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Some of you people need a new hobby. The concept art looks really good, if the final product is anything close it will be a great addition. It will be interesting, as others have said, to see all the different marketing strategies that emerge for the 2016 Orlando additions. Hopefully this ride will help Sea World refocus and move forward to a bright future.

Orlando finally gets its speed coaster! I couldn't be more happy to see this addition. There have been some comments posted here and elsewhere that believe that this won't draw visitors away from the other major parks in Orlando. Please keep in mind that this will be the tallest, longest and fastest coaster in the largest theme park mecca in the country! I might understand that viewpoint if Sea World markets this like they did with Tempesto at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (i.e., pretty much not at all), but that seems VERY unlikely to happen given how large of an addition this is. This coaster will absolutely - at the very least - prompt people to think about portioning off one of their days at the other parks and going here instead. There are literally no other coasters like this in that area, and the general public is going to absolutely love this coaster. You know it's going to open on time and will be extremely re-ridable. How exactly is this not a good investment?

I have been on Adventure Express more than any other coaster this year. 24 times on Express...the second most? Diamondback with 20. I love Adventure Express! I honestly haven't really cared for Banshee that much this year...

With what's been going on with SeaWorld I'd rather they built something that''s proven reliable and won't put them back in the news yet again for "knowingly putting peoples lives at risk" when the ride breaks down or has a serious mishap (thinking of Xcelerator at the moment). Honestly I can't even remember the last time I have seen Diamondback down for any other reason besides weather.

I saw these 2 crying kids being forced by their mother to ride Diamondback. They left the station crying, and soon returned smiling ear to ear. Just like mama bird teaching her chicks to fly, it's called tough love..

Guests have more money in their pocket, spending more money in parks, increased attendance. Comments on innovation being the forefront of driving future attendance figures. Labor largest cost in operating the chain. Carowinds sets record Memorial Day weeekend ever. http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000381947

That's what happens when a company for just a few million more delivers a ride that's built on time, works perfectly, flawless safety record, high capacity, and operates easily. See Cheetah Run, Falcons Fury, Inferno, etc. The list can go on and on and on sadly.

I feel for your daughter. Drop Tower is a ride as a grown adult I only conquer once every few years....

My youngest stepson just overcame his fear. He did it himself, though...well, mostly. We encouraged him, but promised him we'd never force him, to ride. But that also meant he'd have to sit and wait for us. I honestly think he decided he'd rather be scared than bored and realized it's fun.

I saw something similar on Woodstock Express last week. A girl was looking quite afraid to ride the ride and there was a supervisor nearby (at least I think she was, she was dressed nicer than the rest). The supervisor came over to the girl and talked to her really calmly and made the girl feel at ease to ride the ride. I thought the supervisor did an excellent job and it never seemed like she was pushing the girl to ride, just explained to her how the ride goes. I completely forgot about it until I saw this thread, I meant to give kudos to the supervisor at Guest Relations but forgot.

THANK YOU! I totally agree with everything you say. People near Carowinds, Cedar Point, SFMM, etc. are not the target markets. I will say if I'm ever in the area though I will be riding this. My favorite part is the interaction over the water, I miss that from a certain park near a certain lake in Ohio. Now it sits next to a parking lot and a rumbling rock with track spewing out the top.

It's been there for years. If a child looks stressed and distraught they need to make sure the child is alright and wants to ride. Last thing the parks want is a screaming anxiety driven child who doesn't want to ride and is scared for their life trying to get off the ride say on a lift hill, or worse during the ride. Many bad things could happen. I've seen it before, parents want to ride the rides and get their kids on them for them to have a good day, and the kid clearly doesn't want to ride and says no. Parents kinda pressures/hazes the kid, but the park won't have it and asks the parent and child to exit. Safety is key, and always will be.

I was fortunate enough to have "discovered" the Surf Dog ride during my visit to Kings Island on Sunday. I was in line for Invertigo with some friends, we somehow got talking with the couple in front of us. They highly recommended taking some time to venture over to Planet Snoopy and take in a ride on Surf Dog. We were highly skeptical; however, decided to go for it. Man-oh-man am I glad we got in on that conversation. Surprisingly, Row 6 on the far side of the ride during the fireworks on Sunday night was a memory I will cherish for a very long time. This ride is fantastic. I would highly recommend a journey over to Planet Snoopy and catch a ride!

While Cheetah Hunt is indeed a very fun Coaster, getting on it is a chore. It has the longest wait times of anything else in the park. Not lines, wait times. I miss Kings Island.............a LOT. That said I am very happy to see a B&M Hyper being installed an hour and fifteen minutes from my house. 50 percent of visitors are those of us that live here. Well, we don't have anything like this here so I foresee lots of happy folks. Except of course for the enthusiasts, just another reason for me to ignore them. As for it being a B&M, I expected nothing else. They already have two that are very good rides. The other SEAS park has three of them. They really like their reliable, easy to maintain, steel monsters. Tomorrow we will be told about the Mack being installed at BGT and maybe some folks will be happy.

