Today was much, much better in that regard. I decided just to drop in for a few hours.
I arrived at the park around 2:15pm, and I headed straight to Manta. There was only a one train wait! I got straight on in the back. I'm a SFGAm fanboy until I die, but I have to say that Manta beats the everliving crap out of SUF. The drop and pretzel felt basically the same, but everything afterward is breathtaking. The first inline twist really caught me by surprise for some reason. Perhaps I'm used to the zigzagging pattern of SUF and just didn't expect to keep turning in the same direction. Fountains placed beneath the track are set to give the illusion that the train is touching the water. I actually got a decent spritzing from them
The train passes a wall that looks too close for comfort, which I love. Overall, it's definitely worth a reride. I came back for three more, waiting no longer than 10 minutes total for the front row.Now it's time to get things Kraken *rimshot* Ahem. Anyway. Kraken, too, had an almost nonexistent line. I wound up walking on the front because there happened to be an empty seat. Right away I have a huge admiration for this ride, as it's got the only respectable first drop in all of central Florida. I mean, 144' isn't much to brag about, but it certainly packs a punch. That coupled with the nonstop inversions this ride has to offer makes for a fun time, I'd say. I hopped on for another front row ride.
And due to the unfortunate inability of non-drowsy Dramamine to actually prevent my motion sickness, I decided to take a break over the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium. I love otters.
I decided to get one more ride on Manta before heading out. It started raining. For reasons beyond my comprehension, they temporarily shut down the ride. I was always under the impression that Beemers were built like beasts and could weather any storm, but apparently SWO's management disagrees. Anyway, the sporadic summertime Floridian rain let up pretty quickly, and I was on again for a fifth ride. Definitely fun.
The crowd was sparse being that it's a weekday, and most tourists would rather be at Universal or Disney early on in the week. Luckily, SWO tends to attract families with young children, so the lines for the coasters are always short. I love taking advantage of that ;D
