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SeaWorld Orlando (SWO) Discussion Thread

P. 276: Penguin Trek construction update!

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yeah I figured you'd get wet on the wing dip, and I think the g's at the bottom of the dive loop are from 3 - 4 but I'm not completely sure...ride still looks awesome. Anyone have an opinion about the whole experience? Sorry fir asking all these questions I'm new to this forum stuff.

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yeah I figured you'd get wet on the wing dip, and I think the g's at the bottom of the dive loop are from 3 - 4 but I'm not completely sure...ride still looks awesome. Anyone have an opinion about the whole experience? Sorry fir asking all these questions I'm new to this forum stuff.

 

Yeah you do get a little wet sitting towards the back, I sat on the right side on row 3 and from my knee down, it was wet (not soak). The waterfall could sprinkle a few splashes at you as well.

 

As for the G-force on the pretzel loop, I don't know that but from what I felt, it was fairly intense.

 

Whole experience wise, I think it was awesome. Today I was able to walk through the aquarium and it was amazing. Just like the ride the first time, it exceeded my expectations. The aquarium was much larger than I thought and had so much to see. Themeing was amazing as well, just like the queue.

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As a whole, I thought Manta was very good and a great addition to the park. As for ranking it, I would probably put it #6 or 7 out of the 8 B&Ms in Florida. ...Which would still put it in my top 25. It's just awfully hard beating out Dueling Dragons, Montu, Kumba, and SheiKra in my opinion.

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K, thanks for the info. The aquariums and stuff look pretty cool in pictures and stuff but you can't really tell by the look of them what the experience actually is.

 

Yeah previous B&M's are seriously hard to knock off their rankings...I know Apollo's Chariot and Griffon are numbers 2 and 1 on my list. The only one that I have a tiny problem with is Alpengeist, it can really give me a headache after I ride it. d

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I had the chance to ride Manta about a week ago and I was quite impressed. I've ridden a few flying coasters, 2 Vekoma and 2 other B&Ms. I'd rate it my second favorite B&M flyer of the three, Tatsu being the best.

 

I was quite surprised by how long it was. I didn't take much time to really look at the layout of the ride, but just boarded. It was a pleasant surprise by the many elements and fly-bys on the water and waterfalls.

 

The queue was absolutely beautiful. I was thrilled by the idea of the Ray tank. There were so many in there, and all so small.

 

I think it is a perfect addition to SeaWorld Orlando and I hope it helps with park attendance.

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I just rode last week, Wednesday to be specific. It is now one of my top 5 coasters. The overall experience is amazing. The queue line is very beautiful. The operations moved very quickly, a 30 minute wait was actually only 15. The ride itself is the best flyer I've ever experienced. I almost blacked out in the back row, and I thought airtime on a flyer was impossible, but Manta proved me wrong. It's a great addition to the park and to Florida.

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I thought airtime on a flyer was impossible, but Manta proved me wrong.

 

I guess I wasn't the only one. I heard about people talking about feeling airtime on a flyer but because I never been on one before I didn't really knew what it would be like or if it would be similar to any other type of coaster.

 

First time on Manta, got a big pop of airtime entering the top of the pretzel loop after the initial drop, was I surprise.

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God, Manta is so good.

 

And yes, the Airtime was an amazing surprise. I've only experienced it once though, which was in the back row.

My favorite though it getting splashed. It's so avant-garde, no? This ride is owning my life. I love it too much.

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Well, I finally got to ride Manta today! After covering the construction for so long and then missing almost a month of soft opening while being up north for most of May, I got my opportunity to ride today for Media Day.

 

After processing the 24 rides I got today, I think I'm finally able to describe my thoughts on the ride.

 

The rear of the train is NOTICEABLY more intense than the front. Today, they had the camera set up on the rear of row one, which disabled that row for riders, and row two was reserved for media and journalists so the closest I got to the front was the third row. The front of the train offers a nice, graceful ride with some surprising pops of air, most abundant at the entrance of the pretzel loop.

