SeaWorld Orlando

My first visit to SeaWorld Orlando since I was 8 was during Howl-o-scream, so unfortunately a lot of the park was closed (haunts really aren’t my thing). The good thing was though that the 4 main reasons that I was there, in Pipeline, Mako, Ice Breaker and Manta were all open, with my only real miss being Kraken. But, I will be back, and Kraken will still be there, so that’s ok. Onto the rides!

Pipeline: The Ride

This was a real wild card to me. I had never experienced a B&M launch before my Orlando trip (I had ridden Hulk the day before), and the only stand-up coaster I have ever ridden was Iron Wolf days before it closed in 2011. Seeing the trains and the patents and the renders definitely had my interest piqued, but I had heard mixed things overall. Thankfully, the ride experience absolutely blew me away! The launch was punchy, and the airtime hill on the launch actually did a lot! After a few rides I realized I could stand on my tippy-toes during restraint check and get some more vertical space than if I just stood normally, and this made the launch really fun. Between the vertical movement, the forward acceleration, and the floater airtime, I had a lot of fun on every launch. The first turnaround looked like it could have been a dud, but you pull some decent forces through it, and get some more standing airtime on the exit. What follows is definitely my favorite part of the ride though, the gigantic twisted camel back. Getting multiple seconds of standing flojector airtime, while simultaneously getting laterals, on a B&M, was a completely unique experience. I don’t think there is another ride on earth with these types of forces. The corkscrew following was very photogenic and quite forceful, to the point where it felt good to sit down, but overall the first four elements of this ride really start things off with a bang. The ride then mellows out a little bit, but in reality it goes from “fantastic!” to just “great!” so it really isn’t the worst thing. The spaghetti bowl of hills really showcased the vertical movement of the seats, popping you into small spots of airtime here and there, while also delivering some fun laterals and a pinch of positive Gs to remind you that you were in fact riding a B&M. The finale was great too, with a small twisted speed hill that gave the same sensations as the first big hill, just lower and for less time, then a powerful turn and snap into the brake run. The second half also showed off one not so good thing, that being the rattle. This isn’t your typical B&M rattle that’s more bark than bite, the train was visibly wobbling through the turns. I am guessing this was a result of the high COG on the trains along with half-empty trains for most of the night. Some locals I was with were saying that they have never seen it like that before, so I am hoping it was just a phase (mom) and it will be smoothened with a better understood maintenance schedule. Overall though it didn’t really hurt, just was enough to make a dehydration headache slightly more potent and definitely not a dealbreaker. What I really took away from Pipeline is that it’s a fantastic, perfect length ride with a perfect layout for the theme. There are forces on this ride that you cannot find elsewhere, and the ride is gorgeous while doing all of that. Plus, the fact that it is a prototype, and so good, just gives it bonus points in my book. 9.5+/10, nearly a perfect coaster. My new #16 of 219

Mako

I have heard legendary things about this ride, and I think it was very slightly overhyped. The train was very comfortable, B&M clamshells are still my favorite restraint. The graphics in the station weren’t working, but atmospheric music on the lift hill and brake run made up for that. The lift hill had an awesome view, which made me more sad that their observation tower was closed for the event. The first drop was sublime, plenty of float all the way down the drop (but not quite as Raging Bull). The first turn was more fun than I expected, as the entrance and exit were a lot steeper than I’ve experienced before. The exit kinda felt like a twisted first drop of sorts. The big ol camelback was fun, but not really outstanding like others have said. You definitely float the whole time, but it’s almost too perfect, where you aren’t even slightly being tugged out of your seat. Props to B&M engineers for getting the speeds and forces perfect, but it was just a bit boring to me. I vastly preferred the twisted hill on Pipeline across the bay. The hammerhead turnaround did nothing, and then the next hill was significantly trimmed. Not sure if this is how it always ran, but it sapped the ride of a ton of speed that knocked it down a bunch of pegs. The trim hill was the same sort of floater I got on the big hill, so again not what I’m used to from a hyper (Raging Bull is flojector all the way this year!). The turning hill was good, adding in some laterals and slightly stronger airtime, so that definitely was a breath of fresh air. The speed hill was also good, similar airtime, but nothing like the fantastic element on Orion and miles away from something like GAm’s Goliath. Then hits the midcourse, which I actually got some nice airtime into, but then shot forward from how hard it hit, which was a definite shame. The drop and hill that followed didn’t even hit floater airtime which was disappointing. The Stengl-ish dive thing was a lot of fun on the left side of the train, and reminded me of a smaller version of Orion’s final element. Then there was a forceless victory lap around the entrance and over the water that was visually pleasing, but lacked anything else interesting. Overall, I think this ride suffered from a few things: inflated expectations (classic), shorter 7 car trains (anyone who knows Raging Bull knows that those two extra rows make a huge difference!), and some harsh trims. With some lighter trims I could definitely see this matching Raging Bull (which is currently #14), but with my experience I have to give it a 8.5/10, or #26 in my rankings, one spot below Diamondback.

Ice Breaker

This fun little ride definitely was crammed in there. This was my first time riding the new Premier trains in the back row, and man that was a mistake. I am 6’ and could barely fold myself into that seat. Plus, once I was in, I was quite uncomfortable, with a huge lap bar and gigantic shin guards that reminded me of my experience on KD’s FoF. But hey, no comfort collars! The quad launch was a little boring to me. Given the space, I know why they needed multi pass, but it could have made due with 3 no problem. The first two launches and passes were boring and forceless, but the airtime on the subsequent passes was great, especially for a thrill-rated coaster. The beyond vertical spike was definitely the highlight of the ride, with a great view and fun flojector forces. The rest of the layout was quite dynamic, dipping and bobbing from left to right, with no real airtime but some light positives in some places. Overall I wish the ride had better capacity (and the crew working it was a bit faster) but for a step-up ride, it’s quite dynamic and fun for everyone. 8/10, since it did what it wanted to do, but it missed my top 20%, just barely.

Manta

My third B&M flyer was probably also overhyped for me. My home Superman UF has a great beginning and then nothing for the rest of the ride, which is also quite short, and I was hoping Manta would be so much better. But in reality, Manta had the same great pretzel loop as SUF, and then just meandered longer. Sure, it went upside down more, but on a flyer that doesn’t really do it for me, unless it’s a pretzel loop. I did like the splash effect, as being able to reach out and hit water on ride was fun, but the layout really didn’t do much for me. This is a ride that probably would have improved with a front row daytime ride, as the scenery looked good, but I didn’t have that luxury unfortunately. The slow operations also didn’t help things, as being stacked on a B&M flyer majorly sucks. I wish they had just run two trains so things never stacked but oh well. 7/10, basically Galactica plus a better “on your back” inversion.

Overall, I enjoyed my time at SeaWorld. I will definitely have to return when the whole park is open, but the rides that were open were at minimum good, but some were fantastic. I don’t like how their Halloween event closes off half of the park, but the theming was pretty good, and I understand that they have animals and can’t get too loud around them while they’re sleeping. Project Penguin will definitely help fill in the progression from kid to extreme, and I can’t wait to see where this park ends up in the future! You can never have too many B&Ms!