SeaWorld: New Expansion With TurtleTrek, Antarctica, and Oasis

This was announced on the 8th:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-seaworld-new-rides-20111108,0,2965294.story

SeaWorld Orlando is expected to announce today what park officials call the biggest expansion in the resort's history, with three new attractions to be built over the next two years.

The plans include two additions scheduled to debut next spring: TurtleTrek, a manatee and sea-turtle habitat that will include a first-of-its-kind, three-dimensional and 360-degree movie experience; and Freshwater Oasis, a new area in SeaWorld's limited-admission park Discovery Cove. Oasis guests will be able to swim, wade and hike through a rainforest-themed environment that will include encounters with Asian otters and small monkeys known as marmosets.

Those two projects will be followed a year later by the biggest addition of all: Antarctica — Empire of the Penguin, an area within the main park themed to the snowy continent that will include a new attraction that SeaWorld says will feature never-before-used ride technology.

Although company officials did not disclose a price tag, SeaWorld Orlando President Terry Prather said the additions, taken together, represent the largest expansion in the marine park's 38-year history, both in terms of cost and footprint.

With the expansion — which has been urged by SeaWorld's corporate owner, the private-equity firm Blackstone Group — SeaWorld hopes to win back some of the ground it has lost during the past two years to Walt Disney World and, particularly, to Universal Orlando, which in June 2010 opened its wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

SeaWorld Orlando attendance fell an estimated 12 percent in 2010, even as the number of visitors overall to Orlando soared above 50 million for the first time.

Company officials say SeaWorld Orlando attendance has improved this year and that Discovery Cove, which this summer opened a new attraction dubbed the Grand Reef, is in the midst of a record year. The company's three Orlando parks, which also include the water park Aquatica, account for roughly 40 percent of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment's total operating income, according to industry analysts.

Prather said the timing of the expansion is ideal.

"When you look at last year, doing 51 million visitors to Orlando, and then look around the country, look around the world at some of these [other] destinations, … it's crystal clear around the world that Orlando is the No. 1 family destination," Prather said. "Our owners see that as a big plus."

Importantly, SeaWorld said, all three additions will be suitable for visitors of all ages.

Guests at TurtleTrek, for instance, will first walk through a pair of massive aquariums, one filled with hundreds of freshwater fish and manatees, the other with more than 1,500 saltwater fish and more than a dozen sea turtles. They will then enter a domed theater, where a 3-D film about the life journey of a sea turtle will be projected all around them — even above them. The entire experience will last about 18 minutes.

"Content will be all around you," said Brian Morrow, SeaWorld Orlando's chief designer.

The attraction, which will use space most recently occupied by SeaWorld's Manatee Rescue pavilion, will include an explicit conservation theme urging guests to become "everyday heroes" in wildlife protection. A post-show gift shop will include physical and environmental effects triggered whenever guests purchase items from which a portion of proceeds will be donated to a company-founded conservation fund.

Freshwater Oasis at Discovery Cove will be designed with a rainforest canopy above freshwater springs. SeaWorld said guests will be free to explore at their own pace, wading and hiking through flooded trails that will take them through habitats with otters and marmosets — animals that SeaWorld said were chosen because they are small, kid-friendly and active. The oasis will replace a now-closed saltwater reef that had been leaking into the area's underground aquifer.

In contrast to Grand Reef — a deeper, saltwater pool that includes an underwater experience — SeaWorld said Freshwater Oasis will be shallower and accessible to all guests. "Ensuring that everybody gets to participate is key to our brand," Morrow said.

SeaWorld discussed fewer details in advance about Antarctica — Empire of the Penguin, which company officials said will be the park's biggest-yet single-attraction expansion.

Replacing the park's 24-year-old Penguin Encounter habitat, the new attraction's central experience will be a "family adventure attraction," suitable for people of all ages, in which guests will experience life in Antarctica through the eyes of a penguin. Morrow said the attraction will be "a new species of ride," with an innovative system that allows different adventures to occur during each ride. The experience will also include close interactions with penguins.

