Smart phone apps abound for theme park visitors - The Oakland Press

And they could prove useful for visitors heading to Orlando for Presidents Day week (beginning Feb. 24), traditionally one of the busiest times for theme some parks — Sea World and Tampa’s Busch Gardens among them — offer to relay park news

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Trainers to go Back in Water with SeaWorld Killer Whales

Officials from SeaWorld say trainers will be going back into the water with the killer whales for the first time since Dawn Brancheau's death a year ago.

Orlando Sentinel reports that SeaWorld will be investing "tens of millions of dollars on safety upgrades at its killer whale facilities in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio".

There is currently no set time for the trainers to back in the water with the killer whales, but in terms of a spectacle there is no doubt this is good news as long as SeaWorld can pull this off safely for the trainers. Reviews have shown everyone much preferred having the trainers in the water with the killer whales.

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Temporary New Ending For Haunted Mansion

While Disney work on a permanent ending to the ride, this is the temporary finale for the Haunted Mansion at the moment:



What do you think? Would you prefer Disney to keep this ending to the Haunted Mansion or can't you wait for the new permanent ending?

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Animal Kingdom Gorilla Celebrates First Birthday

DoingFlorida have announced the celebration of Lilly the gorilla's first birthday. There were initial worries for Lilly after she was noticeably shorter than the other gorillas and took longer to reach behavioural milestones.

Read more at DoingFlorida.  

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Special SeaWorld Orlando Report - Manta Review

Random facts:

• Standing at 140 feet, reaching 56mph and at a length of 3359 feet, Manta is the second-tallest, fastest and longest flying roller coaster in the world.
• Within the attraction's 4 acre site there are ten different aquariums containing a total of 184,000 gallons of water with over 3,000 different animals (300 actually being rays).
• In an effort to reduce noise levels, some sections of the track are filled with sand.

Having only ridden one flying roller coaster before I had the chance to take on Manta I wasn't expecting a whole lot. Air in Alton Towers (in the UK) was the first Bolliger & Mabillard flying roller coaster to be made, and despite the fact it did give that so called "flying sensation", in terms of a roller coaster experience I was very disappointed, not to mention it seemed to end almost as soon as you'd left the lift hill. However, Manta improves over Air in every department, with a superb finale to boot, which is seldom seen on roller coasters today.

The queue to Manta is an attraction almost in itself. In any other park it could probably be a stand alone walkthrough, and if guests are not intending on riding Manta they can still visit the queue/exhibit without having to enter the ride's line. It's not only a good aquarium, but it builds up anticipation for the ride well; not in the sense of tension that many roller coasters try to achieve, but more a sense of curiosity and eagerness to "ride the flying ray". You reach the station and for those of you who have never experienced a flying roller coaster before, then the seating arrangement may come slightly as a shock to you. Imagine the "ski-lift" style inverted trains used on coasters such as Dueling Dragons in IOA, which are then tilted to a horizontal position so you are face down towards the floor, and that's pretty much what you get. It's also surprisingly comfortable, although looking straight ahead can be a bit of a strain on the neck after a while.

Upon leaving the station you enter the lift hill until you're all of 140 feet above the ground, which seems a lot higher when you are face down with nothing but a spongy restraint below you. Leaving the lift hill, you swoop down to the right a whole 113 feet, before making a sharp climb into a pretty intense pretzel loop. Having only previously ridden Air in Alton Towers before this, which doesn't contain a pretzel loop, I thought it was a very good element. The sharp climb into it gave a good pop of airtime, which is a rather strange feeling on a flying coaster, before some decent positive g's are thrusted back onto you as you dive through the pretzel loop. Sitting (or lieing) towards the back of the train seems to give an even more intense sensation as you go through the element, but pretty much wherever you sit you're likely to enjoy it.

Upon exiting the pretzel loop, the train dives to the left before entering an in-line twist which seems to be almost slightly out of place, and makes the ride lose a little bit of its momentum. The coaster soon gets back on track though as it darts back through the pretzel loop and into a corkscrew which then leads into the brake run. At this point, many riders are rather overwhelmed with the ride (I actually had cramp in my leg halfway through my first ride which made the whole experience slightly less enjoyable), but after this point SeaWorld and B&M truly start showing why these flying roller coasters can be so good.

The answer to this conundrum is simple and that is terrain. Much like Kumba did at Busch Gardens all those years ago, Manta has done it as well, and that is by using terrain to significantly improve a roller coaster. It's quite strange why it has taken so long for designers to put this into use on flying coasters, as the position seems particularly suited to this feature. The first moment of magic on Manta comes after the train leaves the brake run and swoops down to a small lake below that puts riders almost fact-to-face with the water, and at the same time creates the "gliding through the water" sensation by triggering  a series of fountains on the water as the train passes, otherwise known as the 'splash effect'.

It's an innovative bit of engineering by SeaWorld and it adds that bit of 'x-factor' that will set it apart from other flying roller coasters, and other coasters in general for that matter. Manta is not quite finished yet though, as the train just about misses a wall, with riders on the left hand side of the train feeling particularly vulnerable. There's time for one more corkscrew, before hitting the final brakes and back into the station.

Straight to the point, Manta is a great ride. From the unique queue area, to the pretzel loop and near terrain misses there is plenty to keep coaster geeks and first time riders alike satisfied. The theming is immense as you would come to expect from a new coaster nowadays in Orlando, but especially compared to other flying coasters who have little to no theming. Out of all the B&M models, their flying coasters are probably one of the most unreliable, with one or two break-downs during my visit, and the length of the ride is still rather questionable, but overall most will come off Manta feeling very satisfied indeed.

Overall score: 9/10

Pro's

• Use of terrain is excellent.
• Unique queue line and excellent theming.
• Pretzel loop is superb.

Con's

• Still a fairly short ride, which may leave a few disgruntled.
• Not the most reliable roller coaster in the world.

Thanks to Coasterforce.com for the video, and Machristopher, Kjersti Holmang and WillMcC for the photos.

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