Farewell, Wildcat.

I guess one thing that is good is at least they didn't remove Iron Dragon. :)

I go to work for 8 hours and 5 more pages are made. Catching up....

Ffej said:
I believe this is the 5th year of All Wheels Extreme; shows are replaced to keep live entertainment fresh.

And do you go to CP on Saturday by chance? I've seen All Wheels twice, and both times there was at most 20% utilization of the capacity.

While the name stays the same, the show changes every summer so it is kept fresh. Also, I have seen the show on a Saturday and I have also seen it on a weekday when the crowd looked like this! Seeing a small crowd twice of the course of 400+ shows only means that the live shows have slow times, just like the rides. I assure you though that the numbers are pretty good for Live E.

So back to the topic, why can't the removal of Wildcat be as easy as:

1) Ride was going to be removed soon.
2) Plans were made to expand the Plaza after the removal of WC anyway
3) VP of Maint is tired of putting money into the ride
4) State of Ohio found problems that required more money to open it

All those things were brought to the decision people and they made the decision to just remove it now and save the money they would have put into the ride all summer. You know, it could honestly have been that easy. Remember this is not Kinzel making the decisions. That man could not get rid of anything, ever seen the crap around Disaster Transport?

I don't buy the argument that this was poorly planned either. They could very well have been fine with the space that they have, but if the above actually happened, then why not take advantage of extra space now?

I also love how most of those complaining about this are the same ones who just last week were excited about the new plaza and 'Luminosity'. Now this week they are outraged that one of the smallest coasters at the park is being removed because it is taking up prime real estate on the new midway. Makes me wonder if any of you actually were excited about 'Luminosity' to begin with.

CoasterDemon said:
Kinda like a 420 (!?) foot high phallic McDonald's themed ride?

Are you implying that Dragster is a roadside carnival attraction....because I think it'd be hard to move it from town to town. ;)

Though getting some fries after launching 120mph sounds like a good idea actually. Perhaps McDonalds should sponsor it. :)

.......I have nothing on the phallic thing........there's no getting around that. Though maybe the height came about after a "groovy" discussion between executives. ;)

Everyone here should listen to the Pat Dailey song titled "How Big Is It ".

It makes more sense to me if PR just said "Due to us finding a structural problem on Wildcat this week, we have decided that it will be for the best to remove the ride. The space will be used to better your experience during our new night time show, Luminosity."

Even if there wasn't structual problems, it sounds a lot better than saying they poorly planned the night time show's area and needed more space.

Are you serious?

It sounds good to you for a company (even if it is the truth) to broadcast that one of their coasters had structural damage so severe that it had to be scrapped? I would say it was handled much better this way. The logical people that aren't getting emotionally reactive towards a roller coaster get it; that an old coaster, whose time was already coming to an end after this season, is now gone because something obviously happened during testing or inspection that said..."uh...this is going to cost you X amount of money". Frankly, Wildcat is not worth it..at least from a cost/benefit perspective.

Sometimes you just have to take Ol' Yeller out back and put him out of his misery. Some of you want him freeze-dried and stuffed, but I'm all for a simple burial (and/or dismantling and recycle-bin memorial).

They said more than just "we need more space for new show".

I was kind of hoping that it would go to Dorney! Would set up perfectly there with Possessed, Demon Drop and Stinger!

Dorney recently removed their own antique Schwarzkopf, I doubt they would want Wildcat.

I do hope they eventually build a smaller coaster with individual cars to replace Wildcat, a spinning coaster would be great.

Does anyone remember this happening last June?

I remember that well actually. I'm thinking that's what happened with testing, but that's just an assumption so don't take me as in I know what happened to Wildcat's closure.

Yes Jeff, I'm thoroughly aware of that day...

That was the day the I felt betrayed by my ride. I would like to mention that my crew handled it pretty perfectly. Furthermore, even though we suffered days of downtime because of it, we still had an amazing numbers year. Furthermore the guests who were on the ride at the time returned to the park later that day to ride some more rides.

I would also like to remind people that Magnum had an incident a few years ago too.

You're not seriously comparing Magnum and Wildcat, are you?

tcgolfer said:
That was the day the I felt betrayed by my ride.

This says volumes about the nature of your posts.

Was going to submit this to news but couldn't find a link or anything to submit, and didn't want to just start a thread.

But Sandusky Register just posted pictures of Wildcat and Celebration Plaza. The last 10 pictures really show how the control booth really blocks the station.

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/CPWildcatCelebrationPlaza

I'm new here, but have been reading the posts for some time now. Jeff, why do you get to decide when people are being "too dramatic" or feel entitled to mock people who otherwise express themselves, like above?

Aren't we all just people with a passion for this place? Why all the judging?

TheNewGuy said:
I'm new here, but have been reading the posts for some time now. Jeff, why do you get to decide when people are being "too dramatic" or feel entitled to mock people who otherwise express themselves, like above?

Aren't we all just people with a passion for this place? Why all the judging?

Not the wisest first post but whatever.

I agree with Jeff. That statement that "my ride betrayed me" is so dumb. Its ride. Metal, electrical components, wheels, etc. Its a ride. We are all passionate about CP. But you have to draw a line between passion and downright silly. Saying you felt betrayed by a mechanical ride is like saying you were betrayed by your lawn mower cause it ran outta gas. Or you cars engine blows cause its been through so many miles.

After seeing those pictures in the Register, all I can say is the ride had to go. It just looks so out of place, removing the ride will make Celebration Plaza look great.

Do you suppose there are lifeguards who are crying because the Speed Slides were torn out? I'm guessing no since it was time those slides were retired.

Going by the pictures, I would say the ride is being removed early because of "looks". It makes the area look like crap with the booth thrown right up against the station. Hopefully they move the booth back farther to get it off the midway because it really is just another eyesore like the screen was.

My vote is for a last minute decision, instead of mechanical failure or structural damage based off the pictures.

Ffej said:
...poorly planned.

You keep hammering this point, and while I tend to agree (at least regarding the perception), there's also a way to look at it that suggests effective, rapid decision making. It takes a fair amount of cojones to yank an attraction mere days prior to opening day, knowing full well that there will be some backlash. Barring any failure or similar issue with WC, the easy decision would have been to operate the ride, knowing its existence hinders Luminosity.

True, the decision should have been made during planning. But in the end, the proper decision was made knowing full well it would be a very unpopular one.