Wolverine Wildcat
Specific Type: Wooden
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In 1968, Roger Jourden purchased a small petting zoo in Muskegon, Michigan and began adding some carnival rides, naming the park Deer Park Funland (now its known as Michigan's Adventure). It was a nice summer amusement but Jourden had bigger plans for the park. In 1975, Arrow Dynamics created the very first inversion in a very long time, the Corkscrew. Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, California built the very first of these and named it Corkscrew, or also known as the Roaring 20's Corkscrew. Boasting a huge success, though a very short ride, other parks wanted an inverting coaster in their parks. It seemed like everyone was jumping on the bandwagon and in 1979 Deer Park Funland got their very own. It would remain the park's only coaster for nearly a decade.
But in 1988, a new wooden structure could be found rising from the far shore of the park's central lake. Designed by Curtis D. Summers and built by the Dinn Corporation, Michigan's Adventure got themselves a real wild woody. The Wolverine Wildcat as the ride would be named featured a lengthy pre-lift tunnel and a double out and back layout packed with air time. Though now overshadowed in stature by its sister across the park Shivering Timbers, the original woody at the park can still hold its own. Guests who dare brave the Wolverine Wildcat turn right upon entering the park and head down the main midway. Past the parks first coaster, the Corkscrew and beyond the Sea Dragon swinging ship ride lies the entrance for this wild, wooden beast. While waiting in line, future riders continually hear the roar of train after train traverse the wooden rails that they will themselves soon encounter. Once inside the station and situated in one of the four, three-bench cars, the station brakes are released and the ride is on. Out of the station, the train navigates a right hand u-turn and enters a tunnel. Encased in darkness, the rails continue straight for a time before making another right hand u-turn. Emerging from the darkness, the train encounters the chain lift parallel to the station. Climbing eighty-five vertical feet alongside the park's lake gives riders a nice distraction from what lies ahead. But soon they reach the top and its all downhill from there. Off the top and down the drop, twenty-four passengers scream their lungs out while reaching a top speed of fifty-five miles an hour. The rails bring everyone skyward again and into a large, sweeping clockwise u-turn. Diving off of that level stretch of track gets riders screaming once again as two consecutive low to the ground speed hills lift them out of their seats. Rising back up into another 180 degree right hand flat turn allows for a bit of a breather and then its right back into the action. The tracks dives back to ground level and then executes a double-up maneuver alongside the lift hill which is followed immediately by a double-down. Once again the track comes up to a right hand u-turn, this one nested inside the first wide turn. The ride storms back towards the station end of the course over a series of bunny hops before entering one final right handed u-turn that brings the train onto the final brake run. Riders disembark having survived 3,000 feet and two minutes of Wolverine fury. |
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