''Journey to Atlantis'' features a small aquarium exhibit, "Jewels of the Sea", in its gift shop exit area. Inside, guests will find aquaria built into the floor and the ceiling of the exhibit, along with more traditional aquaria.
In March 2017, the ride finished its usual seasonal maintenance but Sea World changed the ride's whole theming, taking out all effects of the attraction'sevil charactersmermaids (Mainly the audio and lighting), as both Allura the evil mermaid and Hermes the fiber-optic seahorse are entirely absent in the upgraded version. Guests instead sail past remnants of the characters – often static figures – that remain unlit and unanimated. In fact, riders even sail beneath the enormous "Medusa" figure of Allura – now mostly-concealed by darkness – with the lift hill beyond lit with soothing blue, as Allura's piercing green eyes had been taken out as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://attractionsmagazine.com/evil-mermaids-removed-from-journey-to-atlantis-ride-at-seaworld-orlando/|title=Evil mermaids removed from Journey to Atlantis ride at SeaWorld Orlando|last=Roseboom|first=Matt|date=March 27, 2017|website=Attractions Magazine|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=September 28, 2018}}</ref> The musical score and sound effects that once narrated the emotional arc of the ride disappeared too, and The ride's score was replaced with a continuous loop of soothing, ambiant, relaxing music (borrowed from the park's closed cirque-style ''A'lure – Call of the Ocean show'') with generic celebratory Greek music on any exterior parts.
For a brief period prior to 2017, the Original version of the ride received mixed reviews, with complaints from parents and their families that the ride terrified their children as was considered too scary even for younger kids, and criticized the ride for its intensity.
