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Half of the reason of driving 480 miles to Tampa was to conquer SheiKra, Americas first B&M dive coaster (or Vekoma flying dutchman, depending on what merchandise you are looking at LOL). Getting to Tampa the night before, I drove around near the park and caught a glimpse of the ride, and I couldnt wait for morning to come so I could ride. Accompanied by Larrygator, we picked the first row on our first ride, and I expected it to be the place to be. Well, that first ride was a disapointment. The holding brake did little for me, and I still have trouble believing that the ride is 200 tall. Whatever, the ride could overcome that, correct? Well, not in this case. The immelman was kinda dull since it didnt seem too forcefull from the front and the drops were just "good". Probably a 7 at best from the front, but by now you see that I have given it an 8. This comes after three more rides, two in row #2 and a thrid in the back row. These rows both provided considerable airtime on the drops, especially the first drop in the middle row. Not the best out there but good for a coaster with OTSRs. There are some nice positive Gs in the immelman from the back rows, and a weird weightlessness from the right side of the train going through the Immelman. The water effect is really cool to me, though even in the far side of the back row, I barely got wet (more of a mist). Its fun to see the huge "rooster tails" (I think thats what they were called) and the kids getting soaked at the end of the pool. Overall, a nice ride with some neat and unique experiences, but not something to throw in my top 10.
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