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1 Rating Posted by: shoeeater on 6/20/2005 1:27:00 AM

The first thing I want to say is that I cant understand how any reviewer of this ride could rate it a 7, it boggles my mind.

I am a roller coaster fanatic not because these rides scare me to pieces but because they come as close as they can in a controlled enviroment. I usually take every opportunity to ride any thrill ride I can or do things like the 250 foot sky coaster at MGM Grand in Las Vegas or go bungee jumping in Cancun. Ive ridden coasters all over the country, and had fun the whole time, but not really any fear. The little bit of excitement a normal coaster can give keeps me coming back for more. I enjoy that sort of thing, but there is just no way that coasters can give me that kind of thrill, its just that you are locked in too tight....it is fun, but not super scary. Until Sheikra.

This ride, for the first time I can remember, actually intimidated me. I saw it 200 feet up with that straight down drop and went "wow". I stood in the fairly short line on a rainy Sunday with more anticipation than I can remember for any other coaster ride I have been on.
I took that very steep ride up the hill and started to realize how high we really were. 200 feet up, right around 50 feet higher than kumba which is just behind us and to the right. Downtown Tampa is clearly visible to the left, but we are headed right, towards the massive drop that awaits.
As we go over there my heart starts to beat in anticipation, and I know what is coming,the ride in an evil sort of way brings us right to the edge of the drop and stops...and waits.....I sit there waiting for it to happen......and it does.......the bottom drops out. You fall and fall face first towards the pavement, floating in your seat as the train is falling at exactly the same speed you are, the speed of gravity to be exact. This experience was like no other I have felt on a coaster. This was the first time I uncontrollably screamed on a coaster ride and I loved every precious second of it. We soared skywards after the drop, twisted around and did a 2nd drop into a fog obscured pit, twisted around and went close to the water for the coolest effect I have ever seen on a coaster in the water shooting up behind the train.
Busch Gardens Tampa has really done it. This may not be the biggest tourist area in the world, but there is no question that this is a top world class coaster in every respect. Busch Gardens Tampa after many years really is up to the task to compete with just about any theme park.
Good job to everyone involved with the production of sheikra, it is excellent in every way and should be envied by any theme park around.

If you enjoyed SheiKra so much based on your review, whys it only rated a 5? I cant wait to go to BGT in a lil less than 2 weeks & I really hope that SheiKra wont disappoint me.

shoeeater, you need to score your review when you enter it, otherwise it defaults to "5"...the same thing happened to me when I posted my first review. Just go back and edit your review and update your score. I have to go to Tampa in July for 3 days on business and Im hoping to squeeze in a visit to BGT...

AHH!! You forgot to rate the ride so you gave it a 5 by default. To fix this, click here:
http://www.themeparkcritic.com/scripts/ViewRide.asp?RideID=2247
and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Above your review is the numbering system for rating a ride.

Yeah, you better change your rating man! Youre bringing down SheiKras average! When I went into this review I thought...."Aw man, another guy bashign a new B&M!"

Yeah, you better change your rating man! Youre bringing down SheiKras average! When I went into this review I thought...."Aw man, another guy bashing a new B&M!"

Heh, as soon as I clicked the submit button I realized that I forgot to do that but couldnt figure out how to change it. Thanks for the help.

B&M coasters not thrilling? you really need to get to help anonymous.Anyways I do hear the drop is really fun and intense.I bet sitting there in the front row looking straight down is a real thriller.

The view from the front seat was thrilling, but I had no problem holding my hands up on my first ride ever, so not all that intense. At least not as intense as it looks. Maybe if that first drop was into a tunnel and extended to about 250, then maybe it wouldve been scarier. It just wasnt intense enough in my opinion. But Im sure you guys will love it.

Extended 250 feet!!! That would make it Kingda Ka like! That is just crazy. You people and your crazy statements are going to put me into an early grave. I respect your opinions in your review, but that was just looney. It doesnt look like much of a ride, but I will just have to ride it to find out.

