Quickly following the announcement of an all-new water show at its sister theme park in Orlando, Florida, the San Diego Sea World has announced its own new attraction for 2012 – the Manta rollercoaster.
Long a popular attraction for family holidays in San Diego, officials of Sea World said the Manta rollercoaster was designed to bring guests of the park from idly watching the stunning sea creatures on display in the parks many aquariums to experiencing the sensations of being under the sea.
Construction on the rollercoaster’s scheduled to begin in the next month, and the completed ride will feature fast-paced visits to multiple sea habitats, all on an exhilarating rollercoaster shaped like a giant manta ray.
Park president John Reilly said the ride will combine education and thrills in a new way to delight visitors.
“We are delighted to bring energizing new attractions to our guests year after year,” he said, “and Manta does just that, combining the thrill and excitement of a coaster, with the educational and entertaining value of an incredible marine-life exhibit.”
Riders of the coaster will interact with a stunning number of fish while zooming from different habitats.
“With Manta, our guests will be able to see and interact with 65 bat rays, 10 guitar fish, and hundreds of fishes,” SeaWorld San Diego’s curator of fishes Thad Dirksen said. “The below-water viewing area will include eight acrylic windows and a reef design. The above-water interaction area will allow our guests more opportunities to touch and feed the rays.”