SeaWorld said the Antarctica-themed expansion will be a more-immersive experience than just a single ride.

"It will be a new world within the park," Prather said. "It's a new realm that we're building."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-seaworld-new-rides-20111108,0,2965294.story

Theme Park Review also posted some facts from the press announcement (and got some photos from the event):

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42837&start=2370#p1109445

SeaWorld released some concept art for the additions:

Freshwater Oasis:






































TurtleTrek:




























































Antarctica - Empire of the Penguin:




































The rumor mill on the Antarctica area has been getting quite interesting lately too:

2013 - Antarctica - Empire of the Penguin - (11/11/11) In 2013 SeaWorld will open one of their biggest projects to date, Antarctica – Empire of the Penguin. This huge new highly themed area will take the place of the current Penguin Encounter plaza and allow guests to “Explore the frozen wildernesses of the Antarctica through the eyes of the world’s most loved bird - the penguin.
Antarctica - Empire of the Penguin will take guests on a journey like no other to the coldest and most barren place on earth with a state-of-the-art interactive ride combined with an animal attraction. More details to follow.... for now it’s on ice.”
(10/10/11) The Orlando Sentinel has posted their own report on the various new projects SeaWorld has in the works right now. The park has now filed the necessary paperwork with the county confirming plans to replace the current Penguin Encounter attraction area with something new for 2013. The current exhibit will close in December to begin the 18 month long construction project, starting with the demolition of the existing structure. The park has also trademarked the names ‘Antarctica” and “Empire of the Penguins”, possibly for use here.
(9/2/11) Screamscape sources have reconfirmed that plans are still in the works to bring a dark ride to the new Penguin Encounter revamp project area, in addition to a new Penguin attraction and a restaurant. No word on what kind of ride it will be, but we can expect to see demolition begin on the current area buildings in early 2012.
(8/29/11) While the rumors of a total redevelopment of the Penguin Plaza area are still alive, I have not heard a peep about that rumored dark ride concept in some time, which is unfortunate for Dark Ride and attraction fans in general. In addition, the rumor of somehow connecting the new Penguin replacement exhibit to a large new restaurant has also come to light. However… anyone who has visited any Penguin exhibit at any park or zoo anywhere can attest the cute buggers rank a bit towards the top on the Stink-O-Meter… maybe a level or two below Skunks and Roadkill. So I’ve got to question to wisdom of attaching a Penguin exhibit of any kind with any kind of establishment meant to serve food… unless they’re going to go the extra mile to make the exhibit run as it’s own air-tight eco-system to keep the noxious fumes in place.
In related news, SeaWorld Parks has filed for a couple of interesting trademarks this month: “Snowworld” and “Antarctica”, both of which could possibly be connected to the rumored Penguin replacement project.

TurtleTrek started construction in September, with the closure of the Manatee exhibit. Antarctica will start in the next few months.

This seems like a very nice addition to SeaWorld. The intriguing part IMO is the ride that they say "will feature never-before-used ride technology." Something tells me this isn't a standard dark ride system, and I doubt it's a Spider-Man type system either. We may be seeing something very unique here.

Hopefully more attractions come to SeaWorld in the future. It is a wonderful park, but it needs more rides. I think this is the start of something awesome for SWO! =D

SeaWorld Orlando Future Rumors

From Screamscape:

2012 - Turtles 4D & Happy Harbor Water Fortress - Rumor - (7/20/11) I’ve heard from a sharp eyed guest that construction has begun behind the current Manatee attraction area for the park’s 2012 attraction, which is said to be Turtles 4D, a edited down in-ark 4D theater version of this summer’s “Turtle: The Incredible Journey” film. (see below)
From what I’ve been led to understand the current Manatee attraction area will be revamped into a Florida wilflife themed area and serve as home to alligators, turtles, manatees and other local species, but allow for the tie-in with the new Turtles 4D attraction as well.
I’ve also been told we can look for some other improvements to come to Happy Harbor this year as well, as the large fake ship will be removed and replaced with a new Water Fortress style attraction. (No word on if they will have a huge dumping bucket of water or not…)

