Wild Beast (roller coaster)
| Wild Beast | |
|---|---|
| Previously known as Wilde Beast | |
| Canada's Wonderland | |
| Park section | Medieval Faire |
| Coordinates | 43°50′38.94″N 79°32′35.37″W / 43.8441500°N 79.5431583°WCoordinates: 43°50′38.94″N 79°32′35.37″W / 43.8441500°N 79.5431583°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | 1981 |
| Cost | 1.2M |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Wood – Out and back – Figure 8 |
| Manufacturer | Curtis D. Summers |
| Designer | Curtis D. Summers |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 82 ft (25 m) |
| Drop | 78 ft (24 m) |
| Length | 3,150 ft (960 m) |
| Speed | 56 mph (90 km/h) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 3:00 |
| Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) |
| Trains | 2 trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train. |
 Fast Lane available | |
|
Wild Beast at RCDB Pictures of Wild Beast at RCDB | |
Wild Beast is a wooden roller coaster located at Canada's Wonderland, in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Originally named "Wilde Beast",[1][2] it is one of the four roller coasters that debuted with the park in 1981, and is one of two wooden coasters at Canada's Wonderland modelled after a ride at Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio (specifically, Wildcat); the other is the Mighty Canadian Minebuster. The ride's fan curve was rebuilt in 1998.
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. 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.[3] 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. Unlike the PTC trains on the park's other wooden coaster these utilize a shorter 4-seat car that is designed to better negotiate turns.
Curtis D. Summers continued to use this design at other Taft-owned parks including Kings Dominion in Virginia where the coaster, which opened in 1982, is known as Grizzly. Though similar in layout, the ride was tempered when reproduced as Bush Beast at Wonderland Sydney in 1985 and at California's Great America as Grizzly in 1986.[4]
Trivia
- The coaster was featured in the Fraggle Rock 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 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
- ↑ Park Map (Map). Canada's Wonderland. 1981. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ↑ Escape to Wonderland (Commercial). Canada's Wonderland. 1985. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ↑ Rutherford, Scott. The American Roller Coaster, MBI Publishing, 2000, p. 12
- ↑ Ruben, Paul (1990). "The Coasters of Curt Summers". RollerCoaster! Magazine. 9 (1): 18. ISSN 0896-7261.