It is considered a "floorless" mega-coaster --- seats are open-sided and ride on a pedestal, high above the track. Riders' feet dangle and no coaster car surrounds them --- there's nothing in front of them. Above their heads is nothing but sky. During each of the coaster's seven high-speed loops, the only thing above is the ground.
Designers say this about Kraken's extreme design: Imagine sitting in your favorite chair. Going 65 mph. While you're upside-down.
Kraken is the only coaster of its kind in the South.
When: Kraken opens at Sea World Orlando in spring, 2000
Design: Bolliger and Mabillard, Monthey, Switzerland
Theme: Sea World Orlando's Kraken mega-coaster is based on an ancient myth: The Kraken was a massive, mythological underwater beast kept caged by Poseidon. The terrifying sea serpent has been unleashed at Sea World Orlando... and it's very, very angry.
Details: Length 4,177 feet
Height 151 feet
Drop 144 feet
Top Speed 65 mph
Ride time 3 minutes 39 seconds
Capacity 1500 bgph (brave guests per hour) in three 32-passenger trains --- each train has eight cars of four passengers each.
A good portion of Kraken is over water. The coaster plunges underground three times, once where riders unexpectedly dive deep into the lagoon, entering the serpent's underwater lair at full speed, huge plumes of spray drenching bystanders.
Guests also come face-to-face with live eels --- the fearsome serpent's young --- withing her lair.
7 inversions: including a Cobra roll, Zero Gravity Roll, several vertical loops and flat spins.
G-Forces: Extreme --- both positive and negative (weightlessness)