from Premier Rides. There are also said to be dozens of other liens filed against the chain’s Orlando parks for various other construction and improvement projects.
This would be the third of the chain’s big 2020 coasters to have construction liens placed against it that should prevent the rides from opening until SeaWorld pays their bills. In the past week we’ve seen reports of liens for Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego and Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa and now this.
SeaWorld Entertainment has yet to comment on these issues, but it also seems a bit odd after the company made arrangements back in March to increase their revolving credit facility mixed with other measures that were said to give the company “sufficient liquidity to meet its cash expenditure requirements into the fourth quarter of 2021.” So with this mind, why are they not paying their contractors before having all these liens filed against the parks? They were the first of the big Orlando/California park chains to furlough almost all of their employees, and cancel their health care benefits, and now they’re putting major ride and attraction vendors at risk by not paying them millions owed for new roller coasters, waterslides and more, all while their Florida and Texas parks are now open again.
I really hate to say it… but something “fishy” is going on at SeaWorld.
(2/23/20) Orlando Experience has posted a quick construction update for Ice Breaker this weekend, claiming that the layout is now almost complete, with the final track sections expected to be put into place sometime later this week.
(1/23/20) Special thanks to SeaWorld Orlando for inviting Screamscape reps down to go on a special hard hat Construction Tour of the new ICE BREAKER roller coaster, opening in 2020. Quite a bit has been done so far and it was great to get up close and personal with the park’s latest coaster. Check out the photos and a video below.
(9/13/19) Ice Breaker is coming to SeaWorld Orlando in 2020, a new and unique launched coaster experience from Premier Rides. Ice Breaker will be a quadruple launch coaster, featuring backwards and forwards launches as soon as the train leaves the station and slides-over onto the launch track. Ice Breaker will launch backwards up a 93 foot beyond-vertical 100º spike track before shooting forward for the last time at 52mph up and over a hill and into a series of high-speed twists and camelback hills before coming back to the station.
2021 - Riptide Race - (4/10/21) Screamscape was invited down to Aquatica to give the new Riptide Race slide a try. Our video shows off all the details, so check it out below!
(4/4/21) The new Riptide Race waterslide at Aquatica Orlando did open this weekend. You can joy a quick video showing off the look of the new attraction below.
(3/28/21) The new Riptide Race attraction at Aquatica Orlando, which is billed as the world’s tallest duelling racer, is now set to open to guests on April 3, 2021. “We are thrilled to introduce Riptide Race, an experience you won’t find anywhere else in Florida. Aquatica is the first waterpark in the state to have a duelling racer and we know our guests are going to love the fun of challenging their friends and family in a race to the finish,” said Kyle Miller, Park President. “Riptide Race is the perfect addition to our attraction portfolio, complementing what is already one of the most family-friendly waterslide lineups in Orlando.“
Also new to Aquatica Orlando this season will ne Ke-Re’s Bar and Papa’s Cantina, offering two new dining experiences at the park.
(2/29/20) Get a preview of the new Riptide Race waterslide opening soon at Aquatica Orlando with footage shot during a hard hat preview of the construction site yesterday.
(2/14/20) Orlando Experience has posted a new construction update from Aquatica this week, showing off the progress on the park’s new Riptide Race waterslide which is expected to open this Spring.
(1/11/20) A quick video showing off the construction of the Riptide Race waterslide at Aquatica can be found below.
(11/16/19) Aquatica Orlando has announced Riptide Race as the name of their new 2020 attraction. They are marketing this as Florida’s first ever dueling water slide that will start two side-by-side runs at the top of a 68 foot tower. Riders will climb aboard two-passenger rafts and speed down a nearly 650 foot long slide, featuring enclosed sections and outdoor sections, with low-walls between them to allow the racers to see each other along the way.
(10/30/19) While we still don’t know exactly what Aquatica Orlando has in store for Summer 2020, other than green waterslide pieces, I’ve been told that the park’s 2020 project will go into a small area on the North-East corner of the park. It will feature an 80 foot tall slide tower that will fit in between the splashdown pool of Ray Rush / Walhalla Wave to the north of it, and the Banana Beach Cook Out eatery to the south of the tower.
