Toledo Blade: Cedar Point Shuts Down WildCat
Officials at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky announced Wednesday the WildCat roller coaster will be removed prior to the park's May 12 opening. It's been operating at the park for 33 years and given more than 18 million rides.
Park officials say the roller coaster had increased maintenance costs and low ridership. Materials from the ride will be sent to a recycling facility.
--------
Yeah, it was old & dorky....and left parts of my body black & blue every time I rode it (it was a little rough, to say the least), but it was almost tradition to ride the thing once each time we went there. It was the first "real" (non-county fair) roller coaster I ever rode. But it couldn't compete...at all...with the supercoasters all over the park.
Oh well...time marches on. Take one last ride via YouTube...
as long as the Blue Streak remains. Now if they would only run it when I go there.
Old and dorky, yup, sounds like my kind of ride.
It opened in 1970 so its older than 33 years. Looked it up on Wikipedia.
Wow, that lowers their number of roller coasters. Wonder if they have a new one in the planning?
They really are about out of room for expansion.
I always thought if they wanted to expand more, one option would be to build in the current parking lot, and have parking back in Sandusky proper, and build a monorail to carry guests into the park.
Pretty neat concept JM. Though the monoral system would probably cost a ton. Of course it doesn't have to be similar to Disney...thiers is extremely expensive to expand. At some point the space issue is going to need to be addressed.
Jeep - I wonder how close they can get to those million dollar homes by the east side of the parking lot? My guess is the have a better chance of moving into the camping area. However, the attendance numbers are good but not great. Seems like the beach front from Disaster Transport to the parking lot is under utilized.
Sad to see the wild cat go as it provided a unique opportunity to sit in one car together as a family moment, as opposed to a train with a group of others. The wild cat, white water landing, and the mill race always bring back family memories and its a shame the seating format isn't replicated in other rides for families. I love record breaking coasters but they can't be the only rides in the park.
Yeah, probably the biggest drawback to my idea is the fact that they have a limited season to recoup their investment.
Hey, anyone remember a ride similar to the Wildcat called the Scamper? IIRC, it used to be maybe a third of the way down the main midway on the left side for some years. Then it was moved back to the end of the main midway right near the water. It was later removed about the time they extended the midway before building the Corkscrew.
The unique thing about the Scamper was the front wheels of the cars sat back from the front of the vehicles so that hen you went into a corner, it kind of gave the illusion that you were over shooting the corner.
I like the idea of expanding into the parking lot.
I think it would be great if they supplemented the parking they would lose to expansion of the park, by having a large ferry that leaves from Downtown Sandusky like back in the day. Since space is limited downtown, they could just build a large parking garage. The majority of visitors would still probably just drive right to the park, but some might opt to take a ferry there. I doubt it would be too many people to overwhelm the downtown area. It might create demand for accommodations downtown, and would lure some visitors to visit downtown businesses though. This could be mutually beneficial for CP and the city of sandusky.
You want to get people into the park as fast as you can. Boats won't cut it. Plus I don't think CP feels they need to help Sandusky any more than they already have. Plus doesn't sandusky get a major cut from the parking because of the drive in? I thought i read they got $1.50 a car - paid through the parking fee.
Yeah I don't forsee it happening. Just a thought.
And yeah, Cedar Fair has already done a lot for the city. They just bought them a new football field, in exchange for naming Strobel Field, Strobel Field at Cedar Point Stadium. And yes, the city gets a cut of the money from the parking fees.
Jeep, I remember the Scamper, that thing scared me to death when I was a kid. It was near the Rotor at one point? Loved that thing, lol.
Right Nana! Back when the rotor used to be along the left side of the main midway.
I can still vaguely remember when there used to be picnic tables scattered throughout areas of the parking lot. I don't think it was even paved back then. IIRC, the entrance road used to go under the main hill on the Blue Streak.
As long as we're walking down memory lane, take a look at some of these gems from YouTube:
"Cedar Point Memories" public television documentary Part I, Part II, and Part III
8mm footage of Cedar Point, 1963
8mm footage of Cedar Point, 1970
8mm footage of Cedar Point, 1984
Plus, a nice compilation of Cedar Point Deceased Rides
Enjoy!
I remember waking up one night and not being able to sleep. I turned on TV Land to an episode of the Partridge Family where the opening scenes were of them finishing a concert at Cedar Point.
The park was a lot cleaner then.
IN the above 1984 footage of CP, the tour guide on the Space Needle says the Wildcat is 16 years old.
Thanks for posting those OHT, great memories. Even saw a few shots of Scamper in the 63 film.