SeaWorld Orlando will be off to a flying start next spring
New Arctic-themed attraction set to debut
For each of the past three years, SeaWorld Orlando has introduced a new roller coaster to its midway, including Penguin Trek this past spring. The self-proclaimed Coaster Capital of Orlando will instead welcome a flying theater for the 2025 season. Pioneered by Disney with Soarin’, the ride concept has proliferated with plenty of copycat attractions across the globe (such as Legoland Florida’s The Lego Movie Masters of Flight). SeaWorld has not announced a name for its take on a flying theater, but it has revealed that the new attraction will be themed to the Arctic and focus on the animals that call the remote region home. In addition to flying above the rugged landscape and its picturesque glaciers, the park says passengers will also plunge below the Arctic’s icy waters. (This is SeaWorld, after all.)
According to the park, guests will witness the aurora borealis and encounter orcas, walruses, and beluga whales as part of their 4:30 journey to the Arctic. The attraction’s production team developed custom recording equipment to withstand the harsh environment. Here’s hoping the filmmakers were able to capture the actual northern lights and animals and will not be resorting to computer-generated imagery. (I’m looking at you, phony CGI whale and other counterfeit creatures in Disney’s Soarin’ Around the World.)
It’s intriguing that the SeaWorld attraction will simulate diving beneath the ocean, which is pretty much the opposite of flying. I experienced a flying theater, Voyage of the Fathom Wanderer, that featured underwater scenes at the now-defunct Katmandu Park in the Dominican Republic and quite enjoyed the unique take on the ride concept.
Following Disney’s template, flying theaters generally go easy on the thrills. The Soarin’ rides lift passengers about 50 feet into the air, which can be disconcerting for ride wimps. But the motion profile is gentle. A variety of manufacturers have developed their own flying theater ride systems, some of which remain on or near the ground. It’s unclear at this point what vendor SeaWorld will be using. The park says that the family friendly ride will have a 39-inch height requirement, meaning children as young as three will be able to hop aboard.
This wouldn’t be the first time that SeaWorld Orlando has used a screen-based attraction to transport guests to the the northernmost part of Earth. Wild Arctic, which opened in 1998 and closed in 2020, incorporated a motion simulator ride system to replicate a helicopter journey. When they exited the simulator, guests got to see real beluga whales, walruses, and other animals in a frosty walk-through environment. Although the ride closed, the exhibit has remained open. The new flying theater will serve the same purpose as the shuttered ride and also purport to shuttle passengers to the Arctic by having them exit through the animal habitat.
Speaking of motion simulator attractions and flying theaters, can we get geeky for a moment and take a sidebar? Universal Studios Florida refers to its Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon as a “the world’s first flying theater.” The attraction opened in 2017, while the original Soarin’ debuted at Disney California Adventure in 2001. So [puts hands on hips and looks indignant], what is, ahem, up with that?
The Fallon attraction isn’t a flying theater at all, at least not in the way that most of the industry defines the term. It is a motion simulator ride. Universal defends its nomenclature by saying that parts of the ride takes guests flying above the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and other New York landmarks. Also, the entire 72-seat theater sits on a single motion platform. So, the whole theater and its guests, who are supposedly members of a studio audience attending a “Tonight Show” taping, fly together. Hence, it is a “flying theater.” I guess it’s fair to say that flying theaters are a sub-genre of motion simulator rides. But not all motion simulator rides are flying theaters. Universal is free to call it anything it wants, I suppose, but it’s just confusing.
SeaWorld is hyping its new attraction as the “world’s first fully immersive Arctic flying theater.” To continue geeking out [shakes fist in the air and looks aggrieved], come on now! As noted, Disney opened the first flying theater in 2001. And no, of the many flying theater attractions that have opened since then, none of them fly above the Arctic. But to call it the world’s first Arctic flying theater seems like needless bragging. (Then again, as I’ve noted repeatedly, nearly every new attraction has to lay claim to some record, no matter how tenuous.) As for SeaWorld’s “fully immersive” hyperbole: What, there is another Arctic flying theater out there that’s only partially immersive? [Closes eyes and breathes deeply.] Okay, my geeky rant is over.
Am I too geeky and nitpicky? What flying theaters have you experienced and especially enjoyed?
The labeling is a BIG stretch. I did enjoy Wild Arctic.