SheiKra @ BGT - Sighted "Swooping Down" on 1st test run!

Wasn't it confirmed that it won't be touching the water? Isn't that what the concrete walls around the track are for?
*** Edited 4/3/2005 11:19:13 PM UTC by SFNE Freak***

A better video is now up.

SFNE Freak, there is a pipe type thing that will go through the water, shooting water up behind the train.

someone woke up on the wrong side of bed today. . .

I don't care much about videos of test runs either, especially when it is dark.

A couple day time videos are also up now.

BGT Guide has plenty of DAYTIME testing videos now. Head on over to see. Also look for a big update tomorrow as well.

What are the odds that it might have a "soft opening?" We're headed down there Saturday for a whole week - would love to get an early ride on it!

I wonder how slow that ending out of the splash down will feel.

C-Girl...*if* you were to get soft-opening rides before April 20, I'd be pleasantly surprised. The ride isn't SCHEDULED to be open til May 18/19.

Nonetheless, I think BGT is getting the best new STEEL coaster that isn't IJ:ST...;)

IJ:ST? What part of being a low-thrill, low-capacity, over-themed kiddie coaster qualifies it as best anything? Paramount is headed in the wrong direction. I am not sure I would even wait for it if I bothered going back to PKI this year. They should just change the name of the park to: I Wish We Were Universal Studios Kings Island. Pretty much everything being built this year looks interesting except IJ.

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RavenTTD said:
Paramount is headed in the wrong direction.

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I get the feeling their attendance figures wouldn't indicate that. Or their marketing research.

Yet another chance for that *roll eyes* smiley.

Do I sense an internet arguement coming on?

I just sense a lot of people fussing about a coaster they haven't ridden yet. ;)

Oh well, I guess every park can't strive to be Cedar Point version 2.0, lol.

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matt. said:

I get the feeling their attendance figures wouldn't indicate that. Or their marketing research.

Yet another chance for that *roll eyes* smiley.

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Kings Island had good attendance before their marketing surveys asked everyone if their park should be more like Universal FL or Universal CA. It is still a great park, but that is because they built most of what they have before they started this current trend.

But there's a huge difference between a parks new direction not personally appealing to you, and claiming the entire chain is headed in the wrong direction.

That's fine if IJ doesn't appeal to you, but for a lot of people, it does, and many people in the PKI market are never going to go to Universal Studios, or other parks with highly themed rides which most of the family can enjoy. There's a lot of competition in Ohio and surrounding areas, and PKI is doing a very good job of offering something different from the Cedar Fair parks in the north, and the parks in the Louisville market.

That is true on everything except the capacity issue. They have CP levels of attendance and they are building rides with HW capacity.

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gomez said:
SheiKra is the most orginal coaster opening this year, no doubt. Kingda Ka is just a bigger and sightly better version of TTD.

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I think it's funny you can say that in the same sentence. Using your logic, if Kindga is just slightly bigger and better, what makes Sheikra so much better than G5 or Oblivian?

I never said SheiKra is a prototype ride. But SheiKra is doing things that B&M has never done before. The layout is totally orginal and is nothing like the other dive machines. It has 3 car trains, 2 major drops, more turns, an inversion, and water splash. Kingda Ka is just like I said a slightly bigger and better version TTD. It's cool but nothing we've never seen before.

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RavenTTD said:
Paramount is headed in the wrong direction.

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Yeah, building water parks, family rides and kids areas is a horrible strategy. Why attract families with 2.2 kids that buy SpongeBob shirts and lots of food when you could attract teenagers that have season passes and don't buy anything. What a horrible strategy. And coming up with a product that is unique compared to Cedar Point and Geauga Lake? Why would they want to do that? And why are they wasting all this money on market research when you have the obvious and clear alternative that will grow their business?

PKI went from a disaster with narrow appeal and poor operations in 1999 to a brilliant park in the last few years. Seems to me they're getting it more right than ever.

Wonder if Sheikra will run without completely stopping on the mid-course brake before the second vertical drop as shown in the video. If so, the ejector air in the 3rd row looks like it'll be insane!

According to the little stopwatch on Windows Media Player, it hung for 20 seconds over the edge of the drop. Is that a characteristic of this type of coaster or just part of their testing?