“It is a bit of a workout,” Tara Maldonado admits.
Who’s the Queen Spinner of the Shell Shock ride at Nickelodeon Universe?
A 31-year-old Prior Lake woman has captivated TikTok teens and mallgoers alike with her skill, dedication and bubbly personality.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 6, 2024 at 1:30PM
She’s referring to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock ride at the Mall of America, which she’d just ridden — for the fourth time that morning.
Shell Shock is a towering, industrial-looking ride with an arm that holds 12 riders, each strapped into their own seat. Riders have two mechanisms they can grab onto to leverage their body weight and get their whole seat spinning through the air as the arm takes them roughly 75 feet off the ground.
On this last go-round, she hit 61 rotations of her ride cage. That’s close to where she tops out, but it’s not for lack of trying. She’s obsessed with maximizing the spin count, because she loves how it feels.
“There’s a spin counter in the ride, but one time it stopped working, so since then I count in my head,” she explains.
Maldonado, 31, from Prior Lake, takes this amusement park ride very seriously, but the folks waiting in line for the ride and looking on can’t stop smiling.
“Can I get a selfie with you?” a polite stranger asks. Maldonado obliges.
She is still getting comfortable being an amusement park celebrity. But it’s clear that the mall’s Nickelodeon Universe is her kingdom and she’s the undisputed Queen Spinner of Shell Shock.
Maldonado started riding Shell Shock on the day of its soft opening — March 9, 2012. The longtime theme-park fiend was excited to give it a try, but was blown away by the thrill of the spin.
Maldonado has had season passes at the park since the old Camp Snoopy days. And she used to visit at least once a week. But since the Shell Shock ride came online, there have been weeks she’s gone to Nickelodeon every day, because she loves the ride so much.
Recently, she hasn’t been able to get to the park as often. Maldonado, who has epilepsy, doesn’t drive and the family member who usually takes her hasn’t been able to do so. Her condition, she explains, is triggered by extreme stress — and she’s never stressed when she’s on an amusement park ride.
TikTok takeover
Maldonado started posting on social media earlier this year and immediately developed die-hard fans.
The TikTok Maldonaldo posted in May has been seen over 6 million times. In it, she exclaims: “I’m the Queen Spinner of Shell Shock, of course I’m going to try to get over 500 spins in one day. I’m the Queen Spinner of Shell Shock, of course I’m going to get the seat I can get the most spins out of” and goes on to show other rides she likes when she’s not on Shell Shock.
The TikTok spawned a fandom of sorts, ranging from Minnesotans who were familiar with the Mall of America to random amusement park people from all over the world.
She’s since gained 32,000 followers on TikTok, where she posts her daily spin counts and when she’ll next be at the mall. She also posts her mall antics on Instagram and Facebook. When she’s on a ride, she sometimes will even attract a small crowd.
“People sometimes like to stop and watch,” Maldonado said.
There is a small group of friends, all season pass holders, who act like her court, cheering her on when she completes yet another spin-filled ride.
The Shell Shock ride isn’t easy to get spinning, requiring a bit of upper-body strength. Kids are more likely to be able to do it, because they’re lighter, but it can be hard to get enough momentum to get the seat spinning fast.
Maldonado stands out from the rest of the riders, managing seemingly endless spins in a blur of limbs and metal.
It also doesn’t go unnoticed by mallgoers and passersby, especially the younger ones who are fans thanks to TikTok.
“It’s so impressive,” said Jordan Willeck, 18, who happened to be shopping at the mall with a friend and stopped to watch Maldonado spin.
Willeck knew about the Queen Spinner from TikTok, but had the pleasure of showing her friend, who had never heard about this newly minted internet phenomenon.
The two friends watched, and when the ride ended, they returned to shopping. But the Queen Spinner hopped back in line for yet another spin.
For years, Twin Cities’ biggest arts organizations enjoyed “extraordinary” giving from homegrown corporations. Now, they’re grappling with steep declines: “We had more to lose.”
