Farewell, Wildcat.

Jeff said:
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.

It sure seemed rickety but I can tell you from two years of experience that except for one mishap we hardly had any real problems with the ride or running it. I know that thing like the back of my hand. I understand what you're saying, and I might be too close to it to totally see it all, but I feel like I have a pretty solid understanding of the ride and the system that operated it. Please allow me to be a little overly sentimental while a fairly large and vivid memory of mine gets ripped from the ground.

Bittersweet news. Wildcat has been there since I was a kid and I'm definitely going to miss it! Really wish I could've had one last ride. What really hurts is that they're going to send it to the scrapyard -- ouch!

But I also understand that in order to continue to be a player, the park needs to continue to move forward, and it's very obvious they're doing just that. And the fact that they mention that new coasters are always going to be a part of the plan, I'm confident that in the long run we'll all see a better, more progressive park. RIP Wildcat!

CoasterBob62 said:
And the fact that they mention that new coasters are always going to be a part of the plan...

I feel like that just gave us a major clue as to when we could be seeing a new coaster!

Strange, In the last few years, my family and I would always look to see if Wildcat was running as we'd drive the perimeter to Soak City on weekends. It seemed like several times we would see people climbing down ladders off of the stopped cars. Honestly, it became like a running gag in our group to see if the people were evacuating the Wildcat.
I've gotta believe it's mechanical. Either that or the cars are being retrofitted to ride as boats on Shoot the Rapids.

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

That's the first thing I though. Some printer is going to me a LOT more money this year.

Why do people think something happened during testing? I think it's obvious this has everything to do with Celebration Plaza taking up more room than originally thought. It was obvious as soon as the stage started going up that the area was going to be a bottleneck if Wildcat stayed.

I'm on the West coast at the moment, so I read this news as I was waking up. At first, I honestly thought this was some kind of a joke! I find it ironic that they made this announcement a day after we started complaining on here how there didn't seem to be a lot of space between the new stage and Wildcat... I guess that should teach us a lesson! haha

I'm just shocked how last minute of a decision this is. Especially considering how Wildcat had already started testing. Since Ouimet has so much as admitted that the Luminosity stage is sort of being created on the fly, I'm guessing that Wildcat's removal was in the long-term plan anyways, and that they figured they might as well get around to it now so as to benefit the stage.

Finally, I wouldn't look too much into the "new rides are always in our future comment." I think that's just sort of to avoid backlash for--after no new coaster for 5 years--the fact that they're removing one.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:
Why do people think something happened during testing? I think it's obvious this has everything to do with Celebration Plaza taking up more room than originally thought. It was obvious as soon as the stage started going up that the area was going to be a bottleneck if Wildcat stayed.

So, they decided to change around the stage and this area without taking measurements or having an idea of how much space would be available? They then proceded to start testing the ride and get most of the plaza in place before changing plans, and that's the obvious explanation?

Tilt-a-Whirl said:
Why do people think something happened during testing?
...
It was obvious as soon as the stage started going up that the area was going to be a bottleneck if Wildcat stayed.

Because the ride was testing as recently as a couple days ago, indicating they had every intention of operating it this season.

The narrowest part of the new midway is near Coasters, not in front of WC. I'm not sure how removing WC relieves the mythical "bottleneck", unless they install grandstands where WC sat.

Exactly! I don't see how any other explanation makes sense! No conspiracy here folks!

It's unfortunate they didn't think of this earlier. The stage probably would've been better located right where WildCat is.

Now while I loved WildCat and find it's removal unfortunate, it's actually gotten me very excited for the park. Matt has already gone on record saying the coaster race was stupid and this only proves that they're no longer concerned about the numbers. It looks to be like nothing is sacred anymore and that they're finally willing to make the tough calls for the better of the park.

That said, I have a feeling that the park is already planning out an even better family coaster that will make everyone forget about WildCat. Maybe Disaster will soon join WildCat and an incredible family coaster that puts both to shame will act as substitute. An aim towards quality over quantity will certainly be a welcome change.

So, whats going to happen if Luminosity disappoints? I have a feeling we won't hear the end of this until we get the 500 foot coaster next year...

The likelihood of Luminosity being completely disappointing is very, very low. Somehow I think the guy who has been in this business longer than many of you have been alive knows what he's doing.

djDaemon said:
The likelihood of Luminosity being completely disappointing is very, very low. Somehow I think the guy who has been in this business longer than many of you have been alive knows what he's doing.

as long as its more fireworks/lasers/show then those animation things in the past, I would deem it a success.

now that we know whats filling the void in Wildcats area, where will the next coaster be placed? And will another coaster leave as well?

Sealedseven said:

now that we know whats filling the void in Wildcats area......

I don't believe they told us specifically what is going to go there. They just said that they will be expanding the plaza.

I liked the ride, but I can honestly say the only thing I will miss about it is the unique sound that the anti-rollbacks made. I loved hearing that sound.

I do think this will make the space awkward looking.

I've ridden it,not often,I'll miss it but I'm not gonna cry/complain about it.Out with the old(not intended to offend wildcat fans) and in with the new. As CP is changing/evolving,these things are gonna happen.Things had to be changed/removed for Raptor,Mantis,MF,TTD,Maverick and I think most CP fans appreciated those going in. Looking forward to the future !!!

Now if only we had true QandA at coastermania this year. I'm sure people would be asking plenty of questions, trying to get the truth about what happened to Wildcat out.

I have not taking a ride on WildCat for years, sad to see it go. Would have much preferred it to be relocated somewhere else in the park. I think all the rumors about the dorms freeing up space will be for our next coaster after 2013. It seems like its Matt's idea and the 2013 would have already been planned by the time Matt became CEO.

I really hope Ouimet isn't involved in determining the location for attractions at a specific park.