WebmasterBarry
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
The scariest thing at Sea World Orlando used to be David Hasselhoff singing Falling in Love during the Baywatch ski show. The show has been closed, but new terrors have risen in Sea World Orlando: Wild Arctic, Journey Into Atlantis, and Kraken.
Before you can enter the Wild Arctic area, you must ride aboard a flight simulator. You take flight in a helicopter called White Thunder. You begin on a leisurely flight across the Arctic and view Arctic animals. Things suddenly go wrong. You find yourself falling off an icy cliff and flying through an avalanche. The shakeup is similar to Star Tours at Disney-MGM Studios. If you cant ride flight simulators, you can enter the non-motion line. You basically enter the same simulator and see the same ride film, but the cabin doesnt move. The lines generally are much shorter for the non-motion flight.
The Wild Arctic gift shop has a special feature. If you go to the Observation Bay, you can view the simulator cabin from the outside. The Wild Arctic video plays on an overhead monitor and you can see the cabin shake, rise, and drop in sequence to the video.
Journey Into Atlantis is described as a water coaster. That means the ride begins as a water ride and ends up as a roller coaster. The storyline of the ride is hard to follow. Ive ridden it several times and I have yet to figure out the plot. After reading some travel books, the storyline is that Atlantis has risen up from the depths of the ocean and youre going to visit it. An old fisherman warns us not to go, but we do anyway. He sends a magical seahorse to protect us. We are greeted by Atlantians, but an evil witch doesnt like us being there and were tossed out. Then were brought back into the witchs lair, but we escape just in time.
Since I cant figure out the plot, I concentrate on the best parts of the ride: the two drops. The first drop is a Splash Mountain-type drop. You can view the first drop from the lagoon. Youre dropped 50 feet on a Splash Mountain-type drop. Sploosh, you're wet! The next drop is hidden within the ride. You do a U-turn around the lagoon and go up a lifthill. Your boat engages steel tracks and becomes a roller coaster. You drop down 60 feet on S-shaped and banked curves. Sploosh, you're wet again!
The ride can get you very, very wet, especially if youre sitting in the front seat. Since the last drop is hidden and partially in the dark, it takes people by surprise!
The next thrill ride recently opened up: Kraken, the roller coaster. The storyline behind this ride is that the sea creature Kraken has risen up from the ocean and taken residence at Sea World Orlando. The ride is a Bollinger and Mallibaud creation. They created most of the roller coasters at Busch Gardens Tampa and most of the coasters at Islands of Adventure. Roller coaster fans say that Bollinger and Mallibaud makes good coasters and Kraken is no exception.
Kraken has three outstanding features. The first feature is the first drop. You climb a large lift hill, do a small curve, and drop all the way to the ground. The second feature is airtime. Before the coaster travels underground, it goes up, slows down a bit, and drops you underground. During this time, you can feel a small bit of airtime. The last feature is its smoothness. The roller coaster isnt very noisy; in fact, the screams are louder than the coaster itself. Some coasters will really jar your neck and bang your head around. Not Kraken. Your neck and head will be quite comfortable on this ride.
Wild Arctic lines tend to be the longest after the Shamu Adventure show. Journey Into Atlantis and Kraken are close to each other and Sea World Orlando has its own thrill ride corner. Try to ride them early in the morning because lines can get quite long. Since Journey Into Atlantis loads slower than Kraken, ride Journey Into Atlantis first and ride Kraken to dry off.
Before you can enter the Wild Arctic area, you must ride aboard a flight simulator. You take flight in a helicopter called White Thunder. You begin on a leisurely flight across the Arctic and view Arctic animals. Things suddenly go wrong. You find yourself falling off an icy cliff and flying through an avalanche. The shakeup is similar to Star Tours at Disney-MGM Studios. If you cant ride flight simulators, you can enter the non-motion line. You basically enter the same simulator and see the same ride film, but the cabin doesnt move. The lines generally are much shorter for the non-motion flight.
The Wild Arctic gift shop has a special feature. If you go to the Observation Bay, you can view the simulator cabin from the outside. The Wild Arctic video plays on an overhead monitor and you can see the cabin shake, rise, and drop in sequence to the video.
Journey Into Atlantis is described as a water coaster. That means the ride begins as a water ride and ends up as a roller coaster. The storyline of the ride is hard to follow. Ive ridden it several times and I have yet to figure out the plot. After reading some travel books, the storyline is that Atlantis has risen up from the depths of the ocean and youre going to visit it. An old fisherman warns us not to go, but we do anyway. He sends a magical seahorse to protect us. We are greeted by Atlantians, but an evil witch doesnt like us being there and were tossed out. Then were brought back into the witchs lair, but we escape just in time.
Since I cant figure out the plot, I concentrate on the best parts of the ride: the two drops. The first drop is a Splash Mountain-type drop. You can view the first drop from the lagoon. Youre dropped 50 feet on a Splash Mountain-type drop. Sploosh, you're wet! The next drop is hidden within the ride. You do a U-turn around the lagoon and go up a lifthill. Your boat engages steel tracks and becomes a roller coaster. You drop down 60 feet on S-shaped and banked curves. Sploosh, you're wet again!
The ride can get you very, very wet, especially if youre sitting in the front seat. Since the last drop is hidden and partially in the dark, it takes people by surprise!
The next thrill ride recently opened up: Kraken, the roller coaster. The storyline behind this ride is that the sea creature Kraken has risen up from the ocean and taken residence at Sea World Orlando. The ride is a Bollinger and Mallibaud creation. They created most of the roller coasters at Busch Gardens Tampa and most of the coasters at Islands of Adventure. Roller coaster fans say that Bollinger and Mallibaud makes good coasters and Kraken is no exception.
Kraken has three outstanding features. The first feature is the first drop. You climb a large lift hill, do a small curve, and drop all the way to the ground. The second feature is airtime. Before the coaster travels underground, it goes up, slows down a bit, and drops you underground. During this time, you can feel a small bit of airtime. The last feature is its smoothness. The roller coaster isnt very noisy; in fact, the screams are louder than the coaster itself. Some coasters will really jar your neck and bang your head around. Not Kraken. Your neck and head will be quite comfortable on this ride.
Wild Arctic lines tend to be the longest after the Shamu Adventure show. Journey Into Atlantis and Kraken are close to each other and Sea World Orlando has its own thrill ride corner. Try to ride them early in the morning because lines can get quite long. Since Journey Into Atlantis loads slower than Kraken, ride Journey Into Atlantis first and ride Kraken to dry off.
)
We visited SW last July. It was our 1st visit in a number of years to the Orlando location. ("free" admission from Discovery Cove) We were really surprised how smooth and fun Kraken was. We also were not able to follow the Atlantis storyline after riding a couple of times. The 1st time we rode it, we thought the 1st SM type drop was it. Had the "Is that it?" feeling not knowing there was more to come. We did get pretty soaked and enjoyed the cooling off. They also had pretty good burgers at SW. Definitely making a return trip.
