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July 2, 2012
The work going on in Antarctica is going really fast now, with a huge section of steel in place.
Work continues on the store and restaurant as well.
The new steel framework is really impressive, more than three stories high now.
A big pile of I-beams ready to go up next.	Overview of the site.	The steel frame is visible from all around the park.
There's a new place for turkey legs next to Antarctica.		There's a new BBQ Express window being added to the Voyagers restaurant.
There was a new baby dolphin born on June 30th, and the SeaWorld staff is monitoring baby and mom around the clock.	The baby is the dark grey little fin in the middle between mom and a helper dolphin.	Hard to see here, but he or she is right there next to mom, and REALLY cute!
Its the summer season now, so the Sesame Street show is back daily in the mornings.	The Reflections fireworks are running nightly through August 12th.	SeaWorld offers so much to passholders throughout the year.
Over in Happy Harbor the ship has received new paint and sails and looks good.
May 22, 2012
	Lots of work going on the Empire of the Penguins area. They appear to be pouring a lot of concrete for the new ride area. That seems to be the focus of the work crews right now while the restaurant and shops remain basically unchanged for now.
They've closed off the former First Aid outpost with a new construction wall.	Dine with Shamu looks like it will be re-opening any day now.
May 2, 2012
Work continues on Antarctica	The new artwork featuring the trackless ride vehicles is up on the construction fences	Overview of the site
Tons of rebar have arrived	Down in the pit they've poured concrete already	Workers are finishing stripping parts of the existing building
HUGE pile of dirt from the excavation	That's a BIG pit they've dug	Workers were all over the existing building doing prep work
Turtle Trek is now open and it's really good!
Entry sign	Wait time sign	They are issuing Fast Pass style tickets for days when the line gets really long
To prepare for the crowds the Garden of Discoveries has be turned into overflow queue for Turtle Trek	Of course there's a shop for all of your Turtle Trek needs
The turtle and manatee habitats are really great (as expected)
Besides the awesome 3-D film, there are games to help kids learn about the turtles	Be an everyday hero! Journey on!	For the pin collectors there are Turtle Trek pins and lanyards
There's even a Passmember Exclusive pin available	The former Turtle Point area is now home to pelicans	The old Loggerhead Larry's store is now Flamingo Pointe
The pavement was recently resurfaced here	They're refreshing this mural on the pathway to the Sky Tower	The new baby harbor seals at Pacific Point are really cute!
March 29, 2012
With the bulk of the demolition done, excavation is now going on between the buildings
So it looks like the back third of the building is being preserved and re-used as part of the new attraction as shown in the story on Park Rumors.
The old pool area looks really different now		Those are some BIG piles of dirt
The remaining part of the building looks much taller than it used to	The excavation is right up to the shop and restaurant
It was also interesting to note that the same construction company at work on Antarctica is also working on the project at Universal Orlando		It looks like the new quick rising floor in the Dine With Shamu tank is in place and testing. It's in the raised position here and it would be interesting to see it operate and how fast it can raise.
After a couple of weeks of rehab, the Jewels of the Sea Aquarium at Journey to Atlantis has re-opened and looks good. In addition a pair of seahorse topiaries has been added at the entrance to the gift shop.
March 9, 2012
The row of I-beams that held up the roof is now gone and the building is about half the size it was last week		The construction site grew a little bit with the fence being pushed out a little further into the pathway
Overview of the Antarctica area	The foundation for the 1970's fountain is coming out of the middle of the area	This section that was a backstage area is almost gone
With the roof gone you can really see what had been the main penguin exhibit area. The pool area in front of and below the "land" area is blue, and the back of the exhibit which had been "rocks" still has bits of the blue "sky" from the back wall of the exhibit.
Bit by bit it's all coming out...	Another dumpster arrives to take away more debris	The overall building is now about a quarter of the size it started out as.
Over at Turtle Trek there's more finish work going on with color being added to the new facade		The opening date and new QR codes have been added to the walls. It seems like Earth Day (just 5 days earlier) would have been the better choice
The crew was finishing up the new roofing on the exhibit	They've added a new merchandise cart with penguin stuff to help make up for the closed area	It looks like they're doing some testing on the Dine with Shamu pool's new floor
March 2, 2012
Still working hard over at Penguin Plaza	Friends of the Wild and Antarctic Market are both gutted and down to the bare bones
There's just a crater over where the Puffin area was.	Overview of the site	The big flat area now opened up behind the Kraken station
They've started tearing out the actual penguin display area inside the building. You can see the underwater and land areas here.		There's even a vehicle inside the building
We watched as the excavator inside the building tore out everything in the roof between the girders. They're methodically stripping away everything around the steel beams.
Work is still happening all around Turtle Trek as they get ready for the April 27th opening date.		Over at Shamu's Happy Harbor there's a construction wall around the area where the train has been setup since Christmas.
February 24, 2012
The Penguin building is about half the size it was when it started. The 1970's fountain that was in the middle of the plaza has finally been removed (I was beginning to think they were going to build around it!)
If I had to guess, the rest of the building should be down and cleared away by mid-March.	Workers removed the hill and the fence behind Kraken's station really opening things up back there and creating more space. Don't know if that will become part of the new attraction area or if it's just to clear things out for the construction site.
