SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

[Onionbelt]

Love the report from media day!

 

I got there pretty late today (around 3:30pm) and managed to squeeze in 4 rides before a huge thunderstorm rolled in and closed everything down. Operations were very good the whole time I was there. They were filling all empty seats and dispatching trains pretty quickly. Only holdups I saw were from people that had to take the walk of shame. Unfortunately this ride isn't friendly to people with big thighs.

 

It was awesome to see Mako with all the theming and show elements finished. SeaWorld did a great job here. I especially love the new realm music, and the ceiling screen effects in the station. My opinion of the ride remains about the same: It's an improved version of Nitro. And I love Nitro!

 

Great first drop, lots of airtime, and nice pacing & speed throughout the whole ride. I'd rank it as one of the best coasters in Orlando and I think it'll be a big hit for SeaWorld.

[chargersmichael]

^That sounds great!

 

I'm going to the park on Monday early in the morning. What row do you recommend is the best? We were thinking of doing once in the front and once in the back but if the line is really long by the time we get off, we might just do it once. What do you guys recommend?

[colinx]

Everything about this ride looks really great, the one thing I'm not crazy about it the entrance/flyover/shipwreck area. It doesn't look as good as the concept art, but everything else like the music, queue and area as a whole look amazing!

[ttime118]

I just got back from Orlando yesterday. We did SW last Sunday and I have to say it was my favorite park that we did. I'm a big roller coster guy so I loved all 3 of the rides.

 

Manta was awesome! I've never been on a coaster that laid you down like that. It was something awesome and that first loop is amazing on there.

 

Kraken was awesome as well. Good speed, nice elements...I really enjoyed it.

 

MAKO-- was a great ride. They were letting people ride so of course I got my rides in. I did it in the first row and back row. Amazing rides in front and back. Super fast and that first drop is so cool. I felt like my butt was never in the seat. Airtime all over the ride. My ride in the last row was amazing as well. Must ride it in the back row!!

 

We went and saw the the last shamu show of the night. I sat down low with the 2 kids that were with us and had a blast. We wanted to get soaked and we got soaked!! It was so cool!!

 

Overall, Sea World is a great place for a fun filled day!

[chargersmichael]

I'll be at SeaWorld tomorrow. I haven't been to SeaWorld in a while (since Manta opened in 2009). My mom always wears a fanny pack to theme parks and when Manta opened it wasn't allowed on. Has this policy changed? Also does anyone know if fanny packs are allowed on Mako??

 

Thanks!

[Maximo37]

I'll be at SeaWorld tomorrow. I haven't been to SeaWorld in a while (since Manta opened in 2009). My mom always wears a fanny pack to theme parks and when Manta opened it wasn't allowed on. Has this policy changed? Also does anyone know if fanny packs are allowed on Mako??

 

Thanks!

 

I don't know about Kraken or Manta... Mako however, the pre loading safety video specifically shows a man wearing a fanny pack... the team member stops him from pulling the restraint down, prompting him to slide it to the side (as to not impede on said restraint)... there is a strict no bag (backpack, purse, merchandise etc) policy and you will be directed to the paid lockers available at the entrance of the queue. Have fun. Welcome back to Sea World!

[chargersmichael]

Just got back from an overall great day at SeaWorld! This was the first time I have been to the park since Manta's opening in 2009.

 

We arrived around 8:15 a.m. The parking tolls didn't let people in until almost 8:45! Either way we were right to the rope drop so we could be the first ones on Mako.

 

The park was announced to be opened at 9 but the workers were instructed to hold us at the rope as they were doing filming of the ride. They didn't let people into the area until 9:35 this morning which of course made Mako have a huge line this morning. Regardless, we were instructed into the Nautilus Theatre and there was no opened door for the exit which became a mess really quick as people didn't know where to go and began to cut everyone. Finally, after opening a bunch of different doors a person came in and instructed us what to do but some people became angry as they lost their spot in line.

 

First ones on for the day in the front row! I absolutely loved this coaster! I think it is a perfect addition to SeaWorld. The first turn is really interesting and unique. Every hill I was not even touching the seat because of the amount of airtime! Personally, it feels a lot faster to me on the ride than it does when observing. The front row really did have great pops of air throughout the whole ride. Great theming and great experience!

 

Next we headed to Manta. I forgot how intense the Back Row was! Definitely an underrated attraction. Everything about this coaster is absolutely fun! Especially enjoy the splashdown effect towards the end of the ride.

 

Then we did Kraken front row. This seemed a lot rougher than I remembered but it is still an intense and fast coaster!

 

This was my first time experiencing Antarctica. I haven't watched any POVs as I like to be surprised and it wasn't as bad as the reviews were for me personally. Do I believe it is short? Yes. Do I believe it could have been better? Yes. Will I ride it every time I'm there? Probably not. However, this is a really interesting ride incorporating "cool" technology with a great penguin exhibit at the end of the attraction. It was definitely colder than I thought!

