Ice Breaker is the new quadruple launch coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. This attraction was marketed
as a family coaster, but it offers a deceptively wild experience with a beyond vertical spike and
nearly a dozen airtime moments. And most recently, the height restriction had to be raised to 54”,
which is much higher than almost every family coaster out there.
I pegged Ice Breaker as a sleeper hit for 2022 and I think it delivered. This
may be the best coaster Premier Rides has ever built. Find out why in this review!
After Blackfish, SeaWorld has been placing a greater emphasis on rides, specifically roller
coasters. SeaWorld Orlando had a top heavy lineup with three Bolliger & Mabillard creations in Mako,
Manta, and Kraken. These three rides are very popular, but they have a 54” height requirement.
For younger guests, their only coaster options were Super Grover’s Box Car Derby, a Zierer
kiddie coaster, and Journey to Atlantis, a Mack water coaster with only a short coaster section.
Ice Breaker was announced for the 2020 season and it looked poised to solve two
gaps in SeaWorld’s lineup. First, it would offer that transition coaster in between
Journey to Atlantis and the big B&Ms. Second, it would be the park’s first launch coaster.
But right as Ice Breaker started testing, the covid-19 pandemic hit the United States. This
shut the park down for nearly 3 months. Unlike some parks that chose to still open their new
rides anyway in 2020, SeaWorld decided to postpone all of the chain’s attractions until 2021. Ice
Breaker had a new expected opening date of Spring 2021.
Flash forward a year and Ice Breaker tested regularly with employees. But it never opened to
the public. SeaWorld quietly changed the opening dates for all their new attractions from Spring
2021 to Anticipated 2021. That verbiage was not a good sign and SeaWorld ultimately postponed all
their new rides yet again until 2022, presumably to maximize the return on investment on their
newest attractions. While this was a bummer as a consumer, especially for people who bought
2020 or 2021 season passes primarily for these new attractions, Ice Breaker has been worth the wait.
The coaster officially opened a few weeks ago after weeks of passholder previews.
I visited on a mildly busy weekday after the coaster opened to the public and there
were three observations on the wait time. First, Ice Breaker can have a staggered
opening. I heard it opens earlier on weekends, but on the weekday I visited Ice Breaker didn’t
open until an hour after the rest of the park. Two, Ice Breaker had several technical issues
the day I visited. I suspect Premier Rides and the park will get these issues sorted out in the
long run though given the proven switch track and LSM launch technology on other Premier coasters.
Three, the estimated wait time outside the attraction was often overestimated. I saw it
posted at 30 minutes several times, but my longest wait was just 15-20 minutes. And by the late
afternoon, the coaster was just a 1-2 cycle wait. Ice Breaker was running two trains. Each train has
3 cars with 3 rows, allowing each train to seat up to 18 riders.
Unfortunately, these are the same trains used on the newer Premier Rides Sky Rocket coasters.
These trains are a royal pain to enter and they can be pretty darn cramped.
The pitch between rows is awkwardly small, particularly on the back row of each car. If
possible, I would avoid these seats. The lap bar seats differently and you have far less leg room,
which makes the shin guards uncomfortable. In the other rows, the restraints are ok once seated.
They’re cramped but not painful. Ice Breaker includes the aforementioned
shin guards, a lap bar, and comfort collars. The lap bars are fine, but I would recommend
holding onto them once checked or else they can ratchet downwards during the coaster,
making it harder to experience this coaster’s airtime. As for the comfort collars, they don’t
impact the ride experience for me. They make it more cumbersome to enter and exit the trains,
but they barely touch me during the ride. These were
added at the request of the manufacturer. Premier Rides wanted a redundant safety restraint.
Seatbelts are challenging to check in the Premier trains once the lap bars are lowered, so the
comfort collars were created as an alternative since they clip on the outside of the lap bar.
However, they had an unintended consequence with Ice Breaker.
The coaster was supposed to open with a 48” height restriction.
However, smaller guests could hit the harness’s clip during a sudden stop.
So the height restriction was raised to 54” like the other Premier coasters with comfort collars.
SeaWorld hopes this is a temporary measure until an alternate solution can be found
because it really hurts Ice Breaker’s appeal for the family demographic.
Seating was typically assigned, but you could request a row.
I thought both the front and back cars were great, but I had a slight preference for the back.
Before delving into the ride experience, I want to talk about this coaster’s theming
or lack thereof. Ice Breaker has an incredible looking entrance with the ice caps,
which is fitting given its proximity to the former Wild Arctic ride.
And the queue line features some informational signs about the arctic.
