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Kraken Unleashed

The new Kraken is a squid-like creature. Old Kraken was an eel. Eel is out. Squid is in.

Good, I just hope they hire the pros to envision and sculpt and scan the damned thing. Old Kraken has always reminded me of one of those Route 66 crap sculptures. Just terrible compared to the slick Dueling Dragon sculptures as well as the Diagon dragon. Money money money... ;)
 
Good, I just hope they hire the pros to envision and sculpt and scan the damned thing. Old Kraken has always reminded me of one of those Route 66 crap sculptures. Just terrible compared to the slick Dueling Dragon sculptures as well as the Diagon dragon. Money money money... ;)
I'm concerned that rather than replace the eel they'll just remove it and put nothing in its place. At very least we'll be getting new sign above the entrance. We'll have to wait and see.
 
The old Kraken is leaving for consistency reasons and will be partially replaced by the new one. Instead of building the whole Kraken, the tentacles of it will be seen grabbing onto the land that the guests are on. The tentacles will be the same size as those represented in the VR world.

Also,
Retheming of the queue will help set the scene of the onboard visuals. Park visitors will walk through scenes that represent a sea base off the shore of the Greek island of Mykonos that was established by an adventure capitalist, Morrow said. It’s designed to look like a repurposed fishing village, essentially rented out for an eco-tourism enterprise.

Also new to the queue will be media for storytelling and for explaining, via digital animation, how the VR equipment is used. The new Kraken story takes place in a (virtual) submarine, where passenger will explore an underwater geological formation.

Link: SeaWorld: Kraken losing its head, gaining new entrance, queue - Orlando Sentinel
 
If they were going to paint it, I would think that would have been done before adding the sensors/speakers to the lift hill for the VR. When was the last time Kraken was painted? Dec 2007? I remember it being closed that whole month and appeared to be getting painted from the Skytower on my first ever visit to the park...so I didn't get to ride until my next visit a few months later.
 
On the track itself? I heard the plan was yes originally, but they aren't going to have enough time.
It's unfortunate as everything else is getting upgraded..I'd think at the very least they would cut the queue effects before a fresh coat of paint

Also - if anyone knows, how much does it cost to re-paint a coaster
 
It's unfortunate as everything else is getting upgraded..I'd think at the very least they would cut the queue effects before a fresh coat of paint

Also - if anyone knows, how much does it cost to re-paint a coaster

The Nemesis repaint at Alton Towers (another B&M coaster) cost around £120,000, equivalent to around $154,272. Kraken is a longer ride so more track to paint than on Nemesis.
 
They closed Kumba @ BGT for 24 days (May 3rd-27th) in 2010 for it's repaint. So I would think Kraken would take about the same time (about 3 weeks).
Thanks. It is amazing really, one is tempted to think painting is something that can be done quickly, especially with a rollercoaster, you'd think ot is just some track, but in reality it has quite a bit of surface area, and of course, unlike a regular surface, this is all pulled out, goes high up, then goes low ... it always amazes me, how something that seems so straightforward ends up being so intricate ...

Anyway, could the reason they are not repainting be that, aside time constraint, that they think: well, when you have VR gear on you won't see the track anyway?
 
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