 

Journey to Atlantis was the same as I remembered and that's a good thing! This water ride is always a lot of fun!

 

We didn't really care to do Turtle Trek or Wild Arctic but we did care to see some shows. We saw One Ocean and Sea Lion High. Both great shows!

 

Right after the One Ocean show, Mako only had a 15 minute wait! As soon as we got in line, it broke down...we waited about an hour for it to reopen and it never did. After we left the park, we saw them testing the ride...

 

Other than a slow morning...we truly had a great day at SeaWorld! I believe Mako is the best coaster in Orlando and is a must-ride! Lots of airtime and lots of fun!

[Six Flags Haiti]

^The ops dispatched a train and one of the guests had a walking boot on. The operator saw it, signaled to stop the ride, but they didn't e-stop until the train got to about 185 feet on the lift. The ended up "evacing" the train that stopped half a foot from the proper stop in the station, left the guests on the brake run out there for about 25 minutes. They locked out and went up to take off the boot, and then sent the train on the way. All three trains were given bottled water and 1 time quick queue.

 

I was next in line for the front row, so I couldn't get any good shots of the poor supervisor who had to walk up about 18 stories because of the slow e-stop. I did get a good shot of the army of leadership that appeared.

 

There have been plenty of pics and opinions so the only $0.02 I will add is I love the widescreen HD monitor they have on the station. It shows which seats are clear (big boys and girls), as well as their hourly performance. For a quick reference, at the time of the incident described above it was about 23 after the hour, and they had only dispatched 12 trains. That would put them on pace for 28-30 for an hour. There was a decent line, 20-30 minutes and they had all 3 trains on.

[Cyrbuzz]

Finally got to ride the Mako this past week and all I can say is Wow! This is a great ride hands down and the themeing is top notch. I rode in the back and middle and got some great out of my seat airtime. Sea World has a winner here and I hope this gets the park back in the good numbers column again. They have done a great job with the coaster selection for this park and I look forward to what they do next.

[dwfan42]

Finally got to ride the Mako this past week and all I can say is Wow! This is a great ride hands down and the themeing is top notch. I rode in the back and middle and got some great out of my seat airtime. Sea World has a winner here and I hope this gets the park back in the good numbers column again. They have done a great job with the coaster selection for this park and I look forward to what they do next.

 

How does it compare to the other B&M Hypers, and what was the best airtime hill? Thanks a lot and God Bless

[CPmillenia94]

^Ive gotten plenty of rides on it now so I can give you my thoughts. I would say the airtime is stronger than other B&M hypers, BUT depending on how much the trim catches.. The first hill and speed hill consistently offer mild ejector, the return run hills vary from strong floater to ejector, and the post mid brake hill is usually mild floater. The first drop is definitely the best out of all the hypers, except for maybe apollos chariot which is on par in the very back row. For reference I think Nitro offers strong floater, and AC more mild.. still Id say it ranks about evenly with those. Maybe because its missing one nice forceful helix, but also because the post brake section feels like it dies out a bit. Though it seems it has been getting a bit faster lately in that post mcbr.. Either way its a damn good coaster!

[Sneetch2]

I was just on Mako and Nitro in the same week and I will have to agree with the people who say it's not a top 10 coaster by any means but great for Orlando. The first half is incredible and then that trim ruins things and after the mcbr it's a snooze fest. But I think SeaWorld has a winner on their hands. But maybe it's just me but I think the theming is terrible. They did a fantastic job with rides like Manta and Journey to Atlantis but I feel like they missed a huge opportunity by not putting real sharks in the queue and the whole shipwreck thing is poorly executed. But hey that's just my opinion.

[dwfan42]

^Ive gotten plenty of rides on it now so I can give you my thoughts. I would say the airtime is stronger than other B&M hypers, BUT depending on how much the trim catches.. The first hill and speed hill consistently offer mild ejector, the return run hills vary from strong floater to ejector, and the post mid brake hill is usually mild floater. The first drop is definitely the best out of all the hypers, except for maybe apollos chariot which is on par in the very back row. For reference I think Nitro offers strong floater, and AC more mild.. still Id say it ranks about evenly with those. Maybe because its missing one nice forceful helix, but also because the post brake section feels like it dies out a bit. Though it seems it has been getting a bit faster lately in that post mcbr.. Either way its a damn good coaster!

that sounds awesome! thanks for the reply!

