Ten Things to Know About SeaWorld’s Newest Attraction, Manta

1) The attraction features 10 aquariums, totalling nearly 250,000 gallons of water. Special features include a pop-up aquarium where smaller guests can ‘pop up’ in the middle and surround themselves with the tank’s inhabitants and a 220 square foot overhead viewing panel. That panel alone weighs almost 16,000 pounds (8 tons) and is the largest of its kind ever produced by the manufacturer, Nippura. The salt-water habitats at the attraction consist of 71,000 pounds of salt.

2) More than 3,000 animals are on display at the attraction, including a giant Pacific octopus. There are 300 rays in the all-around-you aquarium, comprised of eight separate species of ray: cownose, spotted eagle, roughtail, southern, shark ray, giant guitarfish, white blotched river ray and (of course) Manta. In the wild, there are more than 400 species to be found in both saltwater and freshwater. A group of rays is known as a ‘fever.’ Most give live birth to litters of anywhere between five and fifteen rays. Now that’s a fever!

3) Manta, a spinning, flying roller coaster, features four showcase inversions: two in-line spins, one flat spin and one pretzel loop

4) Specially crafted rails make Manta one of the world’s smoothest coasters

5) In a sure-to-be-remembered moment, Manta’s speeding train and guests in the queue line are separated only by a waterfall — Manta on one side, and waiting guests on the other. In line, visitors will feel the punch of air as the train flies past at highway speeds. On the ride, guests will gasp as they dart within 2.5 feet of the gushing water.

6) Approaching the end of the ride, but with a few twists and spins still to be had, Manta’s train seems to skim the surface of the lagoon, throwing out a 14-foot high, 60-foot long spray of water.

7) Manta’s loading platform was designed to hide the boarding process from riders. SeaWorld’s experts wanted the head-first, face-down launch to be a surprise. (Surprise!)

8 ) Manta by the numbers: Vehicle Wing Span – 12 feet; Length of train – 72 feet, 2 inches; Weight per train (empty) – 33,100 pounds; Wiring per train: 2,524 feet; Track length – 3,350 feet; Weight of steel used: 2,772,600 pounds; Number of bolts used – 12,186; Maximum height – 140 feet; Maximum drop – 113 feet; Top Speed – 56 miles per hour; Height requirement – 54 inches.

9) Manta’s design is so efficient, the first drop provides all the power the flying cloaster needs to speed for the rest of the ride, inversions and all. In fact, if the track were flat after the drop, the train could coast for nearly two miles.

10) The coaster was designed by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) in Switzerland, designers of Kraken, Sheikra, Montu, Kumba, Griffon and more. According to a recent poll from Amusement Today, B&M is responsible for four of the top ten steel coasters and twenty out of the top fifty.

Information courtesy of SeaWorld.