Texas Stingray at SeaWorld San Antonio is the newest wooden roller coaster from Great
Coasters International.
The ride opened in late February of 2020, just a few weeks before SeaWorld San Antonio
and every park across the nation closed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
And to be honest, had the ride not opened before the covid shutdown, I suspect it would
have been postponed until 2021 like the other new roller coasters being added at the SeaWorld
and Busch Gardens parks.
So I think enthusiasts were rather lucky the ride was erected so quickly.
This was the sixth roller coaster at SeaWorld San Antonio and the first wooden coaster built
at a park with the SeaWorld name.
But it was not the first wood coaster built by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
The chain previously built Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa in 1999, a dueling wood coaster
also from GCI.
However, that ride became horrifically rough and ultimately closed in 2015 before being
converted into Iron Gwazi.
Then in 2017, the chain returned to GCI to add InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Possibly because of their experience with Gwazi, this family wooden coaster was built
as a hybrid coaster with a steel support structure, as opposed to Gwazi’s all-wooden structure.
When it came time for SeaWorld San Antonio to add a wood coaster, the chain again turned
to GCI again and again chose to go with a steel support structure.
And that was probably a prudent idea considering the harsh Texas heat.
Texas Stingray was marketed as the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden roller coaster
in all of Texas.
Texas Stingray only tied Boardwalk Bullet for the tallest wood coaster in Texas, as
both rides stand 96 feet or 29 meters tall.
But Texas Stingray did narrowly edge Boardwalk Bullet in the speed department with a top
speed of 55 mph or 88.5 kph and the length department with a length of 3379 feet or 1030
meters.
Texas Stingray starts off as a twister in the first half before feeling more like an
out-and-back coaster in the second half.
And when viewed from above, the ride looks reminiscent of a stingray- hence the ride’s
name.
The coaster is located in the far corner of the park near Orca Stadium.
And on that note, I strongly recommend avoiding this coaster after the Orca Encounter show
concludes.
That show holds a ton of people and once it ends, many of them will flock into the queue
line for Texas Stingray since it’s right there.
A similar effect happens after a show at the Nautilus Theater concludes also happens, but
on a much smaller scale.
I visited SeaWorld San Antonio three times this past December, but was only able to ride
Texas Stingray on one of those days.
The first day had rain all-day, so the park never opened any of the coasters- so keep
this in mind if the forecast looks grim the day you plan to visit.
The second day was a Sunday.
Texas Stingray started with one train, so the line moved at a snail’s pace especially
since only half the rows were in use due to covid.
The line kept growing, but they put a second train on later in the day and turned Texas
Stingray into a walk-on.
So I marathoned it for an hour at night until it closed due to low temperatures and that’s
something I’ll touch on in a bit.
On the following weekend, I popped in after visiting Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but chose
to skip Texas Stingray since it had a lengthy queue and just one train in use.
Normally I won’t hesitate to buy a skip-the-line pass, but that wasn’t particularly useful
here.
Whenever the SeaWorld parks open a new ride, they typically make it an expensive one-time
upcharge on the highest tiered Quick Queue for at least the first year after the ride’s
opening.
The station is rather bare, but it constantly plays country music as you’d expect for
a ride named after Texas.
The trains look great.
They’re sleek with their red, white, and blue color scheme and I absolutely love the
stingray-themed lead car.
Unlike many of the other GCIs, Texas Stingray has no seatbelts.
It just has the familiar lap bar that will constantly lower throughout the ride.
For that reason, I strongly recommend that you hold onto it unless you want to get stapled.
In terms of seat selection, I was torn whether I preferred the front or back.
I think the back is superior for the first half, but the front is better for the second
half.
So you should try both.
One factor you need to consider as I move through this review are the weather conditions
in which I rode Texas Stingray.
Wood coasters in particular are notorious for running faster in the heat.
I rode Texas Stingray on a day when the temperature was in the 50s.
So I suspect the ride was not running to its fullest potential.
However, the ride still held its speed incredibly well start to finish.
I’m guessing if the ride experienced suffered, the airtime may have lost some of its power.
But considering how fast it felt even in the cooler weather, I’m salivating to know just
how fast this ride runs on a hot summer day.
After ascending the 96 foot tall lift to some more country music, you turn to the right
and descend down a 100 foot to 30.5 foot tall.
And unlike most GCI drops that twist, Texas Stingray is a straight drop.
And it’s the reason why I split my rides between the front and back.
This drop delivered some sustained floater airtime you don’t often get on a GCI.
That’s followed by a sizable second hill.
Up front, you get sustained floater airtime.
In the back, you don’t get any airtime here.
Instead, you get some decent laterals.
The following turnaround gives a powerful pop of airtime up front.
But like the prior hill, the back gets no airtime.
Instead, you get another dose of laterals on the twisting descent.
That’s followed by a smaller turnaround.
The entrance offers sustained floater airtime up front.
But the drop on the other side is a double down.
The first part of the drop is curved and offers so airtime nor laterals.
But the second part of the drop is this little speed hill that gives back row riders some
mild floater airtime.
You then fly over an elongated S-hill.
No matter where you sit, you’ll get some glorious sustained floater airtime.
You then dip below the ride’s structure in a very surprising and terrifying head-chopper.
It’s a very underrated element on the ride.
But unfortunately, this drop didn’t offer any airtime despite how quickly you fly over
it.
You then fly over this off-axis speed hill that gives a really abrupt pop of ejector
airtime.
It’s probably the most powerful airtime moment on the ride, especially since you’re
sort of on your side.
You then rip over a speed hill that gives some decent floater airtime and haul around
the far turn.
Then comes the return leg.
As I mentioned earlier, speed was not an issue during this section of the ride.
But the airtime was an issue.
The drop into the tunnel gives some great sustained floater airtime in the back.
And it catches you off-guard how tall this drop is.
And then the final hill gives some very weak sustained floater airtime up front.
But none of the other hills give any airtime.
The sense of speed up front is able to overcome this to an extent, but it seemed odd these
hills didn’t have airtime.
This is the part of the ride I suspect was most impacted by me visiting the park in December.
So if anyone has ridden Texas Stingray on a warmer day, definitely let me know if the
return leg usually has more airtime than I experienced.
Since this coaster isn’t even a year old, the ride is about as smooth as a wood coaster
can be.
That’s how most GCIs start off.
Whether or not they stay smooth depends on the park’s maintenance, but hopefully Texas
Stingray remains smooth over its lifespan.
So what would I rank Texas Stingray?
I would give this coaster an 8 out of 10.
It’s a fast-paced flurry of elements like I’ve come to expect from GCI.
I love how the ride feels like a twister in the first half and an out-and-back in the
second half.
Most coasters are one or the other, not both.
The airtime in the first half is great, especially because of how diverse it is- ranging from
sustained floater to some ejector pops.
But the reason I took some points away was because the second half just didn’t have
the airtime I was looking for.
I think Steel Eel is still the best coaster at SeaWorld San Antonio, but Texas Stingray
is a solid number two, especially since I rode it in about the least favorable conditions
possible for a wood coaster and it still felt quite fast.
And then compared to other GCIs, I’d say it’s towards the upper end of the middle
tier.
The airtime isn’t as consistent start to finish, but Texas Stingray’s best moments
are some of GCIs best since it’s rare to get sustained airtime on their coasters.
So those are my thoughts on Texas Stingray.
Have you been on SeaWorld’s newest roller coaster?
I would love to hear your thoughts about the ride down in the comments.
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