This is a key point that I haven't seen mentioned. Cheetah Hunt - Sea World/Busch's last big coaster installation in Florida and an Intamin creation - is a nice ride that is very popular with the public. Falcons Fury just opened at BGT. It would have been very easy for Sea World to go back to Intamin having already done recent work with them, and they chose not to. Cheetah Hunt has had problems with reliability since it opened. Falcons Fury opened months late and missed nearly the entirety of the busy Summer season. Sea World couldn't afford to take the chance that either of those problems came with this new addition. This is an interesting point. I decided to take a look at Orlando's visitor demographics, and I came across this 2013 article from the Orlando Sentinel. Here's what it says: The article says that approximately 55 million visitors came through Orlando in 2011. If that's true, that's over 30 million visitors that came either from other parts of Florida or overseas (50% Floridians and 7% international travelers). I realize that not all of those travelers are thrill-seekers, but the reality is that the overwhelming majority of people visiting Orlando do not live near an area where there's a coaster like this, nor have they probably ridden one unless they've been to one of the other big parks in other parts of the US. I have a difficult time believing that Sea World isn't going to find a way to capitalize on building the area's tallest and fastest attraction by advertising on everything both in Orlando and on Orlando-related print materials. This won't be Harry Potter-ish as far as grabbing attention for sure, but anyone who would have probably passed visiting Sea World while in Orlando prior to this addition now likely will have this on their radar now. If this coaster pushes people to spend even one day there instead of Disney or Universal then it's a success. You also have the added bonus of the ride being really fun. B&M hypers at regional parks are huge draws, so just imagine one in the Orlando area with way more visitors that likely have never ridden a coaster that tall.

Solid ride. The issue people are (or, should be) raising with it is that if you live within reasonable distance to a Cedar Fair, Six Flags, or Busch Gardens park (which, I'm certain, many if not most of the residents of the continental US do), you've seen this pony before, or taller. SeaWorld continues to operate under a cloud of confusion. It's not a zoo. It's not a theme park. It's not an amusement park. This coaster will strengthen the "amusement park" angle with a nod to the "theme park" angle. But it's not going to draw people from the area's outright theme parks (Universal and Disney). At least rides like SheiKra offer something you probably won't find at a local amusement park, whereas, to the general public, if you've been on Diamondback, Intimidator, Behemoth, Kumba, Millennium, Nitro, Raging Bull, etc., then you aren't going to be drawn to SeaWorld by this single attraction. I have long argued that SeaWorld needs to de-emphasize its marketing as a "really, really, really good zoo," because even the best zoo can't reasonably charge $65 for one day. I have said that SeaWorld ought to re-emphasize itself as a winning theme park. This is more toward the "amusement park" angle, but it's still better than constantly harping on Blackfish and bringing its zoo practices back into the public eye.

Well there are those of us who like the tamer thrills as opposed to nauseating twists, turn, backflips and spins. I am actually glad for a B&M rather than a Intamin for SeaWorld.

Ape, how can you say so if you haven't even ridden it? Sigh... And ah yes, I had forgotten about that one...goes into two helixes actually, and man are they awesome.

^it make me happy if the theming in the concept art actually does come to fruition. I love the theming for both Manta coasters and hope this will look just as good.

Guess I'll make SeaWorld and Busch Gardens my targets next year. Dunno if I will actually ride it more than once, but seeing it gives me another excuse to go and to also more importantly see the animals of course Recent pics of Nalani...gosh she's growing up, haha. faeriewench...whom just realized she has yet to ride any coaster or thrill ride of any kind this year so far.

Most parents learn quickly how far they can push their kids. As Tr0y mentioned- tough love. My youngest will look at food she has never tried and scream yuck. Some parents will allow their kids to be a picky eater. But me as big bad dad will just take her phone away until she at least tries some of it. Typically she likes it. I did the same with TTD. She loved it. Not so much with X-Scream at Waldameer, which she still hates. When going to KI her first time & seeing Drop Tower, before even asking she told me to keep the phone. She didn't go on. Yes, she still has her phone.

Just no pleasing some folks. Looks like a fun ride to me but won't know for sure until I am able to ride it. Will have to keep an eye out for construction on my next trip.

Didn't stop my mother...which probably explains a lot!

I hope you have a ton of fun. I'm sure you will. Who knows, maybe I'll see you working there at least once! I also hope I can eventually get a job at KI someday. Living an hour away makes for quite a commute, which is part of the reason why I'm not going for it now. I worked my first shift yesterday and I love my job! Even though I got soaked from the storm that came through. You would love working there, hopefully you will be able to work it out so you can. It's easier for me since my mom works at the park, we can just work similar schedules. I hope you come through and see me sometime when you are at the park. If I happen to get off work early on the day you're there, maybe we can do some rides together.

