TR: SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa -- stupid name, cool coaster
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BarryH · 09-10-2005, 05:37 PM

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is known for its world class roller coasters, and the park has just added another one to its collection. SheiKra, which officially opened on May 21, 2005, is a great roller coaster and will be thrilling guests for many years.

SheiKra, a dive coaster, was designed by Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M), the creators of coasters such as Islands of Adventure's Dueling Dragons and Incredible Hulk Coaster. What is a dive coaster? With many other roller coasters, you're dropped at an angle after being pulled up by the lift hill. A dive coaster still has a lift hill, but it drops vertically at a 90-degree angle. That means you're going down face first. SheiKra is the only dive coaster in the United States, and there are only two others like it in the world: Oblivion at Alton Towers in the United Kingdom and Diving Machine G5 at Janfusun Fancyworld in Taiwan.

Because SheiKra is a one-of-a-kind roller coaster in the United States, I was very excited about it in the months proceeding its opening. I followed different roller coaster Web sites and watched its construction. I was not a fan of the name, though. What does SheiKra mean? More importantly, how is it pronounced? I used to pronounce it as "Sherry-ka" until I heard it on TV as "Shiek-kra." To me, SheiKra sounds like something a drunk guy would blurt out. It would make a great clue on "The $100,000 Pyramid." Imagine this conversation on the game show ...

Coolio: Pickup lines to women, belching, feelings of sickness, SheiKra ...

Contestant: Um, what a drunk guy might say?

I thought most guests would call it "the big red thing" instead of SheiKra. Parents would ask their kids, "Hey, do you want to ride the big red thing?" That's after they ride "the big yellow thing" called Montu or "the big blue thing" called Kumba.

But what is a "sheikra?" The Roller Coaster Database describes it as a species of African hawk known to dive straight down for its prey. It does make sense to name a roller coaster with a vertical drop after a bird that dives down for its prey. It also fits into the African-style theming of the park, but I still wasn't too fond of it.

As unique as the coaster is, I was concerned that this B&M creation would be forceless like their recent constructs. As smooth as B&M coasters like Dorney Park's Talon or Knott's Berry Farm's Silver Bullet are, they aren't thrilling because I felt no forces on them. Kraken at SeaWorld Orlando has a good mix of smoothness and forces. Even this year's other B&M creation at Dorney Park, Hydra: The Revenge, has been noted as being forceless.

Would SheiKra be forceless, or would it be as cool as it is unique? I rode the coaster on Monday, May 23, two days after the grand opening. Over the weekend, I had heard of two to four hour waits. During my visit, I was able to ride it four times and waited about twenty-five to forty minutes for each ride. The wait was around thirty minutes during the first hour of operation and about forty minutes around noon.

Each train has three rows that hold eight passengers, accommodating a total of twenty-four riders. The station is a dual loading station where two trains are loaded at the same time. As the train heads up the lift hill, the view to the left is downtown Tampa. To the right, you can see another train plummeting down the first vertical drop, which only means one thing ... you will be dropping soon! At the top of the lift hill, the train turns around and heads to the first vertical drop. Before the drop, it stops and hangs for a few seconds, seeming like an eternity to some. The train then travels down a 200 foot drop, which also makes SheiKra the tallest roller coaster in Florida. You go down at about seventy miles per hour.

After the drop, you head into an Immelman (a C-shaped inversion that flips you near the top), and the train turns into the second vertical drop. There is no stopping here - the train keeps on rolling until it drops down the second vertical drop, traveling along a banked curve that splashes down right into the water. If you are watching from the sideline, you can see a huge flume of water rise from the back of the train. The train then turns around into the station, where you disembark from the thrill.

My overall impression is, "Wow!" SheiKra's drops are really amazing, the best parts of the coaster. You have a short time to catch your breath before the second drop, and your breath is taken away as soon as you catch it. The Immelman (SheiKra's only inversion) was fun, but I hardly knew I was inverted during my first ride.

Other impressions include:

The splashdown effect is mainly for show, and you can't see it while riding. You have to be standing on the sideline to see this magnificent display. Oddly enough, the splashdown doesn't get you wet. A few drops might hit you if you're sitting in the back row.
The lift hill is the steepest one I've ever been on. As the train goes up the lift, you can almost lie back and relax before you reach the top. The track shakes and sways a bit before going into the first drop. As the train hangs before the first drop, riders seem to scream in terror and have major hissy fits. The louder screams come when the train goes down that drop.
The pacing of SheiKra is similar to other B&M coasters. Most will have a short pause, then a "whee!" effect (like a loop or a barrel roll), a short pause, another "whee!" effect, and so on. SheiKra doesn't have the intensity of its neighbor, Kumba. Kumba's intensity lasts even when it is moving down a long, straight piece of track.
SheiKra has its own "soak zone." As the train exits the splashdown area, a large wave of water splashes under the coaster track right into an open area. If you're standing under this area, you will get soaked! The wave makes its way to part of the queue line and stops short of the entrance of the nearby candy shop. You have to cross this "soak zone" to get to and from SheiKra. If you don't want to have an early shower, watch for the coaster train. Although this zone is not marked as a wet area, you can tell it is because the ground is quite saturated.
During my four rides, I was able to sit in the following places on the coaster train:
Back row, center
Second row, right
First row, right
First row, center
Each row gave different sensations. The back row gave the most airtime, specifically during the first drop and the "twist" in the Immelman. During the first drop, only the first two rows of the coaster train are tilted forward. While the first two rows became vertical, the back row was somewhat horizontal. Even though the coaster has stadium seating, I couldn't see much of the drop in the back.
The second row was my least favorite. It gave some airtime and a somewhat better view of the first drop. Otherwise, I found nothing else remarkable about the second row.
The first row gave the best view of the drops. There are no other rows blocking your view, and you are "ground zero" to the drops. The most screams seem to have come from the first row and also gave me the most wind in my face. Airtime was good during the drops, but there was none in the Immelman.
The more forceful ride was on the seats on the right hand side of the first and second rows. Although it didn't give as good airtime as the back row, the forces seemed strongest on the seats on the right. Choose the right if you like an intense ride.
Because SheiKra is new, almost every park guest will want to ride it. As soon as the park opens, a huge crowd of people will snake their way to the roller coaster. The walk from the front gates to SheiKra is about fifteen to twenty minutes. If you want to save your energy or you aren't a good walker, consider going to Crown Colony and taking the Skyride to the Congo. The Skyride isn't the quickest route to SheiKra, but it will definitely save wear and tear on your feet. As most guests will be at SheiKra during opening hours of the park, you might find that other rides and roller coasters will have short lines.

To make loading times faster, the SheiKra ride operators will direct you to a row. I've seen people try to ask for a certain row, and the ride operators refused to let them wait. If you want to choose a row, you might want to ride early in the day. SheiKra could also use a single riders line. I saw many coaster trains leave the station with one or two empty seats.

Next to SheiKra is the Zambia Smokehouse. You can eat barbeque chicken, ribs, pork, sandwiches, and salads. Anheuser-Busch theme parks are known for great barbeque ribs and chicken, and the Zambia Smokehouse is no exception. Outdoor seating areas have great views of the splashdown effect of SheiKra, so you can have some entertainment while you dine!

Overall, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has another great coaster in its arsenal. The more I hear the name, the more it seems to grow on me, and I'm starting to like it. Whatever the name is, SheiKra is one cool roller coaster. It is sure to give many guests screams of terror and joy.

For some photos and a video, go to the link below and scroll down to the bottom:

http://www.ioacentral.com/news/columns/b...ool_coaster.htm