2013 - Dark Ride / New Penguin Home - Rumor - (7/20/11) A old rumor has returned once again with a full head of steam, as I’m told that the entire Penguin Plaza area is slated to be removed sometime in the early 2012 to make way for a major dark ride attraction for 2013. Don’t cry for the penguins however, as I’m told that a brand new and improved home for them will be built as part of the massive 2013 project. Going along with that, I can only assume that the dark ride may have some kind of Antarctica theme as well.
As for the dark ride itself… it’s been said that SeaWorld Orlando was eyeballed for a ton of different dark ride concept ideas following the introduction of Curse of DarKastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. If you’ve never been on DarKastle, it’s basicly a copy of the Spiderman style ride experience, themed within a haunted European castle full of ghosts, werewolves and other creatures of the night. In short… it’s an awesome alternative to Spiderman, and outside of the Orlando area, it really stands out in Williamsburg as a top notch E-Ticket attraction.
Curse of DarKastle opened way back in 2005 however, based on Spiderman’s basic concept from 1999. So by the time any new ride opens in 2013, one would expect to see some leaps forward in the technology department or even some changes in the overall concept as well. So while I can’t say that this will or wont be a copy of the same basic idea for sure, I have also heard a hint about ‘trackless cars’ being looked into for it as well. My only request is this… please do not make this themed to Happy Feet… ok?

The Future - Wild Arctic Replacement - Rumor - (7/20/11) We’ve talked a bit about rumored future projects said to be on the way for SeaWorld Orlando over the next couple of years, but what else may be on deck long term? Apparently the new management has come to terms with the fact that Wild Arctic just isn’t a big draw anymore and said to be pondering possible solutions to the problem.
Unlike any other simulator ride, it just isn’t as easy as reprogramming the ride itself to use a new movie because the ride exits into the massive Wild Arctic themed animal habitat area, so a new Arctic themed ride may be the only item to fit the bill. While I’m sure they could rework the flow of traffic through the building if necessary with some structural modifications to turn the structure into two separate attractions (New Ride and Animal Habitat) I’m not sure if they area ready to take the easy way out just yet. They also have to consider that whatever they do in Orlando, they will likely end up doing in California as well to the Wild Arctic attraction there, and find a way to make it work for both.
The one item still keeping Arctic the same for the next few years is the special deal the park signed to convert the ride into a Polar Express ride for the holiday season, which has been quiet a popular attraction with the guests, and likely a big reason behind the reason they are looking into new ideas for the future. I’m told that this winter is actually the last year for the Polar Express contract, though the holiday attraction is so popular, an extension is likely to be signed for keep it going for a few more years.

The main interesting thing to me is the dark ride part. I really like SWO, but they really could use some rides, especially dark rides (as well as more cool coasters), so hopefully this is true! =)

If this sounds familiar, it should... as I reported the possibility of a dark ride a year ago when there was construction around the old Clydesdale Hamlet, only to be disappointed to find out it was just a garden. However, the penguin rumor kind of took me by surprise. I was expecting them to build something from the ground up (as in the Clydesdale area), but now I see the possibility of the penguins being reused for this attraction. Funny thing though, when Cheetah Hunt was a rumor, I was expecting it to be a B&M Hypercoaster in the back of the park (in the Jungala section) all the way towards Kumba. I never thought it was possible to reuse the old monorail station for a coaster, or travel through the Veldt and into Rhino Rally's old wet portion. I also never thought they'd go with Intamin. So bottom line, when it comes to SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment (or any park chain for that matter)... don't rule ANYTHING out!

As for the Wild Arctic part, I guess I'm one of the people who like Wild Arctic and will probably miss it. But even then, it should be interesting what they do in its place!

It should be interesting to see how these rumors come out!

Is Kraken Sinking?

