Our Aqua-mazing Day at Seaworld Orlando!
When we planned the itinerary for our summer 2024 central Florida vacation, we knew we had to make time for Seaworld Orlando. As platinum passholders with Busch Gardens Williamsburg, our admission to Seaworld is free - which for us is one of the many perks of visiting. We also love the theming, coasters, and atmosphere of Seaworld. This trip also happened to coincide with Seaworld Orlando’s 60th Anniversary Celebration and the recent opening of a brand new family coaster, Penguin Trek. But before we got to any of that, we had a bonus coaster credit to claim.
Our first stop for our day was Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, a novel stand-up coaster built by B&M that opened in May 2023. The last time we were in Seaworld we saw it testing, but had not yet made it back to ride it ourselves. Tim was pretty excited, and I was apprehensive - mostly because my only experience with a stand-up coaster was Green Lantern, a now defunct ride at Six Flags Great Adventure. If you have not seen that 2020 vlog, spoiler alert…I hated it. We had only ever heard great things about Pipeline, though, so I was definitely willing to give it a chance, and I’m glad I did!
Above: Pipeline: the Surf Coaster, located at Seaworld Orlando, has to be one of the smoothest, most unique and most all-around fun roller coasters we've ever ridden!
What sets Pipeline apart from Green Lantern is the dynamic movement of the harness, which simulates the rise and fall of waves on a surfboard. Not only does this help sell the overall theme of Pipeline, but it is also a great deal kinder to the human body and suppresses the aggression of the G-forces pulling on your body. This provides a thrilling, but overall more comfortable experience for the rider. I was not ready for that first pop of airtime, and nearly ruined Tim’s attempt to get the perfect Front Row POV for our channel. The cool thing about Seaworld is that on-ride filming is permitted with a secured action camera, and that is how we safely captured our first experience on this ride - as well our experiences on other rides throughout the day. Overall, we felt that Pipeline was an excellent addition to Seaworld’s diverse selection of coasters and theming was well executed. If we had any critiques at all, operations were abysmal (at least that day) and that the returning track could really use a sun shade in the holding area just outside the station…both things that can be remedied with fairly simple, low-cost updates.
After two (2) back-to-back rides on Pipeline, we wanted to make our way to Antartica for Penguin Trek, which made its debut only a week before our arrival. While on route, I noticed the pop-up Bubbles Boba Bar had no line and I decided to get a Pink Dragon boba tea, which was dragonfruit tea and mango jelly. The tea was delightful and refreshing on such a hot day, and the mango jelly was practically a snack in itself. Back on route, we stopped again when we noticed the pearl divers were out in the Aqua Theater. The divers themselves are mesmerizing to watch, and if you want a cool souvenir, they will handpick an oyster for you to then crack open and find a pearl. Hence, “pearl” divers!
Finally, we made it to the newest ride in the park, Penguin Trek. After storing our bags in the nearby locker bay, we got in line. This is where us having the “Quick Queue” passes came in clutch, because of course as the newest ride it had the longest wait. Even with quick queue we still had about a 25-30 minute wait, but we did enjoy the theming (and air-conditioning) of the indoor queue. The coaster is a B&M launch coaster that features a preliminary dark ride scene, two LSM launches and reaches speeds of up to 43mph. We really appreciated the pre-launch indoor sequence and thought the coaster layout was well done, though there were a few transitions that felt a bit rough for such a new ride.
The queue and interior portions of Penguin Trek took over the empty husk that was Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, a former trackless dark ride that operated at the park from 2013 until 2020. Since its closure, only the penguin exhibit was open to visitors. With its spiritual successor now in operation, you can once again enter the the giant icebergs, take a ride, and exit through the penguin exhibit. Be warned, the penguins do like it cold in there, and many guests can only withstand a few minutes before ditching for the hot Florida sun. It is a fun time and the penguin handlers are standing by to answer whatever questions you may have about our feathered friends of the arctic.
Above: The penguins at Seaworld Orlando like an extra cold environment, so bundle up before going to visit them in the Antarctica area!
Our next must do of the day was the new 60th anniversary parade "So Much More to SEA" which deploys at least once a day in the park as weather permits. We identified an ideal viewing spot and quickly grabbed lunch at a Nathan’s hot dog stand. The parade was delightful and fun with stunning performers and the catchiest of songs. Best of all, we had a completely unplanned and serendipitous run-in with our friend Erica from the vlog channel Healthy Dose of Erica and the Magic Matters Podcast, who came into the park just to watch the new parade herself. Erica makes great theme park and Florida living content - so please be sure to check her out!
After the parade, headed for the tallest roller coaster in Orlando and our mutual favorite attraction in the park, the world-renown hyper coaster, Mako. At this point, the skies were starting to look pretty threatening and we new it was likely that coasters were going to go down if thunder started. Sure enough, after a great ride on Mako and a visit to the nearby shark aquarium, the afternoon thunderstorm began.
Our original plan for the day was to stick it out until park close to catch some of the Ignite the Night summer fireworks show, but that was looking less and less likely as the storm carried on. With all the major rides closed for weather delay, we decide to make a rather wet crossing to the Wild Arctic exhibits to see if we could wait out the rain a little longer. We had already done all of our must-dos of the day and visited the other indoor areas, so this was the last place to kill some time inside.
After exploring Wild Arctic and saying hi to some animal friends, we decided to call it a day and head back to our hotel. The fireworks, if they were going to happen at all, were 5 hours away and we weren’t up to waiting out all the rain inside on the off-chance the weather would clear and fireworks would still happen. Despite the change in plans, we still had a great day and can’t wait for our next adventure at Seaworld. Check out our vlog for our on-ride reactions, parade highlights, and more!
