Alright got 5 rides in with
@BriMan today. As he mentioned one ride in the front, 2 in row 2, and 2 in the last row. upon arrival to the park we made a beeline to Mako and found they were still handing out tickets to ride. We dropped our crap in the pay only lockers you find at Cedar Fair parks and joined the queue. Unfortunately this is where Mako falls flat.
Over the last several years queues at major attractions have become attractions in themselves. Here at Mako however you encounter the weakest queue in recent memory. It's nothing more than open area, covered walkway, spiel by Guy Harvey, stairs, and then station. The station itself is weak too which shocked me. I find the queue overall to be on point with that of Fury 325, Goliath, and Cheetah Hunt.
Then there is the whole we operate in Florida thing. I think I counted 6 fans in the outdoor section and then once you hit the shaded area it's still brutally hot. I don't ever want anyone to get ill or hurt but mark my words, if changes to the queue don't happen expect this area to be renamed heat stroke central. I know many may balk at me being as harsh about the queue as I am but given the Climate, current guest expectations, and the fact that SeaWorld has opened several attractions with fantastic AIR CONDITIONED queues I feel my criticism is relevant.
One final note on the queue / station before we discuss the ride experience. If your a larger person be prepared for the walk of shame. The ride operator requires 3 clicks before you get the green light to ride. Now while that's no different than other rides the restraints here go over your legs and pelvis where most others go over your shoulders or abdomen. This as a result leads to a open and free ride experience but at the cost of a very tight restraint. I witnessed at least one person take the walk of shame every single dispatch today. This is going to be a serious guest complaint this year and IMO it should be. For years parks have offered the big boy seat and IMO this is a huge miss on seaworlds part.
Anyways enough of the bad, lets shift gears and focus on the positives! The ride itself is butter smooth and extremely reridable. The first drop is fantastic but especially wicked in the back as it whips you over the top and pulls you down. Your out of your seat pretty much the whole way as you plummet to earth. Next up was a huge over banked turn, and after riding Fury 325 recently I had hopes these turns on Mako while slower would still offer a rush. Surprisingly however the over bank fails on delivering much force through out. Great views but meh is my verdict here. The first airtime hill however is probably the best hill on a coaster in central Florida with several seconds of airtime. It's seriously one of the best moments on a coaster you'll find in Florida.
Then there is the stall turn or hammerhead which is again meh especially after that airtime hill of euphoric pleasure. After the turn around its time for another airtime hill but problem here is the extremely forceful trims that knock out some serious momentum. Still a bit of airtime here but if those trims were off holy smokes you'd be in ejector airtime heaven. A couple more hills and you hit the mid course break run. After the break run you hit a few more hills with a pop or two of airtime and the rides only real good over banked turn while flying over the midway and then finally back into the station.
Overall SeaWorld has built a fantastic coaster and addition to their park and already stellar B&M line up. It's an extremely fun ride that many will ride again and again especially if a hyper coaster is new to you. With that being said if you've ridden Apollos Chariot, Goliath, Nitro, or Intimidator expect a similar ride. I highly recommend a visit to SeaWorld to check this out.