SeaWorld Orlando unveils car for new Antarctica ride

[Wendy]

SeaWorld Orlando has unveiled its ride vehicle and other details about its upcoming Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin ride. The theme park's largest new attraction to date features a trackless system that allows riders to select a high or low intensity ride.

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The Antarctica ride will operate on an industry-first ride system, Morrow said. It combines a mobile simulator platform and a trackless navigation system, he said. It allows us the flexibility and the unpredictability to create a ride that's highly variable, which is really what we wanted.

"Each time you ride this you actually will have no idea which path you're going to get," Morrow said.

The ride cars are being introduced at the annual International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo, which runs through Friday. The event is a show-and-tell of fun and games destined for theme parks and similar attractions.

The "voyage" through Antarctica ends at SeaWorld's penguin colony, the largest outside Antarctica. Because barriers are minimal guests can "walk with the penguins," he says. Though they're not close enough to touch.

Morrow isn't divulging the technology behind the ride, but says designers got inspiration from automated vehicles used at the Cleveland Clinic.

Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin is scheduled to open next spring.

[Kate]

I'll have the high intensity one please!