Busch Garden’s “SheiKra” – The Review

Let’s see if I can keep up the trend of reviewing thrill rides in the central Florida area. Probably not, but I least have this one to share.

Khrysti and I headed out the Tampa’s Busch Gardens Africa this Saturday, 1 to celebrate our anniversary, but more specifically 2, to finally Ride “SheiKra” which has been open for about 3 years now. But it’s all good, but it’s recently been “re-opened” with one new addition – make that 1 new subtraction – they’re removed the floor for the coaster trains. Woooooooo.

I learned waiting in line for about 15 minutes that early morning in ridiculously high temperatures that “SheiKra” is the name of an African hawk that has the habit of twisting in mid flight and taking sharp 90 degree plunges after its prey. I guess that’s why “SheiKra” the ride boost this awesome 200 foot drop of which half of said drop is 90 degrees!

Check out the vid below to see it in action:

After that, it does some twists and turns – that is if you notice after heading straight down and 70mph, then it does it one last time, but this time it’s a measly 138 foot drop. Then it swoops, turns, etc, then… well that’s it.

All in all, it’s be surprised if the ride lasted a minute. It’s quite short. Kind of a disappointment actually. Sure it’s got those 90 drops, but honestly, the trains are so firmly gripped to the track, there’s never a real feeling of free fall or danger. There’s just that constant sooth vibration of the steel coaster.

On major disappointment, and I’m sure it’s an engineering issue and I’m more than grateful to be safe than crashing face first into the ground, but it you’re not in the 1^st of three rows, the effect of hanging at the top momentarily before with first 90 degree drop is a bit lackluster. Unless they guy in front of your is wearing an unusually frightening hair piece, the chances of your heart racing and you screaming your lungs out before the drop are pretty slim.

All major complaining aside, it was a cool ride. Definitely not like anything I’ve been on before. It’s got elements of other things I’ve been on, but this was a few of them all rolled into one. But having said that, I’m also not eager to return and ride it again. That’s unfortunate too, because being a Florida resident the one day pass I bought Saturday is now good for the rest of the year. But with the price of gas being what it is, it’s really not worth the drive.

Now since that review was a tad shorter than the simpsons ride review (say by about 2000 words), I’m gonna pad out this review with some other events of the day trip:

Here’s a quick shot of “SheiKra” at the apex of its first loop:

“SheiKra’s” hill is slightly taller than this giraffe.

“It’s comin’ right at us!”

Got to take this shot as I got the Safari tour train. Not as awe inspiring as actually being on the group looking up.

Saw this guy on the Tiger Trial exhibit. It think that look is the Tiger equivalent of “piss off, I’m sleeping”.

One for icanhascheezburger”:

Funny little local information here: The Orangutan exhibit is closed. Why? Because on May 19^th one of them escaped! Busch Gardens is currently “redesigning” the habitat to prevent that from happening again.

News flash here Busch Gardens, maybe if you feed the Orangutan, it wouldn’t have had to escape!

And finally, by my wife’s request, here’s Khrysti cupping SheiKra’s nuts.

Oh yeah, my patented final rating.

Uh let’s see:
4/10
2/10
7.4/10
You can fill the categories, “it don’t matter. None of this matters.” – Carl Brutananadilewski

That’s all for now. Look for a new review sometime between tomorrow and 2018.