Old Manta Rumors and What Was Before Manta

I'm just curious on how all the rumors of the Manta coaster at SeaWorld started (the ones before the April 2nd semi-announcement). I know these old Screamscape rumors (found on IOACentral):

"(5/4/07) Ever since SeaWorld entered the world of big steel in 2000 with Kraken, the coaster community has been waiting to see when this sea life park would bite the bullet once again and add yet another new coaster to the mix. A few years back I predicted hat when it was time, SeaWorld would pony up with a B&M Flying coaster experience and today we received just such a rumor, but I don’t know how solid this is yet. The movements within Busch are hard to predict, but the 2009 window does seem ideal for such a project since they have focused only on adding new shows and kiddie rides for the last few years and will devote all of 2008 to Aquatica across the street. By 2009 Busch Gardens Tampa should still be finishing up whatever Sesame Street, animal exhibits and Congo playland additions for the kiddies they’ve been working on, so the time is certainly right for a coaster at SeaWorld. It would also be something that could compete with the rumored Harry Potter attraction going into Islands of Adventure in 2009. Anyone know more?"

"(7/17/07) I’ve been told we may be seeing some interesting work taking place in the SeaWorld parking lot starting this fall where they will be moving the Bus and Taxi lot to a new location and preparing to build a new office building across the street in or near the employee / overflow lot. The current Bus / Taxi lot will then be used to create a new construction access route into the park for the new 2009 coaster."

"(7/17/07) Yesterday’s small update about a new coaster coming to SeaWorld sure got the juices flowing it seems as several other messages were sent in to confirm it… the only problem is not everyone could agree on what type of coaster it will be. The most common story claims that it will open in 2009 and actually be the B&M Flyer that I previously had rumored, going in just behind the entrance of the park where an old aquarium was demolished, allowing it to fill in the essentially empty area from there back towards the Atlantis / Pengiun area of the park and between Key West and the Waterfront. One source even tells us that they’ve seen a model of this very design in one of the park’s back areas. From the sound of things and the size of the construction site, they may actually close off access to this side of the park during construction and force all of the guests to take the path through the Waterfront area from the main gate area for several months. Yes… they will force everyone to not only walk past the main gate gift shops on the way in and out, but past all the Waterfront shops. All those gift shops all in a row… the merchandise department must be drooling with anticipation. The other ideas are a little more far fetched in my opinion, ranging from an Apollo’s Chariot style 200 foot hypercoaster to an indoor ride that sounds more like Revenge of the Mummy. Anything is possible, but I’ve always said that SeaWorld would be the perfect home for a B&M Flyer in Orlando."

And of course, a popular one...

"2009 - New Coaster - Rumor - (10/22/07) A Screamscape source says that they were asked to take part in a guest focus group at SeaWorld Florida where they were showing off various different ideas for a new Flying Coaster in development for the park. One possible idea was to use shorter trains, only 3 or 4 rows long, but each would be themed as a different species of Ray: Manta Ray, Sting Ray, Bat Ray, etc. While no specific layout was given, the ideas being tossed around seemed a involve quite a bit of ground hugging which may imply a layout more like AIR and less like the Six Flags’ Superman versions. They did discuss with a bit of detail a very special element they want to feature hower, which would be a kind of water splashdown effect similar to what we’ve seen on SheiKra and Griffon, but in this case they want the coaster trains to swoop down over rolling waves, skimming the surface of the water. In fact, the tips of the Ray’s wings sticking out to the sides would dip into the water itself, tossing up big rooster-tails of water. I’ve got to say that I like this idea myself… especially if they had a nice prolonged skim over the water, allowing riders time to really reach out to try and touch it. I’m not sure about the short train design, but I suppose they could use a double loading station to fix the capacity issues."

I've also heard that the Tropical Reef aquarium was where Manta sits today.

In Bing Maps, you see three promos. The first one shows the aquarium, and some construction around it (initially I thought it was Manta land clearing, but I think I'm wrong now). The second one shows the aquarium gone, with a field sitting in its place. In the third one, it shows Manta under construction.

I know the Tropical Reef aquarium was there in 2003 (I looked at an old park map, showing the Waterfront area as a new attraction). I think by late 2006/early 2007, the aquarium was gone. Does anyone know when the aquarium was demolished? And does anyone know any other old Manta rumors? I'm just curious.

UPDATED 7/9/2010: Just found this one...

"(10/19/07) Those rumors for a B&M Flyer coming to SeaWorld in time for the 2009 season are still holding out, and today we’ve heard that the ride may be themed to either a Flying Fish or a Dolphin. I’m not sure I’m buying that last bit however as Busch has always been about naming their coasters after fierce monster and iconic animals like Kraken, Steel Eel, Great White, Alpengeist, Montu, etc. A Flying Fish or Dolphin themed ride sounds more like a kiddie coaster… though there is the Thunder Dolphin coaster in Japan. Naaa…still sounds kind of silly."

Pfft... Flying fish? Dolphin? XD