I won tickets to ride Sheikra from the radio the day before it
officially opened (Friday, May 20). They let me into the park at 8:00 and stayed
open to 11:00 after the park was closed. When I got there they gave
everyone a ticket to ride Sheikra once and when I finally got to the
ride, they estimated the weight was about 3 hours long. Instead of
waiting, I took rode the rest of the rides that were open a whole
bunch of times since they had no wait at all when the park opened. I
rode Kumba 8 times, 2 of the times in the front row, and also went on
the water rides many times. I got on the Python, and the only thing
that was open that I didnt go on were some kiddie rides. About 10:30
I went to wait on line for Sheikra and the line was much shorter than
it was earlier in the night, but was still wraping way around the
theatre in Stanleyville. I was told that the wait was still about 2
hours. Just as I got in line, the live band playing finished up, so I
didnt have much entertainment, and then just as I was going into the
building for Sheikras actual line, a second band came on, so I missed
the entertainment. Inside of Shekras building was hardly finished
and I dont think there was any way for them to finish it for the
grand opening the next day. A lot of places, the walls were pieces of
plywood, and the floor wasnt paved.
Finally, I got on the actual ride itself and got in the middle of the
second row (they wouldnt let me wait for the front). The lift hill
was great how you were almost lieing down. I havent been on a
coaster with a lift hill like that anywhere. Once on top of the hill
where you were held for four seconds, I looked for the nice view of
downtown tampa that I had heard about, but didnt see it (it was
cloudy out), and then was dropped. Out of all free fall rides that I
have been on, Sheikra gave the best free fall experience that I have
had even though it wasnt even a freefall. It was actually long enough to realize you are floating as you
are falling straight down. The drop didnt compare to the height of
the drop of Millenium Force at Cedar Point though, even though that
coaster is not straight down. The loop was fun, but nothing special,
and then at the second drop my car stopped and hung over the edge.
The cars in the station must have been backed up because as I was
watching as I was waiting on line they werent doing this. Then the
car went over the drop into the tunnel and then splashed down into the
water. It wasnt noticeable that you were making a wake or splash of
any kind. And then after that the ride was basically over.
Sheikra was a great ride, but it was way too short. Its a must if
you go to Busch Gardens, but there are other rides out there that are
a lot better. Kumba is still my favorite at the park. Hulk and Kracken
are better outside of Busch Gardens. On the way out, they gave
everyone a gift bag with a Sheikra t-shirt and a busch
gardens fan in it. It was nice of Busch Gardens to give out 5,000
free tickets into the park plus t-shirts to radio winners.
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