I rode Cobra's Curse a little less than a month ago and was extremely impressed with the addition. Probably the best thing SEAS has done in the past five years.
When the attraction was first announced I thought it seemed like a cool addition, but due to the lack of details I wasn't anxiously waiting for details. The theming was a concern as SEAS has had very contrasting art styles in some of it's recent additions. For example, Verbolten the office scene, station, and bridge are fairly realistic looking whereas the event show building has cartoon cut outs that are lit up. I was concerned from the original concept art how this almost "cartoonish" snake icon would fit in the Egypt section of the park which has a very specific style aiming for realisim. However, much to my suprise the ride tucks into the section of the park like it has been there since the 90's when Montu opened complementing the area.
Upon arrival in the parking lot eyes are locked on the vertical elevator lift with the snake king glaring at passengers with cars then whizzing down the spinning section seconds later giving an incredible kinetic off-ride effect. Entering the Egypt area I was more than fascinated by the way the ride fit into the surrounding area. The entrance has an enticing sign with a chunk of the snake icon holding up the sign. This first section of the queue sets the tone with a small archaeological dig site. This felt very similar to the A.U.R.A theme done for the Unearthed houses which is a good thing as it was pulled off very nicely. The queue then goes down a hallway with ancient markings on the walls, notes from some of the dig site crews on the walls, and cracks and the ceiling along with the heavenly blast of AC. Surprisingly, the queue goes back outside for a small set of switch backs partially covered. This allows for viewing of the ride vehicles coming back whizzing into the brakes showing off the technology off the vehicle. This final section of outdoor queue has a pit of sand in the center with computers showing the name of the dig site company V.I.S.E and various pieces of equipment laying around along with notes refrencing the SWP&E Conservation Fund.
Entering the true indoor portion of the queue starts off with a mine shaft esque entrance leading into the first major room. All eyes are drawn on the snake exhibit that appears at first to have no barrier. The snake exhibit has a very vibrant design with colors popping in the dark room. I found it slightly dissapointing that this being the only true interaction with snakes throughout the whole experience that there wasn't more time to view them or another exhibit later on in some of the more barren hallways. In the center of the room is a crate with a light on the inside releasing rays of redness on the floor. Above this are candles that have been aged that are flickering. There's also a white board listing details on the snakes and the backstory in the corner. Next are two darkened hallways with metal sheets on the side along with more notes. This section was dark and claustrophobic, however it was lacking any way to tell the story of the attraction. The final room was the projection mapping room which was extremely cool. Although, it did appear to be slightly off on the snake king which was a slight bummer. While my group was in the room it only happened once before going and right again before leaving. Maybe having some more smaller scale projections on the hieroglyphics could fix this problem. Also, for anyone looking for Easter Eggs theres a crate saying Morrow in the pit in front of the snake king.
Moving onto the station I thought the constantly loading platform was genius as it kept the line moving at a consistent pace. The ride starts off with two small rooms with snake eyes glaring at the ride vehicles. Similar to Verbolten the ride is very audio driven with speakers located throughout the ride. As we ascended the vertical lift I was blown away at how seamlessly the ride vehicle did this. Unlike JTA at SWSD and other elevator lefts the ride vehicles almost shifts from side to side rather than tilt. Reaching the top was an extremely overwhelming visual experience in a positive way. Giraffes could be seen roaming the Savannah, Montu was roaring by, and the snake king was beaming at the ride vehicle.
The vehicle leaves the lift tilts out toward to the snake king narrowly missing it. The train then dives into a hill that felt slightly smaller and delivered similar forces to Verbolten's final plunge to the Rhine. Moving on the cars rocket up a small hill that turns into a helix. Reaching the MCBR audio comes back into the experience as the cars turn around surprising many. The backwards helix had some very interesting forces and didn't even remotely come close to nauseating even me due to the shirt time. The transition from this to the lift hill feels so natural with no choppiness or whiplash. Diving back down the train is whipped into the spinning section with a few over banks that give an awesome floating sensation. The ride ends with an tilted S-bend that goes underground giving some nice lateral forces. The train then curves around the brakes and back into the station.
All in all Cobra's Curse is a phenomenal experience. While it definitely could've benefited from a small indoor section to help further explain the story on the backwards section or even enclosing the brake run into a show scene I think the audio provides a decent platform of story telling on a coaster. My only issue were due to the heavy ride vehicles with the controlled spinning mechanism the ride does have a very minimal rattle. Other than that this is a very solid addition to the park. This is a great starter coaster for those who may not be ready for the inversions found on Cheetah Hunt or Scorpion. If you're visiting Orlando, I would highly recommend making the trek down to Tampa to experience this.
