Re-Ranked: The Top 11 Attractions at SeaWorld Orlando

Welcome back to another “Ranked" article here on Laughing Place. Over the last few years, SeaWorld Orlando has really been on a streak by adding a new attraction every year. In the time since this ranking was last updated, the park has added two new attractions – Penguin Trek and Expedition Odyssey. Now that I’ve had a chance to ride those, in addition to the Flamingo Paddle Boats, let’s see how everything from SeaWorld Orlando ranks.

Note: This list will not include any shows, animal exhibits, or most of the attractions from Sesame Street Land. My opinions have definitely shuffled around slightly since I initially did this list, so if you want to see my original ranking, click here.

12. Super Grover’s Box Car Derby

Super Grover’s Box Car Derby is a simple kids roller coaster that offers minimal thrills for adults, but is just perfect for what it is. If you’ve been on The Barnstormer at the Magic Kingdom or Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, then you know exactly what to expect here.

11. Flamingo Paddle Boats

Flamingo Paddle Boats are an up-charge boat attraction located in one corner of the park’s massive lagoon. The attraction does exactly what it says on the tin, you paddle a boat that is shaped like a flamingo. This ride definitely gives you a workout, so make sure you’re prepared for that – especially in the blistering Florida heat! Looking past the exercise, you get some truly lovely views of the park from here, making the experience a worthwhile one.

10. Sky Tower

The Sky Tower provides a six minute slowly rotating view of all that SeaWorld Orlando has to offer. You get great views of all the coasters from 400 ft in the air, twice the height of the park’s tallest coaster, Mako! It’s great to have the attraction back, as it reopened within the last year after a pandemic related closure. It’s a great way to escape the heat and relax during the middle of your day at the “Coaster Capital of Orlando."

9. Infinity Falls

Infinity Falls is perhaps the best river rafting ride in the Orlando area. The theming is pretty minimal, however there is a lot of beautiful landscaping in addition to flamingos on display at the start of the ride. Things start off with a fun rapids section featuring some slight, but sudden drops. You then go up a regular lift hill, through more rapids, and then up a vertical lift and down one of the biggest drops on any river rafting ride in the world. Be forewarned though, you will get very wet!

8. Expedition Odyssey

After multiple years of new coaster additions, including one replacing a former dark ride, SeaWorld Orlando really needed a different kind of new ride, and preferably an indoor one. That’s exactly what we got with Expedition Odyssey, a flying theater which replaced the old Wild Arctic simulator attraction. The bones of Wild Arctic – specifically the impressive post-show animal exhibits – make for a good location for this flying theater. However, everything added feels under-themed compared to the pre-existing sections. The queue is basically just black walls with a few posters scattered here and there. As for the attraction itself, it is a serviceable flying theater, with some great dynamic motion. Unfortunately, much of the drone footage is noticeably shaky, which really takes you out of the immersion. It’s also inevitable that comparisons will be made to the similar Soarin’ at EPCOT, and unfortunately, Expedition Odyssey just doesn’t hold a candle to the over 20-year-old classic.

7. Journey to Atlantis

Sadly, Journey to Atlantis is a sad shell of its former self. While the impressive facade, queue and sets still stand, a previous storyline to the attraction was ripped clean before I ever had the chance to ride. What still remains is a fun and pretty ride that unfortunately lacks any real substance. I must say though, I really do enjoy the music that plays during the second half of the ride. A jazzy tune that definitely gets stuck in your head.

6. Penguin Trek

SeaWorld Orlando’s newest roller coaster is also its most family-friendly one. Penguin Trek opened in 2024, serving as a replacement for the park’s one and only dark ride, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin. Unlike Expedition Odyssey, the queue for Penguin Trek is excellently themed, as you feel like you’re in some sort of Antarctic base camp. The ride itself begins with a fun dark ride section inside the building, a welcome sight for this park. Following the brief slow section, you blast off into a relatively tame outdoor layout, featuring two launches and a number of twists and turns. My only gripe with Penguin Trek is that it is oddly rough and shaky for such a new ride.

5. Ice Breaker

Repeat rides have heightened my opinion of Ice Breaker. On the whole, I thought this was a very fun ride. Not quite as crazy as say Tigris at Busch Gardens Tampa, but still providing some fun moments and decent pops of airtime. Probably the best part of the ride is quad-launch at the beginning, that gets faster each time you pass through. By the end, you’re flying out of your seat as the train goes over the airtime hills. Now that the park has removed the cumbersome comfort collars from the trains, I’m excited to try Ice Breaker out and see if that change bumps it up in my ranking at all.

4. Kraken

Kraken is SeaWorld’s first major coaster, and even though it's over 20 years old, it still holds up alongside its brothers remarkably well. Featuring 7 different inversions on a floorless coaster car, Kraken is intense and smooth. Some of my favorite moments on the ride come when the ride dives down into trenches, adding an extra level of thrill to the proceedings.

3. Pipeline: The Surf Coaster

Pipeline: The Surf Coaster was a wild surprise to me and many other coaster enthusiasts. This is the first stand-up coaster built in over 20 years, and the design has been updated to allow for more comfort. There’s a little extra give to the seat, which is not firmly fixed in one place, allowing you to “bounce" a little during the ride. This updated design not only allows for more freedom, but also more airtime. There are a few moments where your legs will go flying, a sensation unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Add to that an excellent presentation with a lightly themed station, wonderful water effects, and Pipeline really is the sleeper hit of 2023.

2. Manta

SeaWorld Orlando’s largest high thrill coasters are all designed and built by Bolliger & Mabillard (including Pipeline). One of the more unique ones is Manta, a flying coaster that sends you twisting and careening over fountains, next to a waterfall and through the sky. The most intense part of the ride is undoubtedly the pretzel loop, named so because it looks like a giant pretzel. This inversion thrusts you onto your back and is one of the most intense feelings on any coaster. If the intention truly is to make you feel like you’re flying, then this ride really does the job!

1. Mako

Mako is not only my favorite coaster and ride at SeaWorld Orlando, but it's also one of my favorite coasters, period. This hypercoaster (or coaster over 200 feet tall) is just pure fun. The anticipation is really built by an excellent queue soundtrack that gets more epic as you get to the station and even while going up the lift hill. Once the car disengages from the lift, that’s where the real fun begins, as you plummet down a 200 ft drop, and into a series of airtime hills that really do provide that floating air sensation. Mako always gives me a big grin and is just one of those coasters that is simply pure fun.

I hope you all enjoyed this ranking of my Top 9 attractions at SeaWorld Orlando. If you want to see some more theme park rankings, feel free to check out some of my other “Ranked" articles listed below: