Farewell, Wildcat.

I feel like this "accelerating of plans" could mean that the employee housing could be going down soon as well. Just look at all the space it would open up.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg551/Steven_Linn/Random/fdhgfdhdshfh.png

Now I would love to see a coaster go there, but due to the fact that is is saying how celebration plaza is expanding, I am leaning more towards a whole family friendly area. Maybe some new food places and family rides.

I never realized how much rooms those dorms occupy. For some reason, I thought the only buildings were the ones you see from the road. I think the IMAX theater days are numbered, its not exactly an ideal size for an ice show. I just hope its neighbor across the walkway, the turn-pike cards, don't also get removed when the next big thing is installed.

Well, this qualifies as major suckage.

This had to be a last minute decision probably triggered by something either mechanical or regulatory in nature. If they had really planned to remove Wildcat to expand the midway, they would have done it before they put that control booth in front of it.

Zoug68 claimed, "There are many local fairs and festivals where you can ride similar coasters." That claim is demonstrably false. With the closure of the Cedar Point Wildcat, that leaves only four fixed-site 65m Wildcats in the entire world, with only one of those (the one at Keansburg, NJ) still operating in a seasonal park. The other two in North America are in Marietta, GA, and Puyallup, WA. Both of those are owned by carnival companies that operate them only for a week or two each season.

There is perhaps one more Wildcat that travels. When last I heard it was owned by North American Midway Entertainment, and I got to ride it once at the Canadian National Exposition. Again, because it is such a large ride, it doesn't travel much, and I don't know if NAME is still using it or not.

The bottom line is, the Cedar Point Wildcat is a unique ride. Of the Wildcats out there, it is in the best condition; and there is no fair comparison between a Wildcat and a Zyklon or Galaxi, as you might find at a large fair. The Wildcat is, quite simply, a much better ride.

The most disappointing part of this announcement is that Cedar Point has declared that they are planning to scrap the ride. I would be much happier if they were willing to sell it or to relocate it either within the park or within the company. It's a crying shame to see the ride go, and it's particularly nasty to have it yanked out with basically no notice.

And yes, I'm quite a fan of the Wildcat. I actually like it better than Millennium Force.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Not just any old space, either, but some prime "water front" space.

RideMan said:
I would be much happier if they were willing to sell it or to relocate it either within the park or within the company.

But who would buy it? As you said, there are only a few left worldwide, so parts for that thing probably aren't inexpensive.

I wonder how many thousands of park maps just became out dated?

djDaemon said:

RideMan said:
I would be much happier if they were willing to sell it or to relocate it either within the park or within the company.

But who would buy it? As you said, there are only a few left worldwide, so parts for that thing probably aren't inexpensive.

What parts? It uses the same prox type system that every other coaster in the park does.

RPM said:
I think the IMAX theater days are numbered, its not exactly an ideal size for an ice show.

Doubtful. The Cedar Point Goodtime Theater is one of, if not the largest in the Cedar Fair chain. The ice skaters enjoy skating there more than the other parks by far. The amount of money they spend with Woodstock Productions would lead me to believe that theater isn't going anywhere anytime soon, especially since Matt comes from a background of having a lot of entertainment options.

I'm not a big fan of ice skating shows, but I do find CP's to be pretty cool. I too do not believe that they will be taking down the theater anytime soon.

tcgolfer said:
What parts? It uses the same prox type system that every other coaster in the park does.

I'm not exactly sure. I simply assumed the ride wasn't constructed entirely out of prox sensors. ;)

I'm a little confused though... Why would they have just been testing the ride and all of the sudden decide to close it other than it being because it had an accident or something. I just can't see the "We are expanding the plaza" a reasonable excuse unless they have plans of putting something there.

djDaemon said:

tcgolfer said:
What parts? It uses the same prox type system that every other coaster in the park does.

I'm not exactly sure. I simply assumed the ride wasn't constructed entirely out of prox sensors. ;)

The ride is rock solid. That's the beauty of how old it is, it was built to last. The thing didn't have too many moving parts. It didn't take much to operate the ride. I it cost CP less to keep TTD up every year than WildCat ever did simply due to the complexity.

This makes me sad. I feel like I have lost an old friend. The Wildcat was a fun ride. I loved its first couple of drops and its twists and turns. My least favorite things were the bump on the way up the lift hill and the stop at the end. It wasn't my favorite coaster by any means by enjoyed it more than some of the others. I am also sad that it will not live on at another park.
I expected with the new guy in charge a coaster would leave soon but I never expected this. Something must have happened that they decided the ride could no longer operate. Its odd that they did it like this. Usually rides are removed at the end of they season and lately have publicly announced its retirement so people could say goodbye. From the sounds of things a crew was already hired for the Wildcat for this season.
Cedar Point should be commended for keeping the Wildcat going for as long as it did. If the ride was at any other park of Cedar Point's stature the ride would have been retired a long time ago.

Very thoughtful and heartfelt post RideMan and I couldn't have expressed my thoughts better, nice job.

I find this announcement to have incompetency written all over it. Like many have indicated, the stage would be much better suited in the Wildcat location than blocking Iron Dragon like it is now. Clearly this entire project has been rushed, poorly thought out and improperly executed. The park better hope for all this effort that it is well received by the general public, otherwise heads need to roll.

Cedar Point never use to bumble things like this which seems to be so common now; it's been joked about that it has become the new "Six Flags" from Burke/Kieran days and I sometimes think that thought isn't far from the mark.

Well now the HalloWeekends crew can start making the WildCat gravestone.

BayernKurve said:
Very thoughtful and heartfelt post RideMan and I couldn't have expressed my thoughts better, nice job.

I find this announcement to have incompetency written all over it. Like many have indicated, the stage would be much better suited in the Wildcat location than blocking Iron Dragon like it is now. Clearly this entire project has been rushed, poorly thought out and improperly executed. The park better hope for all this effort that it is well received by the general public, otherwise heads need to roll.

Cedar Point never use to bumble things like this which seems to be so common now; it's been joked about that it has become the new "Six Flags" from Burke/Kieran days and I sometimes think that thought isn't far from the mark.

Jumping to conclusions I see. Wildcat didn't have much left in the tank IMO. It was testing the other day. You don't just randomly say hey we are gonna close a roller coaster without warning if something didn't happen. That just me though.

Wow, I'm sad to see the ride go, but some of you are just being dramatic. Assertions that the ride is "rock solid" are pretty far from the truth.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:

Imagine the dorms gone and the road moved, and a midway that connects the Blue Streak Plaza and Celebration Plaza.

I'd leave the road in its current location, and construct a walkway above it. Would create a really unique experience while driving with attractions on both sides of the road! :)

BayernKurve said:

I find this announcement to have incompetency written all over it.

Wildcat was obviously supposed to open with the rest of the park this year. It looks to have had a ride crew, it was testing, and I just read that a handicapped elevator was installed to make it ADA complaint this past off-season. I am not sure about the last one, but the first two are more than enough justification to show that the ride was not planning to be removed this year. This was also alluded to by saying that it's removal was accelerated in the information release. The ride was supposed to be around for another year or two, but something obviously happened during testing and management decided to not sink money into it. There is nothing incompetent about that.

tcgolfer said:
The ride is rock solid. That's the beauty of how old it is, it was built to last. The thing didn't have too many moving parts. It didn't take much to operate the ride. I it cost CP less to keep TTD up every year than WildCat ever did simply due to the complexity.

Not based on its recent operations history. Weren't there two accidents in recent seasons?

TTD also has far more riders than did WC. I'm fairly certain CP (and most parks, I would presume) bases their analysis on cost-per-rider, rather than just cost.