Flights booked for SoCal. Yay I need some Knotts ( and SeaWorld) in my life. I've heard (mostly) good reviews from friends about this ride.

I agree with you on Drop Tower. Good advice, folks. That was pretty cool of that supervisor to do that for that girl dtk.

As the guy who had the entirety of Plankton's Plunge (now Kite-Eating Tree) to himself for two cycles after a storm the year it debuted because I had time to kill after I got off work, I feel your pain. And that ride has the worst load procedure of any ride I've ever seen! I feel for the ride op who has to figure out how to balance weight loads for each cycle. I've grown a beard while waiting for that ride w my kids!

Agreed. Plus, this is the first B&M off hand I can think of that has a neat twist right after a MCBR. Usually they just drop straight down and then go into an element, so I'm all for it. I've never found a B&M Hyper I haven't enjoyed. Some are better than others (see Apollo's Chariot) but generally there aren't any that I won't ride. Whoever has been designing the last few B&M's has my support, the overbanks and angles are very impressive and look great. It's like a smaller Diamondback with a few Fury 325 like turns. I'm all for it.

At the last one, Don strongly implied this will be an ongoing thing through the season. And this one is a different day of the week than the last one. Hopefully one will eventually be on a day/time you can attend.

It doesn't take much to scare a hippie.

I just wish that Surfer Joe Cool actually had eyes underneath the sunglasses. It's kind of... unsettling.

I suppose that's just one of the sacrifices we have to make at Kings Island for having the best kids area in the world 14 years in a row... Had the park not had that reputation, I'd be willing to bet some of the "family" rides would've been put elsewhere in the park (Race For Your Life, Flying Ace, Surf Dog, Woodstock Gliders to name a few).

I know most of you are not from Kentucky. As a Kentuckian and a taxpayer, I want this park to make it because we need a smaller park and it fits that niche perfectly. If the park thrives, the loans will be paid off and the taxpayers will recoup the investment. It is not the perfect set-up but it works. Also, when I visited on Sunday, I personally did not see Band-Aid type solutions, I was pleasantly surprised. I actually hope that the management does not try to compete with Kings Island; Kentucky Kingdom is not in the same league and never will be unless it is moved off the fairgrounds property and has a huge influx of capital. Based off one visit, I give it a thumbs up. But of course, this is in comparison to the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom experience I had in 2009. I vowed I would not go back. It was nothing like the former park. Kings Island will always be my "home park" but for a short drive, Kentucky Kingdom is fun, especially with Thunder Run being such a great coaster. If they actually make over Twisted Twins (never rode the original, was closed under Six Flags), that would be a great thing. Not The Beast or Diamondback, but for a coaster enthusiast, having more coasters is usually not a bad thing. Edited for spelling errors and to expound on the original post.

No, you have misunderstood, and you're trying to spin what I said. I'm directly stating this about the people on here and other places that act offended when I say I'm not thrilled. I feel I shouldn't have had to just explain myself on that either.

Sometimes I start talking aloud to whoever I'm with about how roller coasters are just like big "sled rides," and the nearby parents will say, "Yeah, did you hear that? It's just a big sled ride." Then as the kid starts calming down, they start asking the ubiquitous questions about flying off, and then they get their first lesson in observing the amazing up-stop and side-friction wheels, which a great many first-time riders have never really noticed before.

Well, looking at this again...and having more time to think about it...here are more thoughts and stuff, and other thoughts gone into deeper: 1. The ending of this ride is pretty unique with how it twists and turns and goes over/under itself. Kinda reminds me of Voyage @ Holiday World's ending. 2. The ride will probably be excellent with lots of airtime, but (as stated) it probably won't draw in guests from other markets that have B&M Hypers nearby. For Orlando however- whom previously the closest hypercoaster was Goliath @ SFOG, this will be a great addition to an already solid coaster lineup that includes Manta (widely considered one of the best B&M Flying Coasters), Kraken (a top-rated Floorless coaster), and Journey to Atlantis (a very cool and interesting dark ride/water ride/coaster hybrid). Disney and Universal have nothing like this. 3. Purple and Blue? Not the most common paint scheme but it looks good. 4. As a B&M, It will probably be super reliable and open day 1. And the GP should eat it up since it has zero inversions, something you can't say about Manta or Kraken. They should make a very solid B&M coaster trio together. 5. That animation looks pretty lousy outside the coasters themselves. The real ride should be much prettier near the lake and with Orlando in the background. 6. I take back my "It looks like Diamondback and Fury 325" statement- at least the Diamondback part. The turnaround actually seems much more like Intimidator's, also at Carowinds. So this seems like a Mini-Mix of Carowinds B&M's, with a Voyage-like ending. 7. I'm still curious as to the train selection- the streak of all B&M Hypers since Behemoth having the V-Seated Trains is over. And only 7 cars per train when most of the B&M's with this train style ran 8 or even 9? Also, To faeriewench: I can remember Diamondback went down for a week or so in I think 2012 or so. There was a bad footer or something, it wasn't really B&M's fault since they don't make that part of their coasters. Other than that though DB has been pretty reliable since it opened in 2009 so I expect the same from Mako.