(10/29/19) Construction has started at Aquatica Orlando where green water slide pieces and some steel are now on-site for something new, apparently coming in 2020. You can see it in a quick video clip posted to Twitter embedded below. Anyone know more about what’s going in?
???? - Orca Encounter - (12/29/19) According to the local news SeaWorld Orlando will bring the One Ocean killer whale show to an end by the end of this year. Much like what happened at the San Diego park, it will be replaced by an educational presentation throughout the day called Orca Encounter starting on Jan. 1st, 2020.
(11/2/18) According to a translation of this Brazilian article about SeaWorld Orlando, a SeaWorld Orlando rep confirmed that the park’s One Ocean killer whale show will continue throughout 2019, rather than be replaced by a purely educational based show, like what was done at the San Diego park. What happens in 2020 has yet to be determined however.
(7/23/18) While the Shamu Show at the San Diego park was turned into an education only show and the stage set transformed dramatically for 2017, thus far there has been no indication that SeaWorld is still planning on going forward with similar plans to do the same to the killer whale stadiums in San Antonio or Orlando just yet.
(1/18/18) I'm told that an Orca Protection Act bill is being worked through the Florida Senate currently that is said to be similar in nature to the one already passed in California and is obviously something being put on the books specifically with SeaWorld in mind.
According to the text of the bill, which hopes to take effect by July 1, 2018, any orca located in the state of Florida as of July 1, 2018 may continue to he held in captivity for entertainment purposes until Dec. 31, 2019... but thereafter it may only be used "for educational presentations only."
While SeaWorld Orlando has yet to put any kind of real timeline down on paper as to when the current Shamu show will end and the new educational only Orca Encounter presentation format will take over, it looks like the state is effectively giving them a deadline to make it happen.
(3/17/16) SeaWorld has announced that starting today they will end their Orca / Killer Whale breeding program, and that the animals currently in the park’s care will be the last generation of orcas at the SeaWorld parks. They did note that at least one of the whales, Takara, is currently pregnant, so there will be at least one more baby to be born, keeping in mind that they have a gestation cycle of 17-18 months.
SeaWorld also announced that their new “Orca Encounter” program that will see the park’s current theatrical style show in San Diego transformed in 2017 into an educational experience focused on enrichment, exercise, education and conservation, will be followed by similar updates of the facilities at the San Antonio park (assuming in 2018) and then the Orlando park by 2019.
SeaWorld also announced today a broad new partnership with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to protect our oceans and the animals that call them home. The company is committing to educating its more than 20 million annual visitors on animal welfare and conservation issues through interpretative programs at the parks and expanded advocacy for wild whales, seals, and other marine creatures.
“We are pleased to join with HSUS on the significant issues facing marine mammals and their ocean homes,” said Joel Manby. “The work done by zoological facilities like SeaWorld is critical for the protection of animals in the wild, especially marine mammals. To that end, SeaWorld has committed $50 million over the next five years to be the world’s leading marine animal rescue organization, to advocate for an end to the commercial killing of whales and seals and an end to shark finning.”
2022 - Next Coaster - Rumor - (1/31/21) A new update from TheCoasterKings digs in a little deeper on those “Project Penguin” plans for SeaWorld Orlando. The early data gathered pre-COVID was that this was to be a new B&M coaster project that could quite possibly have been B&M’s new “Surf Coaster” project. While we never confirmed exactly what the “Surf Coaster” project was, one of our own early rumors suggested that the concept may have been a new style of Wing coaster with rotating seats not unlike S&S’s 4th Dimension coasters. There were also rumors that it may also use a possible launch system as well.