9/10
When the attraction was first announced I thought it seemed like a cool addition, but due to the lack of details I wasn't anxiously waiting for details. The theming was a concern as SEAS has had very contrasting art styles in some of it's recent additions. For example, Verbolten the office scene, station, and bridge are fairly realistic looking whereas the event show building has cartoon cut outs that are lit up. I was concerned from the original concept art how this almost "cartoonish" snake icon would fit in the Egypt section of the park which has a very specific style aiming for realisim. However, much to my suprise the ride tucks into the section of the park like it has been there since the 90's when Montu opened complementing the area.
Upon arrival in the parking lot eyes are locked on the vertical elevator lift with the snake king glaring at passengers with cars then whizzing down the spinning section seconds later giving an incredible kinetic off-ride effect. Entering the Egypt area I was more than fascinated by the way the ride fit into the surrounding area. The entrance has an enticing sign with a chunk of the snake icon holding up the sign. This first section of the queue sets the tone with a small archaeological dig site. This felt very similar to the A.U.R.A theme done for the Unearthed houses which is a good thing as it was pulled off very nicely. The queue then goes down a hallway with ancient markings on the walls, notes from some of the dig site crews on the walls, and cracks and the ceiling along with the heavenly blast of AC. Surprisingly, the queue goes back outside for a small set of switch backs partially covered. This allows for viewing of the ride vehicles coming back whizzing into the brakes showing off the technology off the vehicle. This final section of outdoor queue has a pit of sand in the center with computers showing the name of the dig site company V.I.S.E and various pieces of equipment laying around along with notes refrencing the SWP&E Conservation Fund.
Entering the true indoor portion of the queue starts off with a mine shaft esque entrance leading into the first major room. All eyes are drawn on the snake exhibit that appears at first to have no barrier. The snake exhibit has a very vibrant design with colors popping in the dark room. I found it slightly dissapointing that this being the only true interaction with snakes throughout the whole experience that there wasn't more time to view them or another exhibit later on in some of the more barren hallways. In the center of the room is a crate with a light on the inside releasing rays of redness on the floor. Above this are candles that have been aged that are flickering. There's also a white board listing details on the snakes and the backstory in the corner. Next are two darkened hallways with metal sheets on the side along with more notes. This section was dark and claustrophobic, however it was lacking any way to tell the story of the attraction. The final room was the projection mapping room which was extremely cool. Although, it did appear to be slightly off on the snake king which was a slight bummer. While my group was in the room it only happened once before going and right again before leaving. Maybe having some more smaller scale projections on the hieroglyphics could fix this problem. Also, for anyone looking for Easter Eggs theres a crate saying Morrow in the pit in front of the snake king.
Moving onto the station I thought the constantly loading platform was genius as it kept the line moving at a consistent pace. The ride starts off with two small rooms with snake eyes glaring at the ride vehicles. Similar to Verbolten the ride is very audio driven with speakers located throughout the ride. As we ascended the vertical lift I was blown away at how seamlessly the ride vehicle did this. Unlike JTA at SWSD and other elevator lefts the ride vehicles almost shifts from side to side rather than tilt. Reaching the top was an extremely overwhelming visual experience in a positive way. Giraffes could be seen roaming the Savannah, Montu was roaring by, and the snake king was beaming at the ride vehicle.
The vehicle leaves the lift tilts out toward to the snake king narrowly missing it. The train then dives into a hill that felt slightly smaller and delivered similar forces to Verbolten's final plunge to the Rhine. Moving on the cars rocket up a small hill that turns into a helix. Reaching the MCBR audio comes back into the experience as the cars turn around surprising many. The backwards helix had some very interesting forces and didn't even remotely come close to nauseating even me due to the shirt time. The transition from this to the lift hill feels so natural with no choppiness or whiplash. Diving back down the train is whipped into the spinning section with a few over banks that give an awesome floating sensation. The ride ends with an tilted S-bend that goes underground giving some nice lateral forces. The train then curves around the brakes and back into the station.
All in all Cobra's Curse is a phenomenal experience. While it definitely could've benefited from a small indoor section to help further explain the story on the backwards section or even enclosing the brake run into a show scene I think the audio provides a decent platform of story telling on a coaster. My only issue were due to the heavy ride vehicles with the controlled spinning mechanism the ride does have a very minimal rattle. Other than that this is a very solid addition to the park. This is a great starter coaster for those who may not be ready for the inversions found on Cheetah Hunt or Scorpion. If you're visiting Orlando, I would highly recommend making the trek down to Tampa to experience this.
9/10