Yesterday, Screamscape reported this scary rumor about Kraken at SeaWorld Orlando:

Park News - (4/1/11) A nasty rumor has sprung up it seems for a signature attraction of SeaWorld. I didn't believe this at first, but a source has confirmed to me that it is true. Now when I post this, I want to make a statement that even though this rumor sounds full of garbage, do not start ranting that I am full of crap, etc. I am posting this so you can get one last ride when the time comes.
With that said, the nasty rumor is that Kraken, the B&M Floorless in the park, is sinking, due to poor infrastructure on the land it sits on. SeaWorld may be forced to remove it entirely and relocate it to either another SeaWorld park or a Six Flags park.
I would hope SeaWorld puts it up somewhere else in the park. With the lack of rides in the park, removing Kraken would just cause an attendance drop for the park and that would not be too good.

Eep...! I would hope this is false.

*please let this be an April Fool's joke*

What's Going On at SWO?

Discovery Cove Expansion:

Work on an expansion of the Discovery Cove park has begun a few weeks ago. It is unknown what it will be, but it is said to open in 2011.

Clydesdale Hamlet:

A couple of months ago, Behind the Thrills found a crane behind the old Clydesdale Hamlet at SeaWorld. Later on, the crane was reported to be gone.

As of April 12th, another update was posted showing a new bird show in the old Hamlet. But as of last week, the show seemed to be closed, and the Hamlet was completely shut down.

There is also this quote from Yaytez at Behind the Thrills:

The rumor that is strong is that this is going to simply be a new path to where the new attraction will be, however.....with that much area and that much of a drop, it's foolish to think that it's simply going to be a path and shops. BGW hasn't announced anything, possibly because of the fact of they were just getting ready to be sold when the announcement came that Wolf was closing. In the event of something like that, projects tend to get pushed back. In the case of Blackstone, it seems like they want nothing but growth and those plans, as well as the coaster in Tampa have been approved...as well as something coming to SWO in 2012...yes, there is something coming.

This should be pretty interesting to look at. What is happening in this area? It seems unknown right now, but popular rumors are stating that a new dark ride may go up in that area. IMO, a dark ride would be great for SeaWorld.

Here's basically what this rumored dark ride will take over (and what I think they should do):

Old Manta Rumors and What Was Before Manta

I'm just curious on how all the rumors of the Manta coaster at SeaWorld started (the ones before the April 2nd semi-announcement). I know these old Screamscape rumors (found on IOACentral):

"(5/4/07) Ever since SeaWorld entered the world of big steel in 2000 with Kraken, the coaster community has been waiting to see when this sea life park would bite the bullet once again and add yet another new coaster to the mix. A few years back I predicted hat when it was time, SeaWorld would pony up with a B&M Flying coaster experience and today we received just such a rumor, but I don’t know how solid this is yet. The movements within Busch are hard to predict, but the 2009 window does seem ideal for such a project since they have focused only on adding new shows and kiddie rides for the last few years and will devote all of 2008 to Aquatica across the street. By 2009 Busch Gardens Tampa should still be finishing up whatever Sesame Street, animal exhibits and Congo playland additions for the kiddies they’ve been working on, so the time is certainly right for a coaster at SeaWorld. It would also be something that could compete with the rumored Harry Potter attraction going into Islands of Adventure in 2009. Anyone know more?"

"(7/17/07) I’ve been told we may be seeing some interesting work taking place in the SeaWorld parking lot starting this fall where they will be moving the Bus and Taxi lot to a new location and preparing to build a new office building across the street in or near the employee / overflow lot. The current Bus / Taxi lot will then be used to create a new construction access route into the park for the new 2009 coaster."

