One of my favorite animals in the whole world is the penguin; so I was undeniably thrilled when I had the opportunity to visit Sea World’s new attraction Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin and explore their interpretation of the “bottom of the world.”
Upon entering, visitors leave the park’s tropical paradise and are thrust into their very own arctic expedition, complete with rising glaciers, whirling winds, and stroller parking. There is a single path that leads through the exhibit and guests can enter and exit from either side.
There is a café and gift shop. I also found it enjoyable to simply wander around the area to admire the amount of work and creativity that went into creating the site.
Also, it’s enjoyable to simply wander around the area and to imagine the amount of work and creativity that went into constructing the site. Then when you are ready, make sure to head over to the amazing main attraction.
Empire of the Penguin
Photo by zannaland
The difference between the two options is the intensity in which your cart swerves, turns, and shakes throughout the duration of the ride. My wife and I choose the “mild” ride because we were traveling with our toddler son who was not yet big enough for the scarier and more frightening “wild” ride.
Photo by SeaWorld
I don’t want to give away any spoilers on the ride itself, but I will say my son loved it! (So did my wife and I)! There were a lot of smiles and finger points at interesting things on his part. I noticed the carts were not on any sort of track, which was curious. I spent a lot of the ride studying the floor and trying to figure out if the carts were either magnetized or computer programmed.
The ride ends with the best, most awesome surprise! Penguins!
The cart spins into the debarking dock and guests are greeted by the greatest, most impressive penguin display I have ever seen. Simply put, I was blown away. There was no floor to ceiling glass partition separating the two worlds. The penguins were right there, swimming and waddling around. And they weren’t shy; a few of them swam right up to me.
Photo by SeaWorld
The display was jam-packed with all sorts of penguins from little rock penguins to the giant, yellow-chested king penguins who humorously strutted around the tank, all the little ones scurrying away out of their path. And it wasn’t jam-packed in the bad kind of way with barely enough room for the penguins to move, there was plenty of room, it was just jam-packed in a comfortable, penguiny social kind of way. Also, there were deep waters for the penguins to swim in.
It should be noted, that since there is no separating partition, the whole room is cold. Especially, after wandering around in the Florida heat for most of the day. It is suggested to bring some sort of coat or jacket if you plan on spending any sort of sufficient time with the penguins (and I know you will want to). The Sea World staff working the display are completely decked out in winter gear.
After you get your fill, exit the first exhibit area and enter the second. This last section is much warmer and offers underwater views of the penguins swimming. A Sea World staff member lectures on the penguins and is available to answer questions. My favorite part was watching penguins “flying” through the water.
A few fun facts
- There are four species of penguin included in Sea World’s colony: Adelies, Gentoos, Rockhoppers, and the Kings.
- Sea World and Southwest Airlines teamed up to form Penguin One, a Boeing 737-700 featuring giant images of penguins on its side. http://www.insideseaworld.com/seaworld-orlando-and-southwest-airlines-debut-new-penguin-one-plane
- There are secret images, such as Shamoo, hidden in the ice around the attraction.
(updated 09/24/2019)
