BY SETH KUBERSKY
Be sure to bring your inner child to these two highly anticipated, just-opened Orlando attractions After a month of momentous
shows and events, I welcomed last week’s opportunity to lighten up with a couple of highly anticipated but less weighty Orlando attractions. While both are sure to please their intended patrons, neither proved to be exactly what I expected, making this week’s column an impromptu object lesson in learning to appreciate things even when you are not the target audience. When I began reporting in 2019 on Ice Breaker, the new roller coaster that’s currently in previews at SeaWorld Orlando, it was anticipated to open in spring 2020. Nearly two years later, I was finally able to strap into one of the Premiere Rides– designed trains I saw at IAAPA 2019 and try SeaWorld’s first multiple-launch coaster for myself during a recent media event ahead of its official opening on Feb. 18. Ice Breaker’s Arctic theming is pretty bare-bones, with minimal queue decor and no audio or effects along the route, although you do get a lovely view of SeaWorld’s central lake. The attraction delivers its neatest trick right out of the gate, as the 18-passenger trains exit the station directly into a track switch that smoothly slides you laterally into a backward launch that sends you partway up the ride’s signature 93 foot-tall spike. After that, a series of additional launches thrust you forward, halfway up a twisting top hat; backward again, toward the spike’s peak; and finally forward once more through the remainder of the circuit, which consists of tight turns and bunny hills around an unglamorous backstage area. I only had the opportunity to experience Ice Breaker twice, but that was enough to know this smooth coaster delivers radically different experiences depending on which seat you select. In the front rows, you experience some wonderful weightlessness during the abortive initial forward ascent, but the track’s remaining 13 moments of airtime are of the mild floater variety. The back seats, on the other hand, provide surprisingly energetic amounts of ejector airtime for what is essentially “kiddie’s first VelociCoaster.” That unexpected kick for a family-friendly coaster would easily make Ice Breaker worthy of rerides for adult enthusiasts, if it weren’t for some design decisions that may doom it to be unfriendly for grown-
‘DRAGONS & FAIRIES’ AT LEU GARDENS | PHOTO BY SETH KUBERSKY
up crowds. The ride vehicles are extremely restrictive, with insufficient leg room to cross between seats; the shin guards turn pleasurable pops of airtime into ankle agony; and over-the-shoulder “comfort collars” seem to serve no purpose except slowing down boarding. With a carrying capacity well under 1,000 riders per hour, Ice Breaker is certain to see epic wait times during its long-awaited opening season, so you may choose to fuel up with a colorful cocktail or Kobe beef slider from the adjoining Glacier Bar and Altitude Burger before getting in the queue. Meanwhile, I’ll be across the park in line for another lap on my old favorites, Mako and Manta. Back in the heart of Orlando, Creative City Project’s latest theatrical walking experience has debuted. “Dragons & Fairies” finally emerged in Leu Gardens, after a week’s postponement due to shipping delays. I fell hard for “Dazzling Nights” and “Down the Rabbit Hole,” the organization’s previous pandemic-era walk-throughs, finding them even more enjoyable than Creative City’s signature Immerse street festival. Participants once again traverse a wonderland of imaginatively illuminated trees, encountering live actors along the trail. This version weaves an original fable — obviously influenced by The Wizard of Oz and Labyrinth, among other classics — following Freya (performed by Zoe Rosas during my visit), a headstrong orphan fairy with a charmingly incomprehensible brogue, and her flightless dragon friend Dauntless (Adonus Mabry) as they petition a powerful wizard (Brett McMahon)
to rescind the decree that keeps their kinds separated. Creative City’s latest collaboration with director/scriptwriter/costumer Donald Spencer didn’t enchant me to nearly the same degree as the last, despite sharing many of the same design elements, but that’s largely because I’m about four decades too old to really appreciate it. While the candy-colored lighting design rivals Disney’s bioluminescent Pandora and the enthusiastic cast fully commits to their roles, the writing and direction lack the sly sharpness that made last year’s Alice-inspired show so delicious for adults. Kids, however, will be enamored of comical characters like the bickering trolls (James D. Stanley, Gregg Baker Jr.), and young ones will definitely be more awed by the attraction’s heavily hyped half-dozen dragons (from Chinese manufacturer Gengu) than their parents, who are likely to notice that the inconsistently sculpted and scaled figures’ stiff movements more closely resemble Christmas lawn ornaments than any animatronic you’d find in an Orlando theme park. I’d imagine locally built creatures with human puppeteers would have been far more expressive and less expensive. Although “Dragons & Fairies” seemed to me like a series of missed opportunities, when viewed through the eyes of the enthralled pre-schooler in my party, it was a rousing success. If you go, be sure to bring your inner child — and maybe grab a cup of hot cider from Easy Luck’s booth before beginning your quest, because even dragon fire can’t warm up these frigid Florida nights. skubersky@orlandoweekly.com orlandoweekly.com
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FEB. 2-8, 2022 ● ORLANDO WEEKLY
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