SeaWorld Orlando has announced a new mega-attraction inspired by the fluidity and grace of manta rays.

Manta will allow guests to encounter rays in underwater flight, then move them seamlessly into the sensation of being one.

Manta will inspire riders with underwater animal habitats. Then a manta-inspired flying coaster will send them swooping over sea and through sky in a face-down, horizontal position. Manta opens summer 2009.

The Manta flying coaster take immersion into the animal world to a new level - in a way only SeaWorld can do. It will giver riders a sensation of oneness with these powerful, graceful creatures as they soar and dive through the air, at times within inches of the sea.

The journey begins as guests enter a mythical village filled with artisan engravings and artwork that celebrate ray legend and lore. Anticipation builds as guests wind through caverns adorned with ray-inspired art in marble, jewels, and mosaics.

Whether guests choose to ride or not, the attraction is a world unto itself. Floor-to-ceiling windows create mesmerizing face-to-fin encounters with 300 rays, as well as thousands of fish and mysterious ocean creatures.

Shark rays, spotted eagles rays, leopard rays, cownose rays, and oscillate river rays float past guests in a view new to SeaWorld. Elaborate lighting, sound and rushing waterfalls draw guests further into this underwater universe.

The experience then moves from seeing to being.

Guests will fly face-down underneath a coaster train shaped as a giant manta. With a wing span of 12 feet, it will soar over sea and sky in the most graceful flying coaster ever created.

Gliding, swooping and diving up to nearly 60 mph, through four inversions on 3,359 feet of track, riders will feel as if they are a ray, moving effortlessly from sky to sea - so close at times that the Manta’s wings skim the waves.

“This ride is uniquely SeaWorld,” said Dan Brown, Vice President and General Manager of SeaWorld Orlando. “SeaWorld is famous for connecting guests with the sea and its amazing creatures, and Manta does this in a way that has never been done before, creating a true sense of oneness between human and animal."

Joseph Couceiro, Chief Marketing Officer for SeaWorld’s parent company, Busch Entertainment Corporation, said, “The sensation of Manta will be like no other in the world – guests will be inspired by the grace and power of live rays, then feel as if they, themselves, are gliding through air and water. No one but SeaWorld can unite thrills and ocean animals into such a unique experience.”

The four-acre, 140-ft tall attraction will be located inside the main entrance to SeaWorld, and become an icon in the park with its unique design. Towering over SeaWorld’s 200 acres, the manta-themed coaster – cloaked in hues of dark purple, ultramarine blue, and cobalt – will lure guests into the world of the mysterious ray.