SW & IoA - Completed Trip Report (60+ Pics)

So, on a whim I decided I'd make my SeaWorld day on Monday, the first day of the vacation. And I was smart! Walk ons all around, all day. The longest I waited for anything was Journey To Atlantis around 4:00 p.m., and it was about 10 minutes. I got two new rides, Kraken and Manta, which is very exciting because I was at the park last when Kraken was being built. I'll just throw out pictures first and then discuss the rides in more depth afterward.



Kraken gives this ride such a gorgeous panoramic view. Especially that dive loop, which is actually very awkward looking from riders' view. But it is such a good looking ride in all ways possible.



Speaking of panoramic.



Manta gives the second aesthetic impression, being quite near the front of the park. The screams are honestly obnoxious on this ride. You turn the first corner about a hundred feet in and are confronted with the splash and the final elements, and they are MUCH bigger than I expected them to be...



Beauty. This ride interacts with so much scenery and much more wildlife than one expects... Superman - Ultimate Flight is a mere prototype compared to this ride experience. All of the interaction, the forces, WOW. Plus the queue line is a separate aquarium in itself, with epic string music playing the entire time. I honestly wish the wait was longer so I could experience it slowly and in full... but....



I was excited! Only 10 minutes! When actually...



It was not 10 minutes... Lol, I waited 3 minutes for the front row. That dual station load really has it down.



Man, this pretzel loop is ridiculous.



The drop is great as well.



This little soaring turn is really rather fun.



This ride has such a steep lift LOL. It kinda feels like you're almost right-side up going up it.



One of my favorite water rides around. As you can see, no riders lol. I got all 10 rides with boats to myself except for 1, in which I rode with a pair of gentlemen from Paraguay who only spoke Spanish. Thankfully I speak it too, haha. It has a great first water drop followed by a pretty cool roller coaster sequence. The story however... lol, I remember it being more magical and epic as a young one. It makes no sense. It begins with some beautiful mermaids, and then Medusa appears for whatever reason and SCREAMS at you. And the score from Beetlejuice is featured on this ride...?



The most crowded Kraken ever got!



That drop from the MCBR is beautiful and huge.



This ride is really a lot taller than I expected, with an awesome first drop view in the front row.




The most circular B&M loop ever, and powerful. This ride's post-MCBR rides how Montu's SHOULD. Awesome second loop with a very powerful turn into an awesomely powerful corkscrew. Montu just gets the crap trimmed out of it; Kraken hardly does, and obviously has plenty of punch packin' left.



This corkscrew is retarded. So crazy...



I like this transition. And the tunnel.




Manta

This ride was much more than I expected. It's much MUCH faster than POVs make it appear. Right off the bat I knew I was getting more than I bargained for. You leave the station and enter that huge lift and for those who have been on Superman- LOL there is NO comparison. Manta is simply HUGE. That pretzel loop is black out material, and that high-up roll with the turning drop is awesome. You pick up so much speed, pulling down very near the ground and then flying into that great big corkscrew which is also crazy fantastic. You fly into the MCBR with a lot of speed and it hardly trims you. The drop into the marine dip gives you a lot of speed to fly into that hammerhead-ish element. I was discouraged that this ride didn't seem to have any hammerhead type element like Superman has, but that turn on Manta is comparable. It dips by a cliff that is very close to your face and then rolls one last time, followed by a powerful pull-up into the brakes. They stopped using the dual station halfway through the day because there was nobody there, so on the second half of the day, I was finding the train waited on the brakes for about 4 minutes, which kinda sucks on a flyer. But oh well, this ride is a solid A. Definitely going to find a way on my top ten somewhere.

Kraken

WHAT. THE. HELL. THIS RIDE IS SUCH A GEM. I have been on so many B&M multi-loopers in my time but none of them are like Kraken. Kraken might be better than Kumba... It is so intense I couldn't even believe it. There was one point in the day that I didn't wanna ride it, but then I got drunk and rode in the front row 11 times in a row in the last few hours of the day. It is SUCH an experience. This will be in my top 5 for sure. It's the best B&M multi-looper I have been on, and my first floorless. I tell you that floorless experience really makes a difference especially in the front row. The ride is all yours, flying beneath your feet. With your arms and legs out, the awesome huge vertical loop with perfect forces at the peak- the dive loop that is quicker and more powerful than any dive loop- the zero g roll that starts with like 45 degrees banking and still rolls faster than any I've ever been on- the cobra roll WTF- that turn after the cobra roll into the MCBR is soooooo powerful and aggressive. I love the drop out of the MCBR into an awesome finale loop, tight turn and cork. All in all, Kraken is an A++.


Much to my surprise, I spent 8 hours randomly at SeaWorld, never ran out of anything to do with only 3 rides to be ridden, and SeaWorld is now one of my favorite parks. Those rides have so much to offer, and everything was walk on status. I had such a great day on Monday!

I go to Islands of Adventure tomorrow, from 8 to 9. A full 11 hours. Expect a full trip report sometime after that! Thanks for reading guys!

i love kraken and manta love B&M type and went on it too

Nice photo TR! Thanks for sharing!

I'm heading for Orlando in May. I'm so pumped for Manta.

