‘Ice’ in spring forecast
SeaWorld shows off new roller coaster under construction
Brian Andrelczyk pointed out the places he hopes will move you on SeaWorld’s latest roller coaster, Ice Breaker, its first in nearly three years.
Where you feel the airtime as your body floats in your seat. Where you fear getting your head slammed by a column — only everything turns out fine, it’s just an illusion as you rush past. Where you ride so low to the ground, you see the grass whizzing by, making you feel like you’re moving faster. Where the train goes through a launch, each time more powerful.
“Once you’re off of the ride, you’re going to be able to go, ‘Wow, that was a pretty big rush,’ ” said Andrelczyk, the park’s vice president of design and engineering, as media toured the construction site for the first time Tuesday.
No opening date was announced Tuesday, although Andrelczyk said Ice Breaker is on schedule to open this spring.
About two-thirds of the track is built.
At one place, media looked up 93 feet to see a vertical spike in place. Further along the track, the ride will run just a few feet off the ground, about as high as a person standing.
The 90-second ride will travel up to 52 mph, although the lowto-the-ground feeling makes you feel like you’re going much faster, Andrelczyk said.
However, the height requirement will be 48 inches, so it’s considered family-friendly and not
too intense for some children.
SeaWorld decided to color Ice Breaker burnt orange as a break from the other blue coasters at the park. The ride can operate two trains at a time, each holding 18 people.
On the busiest days, more than 100 workers have been on-site building Ice Breaker. The most challenging obstacle is the narrow footprint of the ride, Andrelczyk said.
Workers are building the coaster in the Wild Arctic plaza, in the shadows of the Shamu Stadium and near Bayside Lake.
“This is a very tight construction site,” Andrelczyk said. “We really had to phase our construction, so we started at one point to another point and had to kind of back our way out.”
The Orlando-based company, which operates 12 theme parks across the country, is in expansion mode.
SeaWorld executives have said they want to add new rides to help grow attendance as the company keeps rebounding from a years-long slump.
Tampa Bay Busch Gardens, another SeaWorldowned park, is transforming its dormant wooden coaster Gwazi into a 206-feet-tall hybrid coaster this year, too.
The company is also looking to cut expenses in other areas. One of those initiatives takes effect starting this month as SeaWorld begins outsourcing carnival game employees to a United Kingdom-based company.