SeaWorld Orlando has temporarily closed Mako, its 200-foot hypercoaster, after a rider’s death on a similar ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. SeaWorld hasn’t set a reopening date.
SeaWorld Orlando has temporarily closed Mako, its tallest roller coaster, while investigators look into a deadly accident on Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia.
A rider died after falling from Goliath on Monday, Oct. 12, and four other riders were hurt, Orlando’s WFTV reported. By Tuesday, Mako was listed as temporarily closed in the SeaWorld app.
SeaWorld told WFTV it closed the coaster out of caution. It hasn’t said when Mako will run again.
Why did SeaWorld close Mako?
The two rides come from the same builder. Mako and Goliath are both hypercoasters from Bolliger & Mabillard, the Swiss company most coaster fans call B&M.
They also share similar drops, speeds and restraint systems, WFTV reported, citing B&M’s own website.
SeaWorld told WFTV it’s working with partners, including B&M and Six Flags, and keeping up with the investigation. In a statement to News 6, the park said guest and team member safety is its top priority. It pointed to regular ride inspections and ongoing work with ride manufacturers and outside engineering and safety experts.
Dennis Speigel, who runs the consulting firm International Theme Park Services, told WFTV that safety is “the one thing that we communicate on across the board in our industry.”
When will Mako reopen at SeaWorld Orlando?
There’s no date yet. A SeaWorld representative told News 6 the park doesn’t “have a reopening update to share at this point.”
As of Tuesday, Mako was the only ride closed at SeaWorld Orlando, according to WFTV. That means the park’s other coasters, including Kraken and Manta, weren’t part of the shutdown. Both are B&M rides, too, but they’re different designs: Kraken is a floorless coaster, and Manta is a flying coaster.
If you’ve got SeaWorld Orlando tickets this week, check the app the morning you go. That’s where the closure showed up first.
What is Mako at SeaWorld Orlando?
Mako opened in June 2016. It stands 200 feet tall and hits speeds up to 73 mph, and News 6 calls it the tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster in Orlando.
The ride is named for the mako shark, and the whole thing is built around speed. It’s a hypercoaster, the industry’s name for a coaster that climbs between 200 and 299 feet, and it doesn’t go upside down. The goal is long drops and big airtime hills.
Goliath in Georgia is a close match on paper. FOX 5 Atlanta lists it at 200 feet tall, with a 175-foot drop, a top speed of 70 mph and 4,480 feet of track. It opened on April 1, 2006.
Which other roller coasters are closed after the Goliath accident?
A growing list. Six Flags has temporarily closed nine similar coasters at six parks in the U.S. and Canada, and Goliath itself is closed, too. We listed every one of them on Tuesday.
Outside Six Flags:
La Ronde in Montreal closed its own Goliath while it reviews the ride with the manufacturer, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Six Flags no longer owns that park.
Hersheypark in Pennsylvania is reviewing Candymonium, another B&M hypercoaster, but hadn’t announced a closure.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg, one of SeaWorld’s sister parks, hadn’t confirmed any closure of Apollo’s Chariot, its own B&M hypercoaster.
As of Wednesday morning, none of the closed coasters had reopened, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
Is Six Flags Over Georgia reopening?
Yes. The park near Atlanta is set to reopen Friday, Oct. 16, Atlanta’s WSB-TV reported, while investigators keep working to figure out what caused the rider’s death.
Georgia’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, which oversees amusement ride inspections in the state, is investigating. Six Flags hasn’t said when Goliath will run again, and the cause of Monday’s accident hasn’t been made public.
“This is so rare. In fact, I would say even unprecedented,” Robert Niles, editor of Theme Park Insider, told WSB-TV. Niles started his career working attractions at Walt Disney World.
For SeaWorld, the call on Mako hangs on what investigators find in Georgia, and nobody has put a date on that yet.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
WFTV, Amy Diaz (Oct. 13, 2026), the Mako closure, SeaWorld’s partners and the B&M link
News 6 WKMG, Haley Coomes (Oct. 13-14, 2026), SeaWorld’s statement, reopening quote and Mako’s stats
FOX 5 Atlanta, Joyce Lupiani (Oct. 14, 2026), other closures and Goliath’s stats
WSB-TV, Eryn Rogers (Oct. 14, 2026), the Six Flags Over Georgia reopening date
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