SeaWorld Orlando froze over today with the opening of its newest attraction Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, featuring over 250 penguins and temperatures as low as -1°C.

Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin will transport families into a rarely seen, icy world. Visitors will feel the majestic grandeur of the South Pole and see it through the eyes of a penguin on an exhilarating, first-of-its-kind family ride.

Antarctica, SeaWorld's largest ever expansion, is a realm in where guests will be greeted by icebergs, snowcaps and howling winds. Explorers will also meet a very special penguin named Puck, and learn about penguin life and the dangers and beauty of this frozen land through his eyes. 

On board a first-of-its-kind trackless, all-family adventure ride, guests will become one with the storyline as they follow Puck's adventures. Each mobile simulator ride car allows guests to choose one of two levels of exploration - Wild Expedition or Mild Expedition - for various degrees of ride intensity. Designers say each version has multiple variations for a feeling of unpredictability, just like the continent of Antarctica. The combination of ride experiences include mobile, moving simulators and a completely trackless ride - a theme park first.

There's one more family SeaWorld guests can join at Antarctica... and that's a huge family of more than 250 penguins. Steeping off the adventure ride, guests find themselves among a colony of Adelie, gentoo, king and rockhopper penguins, in a -1°C habitat filled with wind, snow, rock and chilly water. New technologies combine to create a freezing - but dry climate, allowing guests to spend time in the penguins' amazing world.

Childre can learn about penguins by not only seeing them up-close, but also by measuring up to all 17 species of penguins that exist, which are carved into the rocks in the plaza. They can engage in kid-height and kid-friendly interactive touch-screens and talk with SeaWorld educators to learn more about the importance of community and how penguin colonies work together and rely on each other for survival.

The 3-Park Ticket offers 14 days unlimited entry to SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica AND Busch Gardens Tampa. Prices start from £94 per person, for more information and bookings go to www.seaworldparks.co.uk.

-Ends-

Media Enquiries

Lucy Quilliam, PR Manager, 020 7612 1199 / lucy@cubo.com   

Clare Leckie, Junior Account Executive, 020 7612 1168 / clare.leckie@themediafoundry.com

For the latest press releases, conservation stories and downloadable high-res images, please visit our new media centre: www.seaworldparks.co.uk/media-centre  

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is one of the world's foremost zoological organizations and a global leader in animal welfare, training, husbandry and veterinary care.  The Company maintains one of the largest animal collections in the world and has helped lead advances in the care of species in zoological facilities and in the conservation of wild populations. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment also operates one of the world's most respected programs to rescue and rehabilitate ocean marine animals that are ill, injured and orphaned, with the goal of returning them to the wild. The SeaWorld® rescue team has helped more than 22,000 animals in need over the last four decades.