Slowly but surely it's all being cleaned up		Workers were all over the Antarctic Market roof
The Friends of the Wild shop has been stripped back to the shell, so it's ready for the construction phase	The Aquarium at Journey to Atlantis has been closed for the past week and it looks like they're doing some rehab work.
Work continues on the Turtle Trek attraction with the final paint colors starting to go on and the fiberglass work finishing up. The opening date is set for April 27th, so they still have two months to get things done.
February 11, 2012
They got a lot of the building torn down in the last few days, but there's a lot of debris to remove
The building is torn down to the old penguin viewing window which is now clearly visible
The area alongside the building is cleared completely	Antarctic Market	Friends of the Wild
They cleared the bird habitat from the end of the building, but there are now mylar streamers hanging in the openings and the corner post has been marked "DEMO" so I assume that's next to go.		New maps out with the construction area marked as Antarctica
The arched opening to Turtle Trek is really coming along		The rotunda has been painted and is looking really good
I hear Turtle Trek should begin testing soon!	The BBQ vendors brought mobile kitchens to the event
Lots of sponsors for the event	Food vendors	And T-shirts on sale
Orlando has more advertising Beetles than anywhere in the world!	Music and dancing at the second stage
People seem to be having a great time, and there were big crowds for the first day of the festival despite the cooler temperatures and breeze		SeaWorld's own BBQ stand
Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar-B-Que		Sonny's
Wesley's B-B-Q	There's a Beer Garden setup in Ports of Call with lots of choices
There are Harley's on display, and you can even get your picture on one!		Conversion of the park's soda machines to Coke products is in full swing, with many locations now featuring the full line
February 8, 2012
Demolition of the Penguin Encounter building is in full-swing
Friends of the Wild is gutted but you can see where the 70's zigzag windows used to be		The Puffin wing coming down
There's just tons of debris all over, and dumpsters loaded up to go out
It looks like they're being methodical about the demolition...possibly saving components for the new buildings
At this rate the site should be cleared in a few weeks	Having the Sky Tower open to all guests is great, and they've got it open to Quick Queue as well	Over at Shamu Stadium they're still working on Dining with Shamu
They're working on the floor and from what I hear they are still figuring out how it will all work and there is no set re-opening date yet		The orcas were all lined up
This weekend Bands, Brew & BBQ starts!	The festival area is all set for the event
February 1, 2012
Workers appear to be disconnecting all the cooling/refrigeration systems on the old Penguin Encounter building in preparation for demolition.		Work is still continuing on the new facade for Turtle Trek. From all we've heard about it, it sounds amazing!
January 31, 2012
The entire Penguin Plaza area has been stripped of vegetation and all of the shade structures, leaving the funky 70's fountain as one of the only things still in place aside from the buildings. The area beside the penguin building has also been cleared showing just how big the area for the new attraction will be.
The Friends of the Wild store has been completely gutted, but it is our understanding that the building will be staying and getting re-themed as part of the new area, while Antarctic market and Penguin building are being completely demolished.		All the debris is being chopped up and packed into dumpsters to be hauled away.
You can see right through Antarctic Market now.		The little drink stand is coming down now.
The workers are being very deliberate about tearing things down and packing up the debris.		The overhangs on the buildings were the first things stripped away.
January 26, 2012
Demolition on the Antarctic Market has begun
The trees alongside the Penguin building have been removed and are sitting in a big pile to be hauled away
By late afternoon the whole overhang was gone.  Hard to say if the whole building will be demolished or if it's just going to be remodeled once it's down to a simple box.
	The concrete pad along the pathway has become a temporary store
Nice discount for the Just For Kids event	Journey To Atlantis has reopened after rehab
With unseasonably warm temperatures in the 80's all week, a lot of people were riding to cool off!
January 16, 2012
	The Just for Kids festival is underway with special performances each Saturday in January.
The construction walls around the Antarctica area have been expanded and graphics have been added.
It's a great teaser for the new area coming in 2013.
The game that was on the edge of the Atlantis area is now under Manta's drop, and a new pad has been poured up the walkway for another stand or game.
The construction walls extend all the way back to Pacific Point and the gates at the back of Kraken.
Turtle Trek is coming along, with a new decorative facade being applied to the entrance area.
January 7, 2012
The Christmas merchandise has been packed away and 2012 merchandise is now out	Wild Arctic has reopened	Sea of Trees are still in place waiting to get packed up until next year
Working on the lift hill as part of the annual rehab	The water is being pumped out of the retention ponds	The boats are up out of the water
The penguins are down from the wall and the building is all closed up.	The games have been removed	The fountain is turned off and it looks like the shop has been cleared out.
January 4, 2012
The new map with the construction area closed off.	Rehab time for Journey To Atlantis
The handout map showing the area open but without the penguin building.	The ride just closed today and the crew is already hard at work.
Walled off entrance	Lights for night work	With the freeze, plants all around the park were wrapped up.
All the pathways to Penguin Plaza have been walled off and workers are busy removing merchandise and other materials from the shop and restaurant.
	Turtle Trek is coming along, with the scaffolding now down from around the rotunda where the dome will be. The new painted sides look more modern than the old wooden slats. The entrance area is getting a new soffit as part of the transition.
The Christmas tree is down!	The cold and wind delayed opening the coasters. Once testing began the line started to form.	Aquatica was closed for weather.
December 2011
Work is happening all over the Manatee exhibit as the Turtle Trek show is being added

	Go To The Official SeaWorld Website For Current Park Information