Sea World Welcomes a New Member to the Family
This weekend Katina at Sea World welcomed a new baby.
At seven feet long and 350 pounds, this is no ordinary baby. It is the 16th killer whale calf born at Sea World, Orlando and the 27th one at all of Sea World’s parks.
Katina’s trainer says Katina is an experienced mom and appears to be bonding quickly with her baby. She calls the baby “a miniature replica of Shamu.”
The baby’s name has not been announced.
Here’s a video:
Sesame Street Safari of Fun Features the Popular Character: Tickle Me Elmo
Tickle Me Elmo made an appearance at our vacation rental home managers monthly meeting to promote the new Sesame Street Safari of Fun area in Busch Gardens Tampa theme park.
Air Grover Loves to Fly
This new area in the Africa section of Busch Gardens features a plethora of rides and attractions designed for the youngsters. The Air Grover junior roller coaster soars over the Sahara with Grover in the pilot’s chair and parents can ride with children. Encounter The Count in his Zambezi Rally with child sized cars. Zoe-patra & the Hippos of the Nile is a fun flume ride with a riverside glimpse of Africa. Elmo’s Safari Go-Round teams parents and children on a carousel. Rosita’s Djembe Fly-Away is a swing ride above the African canopy. Big Bird’s Whirly Birdie is a child size ferris wheel for children and parents. To cool off from the hot, African frolic, children will love splashing around in Bert & Ernie’s Watering Hole.
Great Addition to Our Theme Parks
In addition to all these rides, the safari of fun features a 4-D theatre show, tales of adventures, character encounters, netted play area, a sand filled beachy oasis, a trading post and the opportunity to dine with Elmo and friends!
No doubt Busch Gardens has drawn from their years of experience as the creators of the Sesame Place theme park just outside Philadelphia. I have fond memories of Mrs. LanceAround and I taking our children to Sesame Place during our time in Pennsylvania many years ago.
There is nothing to compare to the experience of young children enjoying the companionship of the characters of Sesame Street.
Ride face first on the Manta!
The monthly meeting of the Central Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association was held at Sea World to allow us to ride the new Manta coaster. We arrived at 8:00am, an hour before opening, so there were no lines. At 9am, as we went from Manta to our meeting, we fought our way through the throng of Sea World guests who arrived precisely at opening time and rushed to Manta.
Here are some reviews from my colleagues in the vacation rental home industry:
“Manta–4 G’s of sheer excitement, terror & back-against-your-seat entertainment! The last row is the best place to be!” –Michael Crandell
“I didn’t ride Manta because of a back problem but the aquarium was fantastic.”-Nigel Worrall, F. Leisure
“Finally, a line I don’t mind waiting in…getting there is half the fun. -Sondra Steele
“Manta–Awesome, fantastic and other adjectives that cannot be printed. What more can I say? -Ian Pardoe, President CFVRMA
“I was a little too fat to ride it. Thanks, Sea World, for giving me the motivation to lose weight!” -# 1 Son
Stingrays while you wait
“I didn’t ride Manta because my brother couldn’t ride it to give me some confidence, but I did go in the aquarium. It was absolutely beautiful. Even if you don’t ride Manta, ‘there’s always a compromise.'” -# 1 Daughter
“Manta was extremely exciting and thrilling; one of those rides you must go on at least twice. The best part of the ride is the spins.” -Ashley Cobb
“I rode a roller coaster in Kansas City and when the cars reached the port–The whole ride fell to the ground. So I didn’t ride Manta” -Judy Braland
“I hated it. Don threw up, Pluto urinated on one of the support beams. There are much better coasters at Disney.” -Mick E. Mice (Not my real name)
“Breathtaking! A roller coaster like no other. A must do at Sea World!” -Steve Kliamenakis
“Manta was all the thrill seeking adventure I could imagine bottled up into one ride. -Brad L.
“Unfortunately, I was too big to fit into the Manta seats. Why is it that I can ride every coaster at Disney, but the coaster designers at Universal, Sea World and Busch Gardens can’t figure out how to build a coaster that fits everybody? -Anonymous
“Manta–Wow! I won’t ride it but the aquariums are incredible.” -Keith Brady
“Inconceivable!” -Vizzini, the Sicilian from The Princess Bride movie
After our Manta preview, we had a talk by Brian Morrow, the director of Design & Engineering for Sea World. He began by telling us that he was responsible for the design of everything at Sea World from “bathrooms to roller coasters.” I was not quite sure if it was a good idea for him to put both of them in the same sentence?
Here are some of the most asked questions and facts about Manta:
How tall to ride Manta?
“How tall to ride Manta Coaster?” 54 inches.
“How tall is the Manta Coaster?” 140 feet with the longest drop being 113 feet.
“How long is the Manta ride?” Just over two and a half minutes.
“How fast does Manta go?” Up to 56 miles per hour.
“How many loops, twists and spins does Manta have?” Manta speeds riders through four showcase inversions, including two in-line spins, one flat spin and one pretzel loop. But the specially crafted rails make Manta one of the world’s smoothest coasters. There are lots of other twists and turns as well.
“How many aquariums are at the beginning of the ride queue?” 10, including some that have stingrays circling overhead and one that smaller guests can “pop up” into with fish swimming all around them.
“Who manufactured the Manta coaster?” Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) of Monthey, Switzerland.
Please feel free to add your own review by leaving your comments about Manta!
Weather this week in Florida
Last month I posted that my office staff was going to test ride the new Manta Coaster at Sea World on May 20th before its grand opening on May 22nd.
I promised that I would let you know what we thought of the coaster.
Unfortunately, mother nature did not cooperate. We have had heavy rainstorms all week. The coaster was not operating when we went to the preview.
Stay tuned and in the next couple of weeks we’ll try to get a review of the coaster, written by people who actually rode it.
In the meantime, if you have ridden the Manta, please leave a comment and let us know you thoughts.
LanceAround
Lance Around Orlando 