Sea World Orlando 87 photos HERE at Flickr. Guess which state I am in. Yep, South Carolina. With so many discounts, specials, and freebies, I could not pass up a trip to Florida to visit a lot of new parks as well as parks that I have not visited in a very long time. I left around 6 AM on Monday morning, and made it into Orlando around 3:30 PM. The first stop of the trip, a place I had not been to since I was two years old. Looks like it's going to be a great day, and a great week. As a Busch platinum passholder, I got into Sea World free, along with free preferred parking. Although, the preferred parking was definitely not needed this week. One of the major reasons for this trip was Manta, the new for 2009 addition to Sea World Orlando. A fantastic looking ride, no doubt. My expectations, however, were a bit tempered. I find flying coasters to be fun, but not overly exciting. I don't think any of the ones I had been on previously really took much advantage of the whole flying concept. The queue in Florida is an art form, and Manta's is no exception. It is inside, air conditioned, and features an aquarium with mantas, of course. The one element of the B&M flyers that I did enjoy was the pretzel loop, so I was glad that Manta had one. My verdict? Fantastic. Manta succeeds for me where the other flying coasters failed (I have yet to ride AIR or Tatsu). The layout, with its three barrel rolls, is more interesting. But, more importantly, the ride actually takes advantage of the fact that the rider is hanging under the track in a prone position staring straight down at the ground. There are some close encounters with the terrain. This was one of my favorite parts of the ride. The train comes so close to this waterfall that you get sprayed a bit if you are in the left seat. After that, the coaster's signature moment. This time, riders on the right side may get hit with a little water. Overall, it is just a great ride. Very smooth, some very disorienting G-forces in the pretzel loop, and never a dull moment until the final brakes. Continuing into the park, it looks like Journey to Atlantis must have quite the line. Another awesome ride. My first ride had an acceptable amount of wetness, but the second time around I rode in the front seat, and got drenched. Even though I knew there was a coaster part at the back, I wasn't expecting it to be as tall and fast as it was. The reactions of people who had no idea it was back there were hilarious. Definitely one of my favorite water rides ever. Early impressions of this park were great. Next door, the final big ride at Sea World: Kraken. Again, clearly no issue regarding wait times. Floorless coasters... Pretty much 'meh' to me at this point. This is a pretty good one, though. Seven inversions, my favorite of which was probably this vertical loop in a trench right after the mid-course brakes. There is a cool dive through a tunnel near the end of the ride. After that the train soars out and into a corkscrew. I liked how desensitized the ducks were to the big roller coaster flying by them. As long as they stay away from the tracks... With the major stuff out of the way, it was time to enjoy the rest of the park. Just over ten years ago Sea World had no roller coasters, and the draw of the park was entirely the animals, so there are plenty to see. For an extra fee you can feed the dolphins. Sea World's layout is kind of odd, and I nearly missed this entire half of the park. Now here is something I had never seen before. A sky tower that requires an additional charge. I don't think they were charging on this day, probably because of the low crowds. Shamu Stadium. I had hoped to see a show or two, especially this one, but the weather would put an end to that. Things were not looking so promising off in the distance. A look at Manta's finale from the Sky Tower. Kraken is a pretty enormous ride. The longest roller coaster in Florida in fact, until Expedition Everest opened at Animal Kingdom. Since there were very few people in the park, I figured why not head over to Shamu Express. Added to the count. They love people on stilts at all of the Florida parks. Next, Wild Arctic. Like most simulators, it was pretty cheesy and made me a bit sick. g2g get some lulz from the humans so to have fish kbai. about 7 hours ago from Aqua Tweet Shark Encounter was perhaps my favorite of the aquarium exhibits. I went inside to get dinner and all hell broke loose outside. Storms shut down the rides for the rest of the night and kept me pinned inside the restaurant until about 30 minutes before closing time. Once it died down I did at least get to go into the Penguin Encounter. Here are some puffins. Nightfall at Kraken. I was hoping to get re-rides on Manta, but the weather put an end to that. Fortunately, I did make it back over to the park Wednesday morning to get a couple of rides in. One of the best rides in Florida I say. So, that's it for Sea World and day one of a long and exhausting week. I really enjoyed the park; it is a perfect blend of rides and animals, and like all Busch parks holds itself to high quality standards. Return Home Content copyright Jonathan Hawkins