PHOTO: Cobra's Curse. set to debut this summer at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla., will have you hanging on for dear life! (Courtesy SeaWorld Parks)
Orlando is one of America's most visited cities and with good reason. As home to numerous amusement parks and attractions, thousands upon thousands of people make the trek each year to partake in a healthy dose of family fun, and a few spills and thrills along the way. This summer, people will have even more reason to visit America's family playground with the debut of two new SeaWorld Parks rides.
SeaWorld Orlando: Inspired by the fastest shark on the planet, SeaWorld Orlando's Mako will debut on June 10 and is being billed as the tallest, fastest, longest rollercoaster in Orlando.
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At 4,760 feet long and reaching speeds of up to 73 miles per hour, Mako will provide nearly a mile - that's the length of nearly 33 Olympic-sized pools end to end - of exciting twists and turns. And, thrill-seekers will be in for a treat when their car climbs to the coaster's 200-foot apex, where Orlando's skyline will be in easy view.
Mako is a hypercoaster, a class of coasters known for its numerous tall hills and high speeds, meaning riders experience near weightless "air time" which coaster enthusiasts will tell you is the heart and soul of coaster riding. Beyond the fun-factor, the coaster in itself is an engineering marvel, with a custom fiberglass lead car inspired by the physiology of an actual mako shark. Riders will soar through the air in padded bucket seats, designed for both comfort and safety, with a lap guard that keeps them safely in place while allowing for upper-body mobility.
The coaster cars will feature magnetic brakes, activated by the interaction between metal plates under the car frame and stationary magnets on the coaster track. And, much like the mako glides through the ocean, the rollercoaster will glide over the rails thanks to wheels made of a special polyurethane compound designed to reduce fiction.
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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay: The newest ride to debut at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay isn't your mother's rollercoaster. Nor is the 2,100-foot Cobra Curse, set to debut this summer, for the faint of heart.
The coaster's vertical lift acts as an outdoor elevator, lifting riders 70 feet into the air. As a spin coaster, it will give riders an exceptional experience and a thrill not to be outdone - riders will spend a third of the ride running forward, another third running backward and for the grand finale, a free spin to the end. The ride's motion was inspired by the "s-curve" of a snake, and each ride will spin differently depending on the weight distribution of the riders.
And just as the cars reach the peak, thrill-seekers will come face-to-face with an 80-foot snake icon. From there, they'll climb and dip as they take a trek over the park's Serengeti Plain and take part in an unforgettable Egyptian archeological excavation. And best of all, thanks to a 42-inch height restriction, almost the entire family can ride together.
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