SheiKra
C7 · B&M Masterworks
C7 · № 35/150
SheiKra
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay · US · Bolliger & Mabillard Dive Coaster
“Stanleyville pauses you at the brink, then gives you the water.”
UNOFFICIAL · NOT PARK-ENDORSED
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Also at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Also by Bolliger & Mabillard
Fast facts
- SheiKra is a steel Dive Coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, built by Bolliger & Mabillard. coasterpedia.net
- The ride opened to the public on May 21, 2005. bgthistory.com
- Its lift rises 200 feet, or 61 metres, before a 90-degree first drop. buschgardens.com
- SheiKra reaches 70 mph, or about 113 km/h, and includes an Immelmann loop. buschgardens.com
- The course includes one inversion. bgthistory.com
- The ride’s listed construction cost was $13.5 million. en.wikipedia.org
- In 2007, SheiKra was converted to floorless trains. coasterpedia.net
The story of SheiKra
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
Sources
- coasterpedia.net Preferred source
- bgthistory.com Acceptable source
- buschgardens.com Acceptable source
- en.wikipedia.org Acceptable source
- coaster101.com Acceptable source