But there is zero theming in the station or along the main course.
I do like the coaster’s general appearance though. The bright orange track really pops
and I love the ride’s placement by the water. Once dispatched, you roll forwards onto a switch
track. You then slide sideways onto the launch track. This system is ingenious since it allows
for multiple train operation on a shuttle coaster. I was surprised there wasn’t much of a pause once
the switch track aligns. Once it’s in place, you blast off backwards almost immediately.
The launch sequence is interesting since it features so many launches,
these little humps on both sides, plus the larger top hat and beyond vertical spike.
The initial launch is rather weak, which isn’t too surprising given it’s a backwards one. You
meekly climb over the first hump, getting no airtime. But if you’re in the back car,
you will get a pinch of weightlessness as you climb up a tiny section of the spike.
You then hit the second launch, which has more power.
It’s not that forceful, but it does build an appreciable amount of speed. You then
rise over the other small hump, which gives weak floater airtime this time.
The train then partially climbs the 80 foot or 24 meter tall top hat and stalls out,
which gives some good weightlessness in the front car. You then slide backwards over the
aforementioned hump, which again offers some weak floater airtime going down.
The third launch was barely noticeable, but it did build up a little more speed.
Now this time when you head over the backwards hump, you get a decent pop of airtime.
Then you ascend the 93 foot or 28 meter tall beyond vertical spike.
You don’t feel the 100 degree angle in most rows, but you absolutely feel it in the back
car since you travel up a majority of the spike. The back car gets some glorious weightlessness.
Those towards the front don’t get nearly as much. The descent back down to the launches gives weak
floater towards the front and a better pop of airtime towards the back.
You then hit the final launch, accelerating the train to its max speed of 52 mph
or 84 kph. The fourth launch is another that doesn’t really feel that powerful,
but Ice Breaker then goes berserk. This first half may honestly be a bit much for a family coaster.
This time, the forwards hump delivers a very strong
and violent pop of ejector airtime. I think it’s the strongest airtime moment in Orlando.
You get flung out of your seat no matter where you’re sitting.
And then you head over the top hat. The front car gets strong ejector airtime over the top
and some float on the descent. The back car gets the inverse as they start floating out
of their seat at the apex and then they get nice ejector airtime on the descent.
Ice Breaker then rips around a fast, low turn before zooming over back-to-back bunny hills.
These little hills each deliver great pops of ejector airtime. The power of this ride
is shocking given its targeted audience. You then hit the far turnaround. The twist
upwards is pretty compact and it has some decent force to it. While the front won’t
get any airtime on this element, the back car gets some floater airtime on the subsequent descent.
The next element is a wave turn. It’s not as extreme as those on an RMC.
Ice Breaker’s offers weak floater airtime that’s a bit more sustained towards the back,
but it’s still cool to see more manufacturers trying these sideways airtime moments.
The next element is the lone dud on the main layout. You have this twisted hill under the
top hat. It’s way too elongated to offer any airtime. At best, you get a mild headchopper.
You then zip over one final bunny hill. It delivers a pretty good
pop of ejector airtime on par with the final hills on a lot of RMCs.
You then hop into the brake run, which delivers a decent ejector pop in the front car,
but the train decelerates too quickly for those further back in the train to get any airtime.
Ice Breaker technically only has 1900 feet or 579 meters of track,
but you basically travel 50% more track then that because of the extended swing launch sequence.
So Ice Breaker definitely doesn’t feel like a short ride.
From the third launch onwards, Ice Breaker has strong pacing. Most elements deliver
shocking airtime, particularly the top hat and smaller bunny hills. I couldn’t believe
how much power they had for a ride of this scale. The first two launches were just ok,
but I think that was necessary as a warm-up for a ride that was intended to be for families.
And the ride was glass smooth as well, which is typical for most Premier Rides coasters.
So what would I rate Ice Breaker? I would give this launch coaster a 9 out of 10.
I really liked Ice Breaker. The ride had way stronger airtime that anticipated.
I think this is the best coaster in Orlando for ejector airtime. This coaster is a dynamic ride
experience that’s very reridable too. The ride’s biggest flaw is the train design, which I really
hope Premier can revisit on future coasters. But I also wish the launches had more oomph to them.
But ultimately, this is a very good coaster and it made my top 100 steel coasters.
This is neck-and-neck with West Coast Racers for my favorite coaster from Premier Rides.
So those are my thoughts on Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando. What are your thoughts
on the Orlando’s newest roller coaster? Do you think this ride is the sleeper hit of 2022?
Let me know what you think down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it
if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!