"(7/17/07) Yesterday’s small update about a new coaster coming to SeaWorld sure got the juices flowing it seems as several other messages were sent in to confirm it… the only problem is not everyone could agree on what type of coaster it will be. The most common story claims that it will open in 2009 and actually be the B&M Flyer that I previously had rumored, going in just behind the entrance of the park where an old aquarium was demolished, allowing it to fill in the essentially empty area from there back towards the Atlantis / Pengiun area of the park and between Key West and the Waterfront. One source even tells us that they’ve seen a model of this very design in one of the park’s back areas. From the sound of things and the size of the construction site, they may actually close off access to this side of the park during construction and force all of the guests to take the path through the Waterfront area from the main gate area for several months. Yes… they will force everyone to not only walk past the main gate gift shops on the way in and out, but past all the Waterfront shops. All those gift shops all in a row… the merchandise department must be drooling with anticipation. The other ideas are a little more far fetched in my opinion, ranging from an Apollo’s Chariot style 200 foot hypercoaster to an indoor ride that sounds more like Revenge of the Mummy. Anything is possible, but I’ve always said that SeaWorld would be the perfect home for a B&M Flyer in Orlando."

And of course, a popular one...

"2009 - New Coaster - Rumor - (10/22/07) A Screamscape source says that they were asked to take part in a guest focus group at SeaWorld Florida where they were showing off various different ideas for a new Flying Coaster in development for the park. One possible idea was to use shorter trains, only 3 or 4 rows long, but each would be themed as a different species of Ray: Manta Ray, Sting Ray, Bat Ray, etc. While no specific layout was given, the ideas being tossed around seemed a involve quite a bit of ground hugging which may imply a layout more like AIR and less like the Six Flags’ Superman versions. They did discuss with a bit of detail a very special element they want to feature hower, which would be a kind of water splashdown effect similar to what we’ve seen on SheiKra and Griffon, but in this case they want the coaster trains to swoop down over rolling waves, skimming the surface of the water. In fact, the tips of the Ray’s wings sticking out to the sides would dip into the water itself, tossing up big rooster-tails of water. I’ve got to say that I like this idea myself… especially if they had a nice prolonged skim over the water, allowing riders time to really reach out to try and touch it. I’m not sure about the short train design, but I suppose they could use a double loading station to fix the capacity issues."

I've also heard that the Tropical Reef aquarium was where Manta sits today.

In Bing Maps, you see three promos. The first one shows the aquarium, and some construction around it (initially I thought it was Manta land clearing, but I think I'm wrong now). The second one shows the aquarium gone, with a field sitting in its place. In the third one, it shows Manta under construction.

I know the Tropical Reef aquarium was there in 2003 (I looked at an old park map, showing the Waterfront area as a new attraction). I think by late 2006/early 2007, the aquarium was gone. Does anyone know when the aquarium was demolished? And does anyone know any other old Manta rumors? I'm just curious.

UPDATED 7/9/2010: Just found this one...

"(10/19/07) Those rumors for a B&M Flyer coming to SeaWorld in time for the 2009 season are still holding out, and today we’ve heard that the ride may be themed to either a Flying Fish or a Dolphin. I’m not sure I’m buying that last bit however as Busch has always been about naming their coasters after fierce monster and iconic animals like Kraken, Steel Eel, Great White, Alpengeist, Montu, etc. A Flying Fish or Dolphin themed ride sounds more like a kiddie coaster… though there is the Thunder Dolphin coaster in Japan. Naaa…still sounds kind of silly."

Pfft... Flying fish? Dolphin? XD

Florida Parks Bing

Universal has updated their Bing Maps. It shows...

* The Simpsons Ride open.

* Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit under construction. They started the Double Take at that point. In another view, the Double Take is done, station track is up, and the first drop is up.

* Music Plaza up, replacing the Boneyard.

* Harry Potter under construction. Hogsmeade supports rising, DD entrance relocated, Forbidden Journey up. Flying Unicorn is closed.

* Earthquake is Disaster.

SeaWorld updated theirs too. It shows...

* Aquatica open.

* Manta under construction. I think it's April when it was taken, because landscaping with the first portion of the ride is done.

Disney updated theirs as well...

* Everest is open.

* Looks like American Idol is starting.

* Toy Story Mania is open.

BGT still hasn't updated yet, as far as I saw. Jungala is still under construction.