So this wasn’t my first visit to SeaWorld Orlando (SWO). Nope. I went back in 1989 when I was 10 years old. Guess how many coasters I rode? If you guessed none, you’d be right. It wasn’t because I was too small or too scared. They just didn’t have any. SWO didn’t build their first coaster until nine years later, which was Journey to Atlantis in 1998. This meant that everything here was a new credit. And truth be told, I have had this park on my bucket list for years now. The same has been true for Sam.
For years I have heard the praise of Mako, Kraken, and Manta. And in more recent years the park has been on a building spree adding Ice Breaker in 2022, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster in 2023, and Penguin Trek in 2024. That’s a lot of B&M’s, but they were all rides we wanted to experience for ourselves.
Having SWO as part of this trip was a must. And having the Platinum Passes from Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) let us get into this park just like it did for Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT) the day before. And while I did enjoy the coasters at BGT, I was hoping that this park would be a much better experience overall. Like yesterday we were going to be at the park for its normal operating hours and then staying through the night for Howl-O-Scream (HOS).
It Was Nothing Like I Remembered
I only have a few select memories of SWO from 1989. I remember something that resembled some sort of sea lab with an elevator that looked like you went underwater. I remember seeing some manatees and then later going over to the stadium and watching a stunt show on the lake. We also saw Shamu, but the whale had just gave birth to a calf prior to our visit, so they were just swimming around in the tank. There was no show.
That’s it. That’s all I remember. So when we parked, walked in, and tried to get our bearings, I didn’t know where to go. I had nothing to go by in my head, so we pretty much just saw a coaster and walked toward it. The only thing that looked the same to me was the stadium. This felt like an entirely new park because over these last 36 years it has changed immensely.
We ended up enjoying everything we rode. Here is a look at several rides from this visit. And if things play out as we hope, we might be back for a few hours on the day we fly home for even more rides.
Penguin Trek
We kicked things off with a ride on Manta because we saw the line was short, and then saw the park’s newest coaster, Penguin Trek. I had heard it was a good idea to ride this early before the park got busy, so we got in line. For some reason the coaster wasn’t open yet and we pondered leaving to go ride Kraken instead. I’m glad we waited, though, as it opened up only a few minutes later. We were one of the first few trains of the day.
We got only one ride, which came in the front row. Since SWO allows filming while on ride with properly harnessed equipment, I wanted to capture all of my rides at the park. You can watch that ride in the POV above, along with others on the We Were Inverted YouTube channel.
My favorite aspect of this ride is its theming. This is a family coaster, after all. Don’t expect any wild airtime or lateral moments, although the launch and some turns were quite enjoyable. And other enthusiasts who mentioned this ride having a rattle were not lying. I didn’t find it unbearable though. Just kind of there at times.
And once you exit the train, your experience isn’t over just yet. Even if you’re sweating your ass off, be prepared to freeze it off in a minute or two as you check out the penguin exhibit on the way out. I quite liked this and thought it brought the entire package together even more.
Pipeline: The Surf Coaster
Next up was the biggest surprise of our trip so far in Pipeline: The Surf Coaster. Stand ups have never been high up on my list of favorite coaster models, but I kept hearing how this new Surf Coaster model is a welcome upgrade. Still, I never heard anyone really come out and say that this thing is amazing. It is!
We ended up riding Pipeline four times. We loved it that much. This is so different with the bouncing restraints and the airtime hits so different when your entire body is up off the train. Sure, you’re held in by your vest and all, but when your feet leave the ground and the restraint holding you in is moving, it’s a wild feeling. And best of all, you feel it throughout the ride.
Some moments of the airtime are soft and offer just a quick bob up and down. Others are ejector-like and make you feel like you’re going to fly off the train. You just have to ride it yourself to see what I’m saying. I hope more of these get built at others parks.
Mako
And now for the main attraction – Mako. Holy crap this coaster is a floating airtime machine. I heard that for years, but all that hype still didn’t prepare me for what I experienced five times this day. I felt like I was riding Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv), but with airtime moments and smoothness of Candymonium at Hersheypark. I’ve always said I love Candymonium’s airtime pops, but hate how short the ride is. I wish it had the length of Nitro. Well, this was exactly that. Also with a better location and color scheme than those coasters.
I cannot even put into words how amazing this coaster was during our visit. Airtime moment after airtime moment with awesome views from the when you leave the station until you come back. Even the finale that some people complain about I found to be much better than Candymonium’s Kisses Fountain finish that people for some reason seem to like.
Mako easily became my favorite B&M Hyper Coaster after just one ride. And the more I rode it, the more I liked it. One of Florida’s best coasters thus far.
Final Ride Counts
Ice Breaker (3)
Journey to Atlantis (1)
Kraken (1)
Mako (5)
Manta (1)
Penguin Trek (1)
Pipeline: The Surf Coaster (4)
Super Grover’s Box Car Derby (1)
HOS: Collector’s Curse (1)
HOS: Farm 51 (1)
HOS: Rave Yard (1)
HOS: Water’s Edge Wellness Center (1)
Rides Followed Most by Howl-O-Scream & Re-Rides
At BGT the night before Sam and I didn’t walk through every haunted attraction. We were tired and were enjoying the rides more than the haunts. While we figured this might hold true for SWO’s HOS as well, we did complete four of the five haunts. You couldn’t access every coaster after HOS started, so that meant less rides were available for us too, but thankfully Mako, Pipeline, and Ice Breaker were among the offerings.
While we did enjoy the haunts more at this park, once again we were getting tired. We also had a super long day ahead of us the next day at Universal Studios Orlando (USO) and their haunt event, Halloween Horror Nights (HHN). So left before the park closed, but did also grab some extra rides on all three coasters on our way out. All in all, this was a more enjoyable HOS event and we would have stayed if we weren’t running on empty.
SeaWorld Orlando Photo Gallery - September 20, 2025
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Manta, Penguin Trek, Journey to Atlantis, Kraken, Pipeline The Surf Coaster, Super Grover's Box Car Derby, Mako, Ice Breaker
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): Manta, Penguin Trek, Journey to Atlantis, Kraken, Pipeline The Surf Coaster, Super Grover's Box Car Derby, Mako, Ice Breaker