Manta Review

I had the chance to catch a soft opening of Manta on Monday and was pretty impressed.

The Look Of The Ride

Manta is one outstanding looking roller coaster. Sea World Orlando like all of the Busch Parks is a very pretty place, adding a large roller coaster like Manta in smack in the middle of the park could hurt that, but they pulled it off perfectly. One of the first things you see when you walk into Sea World is the splashdown section of Manta. The second half of the ride which features the famous splashdown, some low flying manuevers and the waterfall looks just fantastic and makes for great pictures. The first half of the ride is much higher up and is more compact, the lift goes right over a major midway so there is some fun interaction between the people on the train and folks below. The ride looks as if it has always been there.

The Queue

A lot has been made over the Manta queue, and I thought it was nice, but not mind blowing. Before entering the indoor queue (which makes up the most of it) you pass thru the big cave/waterfall thing. The indoor queue with the aquariums is nice, but not as nice as some of Sea Worlds other aquatic viewing areas. There is one view of the aquarium which is very very cool. Another nice thing is that the queue and the area around the ride is that it has a very tranquil background music being played, this works really well in the aquarium area. Also when the train in the station and lifts into the flying position a cool sound effect is played, which is also well done.

The Ride

I liked the ride a lot more then I thought I would. The first half is very reminiscent of the Superman: Ultimate Flight, except better I think there is more flips involved. Of course the highlight of the first half is the pretzel loop, which is one of the craziest manuevers of any roller coaster. I think the second half of the ride is where Manta really makes its mark. The dive out of the block brakes into the 'wing dip' curve and then towards the waterfall fly by are true trademark elements of the ride.

Overall I loved it, I had high hopes and it exceeded them. Looks great and rides great. It is WAY better then Superman: Ultimate Flight, and no not as good as Tatsu, but it is A LOT closer then I thought it would be.

Check Out Some Pictures: