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Manta- B&M Flyer for SWO opening May 22

That drop looks amazing, by the looks of it so far I guess it'll carry on curving as it descends? I haven't seen any layout plans so I don't know.
 
What's so amazing about the drop...?

It just looks like a blue version of SUF at the moment...
 
Ben said:
What's so amazing about the drop...?

It just looks like a blue version of SUF at the moment...

It's so amazing cause it's on a flying coaster <3<3

And I wouldn't say it ressembles SUF that much, I'd maybe compare it to Tatsu's first drop.
 
oriolat2 said:
Ben said:
What's so amazing about the drop...?

It just looks like a blue version of SUF at the moment...

It's so amazing cause it's on a flying coaster <3<3

And I wouldn't say it ressembles SUF that much, I'd maybe compare it to Tatsu's first drop.

¬¬

Oh, you and Flyers...

But, http://rcdb.com/ig1976.htm?picture=55, look how blatantly similiar those drops are... and SUF's was crap. No Air, :p, but still crap.
 
Manta really looks promising, I like the color scheme. Looking forward to this thread, Manta looks like the best coaster for '09.
 
It's the first drop. There aren't many coasters that hang under the track that have a first drop much different to that are there?
 
^I dunno, even Air manages to have a different and interesting drop.

I dunno... just being a bit hopeful it wouldn't be generic, that's all.
 
The support color is growing on me :D

This drop is a bit steeper than S:UF's, which I didn't find bad at all. Sure, I'm positive that it doesn't compare to Tatsu's, but it's still interesting.

I'm guessing that the pretzel loop is coming next.
 
Hey guys, I got to stop by the park this afternoon and took some photos of the on going construction of Manta. The drop is completely done now and looks a lot larger in person than the photos portray. I think what tricks people is the unusual shape of the coaster in comparison to something like Kraken, just a few hundred feet to the south of the site.

The Sky Tower was not in operation today, so I wasn't able to go up to get any areal photos of the site. If you have any questions please let me know.

-Mike

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Manta is officially a staple piece of the park's entrance. As guests enter, they immediately start pointing at the coaster and talk about what they think it'll be like.

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This is what you see at the end of the entrance plaza. From here you have to chose either to go right or left. Going left gets you to the coasters much faster. In 2009, everybody is going to want to go left ;)

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The train barn tells us that we'll have at least 3 trains circulating the course at a given time. My guess (judging from Busch's maintenance strategies) is that they'll purchase 4, and every 3 months they will take one off the line to do an annual check on.

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As you approach the ride, you start to get a sense of how tall it really is. Whats weird about Manta is that from the parking lot, it looks huge. At the front gate, it doesn't look so big, but once you stand under it that huge-ness feeling returns. Definitely a deception of the eye.

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This is probably SeaWorld's most important pathway, a major artery for the park. It's currently blocked off due to the drop construction of Manta. Guests are re-routed past the Stingray pools, and around the Dolphin area.

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Here's another shot standing under the coaster.

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From the sting ray habitat the ride is still visible. Coming from this way is going to be especially impressive for guests. The coaster's entrance will be next to the drop, so it'll definitely intimidate some people.

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From the other end of the construction site you can get a better sense of what the drop looks like. Although it's shallow in comparison to some inverted coasters, it seems quite steep for a flyer (coming from somebody who's been on both B&M and Vekoma models).

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Unfortunately I'm not 8 feet tall, so its hard to see over the fence. But you can definitely see the latest track piece installed and its slight bank.

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For anybody who needed the extra shot - this one's for you.

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Catwalks for the lift have been installed, and the spot that once held the Good Luck Tree is not occupied by a square support.

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From the Walrus stadium, you definitely get a nice view of the ride. In my opinion, this is where you definitely notice it's size.

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An alternate view...

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Finally, a shot showing the overview of the site as it stands right now. Manta will be divided into two parts, separated by the lift. Although it may be difficult to judge the exact layout right now - hints point to this being another Florida classic...
 
I can't actually believe how fast they're building the ride. The color does seem rather nice as it completely fits with the whole Sea World atmosphere.

Thanks for sharing those excellent photos. :)
 
Well.. they aren't exactly seem to be flying through the construction.. as they've gone through just the lift hill and drop in what.. 3 weeks? They have a lot more to go.

Nice update though Mike.
 
Amazing update and cool photos!
Manta really looks good. I'm wandering, when it'll be done building, if Manta's gonna be in the B&M top 10 list, but we have to wait and see. Does somebody has a "3d animated POV" like Behemoth, Diamondback, Tatsu, Kingda Ka, etc ?
 
I'm getting really excited with Manta. I'm just wondering if there will be real mantas under the ride, like the drawing gave the impression, and how will be the "wing splash".
 
^You are. Hopefully. Those guys assembling the ride better know what they are doing ;)

But on a CF perspective, I guess you're right. Perhaps on an Internet perspective too. But when something is announced, I bet it won't be long before someone here gets to know it.

In other news, I think the coaster looks more and more fantastic by the update. With that midway going directly under the apex of the lift, it will look gorgeous. I wonder how many people that will be sent to an emergency room after colliding with each other under it (hint: looking at the train rather than the people in front of you).
 
I hope they speed up the construction enough for me to go on in spring, or at least test it like they do in Universal Studios where they walk out, grab a few people, test it, then shove them back out into the park.
 
LGMHorus said:
I'm getting really excited with Manta. I'm just wondering if there will be real mantas under the ride, like the drawing gave the impression, and how will be the "wing splash".
Mantas under the ride? Nice idea :p
 
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