Back in late March we broke the news that permits had been filed for SeaWorld Orlando’s 2020 attraction. Thanks to a public records request through the Orange County Government, we can now share the site plan which reveals new details about the project, and confirms it will indeed be a roller coaster!



As expected, this new attraction will be located near the Mango Joe’s restaurant. The station building will be built adjacent to the covered, outdoor seating area, and that whole seating area will become the queue for the new attraction. The main restaurant building will be staying, and a new outdoor seating area will be built near the nearby restrooms. I’d imagine the restaurant itself will also be getting a nice makeover to match whatever theme they give this new ride. Below you’ll see the full site plan for the area, which includes the new buildings, hardscape, and foundation locations for all ride’s supports.

The ride itself looks to be rather interesting. The leading rumor is that this will be a Premier Rides launch coaster, and these plans seem to support that. Immediately after leaving the station is an area labeled “switch”, which is what we assume to be a track switch that will slide the train to the right, and into the launch track. At the back end of the launch track, near Shamu Stadium, are a series of ride footers labeled S01-S05 arranged in a triangular pattern, which look like they’re for a vertical Spike element. At the other end of the launch are a series of footers labeled TH01-TH12 which are more than likely for a Top Hat element. Below are some closeups of this section of the plans with the footers highlighted so you can see the shapes of these elements:

We’d imagine the first part of this new ride will be similar to the recently opened Tigris at Busch Gardens Tampa. It’ll start with a moderately powered forward launch towards the top hat, reaching maybe a third of the way up before rolling back and launching backwards all the way up the spike. After the spike the train will hit the launch again at full power, launching it all the way up and over the top hat and into the rest of the ride’s course. Below is a highlighted section of just the ride’s launch area:

After exiting the top hat, the ride looks to make a sweeping turn and hop over a path into a backstage area, where the track makes a turn around and heads back towards the water, following a parallel path to the turn after the top hat. The footer numbers in this area are difficult to read, and I’m not the best at extrapolating a layout based on footers alone, so it’s hard to know for sure what’s going on during this section of the ride. However, if there are any inversions, I’d imagine this is where they’d be. I’ve included a closeup of this section of the ride below, and highlighted an area of supports labeled T01-T03 which I’m assuming are for some kind of Turn or Twist element.

Finally, after heading back under the top hat, the ride makes its return to the station along the waterfront area next to Bayside Stadium. I’ve included a very rough overlay and layout of this new coaster below to give you an idea of how everything might look once complete. Hopefully someone who’s better at understanding ride footers can make a better layout soon!

Overall, this looks like an excellent addition for SeaWorld Orlando, and another great coaster for their already stellar collection. It should breathe some much needed new life into the back section of the park, and we can’t wait to find out official details like the ride’s speed, height and theme!