This may be of interest to you. It's for Disney and Universal, but it shows events at Sea World and Busch Gardens.
http://www.undercovertourist.com/planni ... visit.html

Manta is awesome dude!

I noticed how forceful kraken was! One of the more intense cobra rolls, and then right into an overbank in the opposite direction. Second half kicks just as much ass. Seaworld has two top notch B&Ms. In fact, florida parks in general has converted me to a B&M fan because they are all so good. Im a true believer that a ride can be just as good without formal airtime as one with airtime.

Yeah Kraken is wild. And right, I agree that Florida has a lot of awesome B&Ms, a lot of the best actually, but they're all loopers. They do need a B&M hyper or two, I don't know why these parks haven't gone into business for some yet. There is Sheikra that has a lot of great airtime but it's only like two moments, and not very long. And that's just one out of like 8 B&Ms. No complaining though, it's a hot spot for roller coasters and water rides nonetheless.

I'm glad you see how good Manta is. I've been on all the B&M flyers in the US, and not even Tatsu has as much a rush as Manta packs.

Did you try to catch a glimpse of the new GCI being built there in Orlando? ;)

I didn't realize that was being built in Orlando. That small out and back one right? Hmm maybe I'll cruise around tonight after Universal and see what I can see.

And the report continues: On Thursday, I did Islands of Adventure. The lines were pretty long. At 1:00 p.m. I waited for 50 minutes for Hulk, which I think is the longest I waited for any ride in my entire life... but the lines died down by 5:00 to a mild 15 minutes for Hulk, 10 for the Dragons, 25 for Forbidden Journey, etc. I'll discuss my ride count, individual rides and general theme park experience after all of these pictures.





I always have that moment or two where I am about to take my ticket to H:RRR, but it wouldn't be worth it on this trip. Sometime later.



=))







This helix is cool.



I always love this transition. Takes me by surprise every time.



For those who have not ridden Hulk, ya gotta get on it... it's powerful stuff.



Weeee!



Right under the first cork.



Quite the crowd.



FAVORITE.



Sooo steep!



This ride reps the homeland.



I thought it would be fun to panorama the knot of queue lines under the ride. It's really crazy in real life.





Ripsaw Falls soaks you like crazy...



But is still a work of art.



Hog-Warts, Hog-Warts, Hoggy-Warty Hog-Warts.



20 minutes to move 20 feet...



The dragons make my legs feel like they're ripping off hehe.



Part 1.



Part 2.



Part 3.



My phone died shortly after this... I wish I had known they had a shop JUST for charging ones phone. They even had a free iPhone 5 charging station, but I didn't walk in until they were 5 minutes from closing [:(]



I had so much fun at this amusement park. It really is one of the best! The top news is I finally got my first ride on Jurassic Park! The first visit, I was too short; second visit, it was under some renovations; but this visit I FINALLY GOT ON IT. And I have been so curious this entire time! I hate when rides are closed from vision. Even video povs don't cut it for me. This ride was so awesome! An A! It's one of the best themed rides I've ever ridden, I swear. The lift into the building is so awesome and spooky and loud and aggressive. That tyrannosaurus at the end is so realistic it's actually scary! The drop is awesome and the splash is epic. I also rode my favorite water ride of all time, Ripsaw Falls about 10 times, and that ride soaks you! It's so fun I can honestly say I will never get enough of that ride. The drop sequence is epic. Another thing I must note is that I rode Dr. Doom when I was about 6 years old and thought it was stupid, but I rode it at night around 8:00 p.m. once and it was absolutely wonderful. Really a lot of airtime at the pull-down at the peak of the tower, and a great view. It really bounces you back up a second time with a lot of force too. I liked it a lot.

Ride Counts
Hulk- 2
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls- 9
Hungarian Horntail- 2
Chinese Fireball- 2
Jurassic Park River Adventure- 5
Dr. Doom's Fear Fall- 1

I'm waiting for my pictures to upload and it's taking a while, so I might as well continue with my surprise second visit to SeaWorld that happened Friday. I've already said everything I've needed to say about this park mostly in my part 1 report, but I'll add a few comments and a cool story. I waited for 30 minutes for Manta at the beginning of the day which was the most I waited for anything at that park. After the first hour of the day, all rides were walk on again, including Manta. My mom and little cousin LOVED Manta! And my mom is 56 almost and my cousin is 9, and all three of us could not get enough of Manta or Kraken! They loved Kraken in the front so much despite its extremely aggressive nature. I got on all three rides about 10 times this day. All 3 rides broke down at some point during the day, and Journey to Atlantis broke down while I was on the first chainlift! We got evacuated out of the boat and walked through the ride building to exit back into the park. That kind of thing has never happened to me before and it was quite a treat! Many more pictures to be seen! Also, Manta in the very back row... that pretzel loop gets me every time. It's so forceful I can't believe it.









Broken down.



So cute!







This turn is odd and fun and floaty.



Baby cow-nose!





The odd looking barrel roll.



Rawr.



This cork dominates...



I'm always so surprised how there are no lats on this marine dip. It's like 80 degrees banked hahaha.



I wiggly attempt at a panorama. Last look at Manta for this trip [:(] I will be back very soon Manta... very soon.


Thanks for enjoying my trip report, and the many photos! I'll be sure to deliver more trip reports in the future.