[BGThrillseeker]

I'm gonna keep this as short as possible- what if the 400 ft tall Skytower at Seaworld Orlando was converted to a drop ride? The infrastructure is there, cables to lift the car, emergency brakes (which should be strengthened for regular use) and the tower is already built. Busch and Seaworld share many things in common- 200 ft tall roller coasters (Sheikra and Mako) Inverted coasters (Montu and Manta) and classic B&Ms (Kumba and Kraken). Why not add a drop tower to that list? Seaworld Orlando always seems to make more extreme versions of BGT thrill rides ie. Flying and floorless coasters. Falcons Fury could be matched with that 400 ft drop tower, making it the 2nd tallest drop tower in the world, and 4th tallest thrill ride overall after Kingda Ka, Top Thrill, and Zumanjaro and would be twice as tall as the next closest ride in Florida, Sheikra. It could have a similar facedown mechanism to Falcons Fury, but be held at 30 seconds to a minute at 400ft to raise the intensity, and then drop, not lowering the seats until it reaches the station. Honest thoughts: Is this viable? It seems far fetched, but maybe if we generate some buzz around this idea and spread the word, there's a possibility that Seaworld might build it! After all, it would be a low risk proposition, much, much cheaper than building any such thrill ride from the ground up, even after the cost of new hydraulics and an open rider gondola. Spread the word, 1000 miles starts with one step

[coasterbill]

1) I believe it's only about 330ft tall with a 70 foot crown and antenna.

 

2) No

[I love pie]

Isn't looking down at a 90° angle for 30 secs a little bit too extreme?

[Henry M]

Well, converting it into a drop tower is not a bad idea, however it does not need to have the tilting seats. It has been done before at Liseberg on Atmosphere and it is quite successful as a low intensity drop tower. However, Seaworld is a very family orientated park, and people of all ages can go on the observation tower, and for small kids, this could be quite thrilling, and it is fun for everyone, not just those over 1.4m tall.

[SteelForceless]

I doubt this would happen, but could they make a drop tower and an observatory tower in the same tower? On the tower would be two gondolas: A gondola made to drop as a thrilling attraction, and the other as an observation gondola that doubles as a catch car.. Both would rise to the top of the tower. After about 30 seconds, the drop gondola would fall to the ground. The observation gondola would then slowly descend to the ground and hook to the drop gondola, where both could be unloaded and loaded again.

[LiftThrill]

I doubt this would happen, but could they make a drop tower and an observatory tower in the same tower? On the tower would be two gondolas: A gondola made to drop as a thrilling attraction, and the other as an observation gondola that doubles as a catch car.. Both would rise to the top of the tower. After about 30 seconds, the drop gondola would fall to the ground. The observation gondola would then slowly descend to the ground and hook to the drop gondola, where both could be unloaded and loaded again.

 

That's actually a really cool idea. The only issue I could see would be the observation gondola not staying up all that long, but it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Maybe it's just me, but if you left me hanging face down for 30 seconds to a minute. . . I'd get bored. Hanging there for a few seconds is scary, but anything longer than that and the shock/wow/fear factor leaves and then it's just sitting around waiting.

[johnnyknottsville]

I'm not sure if it works like your idea but I believe Intamin does offer Observation/Drop ride combo towers. I'm also 100% sure with the right amount of money Intamin would convert Seaworld's tower into whatever they wanted, a 400 foot Falcon's Fury does sound amazing and I hate drop rides. Far as SeaWorld being more family oriented that is true but if that's the case they wouldn't have just opened a 200 foot hypercoaster. You'll be amazed some kids have more balls to ride some of these rides than the adults and I'm one of those adults lol I trip out at the kids I see getting on and off Lex luthor ready to hop back in line and ride it again, I rode it once and never will I again in LIFE!!!

[Henry M]

Maybe it's just me, but if you left me hanging face down for 30 seconds to a minute. . . I'd get bored. Hanging there for a few seconds is scary, but anything longer than that and the shock/wow/fear factor leaves and then it's just sitting around waiting.

 

I get you on that, I was on Detonator, and they held me up there for about two minutes, and I got bored. On the other hand, I pooed myself on Apocalypse, due to the fact I knew that as soon as I reached the top, the intense free fall was imminent.

[LiftThrill]

Maybe it's just me, but if you left me hanging face down for 30 seconds to a minute. . . I'd get bored. Hanging there for a few seconds is scary, but anything longer than that and the shock/wow/fear factor leaves and then it's just sitting around waiting.

 

I'm with you there. I think the dive coasters have the timing just about right (or Valravn at least, haven't been on any others).

[BGThrillseeker]

Sorry if I didn't clear up the whole 30 sec thing

 

The idea is that pretty much every ride imaginable drops you after roughly 5 sec. This one would last longer to create suspense and anticipation. You would feel bored, but by the time that you would think it is stuck, it catches you off guard when you are least expecting it, and delivers a real surprise, unless of course you are reading these forums lol. Being stuck on Falcons fury facing down for a few minutes is more intense than you would think

[DoinItForTheFame]

^ Think about capacity. If a drop tower sits at the top of the tower for "a few minutes" thing of how much that would impact the capacity of the ride.