Mako is a
steel roller coaster
A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...
located at
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park, in Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Or ...
in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, United States. Manufactured by
Bolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...
, the
hypercoaster
A hypercoaster can mean one of two things:
*Any continuous-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop measuring greater than 200 feet
Or, more narrowly:
*Any complete-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop between 200 and 299 feet ...
model opened to the public on June 10, 2016. Mako is named after the
mako shark
''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks.
Description
The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...
and is located in the Sea of Mystery section of the park. It reaches a height of , a maximum speed of , and features a track length of .
The roller coaster was marketed as the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in Orlando and has been well-received, ranking every year since its opening in the top 50 of the annual
Golden Ticket Awards
''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...
publication from ''
Amusement Today
''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...
''. It attained its highest ranking of 15 in 2019. The ride is one of six roller coasters at SeaWorld Orlando and was the first since
Manta
Manta or mantas may refer to:
* Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta''
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications
* Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Br ...
opened in 2009.
History
In April 2015,
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...
officials began teasing an upcoming announcement of a new thrill ride for their flagship park in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
.
At the time, the only detail revealed was that the roller coaster would be 200 feet in height and would become the longest, tallest, and fastest roller coaster in the city.
A month later on May 13, 2015, SeaWorld filed a trademark with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
for the name "Mako" along with "Reef Hunter". On May 27, 2015, SeaWorld officially announced the construction of Mako, which was named after the
mako shark
''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks.
Description
The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...
. The mako has been identified as the fastest species of shark in the ocean.
During the time of announcement, a simulated
point-of-view shot
A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being position ...
was released depicting the ride's intended route along the park's lagoon.
On August 17, 2015, the first pieces of track began to ship from Ohio to Orlando, and started to arrive on site two days later. On January 6, 2016, the roller coaster's lift hill was
topped-out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a Builders' rites, builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony ...
. The first car of the train was shipped and revealed on February 16, 2016, with the car design exhibiting the face of a mako shark.
On March 15, 2016, the last piece of track was put into place.
In April 2016, SeaWorld began showing a presentation called "Mako Rising" previewing the upcoming roller coaster in their Nautilis Theater,
and later testing began on the ride with the park releasing an on-ride POV. Mako's soft opening was on June 2, 2016, with the official media day to introduce the roller coaster being hosted on June 9, 2016. A day after, its official opening to the public was on June 10, 2016. In addition to the ride's opening, a summer-dedicated event named "Summer of Mako" was hosted from June to August 2016 throughout the park and its sister water-park
Aquatica Orlando
Aquatica is a chain of water parks owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Aquatica parks are operating in Orlando, Florida and San Antonio, Texas.
History
SeaWorld Orlando originally announced plans to build a water park on Ju ...
.
Ride experience
Entrance and queue area
The roller coaster is themed to the mako shark. Similarly the 2-acre (0.81 ha) park area around it, entitled "Shark Wreck Reef", is themed to sharks. The area features recycled art, a mural created by
Guy Harvey
Guy Harvey (born 16 September 1955) is a Jamaican marine wildlife artist and conservationist. His depictions of sealife, especially of sportfish such as marlin, are popular with sportfishermen and have been reproduced in prints, posters, T- ...
, and educational pieces about human and shark interactions.
As guests go through the
queue area
Queue areas are places in which people queue (first-come, first-served) for goods or services. Such a group of people is known as a ''queue'' (British usage) or ''line'' (American usage), and the people are said to be waiting or standing ''in ...
, various educational displays and an additional Guy Harvey exhibit can be seen.
The queue of the ride consists of a wooden pier, where the riders are situated under while waiting.
During the queue, guests take on the point of view of a mako shark as it traverses through preying grounds.
The theme of Mako's station is a
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
.
Different sections of an original musical score is played throughout the queue and loading station, as well as the plaza area beneath the coaster's climactic loop.
SeaWorld commissioned the 32-minute score, which was composed and produced by Rick McKee.
Before the ride's train dispatches, a panel located above the riders shows scenes of shadowy figures consisting of a group of sharks migrating forward with accommodating visuals and sound.
Layout
After leaving the station, the train makes a small right turn to a 200-foot (61 m)
lift hill
A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...
(which is right next to
Kraken's dive loop) to begin its ascent.
After reaching the top, it enters a 200-foot (61 m) drop, in which the train reaches at a top speed of 73 miles per hour (117 km/h).
Then, the train makes a tall, overbanked turn, hugging the side of the lake, before an
airtime hill. After the hill, the track reverses direction via a
Hammerhead turn. Traveling over another camelback hill, there is a series of airtime hills as the track travels back along the lake before hitting the mid-course brake run. Off the mid-course brakes, the track makes a small left turn under the lift hill and goes into another airtime hill. After it makes a banked turn to the right, the track goes into another banked turn to the left over a part of the park's lagoon and then hits the final
brake run
A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...
.
Characteristics
Track
![Mako roller coaster train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Mako_roller_coaster_train.jpg)
The steel box track of Mako is long and the lift is approximately high.
The track pieces were shipped on flatbed trucks from
Clermont Steel Fabricators
Clermont Steel Fabricators (abbreviated as CSF) is a private steel products manufacturing company known for making Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters. The plant is located in Batavia, Ohio. CSF was founded in 2004 after the closing of Southern ...
in
Batavia, Ohio to Orlando, Florida where they were assembled.
The track of the roller coaster is purple with the supports colored blue.
The roller coaster was designed to have nine airtime moments and a third of the layout traverses over water.
Trains
Mako operates with lead and fiberglass trains each containing seven cars.
Every seat has its own lap bar restraint
and each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 28 riders per train.
The trains were designed with the physiology of a mako with gills on either side of the train,
and feature
polyurethane
Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...
wheels that help to reduce friction on the track. They were manufactured by
Bolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
Reception
![Mako roller coaster end](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Mako_roller_coaster_end.jpg)
Mako has been positively received among guests and critics. Dewayne Bevil from the ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' described the ride as "breathtaking" and stated "SeaWorld has delivered on its marketing promise with the fastest, tallest, longest coaster in the Orlando market". Marjie Lambert from the ''
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
'' commented that the ride was like a "retro coaster" and mentioned "its design is reminiscent of old wooden coasters where the track couldn’t be shaped into the pretzels and upside down loops that are so popular in today’s steel coasters". Sharon Wynne from the ''
Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
'' suggested "it will likely to take two or three more trips on this coaster to appreciate all its tricks" and coaster enthusiast Jim Terry attending the soft opening had acclaimed it was the best roller coaster in Florida.
Arthur Levine of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' remarked that "it's more than enough to get pulses racing and senses heightened, but not so much as to cause tunnel vision, grayouts, or other unpleasant side effects". Elle Gordon of the ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
'' likened the "weightless airtime" as a highlight of her park visit and added it was well worth a night time ride. Russell Meyer of ''Theme Park Insider'' observed the themeing of the roller coaster and its surrounding area was "excellently done" with the accommodating effects and music a "nice touch".
Awards
See also
*
2016 in amusement parks
This article is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that occurred in 2016. These various lists are not exhaustive.
Amusement parks
Opening
*China Nanchang Wanda Park – May 27
*China Shanghai Disneyland – June 16
*UAE IM ...
References
External links
Official attraction page
{{SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando
Roller coasters in Florida
2016 establishments in Florida
Hypercoasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard