Manta at Seaworld San Diego 2012

[GavG]

I know this isn??????t breaking news but there should be some construction and layout pics somewhere by now. As and if I find some I will update this or if anyone else knows where there is any please feel free to add them.

SEAWORLD SAN DIEGO ANNOUNCES NEW ??????MANTA?????? COASTER

Blending the exhilarating thrill of G forces with the graceful beauty of marine life, Manta is scheduled to open in 2012

SAN DIEGO (Feb. 9, 2011) -- SeaWorld San Diego is excited to announce that in 2012, the park will unveil its new launch coaster, Manta ?????? a new mega-attraction that will seamlessly transition guests from the awe of watching rays in underwater flight ?????? into the sensation of actually being one. SeaWorld is scheduled to break ground for Manta within a month and the ride is slated to open to the public in 2012.

Swooping over sea and sky, Manta will not only inspire riders with amazing underwater animal habitats, but take them on an exhilarating ride on a coaster shaped like a giant manta ray.

??????We are delighted to bring energizing new attractions to our guests year after year,?????? said SeaWorld park president, John Reilly, ??????and Manta does just that, combining the thrill and excitement of a coaster, with the educational and entertaining value of an incredible marine-life exhibit.??????

Gliding, flying and diving through more than a dozen twists and turns, riders will feel as if they are a ray, taking flight from sky to sea ?????? so close at times that the Manta??????s wings skim the waves.

Manta also will feature a unique ??????launch station?????? where the passengers will start the ride enclosed in a launch tunnel with larger-than-life images of rays projected on a 270-degree enveloping screen. This stunning introduction to the world of the rays also will visually enhance the physical acceleration as the ride launches down the track. This state-of-the-art projection system will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Riders and non-riders alike will enjoy the graceful beauty of bat rays and fishes. Forbidden Reef, an existing SeaWorld attraction where guests can feed and touch bat rays, will be incorporated and enhanced as part of Manta.

??????With Manta, our guests will be able to see and interact with 65 bat rays, 10 guitar fish, and hundreds of fishes,?????? said SeaWorld San Diego curator of fishes, Thad Dirksen. ??????The below-water viewing area will include eight acrylic windows and a reef design. The above-water interaction area will allow our guests more opportunities to touch and feed the rays.??????

Manta will be located just north of Rocky Point Preserve. SeaWorld is working with German ride design company MACK, which also engineered the marine-life park??????s popular ride, Journey To Atlantis. Guests at SeaWorld??????s sister park in Orlando have been enjoying a similar version of Manta since it opened in 2009.

Source

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Also here is the fact sheet that has been released for the ride.

Manta Fact Sheet

TYPE OF RIDE: Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM)
Launch Coaster

MAXIMUM LAUNCH ACCELERATION: .7 to .8 G

MAXIMUM SPEED: 43 mph

MAXIMUM VERTICAL G FORCE: 3 to 4 G

MAXIMUM HEIGHT: 30 feet

MAXIMUM DROP: 54 feet

TRACK LENGTH: 2,835 feet

RIDE DURATION: One minute, 56 seconds

SEATS/TRAIN: 20 seats per train/four trains

GUEST CAPACITY: 1,400 passengers per hour

LOCATION: Just north of Rocky Point Preserve

MANUFACTURER: German ride engineer, MACK

RIDER HEIGHT RESTRICTION: 48 inches

OTHER ELEMENTS: 100,000 gallon marine-life exhibit:
65 California bat rays
10 guitar fish
more than 400 fishes

Source

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[gouldy]

Max Speed: 43mph
Max Height: 30ft
Max Drop: 54ft

That combination sounds pretty sweet! Gonna be some pretty cool low-to-ground interaction and some diving down into trenches/tunnels.

[GavG]

I am thinking in a very similar way, the interaction between scenery and theming should really make this into a cool ride.

"Guests at SeaWorld?????????s sister park in Orlando have been enjoying a similar version of Manta since it opened in 2009."

One thing though, I would be interested to hear the official similarities are apart from theme, steel and car shape???

[Oscar]

hmmmm I've always wanted to go bac to Seaworld San Diego and this just might be the reason to go back [:D]

[Metazoanhaddock]

cc roadtrip?

[Oscar]

I like the sound of that!

Hooray for already having the better Manta at one of my home theme parks! This looks interesting though, but definitely not a major thrill ride.

TBH,I`m happy you`re not getting the "good stuff",finally we can claim to have the best of its type.

Oh, darn... guess I won't get to ride a multi-launched coaster with theming... Oh, wait...

Damn,screw you.
Edit: That goes for the case if the new BGE coaster is MACK.

I thought we already had a topic going for this.

[GavG]

No spacemountainfan619 this is the only Thread for this.

Anyway here are some shots of the layout and a tech drawing of the train.

This looks disappointing now...

Well, it's clearly not meant to be a thrilling coaster, and we already knew that. I think that for a family coaster this looks like it'll be a lot of fun!

Originally posted by rcking04

This looks disappointing now...

Well knowing how SeaWorld usually surrounds their coasters in great atmoshperes (especially on Manta), I think once the finished product is revealed, it will be a great addition to the park.

Yeah, I agree, A7X.

see I knew there was already a thread for this topic:

http://www.coastercrazy.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25596&SearchTerms=,sea,world,

[GavG]

I did some more looking round last night and did find the other topic but was tired to fix it.

Layout pics and link to here for additional info have been placed in the original Thread and front page will now link there.