Wildcat
Specific Type: Wooden
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Saddle up your horses, put on your boots, and get ready to ride one of the wildest woodies in the state of Oklahoma. You are about to experience the Wildcat at Frontier City in Oklahoma City. Do not let the name fool you as there have been many rides with the name Wildcat, but this one is unique with a great story. Hold on to the straps and smack the horse on the backside as you ride Wildcat!
Wildcat was born in 1968 when it was built for Fairland Park in Kansas City Missouri. The ride was then relocated to Frontier City in 1991 and it became one of the first ever FULL relocations for a wooden coaster in the country. The ride was designed by Aurel Vaszin and Edward Leis of the National Amusement Device Company, but when the coaster was moved to Oklahoma, there had to be major modifications to the ride so that it would fit in the area that the park had for it. The coaster is also unique in the fact that it’s a hybrid coaster as the track is made of wood but the support structures are made of steel. You see hybrids throughout the country today both ways (Gemini at CP is steel-woodie) for example. In 2004, the original NAD trains that were on the coaster were replaced with PTC trains and in 2008, one of the trains was sent to a different park leaving the coaster with only one train operation. Guests board the train in a standard wooden coaster station and as the train leaves the station veers to the right to head toward the chain lift. Before arriving, riders are reminded by the Wildcat that they have reached the point of no return and the ominous clanking sound appears. At the top of the lift, the train begins rolling around a right turn and down a 65 foot drop while your picture is taken. The train gets up to its maximum speed of 46 mph as it hits the first hill. Very little speed is lost as you sail over for some air time and down into another steep drop through a forest of trees. The ride now veers to the right, down another drop and an airtime hill as it reaches the turnaround point. The train then travels through an over banked turn to the right down into a bunny hill, sharp turn to the left and another bunny hill. The train still has lots of momentum as it careens down another drop, pulling you out of your seat. The train comes out of the drop for a painful all stop at the top of the next hill before rolling back into the station. You have now conquered the Wildcat and you can say that you have ridden one of the most intense hybrid coasters in the state of Oklahoma. |
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