Fodor's Expert Review Antarctica: Empire of the Penguins

SeaWorld's four-acre "continent" centers around an attraction that's a fun-filled Arctic trek. After walking through a realistic ice floe, you leave the preshow and board a circular vehicle that glides, track-free, on a polar journey. Choose mild (no extra motion) or wild (a low-grade virtual-reality ride) as you follow the life of Puck the penguin as he travels through blizzards, past hungry sea lions, and through an ice cave. Eventually, you leave this virtual world and arrive in a massive real-life room where Puck's relations, a colony of approximately 250 always-entertaining Adélie, gentoo, king, and rock hopper penguins, are diving, waddling, and swimming like darts. Unlike the former attraction where the penguins lived behind Plexiglas, now you can step up to a low wall and watch them cavort in their private empire. All in all, this is a thoroughly entertaining educational experience. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer into the ride vehicle; a separate line is available if you'd prefer to bypass the ride and just visit the penguin exhibit.