Specific Type: Floorless Coaster
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After entering the major theme park wars in 1999 with the themed water / thrillride hybrid Journey to Atlantis, SeaWorld Orlando needed a new weapon, with the competition of nearby Universal Studios and Walt Disney World stronger than ever. With two coasters for Busch Gardens Africa and three rides for other Busch-operated parks under their belts, Bolliger and Mabillard were brought in to create a new steel coaster experience. Concepts were soon drawn up for a ride to be among B&M's second batch of above-track looping floorless-train coasters and the first floorless coaster to be built outside of the Six Flags chain, following Six Flags Great Adventure's Medusa and joining Six Flags' new-for-2000 Batman Knight Flight, Superman Krypton Coaster and west coast Medusa. The new ride was publically announced and dubbed Kraken. Borrowing its theme from a legend of a mythical sea beast, Kraken would feature seven coiling inversions including two Vertical Loops and one of the few underwater coaster dives. Kraken became more than just a legend on June 1st, 2000 when coaster lovers got to take their first spin onboard the teal and blue trains, over 4,170 feet of twisting, looping teal-colored track.
Riders-to-be start out by touring the beast's lair, then board the thirty-two-passenger train waiting in the station. Kraken curves down out of the station and makes its way to the lifthill, soon engaging on a climb to 151 feet up over the park. Riders curve around a 90-degree bend then the dropping action begins. Down fourteen-and-a-half stories, the sea monster levels and begins a first Vertical Loop sending passengers around and then immediately following up with a Dive Loop, twisting up and heading down and reversing the course's direction by a hair short of 180 degrees. The third rapid-fire element comes with the Zero-G spin, with riders flipping over and floating all at the same time. Next it's into the dual-inverting Cobra Roll climbing first into a Sidewinder then immediately back down with a Diving Loop. A climbing curve around to the left leads Kraken up and into a breif block brake crossing under the lift's yellow support columns, but then it's back down and diving into the sea beast's lair before emerging for the second Loop. Riders plunge back down to the ride's nadir once more only to explode back out into daylight. A banking curve winds around leftwards and Kraken finally coils up through the final inversion conclusion - the Corkscrew. With one more U-turn, the coaster climbs onto the brake run. |
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