Reviews: Ride Review - SheiKra

Posted at 2:42 PM EDT (1842 GMT)

May. 20th, 2005 -- Tampa, FLA. The day arrived bright and early with the alarm going off at 3am. As well as I was able to at that hour, I quickly got dressed and ready and headed out to the park, arriving around 3:40am. After checking in and receiving my lanyard credential and t-shirt, they escorted the group of us back and over to SheiKra at around 4-4:30 am.

There was still a lot of work around the station going on, and they're going to have their work cut out for them to have it ready for opening to the public on Saturday. But even for the twelve hours or so while we were there, the amount of work that they got done was impressive. And with them working nearly around the clock, I'm sure they'll have it open, even if there is still a bit waiting to be done.

"Celebrities" included a couple of astronauts- one a veteran of several shuttle flights, and the other I believe is the commander of the upcoming one, if I understood it correctly. They also had several kids from the NASA space camp (which I rode next to a couple of them on their rides), and of course the ever popular Paul Ruben was there to! :P Lots of tv stations, though with them giving shirts out to all of the media also, it wasn't always easy to tell who was who.

But you're probably more interested in the ride. So how good is it? I'll sum it up in one word- incredible! Yes, it's as good as it looks. Smooth, quiet, intense, and yes, there are g's a plenty on it! The ride in the front is also quite different than it is in the back. In the front, the visuals really kick in- especially on the first drop and the 4 second pause that you get at the top of the drop. The back row you don't see that much when the train pauses. But the pullover is great, and gives you a great amount of airtime.

The second drop also provides air in spades, especially in the back. A huge amount of air, and incredibly fun. It's also a kick and a half to be looking down from it and over the water and the restaurant that you're soon going to be zooming over and around, and to see the people watching the ride.

But the most surprising moment, for me at least, was in the immelman. It also delivers a big dose of airtime, especially in the back row, in the pullout. Not hangtime. Airtime. Better than any zero-g I've been on. Delicious.

The water splashdown is also quite interesting. In the first two rows, you just see the water zipping by. In the back, you get a bit of mist coming up towards you from the bottom, but it's not a wet ride by any means. However, the rooster tails it shoots up are huge, and there are a couple of spots where those watching will be able to get as wet as they want by standing nearby.

Other things that are interesting- the seating is tiered, with the second row being higher than the first, and the third row being higher still. They've put in small steps on the back two rows that makes it a bit easier to get in, but the third row is high enough that it almost has a floorless feel to it.

Also the views and landscaping around the coaster are great. BGT has provided several places where you'll be able to get up close views of the first drop, second drop, and splashdown. It may be one of the most viewer friendly coasters I've seen and is very well done.

Overall, an absolutely incredible, fantastic ride. And one that everyone if they can should visit. It's certainly shaking up my top few coasters, though I'm going to wait to see just how much until I've settled down and slept a bit. But it may well slip into my number 2 or 3 spot. Yes, it's that good.

Pictures, though not labeled yet, of some of the work going on, interviews and a few other things are up on my smugmug page at: http://sirwillow.smugmug.com/gallery/543463/1/22530587