Specific Type: Wooden
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Great Coasters International began erecting their first wooden coaster in the winter of 1995 on the grounds of Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, as the timber for Wildcat went vertical. Named after Hershey's 1923 wooden coaster Wild Cat, which was replaced in 1946 by the Comet, the Great Coasters wooden was created to bring back the wooden twister coaster charm of the olden days, and inspired by such rides as Harry Traver's notorious Crystal Beach Cyclone and Lightning. The construction of the Wildcat would prove GCI's ability as a major player in the world of wood-tracked thrill rides. The new ferocious cat was unleashed on May 26, 1996 and fully met park visitor's expectations, sending riders down steep dives, through wild fan curves, around heavy banks, and hurtling over the tops of hills into wooden coaster bliss. Twenty crossovers, speeds hitting fifty miles per hour, and up to 3.5 positive g's are some of the qualities of Wildcat that greets wooden lovers throughout the run of 3,183 wooden track feet, all brought to life by over half a million board feet of southern yellow pine. Upon opening, the coaster became the first attraction of Hershey's Midway America section, an area meant to recreate the atmosphere of the traditional amusement parks of the early 20th century. In 2007, the coasters original PTC trains were replaced with GCI's Millennium Flyer trains, making the ride smoother, since the single-row cars can naviage the tight twists and turns much more easily.
Once in the park's Midway America area, Hersheypark-goers can enter the queue line for Wildcat to get their chance to try and tame the wild ride. In the station, the air gates open and thrill-seekers pile into a waiting twelve-car, twenty-four-passenger Millennium Flyer train, ratcheting down lap-bars before being dispatched on their way. With a curve to the lift, the ride hits the chain with the traditional clickety-clacking of the anti-rollback below in the air as riders ascend towards the top of the slope. Wildcat sends the train over the top and heading into a twisting right-hand first plunge; down eighty-five feet to level out and speed up through a fan curve in the opposite direction. Banking around, the ride is sent over a hop and careening down, under the lift hill to complete the 360-degree element. The wooden track climbs over a camel-back hill and back down the other side only to enter a second fan curve, this time climbing, curving to the right, dipping, and climbing again before dropping back to the ground. Wildcatters are sent through a steeply-banked ground-level curve at the bottom crossing under both the upcoming brake run, the lift hill, and camel-back hill, exiting and climbing over another hump. The layout retraces the second fan curve with a leftwards banked turn, then finishes off with a 270-degree carousel curve banking in the opposite direction, then hopping, dipping, and hopping once more into the brakes, with two more right-hand turns leading riders back to the station. |
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