For the visitor arriving in Stanleyville in 2005, SheiKra was presented as a new kind of Florida landmark: a Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster, the first of its kind in North America, standing 200 feet above the gardens before its straight-down descent. coasterpedia.net· bgthistory.com

Its design was a deliberate piece of theatre. The train climbs on a steep lift, moves to the edge, waits, and then falls through a 90-degree drop at seventy miles an hour, continuing through an Immelmann loop, a second drop into an underground tunnel, and a splashdown finale for the promenade below. buschgardens.com· bgthistory.com

The engineering was broad-shouldered as well as tall. SheiKra’s trains seat twenty-four riders in three wide rows, a grandstand arrangement suited to the ceremonial pause at the brink. en.wikipedia.org

Two seasons later, the park altered the ride with floorless trains. The conversion closed the coaster in late May 2007 and returned it in June, leaving passengers with their feet free above the Tampa drop. coaster101.com· bgthistory.com