 

The rear of the train, however, is a completely different animal. Off the chain, the first drop gives a quick whip off the lift and the first drop provides an extended period of very strong forces, leading straight into the insane pretzel loop. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying I was graying out every ride, but it sure felt like it.

 

I don't really need to break down every part of the ride, but I will say all of the inversions are very disorienting. You know you're going the way you're going, but its still a surprise how the seating position influences the feeling you get when traversing each inversion. The second half of the ride is less intense (although the final turn into the brakes are quite strong) but the interaction with the environment (the 'ocean', waterfall, land) more than makes up for it.

 

I had very, very high expectations for the ride, and it definitely exceeded them. I still haven't made it through the queue yet, but did explore the underwater viewing area and it was very well done. SeaWorld definitely has a winner on their hands.

 

I will also say that power riding Manta (and 24 rides in under 4 hours is definitely that) is an absolute energy drain. The intensity takes a toll on you, and this is coming from someone whose #1 is Voyage. Get out and ride this coaster!

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Sea World had one final Media Day on 5/21/09 to present to the world its brand new themed attraction, Manta. Adam, Andrew, Colin, and myself were invited to go down to Orlando to check it out. They did give us a special treat in that they hooked up a special onride "Manta Cam" to capture our onride experience. We were also able to hang out with Manta's creative director, Brian Morrow, to answer several of our questions about the new attraction.

 

Overall I think that the whole Manta concept is a real winner, I simply was very impressed. Sure the coaster is really fun, but I was simply blown away with all the detail that went into the theming. Anyways, onto to good stuff:

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Manta_Media_Day_TPR_vbrf[/coastertube]

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Several radio stations were around to cover the event.

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Just to the left of Manta is the new Flamingo area.

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Over by the wing dip there was a rather large camera to help make our Manta Cam video.

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Manta Sign!

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We first has to check in for the event.

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Here we are, and we are ready to check out Manta.

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And even a few more.

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There are first a few rules to follow.

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Are you ready to ride?

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It is open now, go ride it!

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The attention to theming is really top notch.

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I think its my favorite coaster area that I have seen so far.

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Just a few more finishing touches to the attraction.

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Sign!

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The floor has a lot of fancy tile.

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You really can spend a lot of time in here.

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Hey there Adam.

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Be careful of the Colinfish.

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Scary Stuff.

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This includes rays.

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There were a lot to see in here.

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Through this door is the non-rider section of the attraction.

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The entire area has been transformed into something really special.

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Waterfall!

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Wing Dip!

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Its fun and very smooth.

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Wheee.

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The pretzel loop is very intense.

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And we are off.

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Via Manta Cam, you get to see us ride. Make sure you watch the video.

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Yes, you can use Quick Queue for Manta.

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And the cycle begins yet again with a new construction wall.

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The pretzel is just as intense as Tatsu's.

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Another train.

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The wing dip is my favorite element.

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And photo prices.

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Photo Station.

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You can pick up your onride photo here.

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And we leave you with this shot. I can't wait to go back and ride it again.

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Through the Trees!

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Weeeee!

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Simply a stunning coaster.

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The forces are VERY strong on the bottom of the Pretzel Loop.

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Right before the big drop.

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In better weather, Manta really shines off its beauty.

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I was in Sea World during soft opening of Manta. An awesome ride, good theming. But the hardware of the ride doesn’t match with the theming. A manta is graceful, slow, relaxed. This ride is fast, the pace in which elements follow each other up is quite high and the pretzel loop is way too intense for a Manta. The ride should have been more like Air in Alton Towers in order to be a true Manta. But a cool roller coaster nevertheless.

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So you're saying you wish the ride was just like the B&M flyer that gets the most hate? One that has been generally referred to as uninspired, boring, and slow? Doesn't really make sense.

 

Sit in the front of the train if you want the graceful, gliding experience without all the insane forces.

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I'm really impressed with the theming for this ride--more excellent work by Busch and Sea World.

 

Thanks for the pictures, Erik. I can't decide who is more frightening--the Erik, Adam, or Colin fish!

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