Farewell, Wildcat.

I found the title of this article amusing.

http://www.newsparcs.com/en/#/article/00005784-cedar_point_removes_...ation_city

99er said:Here you go.

What are they doing there? It looks like they're taking it apart to paint it green and purple. ;)

Roz Stevenson said:
I ran into a friend at church today who's a long time employee. (security) WildCat not only had a fair bit of maintenance, but had already passed inspection! Ouimet came down personally to inspect the plaza and decided there just wasn't enough room. The ride is being ripped out in a hurry, rather than disassembled carefully, because of the time factor.

So is this enough proof for all the ones who said we were delusional to think this had everything to do with Celebration Plaza?

Perhaps, but it still supports the high maintenance case regardless.

So how come they couldn't do an Animation before expanding to see how it would look? Make sure it looks good before deciding to throw things in the middle of path? Also, what ever happened to planning things out? I'm now worried about future expansions if this is the way Cedar Point is going about things. Something won't fit next to blue streak? bye bye blue streak.

High maintenance costs and 2 separate accidents in the past 4 years that have injured 17 people. Wildcat was not aging well.

No, Tilt-a-Whirl, it's not, actually.

It was on it's last leg. Does it make sense to just kill it now? Yep.

I don't trust anyone from a church.

Well, anyway you look at it, if there was no Celebration Plaza, Wildcat would be opening this weekend as planned.

Using that logic....

If there were no Wicked Twister, we would still have the Aquarium

If there were no Maverick, we would still have the Swan Boats and White Water Landing

and so on and so on.

I remember Wildcat in all three locations in the park. I think my favorite was when it was in the spot where DT now sits. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember the orientation of the ride with respect to the rest of the park. I do remember that the queue went back to the beach. It seemed like every time we were waiting to ride, a storm was coming in off the lake and we would watch that red telephone on the platform to see if was going to ring. Of course if it rang, it was all over – the ride was shut down due to weather, and we had to get out of line.
I never did like it’s current location, partially because it took out my favorite flat of all time, Bayern Curve. Not to mention years later the terrible paint scheme of purple and green. I am glad this area of the park is getting some much needed attention, and I can’t wait to see it.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:
So is this enough proof for all the ones who said we were delusional to think this had everything to do with Celebration Plaza?

If you consider a Security guard who just happens to go to church with a guy who posts on here proof then sure. Security guards always have the inside info on future development and mechanical issues with rides.

Sealedseven said:
Also, what ever happened to planning things out? I'm now worried about future expansions if this is the way Cedar Point is going about things. Something won't fit next to blue streak? bye bye blue streak.

How do we know it wasn't going to work with Wildcat there? Maybe it would have worked just fine and the park knew that but they came up with more ideas of how they could improve that area now. As has been mentioned before, its the same size midway as before with the laser show so it really isn't much of a difference. Besides, parks all across the country, including major parks like Disney and Universal go through the same thing when they build new attractions. No matter how much planning you do, you can never fully know what it will look or feel like until AFTER it is built.

TTD 120mph said:
What are they doing there? It looks like they're taking it apart to paint it green and purple. ;)

I'm sorry but that guy was an idiot. Either that or he was viewing it on an old Gateway monitor from 1995. :)

I can't wait to go to Celebration City.

^^Or he's been looking at Instagram photos for too long. :)

99er said:
No matter how much planning you do, you can never fully know what it will look or feel like until AFTER it is built.

Disney does. That new program they developed still boggles the mind.

^Even their system is flawed because they too have had to redesign or remove after something has been built.

Money is tight and we were probably only going to make it once this year. I know it's all in chain anyway so they don't care much, but this might push us going to Kings Island instead of Cedar Point this year. We usually go during Halloweekends anyway so the new show adds nothing, but losing 2 rides we liked will hurt.

I realize this is a day late or so...but still...

Unfortunately I have nothing to show you, but I did receive an email message this morning from Chief Inspector/Division Supervisor Michael A. Vartorella of the Ohio Department of Agriculture Amusement Ride Safety division that more or less confirms what I had heard about the Wildcat:

The Ohio Department of Agriculture has issued a "permit" to operate the Wild Cat Coaster for the 2012 season.

In other words, it is safe to assume that it did not fail its inspections this year. :)

To respond to something else in this thread...

Spit asked...

I remember Wildcat in all three locations in the park. I think my favorite was when it was in the spot where DT now sits. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember the orientation of the ride with respect to the rest of the park.

Wildcat sat with its back to the beach, so the front of the ride was more or less where the front of Disaster Transport is now. You may be conflating it with the Jumbo Jet which was located in a similar position but oriented with its tower end towards the parking lot. Switching Jumbo Jet with Wildcat and moving a couple of other rides around effectively re-oriented and opened up that corner of the park into the configuration we see today. Prior to 1979, that area was still a bit of a throwback to the days when the main midway ran from Blue Streak to the Fun House, perpendicular to today's main midway.

(user now waits for Pete to issue his corrections... :) )

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

No corrections needed Dave :) You described everything just like I remember it.

Does anyone remember when Cedar Point's other Wildcat left Cedar Point?

So is Rideman's evidence enough to rest this argument once and for all?

Wildcat was to open with the park as planned, Matt wanted Celebration Plaza expanded (just like the press release said), the ride was removed (in good working order, inspections passed, etc. etc.) to make such expansion happen.

Oh, and I'm not going to Magic Kingdom anymore because they're taking out Snow White's Scary Adventure. (rolls eyes)

The thought of someone not attending the park because of Wildcat's removal is simply staggering.