In their new update a batch of new royal blue B&M coaster track was spotted at the Clermont Steel Fabricators plant in Ohio. While no one knows exactly what coaster this track is actually for, they believe that the track may be slightly narrower than your typical B&M coaster track so it could be for this new concept. I’m not so sure myself, as one might think that a variant of the Wing design might also need the same size track as the Wing since the placement of the riders may be the same. Just something to keep an eye out for.
(6/29/20) An interesting new construction lien has now been filed against SeaWorld Orlando this week. According to a great post from Behind the Thrills the new lien is actually from B&M (Bolliger & Mabillard) who says SeaWorld owes them $1.43 million for engineering design and fabrication of a “custom Launch Coaster”. This matches up with some early permits filed by the park for a “SWO Penguin” project. This also connects to rumors of a new B&M coaster design in the works called a “Surf Coaster”.
No one is entirely sure exactly what the Surf Coaster is, but Screamscape did report way back in January about a rumored design modification B&M was working on for their Wing Coaster design. If the rumors hold true, the concept was described as combining a B&M Wing Coaster style train, but with seats that would rotate and invert forwards and back while riding in much the same fashion as S&S’s 4D coasters. So essentially this could be B&M’s answer to the 4D design concept, like X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain, but now we can add a Launch System to the rumored design as well.
Now we just need SeaWorld to pay these liens off and get these projects back in action, though at this rate the rumored 2021 coaster may be pushed back to 2022.
(2/11/20) According to the OBJ, SeaWorld Orlando has filed demolition permits to begin working on a 3-acre site near the park’s Antarctica / Penguin attraction for an unknown new attraction in the works. After focusing on new attractions near to the park’s Killer Whale stadium for the past three years (Infinity Falls in 2018, Sesame Street in 2019 and Ice Breaker in 2020) it would only make sense to try and build something on the opposite side of the park to help balance the crowds.
The timeline isn’t known right now, as the park has previously filed permits to do work between the Bayside Stadium and park Entrance plaza, so looks like two projets may be in the works for 2021 and 2022.
(1/17/20) TheCoasterKings have posted a new update from SeaWorld Orlando that shows a new work permit filed by the park for a possible 2021 attraction. The permit seems more to be focused on demolition work to take place in the area of the path between Bayside Stadium and SeaFire Grill, along with a project name listed as “SWO Penguin”.
They say the early rumors point to a possible new coaster for the park, possible a B&M Wing Coaster, which is about the only B&M design not found yet anywhere in Florida. That said… I do also have to wonder if the name dropping of “Penguin’ could also be a hint that just perhaps this could be a new B&M Dive Machine like the Emperor coaster under construction at SeaWorld San Diego. If so, this would be the only Dive Machine in Orlando, with Sheikra being the only other one in the state, having opened at Busch Gardens Tampa way back in 2005. Thinking back to the Wing Coaster rumor… Screamscape has heard early rumors that B&M was developing a new train design for the Wing Coasters that would feature seats able to invert by rotating forward and backwards, pretty much in the same fashion as the S&S 4D coasters (like X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain). Certainly a theoretical B&M 4D coaster would be very notable and gain a lot of attention, especially when placed right at the front of the park. Stay tuned!
???? - Sesame Street Dark Ride - Rumor - (4/15/19) I heard an interesting rumor the other day regarding future Sesame Street plans for SeaWorld Orlando now that the new kiddie land is open. According to the rumor the park has drawn up concepts for a couple of different Sesame Street themed dark rides that could be added onto the area, possibly taking over part of the Wild Arctic ride building space (which again, is rumored to be leaving later this year). Given the initial popularity of the Sesame Street themed dark ride that just opened at PortAventura in Spain earlier this month, this concept may gain some traction as a possible future park addition.
???? - Flying Theater - Rumor - (4/26/19) OrlandoWeekly is hearing that the long-term plan to replace Wild Arctic at SeaWorld Orlando may be replace the attraction’s aging simulator fleet with a new modern Flying Theater style attraction at some point down the line. With the San Diego park also looking to replace their attraction sooner than later, I do have to wonder if the California park might get the Flying Theater first.
|
