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I don't want to go to SeaWorld and just not experience the VR, even if I only do it once. That said, it would be a crying shame if something like that happened. I mean literally. Kraken is probably my favorite coaster there.

To me, Kraken has a similar "pull" sensation to Alpengeist, but it feels like it has more positive g-forces. It isn't as jolting as Kumba though, which I might equate to a very well-designed Arrow. This is somewhere in-between.

I hope that SeaWorld/Busch Gardens has a good enough experience with Battle of Eire to choose not to do this in the future with a roller coaster.
 
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Update (now that I'm home)

I actually enjoyed my visit earlier this month than this visit. I felt that this was because for the reasons I outline below.

Mako is amazing. Better than Apollo and easily the best ride in the park. It totally increased park's value proposition for me.

I didn't do any shows. Which meant more time to just do the park at my own pace.

I did the shark tour. I didn't learn anything, but it was cool to see the facilities.


One thing that made me sad is that Journey to Atlantis no longer has any story. :(
 
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I was at SWO December 27.

Now I love SeaWorld Orlando. It's my favorite park I've been to.

...I really do not like Kraken Unleashed's VR. At all. I think Kraken sans VR is a million times better. The new theming is cohesive enough imo, but I think the old was better. Also, why did we have to lose the kraken head at the entrance? I liked the kraken head.:p
As for the VR itself..
It kills capacity. I waited in line for 30 minutes WITH SpotSaver.
I felt like the headset would slip off for a lot of the ride, so I was holding it on most of the time, just in case. Also, I can get weirdly sensitive about things, and I hated the feel of it on my head.:p That is just me, though, and if I had found the VR impressive instead of disappointing, I don't think it would have bothered me as much.
I personally just found it very...blah. I didn't have high expectations for it honestly, and it didn't even meet that. I MUCH prefer the real-life surroundings rather than what was going on in the VR. Also, for me, the VR actually TOOK AWAY some of the thrill factor rather than adding to it. I know that sounds odd, but I would rather see the real things in the park going upside down as you go through the inversions rather than...looping around underwater. Yay. /sarcasm mode.
I feel like a lot of the VR's appeal would be from NOT knowing what comes next, and I have Kraken's layout memorized, so that is meh for me. I know exactly when all of the inversions are. This does not wreck non-VR coasters for me. I like memorizing ride layouts. But I do think it 'messed up' the VR in my head, because I was thinking "drop, vertical loop, dive loop, etc". I LOVE doing that on coasters, but I would say to try NOT to think like that when riding; maybe it would help.:)

After all my negativity...I do think the new theming is cohesive. I just prefer the old. The ride does feel smoother. A LOT smoother, actually. I heard people saying how much they liked it. (Though, I heard one girl say the VR made her feel sick. She didn't like not knowing where she was going.:p)

Also, on a silly note, I now know eating a full meal before riding a coaster doesn't make me sick. I ate chicken tenders and fries just before riding and felt perfectly fine.;) That test was not done on purpose; it just happened because of when my SpotSaver time was and when we all had lunch. I just thought it was funny.
 
So far as I can tell VR is a complete disaster on roller coasters. To be fair my sole experience is at Funspot America Orlando. Sadly i have been told it is actually the best. (that, and well all of this is purely opinion)
I suspect the first potentially effective use of VR will be in BGW's Ireland. (frankly the system seems complicated, but if it works at least loading should be fairly efficient.)
 
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