Wilde Beast is a

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also b ...

located at

Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life As ...

, in

Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

, Canada. It was originally named "Wilde Beast", from 1981 to 1996, when it was renamed to "Wild Beast" in 1997. The ride was reverted to its original name in 2019. It is one of the five roller coasters that debuted with the park in 1981, and is one of three wooden coasters at Canada's Wonderland modeled after a ride at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

amusement park in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

(specifically, Wildcat); the other is the

Mighty Canadian Minebuster The Mighty Canadian Minebuster (often shortened to Minebuster) is a wooden roller coaster located at Canada's Wonderland amusement park in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. History Mighty Canadian Minebuster was one of five roller coasters to debut at ...

. The ride's fan curve was rebuilt in 1998.

History

The ride is a double out-and-back coaster encompassing a figure 8 design. The ride was designed by Curtis D. Summers but is based on the original Coney Island Wildcat designed by

Herbert Schmeck Herbert Paul Schmeck (born 1890 in Reading, Pennsylvania, died 1956) was an American roller coaster designer. From 1923 to 1955, Schmeck designed 84 coasters for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. As a designer and president, the company became th ...

. It was constructed in-house under the direction of Summers. The coaster was not built by PTC despite a plaque at the operator's booth and several published reports that claim it was. PTC stopped building coasters in 1979. It is likely however, that the construction crew consisted of workers who had previously built coasters for PTC. The two 28-passenger trains were supplied by the

Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia T ...

. Unlike the three-row PTC trains on

, Wilde Beast utilizes shorter two-row cars that are designed to better negotiate turns. Curtis D. Summers continued to use this design at other Taft-owned parks including

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 ri ...

in Virginia where the coaster, which opened in 1982, is known as

Grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

. Though similar in layout, the ride was tempered when reproduced as

The Bush Beast The Bush Beast was a wooden roller coaster located at Wonderland Sydney in Australia. The ride opened with the park on 7 December 1985 and closed with the park on 26 April 2004. The ride features a mirrored layout to that of other wooden roller c ...

Wonderland Sydney Wonderland Sydney (originally known as Australia's Wonderland), was an amusement park in Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia. Officially opened in December 1985 by the Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran, the park was the largest in the southe ...

in 1985 and at

California's Great America California's Great America, often shortened to Great America, is a amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Califor ...

in 1986. The coaster was featured in the ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim H ...

'' episode "The Thirty-Minute Work Week", where Uncle Travelling Matt took a ride on it, as he mistook it for a form of transportation. Puppeteer

Dave Goelz David Charles Goelz (; born July 16, 1946) is an American puppeteer and puppet builder known for his work with the Muppets. As part of the Muppets' performing cast, Goelz performs Gonzo the Great, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf (after ...

has a cameo in the scene as the man next to Matt. In 2015, the track was partially reconstructed after the first hill to create a smoother ride experience.

References

External links

''Wilde Beast'' page
Roller coasters introduced in 1981 Roller coasters in Ontario Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair {{amusement-ride-stub

History

See also

References

External links