It probably wasn't going to be a Mack hyper because, going with what faeriewench is stating for B&M, Mack hasn't gone to 200 ft yet. Do they have the capability? Certainly, but B&M has already been there and you know what you're getting. Now, SEAS does have experience with Mack and their new trains at the San Diego park, so I'm guessing Mack had a bid on the table (along with Morgan I imagine since SEAS has one of those), but B&M stood out more to them. I imagine CF's recent work with B&M and the reactions to each of those additions were a big part of that decision. It is a type that will be unique to the region. And if you do some reading around these forums, you know why they probably didn't go with Intamin.

The closest hypercoaster to Florida that I am aware of is Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia (correct me if I'm wrong because I might be). Over a 6 hour drive from Orlando. I think Mako fills a much needed niche for the locals in that area. There's plenty of time to expand into new things in the future.

Every time I visited SeaWorld Orlando I felt like the internationals outnumbered us, lol. ^ I think it'll do well in Orlando. My friend who does work at the park is pretty excited for it cause now she doesn't have to worry about finding the time for Carowinds, lol. And she is the kind of person who is leery with all coasters cause she thinks they'll treat her the same way Gwazi did.

My mom has a saying: "Try it once. If you don't like it, you don't have to ride it again." I don't think it's exactly that, but that's the gist of it. She used this to get us on the roller coasters, Drop Tower, etc. And especially Tower of Terror at WDW. That's her favorite ride ever. She made everyone try it (besides me, I was pretty young at the time, and my brother I think) and my dad and sister despised it. I believe my sister still has a mild fear of elevators, and she's almost 25! Last time we went to KI (I believe 2012, pretty sure we decided to only go to HW in 2011), my dad and I used this against her. She did not want to ride WindSeeker at all, but we told her she needed to ride it at least once. She did, and she ended up hating it. The only rides this never applied to were upcharges.

I dig the purple along with the typical aqua color scheme you'd expect on a marine themed coaster. Also loving the 0 car for this (the car in front without the seats and has the shark head). It looks super sharp (in more ways than one). I'm kind of surprised they didn't decide to add a splash with this. Guess they left that to Manta. I hope the over-bank hill after the first drop stays true to the angles it shows in the renderings, it looks to be amazing. It does come as a surprise to me that Sea World is breaking the 200 ft barrier. I initially thought Busch Gardens Tampa would have been the first in Florida to go with a hyper of some sort. I also find it weird they aren't going with 3 trains for this unless they are running cycles not unlike Leviathan and Banshee, both with no MCBR and 3 trains. EDIT: After seeing the rendering again, it does in deed have a brake run. I call it a LCBR (late course brake run) since its so close to the end but has an element or two before the final brakes, kind of like with Gatekeeper and Shambhala (a B&M hyper at PortAventura in Spain).

And that is why I don't do carnival rides. Yearly? Just yearly? Especially considering they move from location to location. Torn down and rebuilt constantly? Just..nope.

I think I'll try it Sunday if it's open. The last two times I've been, it's been closed.

...when they're working. I've seen both of them down multiple times before. Speaking of which, that's a reason that any ride's on-ride photo booth might be closed on a busy day: technical problems with the camera. It's certainly not a common occurrence, but it can and does happen.

Though none of the rides mentioned have been relocated since being installed at Kings Island, one of them was once in Rivertown.

@KingsIslandPR: Word on the (International) Street is there will be a behind the scenes tour of The Beast on Friday. Follow @DonHelbig for details. https://www.twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/603385361222541313

For good reason.

As the guy who had the entirety of Plankton's Plunge (now Kite-Eating Tree) to himself for two cycles after a storm the year it debuted because I had time to kill after I got off work, I feel your pain.

Heidy ho neighborino!

I usually only ride it on days when I've decided to ride all of the coasters at the park, but it is a surprisingly enjoyable little ride. I would ride it more often except its line doesn't move very fast, and I feel like I'm looked upon a little suspiciously being a lone middle aged woman riding what many consider a "kiddy" ride. That's actually one of my big annoyances that the Gliders were put in Planet Snoopy too. It's more of a family ride, but its location makes people think otherwise. And the music over there... :-|