January 2026 Orlando Trip - Day 1
We decided to get away from the frigid Philly-area weather and spend some time at the Universal Orlando parks (including our first visit to Epic Universe), the Walt Disney World parks, Busch Gardens Tampa, and our first visit to SeaWorld Orlando.
We got into town on Friday night, January 9th. We had made plans to check out an escape room place called Doldrick’s Escape Room, which was close to our hotel. We did a room called Crazy Train: The Ballad of Skeemin’ Plotz, which was themed to old black and white cartoons, and it was one of the more enjoyable and impressively themed escape rooms that we’ve ever done.
Day 1 - SeaWorld Orlando
Our first park day was Saturday the 10th, and we headed over to SeaWorld Orlando. As mentioned earlier, this was our first trip to this park, and I was excited to ride some new coasters. I started with Manta, which might be my new favorite flying coaster. I loved the part where you buzz right by a waterfall, followed by a spot that gets you extremely close to the ground.
After that was Kraken, a floorless coaster that I enjoyed, thought I didn’t find that it did much to stand out from other similar models. I also got in a ride on Journey to Atlantis, which just barely qualifies as a roller coaster. I did appreciate the dark ride section at the beginning as well as the splashdowns, and the coaster section was very brief but enjoyable. After that, my wife and I got in a few rides on Mako, a B&M hyper with some fantastic airtime. There was almost no wait, so we got to experience both the front and back rows. This one was definitely a standout ride in the park.
Penguin Trek, the park’s newest roller coaster, was a pleasant family ride with a couple of decent launches. It was a bit shaky though, and there weren’t really any standout elements, but we still had fun. Next up was Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, a unique prototype standup coaster that was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit this park. Fortunately it did not disappoint. I’ve never been a huge fan of standup coasters, but this one has restraints that actually let you get airtime while you’re standing up. It’s such a novel sensation, and we got to experience it in both the second row and back row. I’m a fan of unique coasters, so I loved it.
After that, we swung by the park’s kiddie coaster, Super Grover’s Box Car Derby. It reminded me of the Harley Quinn coaster at my home park, Great Adventure. The last coaster of the day was Ice Breaker, a quirky ride with a swing launch. It was fun but had a couple of rough spots that knocked it down a bit in my rankings.
As for the non-coaster rides, we also did Expedition Odyssey, a basic but enjoyable flying theater ride similar to Soarin’. I also took a ride on Infinity Falls, a rapids ride with a huge elevator lift that takes you up to the final drop. I’ve never been on a rapids ride quite like it. We also tried out the Sky Tower, which provided a beautiful view of the park and the surrounding area.
We only had one meal at the park - a vegan burger. We had to get it without the bun since the staff weren’t sure if that part was vegan friendly. It was a little odd to have a burger on lettuce, and it may not look too good, but it was surprisingly tasty.