Thanks for changing it Shoeeater, I love this ride and Id hate to see its average go down by mistake.

He said extend it TO 250 feet not add 250 feet to the drop...lol

And just because you can keep your hands up doesnt mean its not intense. Apollos Chariot first drop is very intense (you dont touch the seat the whole way down) but I have my hands up the entire ride

Ah, I read it wrong, sorry about that dude. But still, that crazy comment still applies to anyone else. I get it. Oh well. However, it is the first one in the United States. It kind of gets back to the Hypersonic thing that we just had in the other review. They can only get better as long as other parks attempt them. I respect your opinion of the ride Coastr and sorry for the mistake. I read it too fast.

No Hercules. I meant extend it so its a 250 foot drop instead of a 200 foot drop. It just wasnt long enough of a drop for me.

Yeah sorry about that. We got that straightened out before you posted. Anyway, still, what do you people want? It is a multi million dollar investment that they put in already. I know I know, it sounds like Im going to be one of those people that are all "Its new, it has to be good." Well, no, Im not going to say that. I am going to say that they did their best with it and it is new to the country and they spent a lot on it. If it is a bad ride or a good one, then that is your opinion. Just dont give all of these things that say, "If this..." or "If that...". The ride is what it is. Talk about it as it is. It wont be something else.

Yeah, SheiKra was the first in America, but it was the third of its kind. In theory, SheiKra was supposed to be the improved model because B&M has already attempted the Dive Machine model 2 times before. Im sure it is the best dive machine out there right now

Right, I know that it was done. But it is the first here and the hype machine and legacy of that is there because how many people really know about Oblivion in this country? There is a certain flair that it has here because nobody has seen anything like it unless they have gone out of the country. The park has the marketabliity with it now. Also, there are reports that say the park signed a deal with B&M stating that B&M wouldnt build another one for a few years so that aura could hang around for a little while.

Yeah true...thatll give many parks a chance to see SheiKras success and itll have many parks waiting patiently to snatch the chance when they finally can build a dive machine

PKD is supposedly building a dive machine type ride. It is not a B&M, but it was rumored to be happening for next season. I wonder what happened to that rumor. Ill have to look for it in the forums. It is a knock off and Im sure if wont be anywhere near as the quality of a B&M. That would just be a despiration move on Paramounts part.

Hey, I wouldnt mind it being extended 250 feet. That would by far be the worlds best and most intense drop. Yes Herc, BGT did sign a contract, Alton Towers signed the same one (except on an international scale) when it opened Oblivion.

Ah, I didnt know about the one signed by Alton Towers. That would explain the delay in getting these things global. Smart business move by Alton Towers. There was a lot of anticipation throughout the coaster world on when the US was going to get one of those things. Now that we have, I am sure there will be a few more poping up here and there after the contract expires. Maybe you guys will get your 250 footer... or 450 footer... just kidding.

Yeah, PKD was rumored to maybe get a Gerstlauer Eurofighter for 2006. Im not sure what happened to the rumor either, but I truly hope that they do NOT get it. It looks like a real piece of crap Plus, they seem to be clearing much more land than would be necessary for that type of ride. I personally think well be getting something bigger.... you can see pictures of the site where the new ride will supposedly go here: http://www.anmpkd.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=520&st=285

Eurofighters look like fun to me, but they also look like a glorified carnival ride. A major US theme park shouldnt put one in because they are fairly low-grade rides.

Exactly....a major theme park doesnt install a crappy coaster for 2001 (Hypersonic), then have the next "major" coaster be a piece of crap like this 5 years later.......but then again, I wouldnt be surprised if PKD did it

Not only would I not be surprised, I kind of expect it.

The Eurofighters LOOK awesome. But I hear they are rough as hell, and some of the worst out there in terms or roughness.

Yep....PKD will definitely get one then

Their design is meant to make them affordable. However, this design takes away from their quality. I cant imagine that a Eurofighter will age well at all, even if it is smooth upon openning

Too bad its not smooth upon opening....

lol, yeah...PKD goes the cheap way out all the time, unfortunately

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