Ice Breaker Brings the Arctic to Florida

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originally posted on 1/27/2022

Photo: Madeline Kraftchick. View full-sized image.

SeaWorld Orlando unveiled one of the most anticipated new coasters for 2022. Premier Rides’ Ice Breaker is Florida’s only quad-launch roller coaster and SeaWorld’s first launch coaster! The attraction is host to a beyond-vertical spike with a 100-degree angle at 93 feet tall! Ice Breaker is SeaWorld Orlando’s sixth roller coaster and offers a special advantage to parkgoers with the low height requirement of 48 inches. Pint-sized enthusiasts now have the opportunity to venture into new thrills between Super Grover’s Box Car Derby and Journey to Atlantis (currently closed for refurbishment) and Manta, Mako and Kraken, the biggest thrills in the park.

Named after the icy Arctic summits, Ice Breaker features four airtime-filled launches, both backward and forward, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond-vertical drop in Florida.

Photo: Madeline Kraftchick. View full-sized image.

In the queue, Alaska Sea Life Center assisted SeaWorld Orlando to offer guests an educational immersion in arctic sea life conservation. After a journey through the arctic, the thrills begin.

Once seated in one of the three-car, 18-rider trains, riders are secured with a lap bar and comfort collar, which is a soft restraint similar to a harness one sees on an infant car seat. Guests begin their Ice Breaker journey by rolling forward out of the station onto a transfer table. Unlike many other launch coasters that take off right out of the station, Ice Breaker is unique as it has a transfer table that slides the train over to the launch track, allowing smooth and efficient two-train operation. Two-train operation is an enhancement that permits more riders per hour and a shorter guest wait.

Once the transfer track locks in place, the thrills begin immediately as riders are launched backward at 23 mph. The low speed is deceptive though, as that launch packs a punch. Pausing briefly as momentum expires, riders are then thrust forward at a speed of 31 mph, providing just enough speed to tease a trip over the top hat that doesn’t quite happen. As the train falls backward, it is launched backward at 41 mph into a 100-degree vertical spike. Amazing!!! Back-row riders get the full effect of this element, so choose a seat wisely. Finally, riders are pushed forward to a top speed of 52 mph over an airtime hill and into the top hat of the coaster.

Photo: Madeline Kraftchick. View full-sized image.

Once the top of the 93-foot top hat is reached, it’s only down hill from there! Speed picks up quickly as the train drops to Earth and heads toward the first airtime hill (that flying out of your seat feeling!), followed by an amazing, intense turnaround that will leave riders wondering what just happened. They are swooshed immediately into a wave turn that gives amazing sideways ejector airtime, followed by a few more airtime hills, after which riders finally catch their breath as the ride comes to an end. All this happens with the added element of being low to the ground and feeling the speed as the ground whizzes by.

Overall, there are a whopping 13 moments of airtime on Ice Breaker, the most of any ride in the park (yes, even more then Mako). Vice President of Rides and Engineering Jonathan Smith is a huge fan of airtime, those moments of weightlessness when it feels as if your body is hovering over the seat. He is most intrigued by the uniqueness of the airtime moment during one of the backward launches. Conner Carr, corporate manager of rides and engineering, is stunned by the effect of the low-to-the-ground maneuvers that Ice Breaker features. They just enhance the wonderful elements that are incorporated in Ice Breaker’s design.

With the lowest height requirement in the park at 48 inches, this coaster offers a treat to younger thrill seekers and allows the joy of a shared family moment. Ice Breaker is breaking through and giving unexpected thrills to the guests of SeaWorld Orlando!

— Tayton Vlogs

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