What's new

Seaworld, Orlando | Empire of the Penguin

Everyone who rode it last night seems to be hating on it! I guess SW F'd up big time on it. It's open right now but with at least a 90min queue... I'll wait till summers over.
 
I'm not shocked they don't like it, it just does nothing.

The concepts are was really good so have no idea how it turned into this?

I was actually looking forward to it, but reading reviews it really does sound bad.

People even thought the penguins were not real as they hardly moved!
 
As of now, the line is three hours +!
Even media at the event said it was pretty lackluster and I know some other site has been removing all negative posts on the ride and just keeping their "it was great!" post.
 
From the video it looks so corny with the animations. Leave simulator stuff to Universal, leave animatronic stuff to Disney and leave animal habitat stuff to Sea World and Busch Gardens.
 
For what its worth. Around 1pm SeaWorld CLOSED off the whole area, those in line got to ride, but no new guests were let into the queue, or area around the ride!
Also heard reports from a friend who was there they had a few medical emergencies (likely due to the extremely long, outdoor line... in the sun / heat)
 
So, I reckon kids will lap it up and parents will be going 'wtf was that?'.

It's odd, but tbh what were we expecting? I'm assuming there's more to the penguin enclosure once you exit, that's the impression I got from watching a POV anyway. The song at the end reminds me of the ridiculous song in the Canada pavilion at Epcot and now I have that stuck in my head.
 
I was expecting to see penguins and go through different enclosures and see different types.

Did not expect to spin round a room with a crappy video with flashing lights to actually only see live penguins for what 2 minutes? Sorry for me this just does not work :(

Yes kids might love it, but getting really fed up with everything being geared around kids.

As said the old enclosure was huge, infact I think you get to see more at the London sea life centre now lol.
 
The witness told WFTV she was concerned for her four-year-old child's safety and thinks SeaWorld should modify the attraction so it doesn't happen again.

Those deadly penguins well known for their vicious natures and history of killing humans... :roll:

The ride looks crap though, I don't get the point of it... All style and no substance, and even the style isn't great...
 
I thought bits of the ride looked great. The Sea Lion hunt bit would work really well with the moving seats. It's essentially a glorified motion theatre after all. The first sections though, spinning through the plastic ice disco? What was that all about? Looked dull, but maybe there's some nice "ride element" to it you don't get on film.

Penguin bit was a let down when it appeared. Though they need a tight enclosure to ensure you can see them. Is there more enclosure to view beyond the ride?

I was expecting the cars to go between penguin enclosures with some kind of animation/education/edumation(?) teaching you about the world of the penguins between enclosures. I don't know Sea World though, so don't know if that's the way they would do this kind of thing?
 
Yep Furie that is what I was expecting as well as the concept art looked like it.

And know that's the only view of the penguins you get from what I read.
 
For me, the weirdest thing is the crappy puppet at the end. Presumably they expect you to invest emotion into the CGI character and then - hurrah! - he's all safe at the end. But won't people care more for the actual breathing penguins all around it?
 
The attraction went from a moving walkway and looking through glass into a family dark ride that has a story line (explained in the two preshows, albeit corny) that continue the recent company motto of connecting to the natural world. Not to mention you are in the habitat, and if the nets come down you have great views.

I think this ride suffered from hype gone wild. It is not transformers, never was supposed to be. It is modernizing the park from the 1980's look it was stuck in.
 
It's shhiiitttttttttt!

The ride itself is built up so much and there is some feeling that if done correctly it could get intense. If they'd gone full dark ride it would have been amazing, but there was minimal dark ride and a massive screen with lower than average animation, especially when you've got transformers down the road.

The enclosure itself is amazing though, you can get really close to the animals which is cool but oh my god the ride blows.
 
Got to ride it today. I rode the wild side and it was fantastic! I really enjoyed it! The ride is fun, there is a good pre show and story line.
 
Top