WildCat
1979-2011
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WildCat was a small portable roller coaster that was built by Schwarzkopf. It was a very popular ride for families to ride together.
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The 1960's saw a lot of expansion for Cedar Point. That expansion would continue into the 1970's with the addition of Million Dollar Midway in 1970. Million Dollar Midway opened giving guest more rides to make lines shorter. In 1971 guest were sent back to the past with the opening of Frontier Trail. Giant Wheel opened in 1972. In 1975 Cedar Point Cinema opened featuring Imax movies!. Corkscrew became the first roller coaster in the world to flip rides upside down 3 times in 1976 on its new midway. In 1977 the Corkscrew Midway was expanded. Gemini became the world's tallest roller coaster in the world in 1978.
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Cedar Point's original Wildcat opened in 1970. The ride was located between Sealand and the beach gate. Wildcat was a small compact roller coaster that gave riders a great view of the beach.
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The new WildCat ride was placed near Space Spiral. The ride would be beside Matterhorn.
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The new WildCat was located just down the midway from the old one. Both rides shared similar stats to each other but were not exactly clones of each other. They were both slightly different but had the same general elements.
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WildCat would remain in its location near Space Spiral until the end of the 1984 season.
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In 1985 the former WildCat location would become home to Avalanche Run. In 1990 Avalanche Run would be converted into Disaster Transport. In 2012 Disaster Transport closed and was replaced with GateKeeper in 2013.
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To make room for Avalanche Run, WildCat would be relocated to Million Dollar Midway. At the end of the 1984 season Bayern Curve was retired to make room for WildCat.
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On the beach midway across for Kid Arthur's Court, Rotor was retired. In 1985 Schwabichen was relocated there. Schwabichen closed in 2002 and was replaced with Chaos in 2003.
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WildCat opened in its new location in 1985. The midway would eventually be renamed WildCat Midway.
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WildCat was placed across from Western Cruise and the Frontier Lift. They soon would be leaving the area to be replaced with Iron Dragon in 1987.
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In 2003 WildCat's Color Scheme was changed to bright purple track and neon green supports.
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WildCat
Ride Facts Height: 50 feet Speed: 40 MPH Hills: 5 Inversions: 0 Type: Wildcat 65m Designer: Ing.-Buro Stengel GmbH Company: Schwarzkopf Capacity: 900/HR Opened: 1979 Closed: October 2011 Number of Coaster in 1979: 5 Cedar Point's only roller coaster to be relocated inside the park. 20 roller coasters have been added since WildCat opened. |
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WildCat was a family favorite of many generations of families. It wasn't the biggest ride, but it wasn't the smallest.
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WildCat was a great family roller coaster. Over the years the ride became a family favorite and it became outdated as newer rides would open. As the ride got older it would lose ridership due to bigger and better rides opening in the the park.
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After the addition of WildCat, Cedar Point continued to add bigger and better rides! Over the next 32 years Cedar Point would add: Oceanea (1980-1998), Ocean Motion (1981), White Water Landing (1982-2005), Demon Drop (1983-2009), Avalanche Run (1985-1989), Thunder Canyon (1986), Iron Dragon (1987), Soak City Water Park (1988-2016), Disaster Transport (1990-2012), Mean Streak (1991-2016), Snake River Falls (1993), Raptor (1994), Mantis (1996-2014), Power Tower (1998), Camp Snoopy (1999), Millennium Force (2000), Wicked Twister (2002-2021), Top Thrill Dragster (2003-2021), maXair (2005), Skyhawk (2006), Maverick (2007), Planet Snoopy (2008), Shoot the Rapids (2010-2005) and WindSeeker (2011).
All of these rides would bring something new and unique to the park. WildCat would help have the way the rides that would come after. |
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In 2008 and again in 2011 WildCat had minor accidents in witch cars would bump into each other.
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In February 2012, Cedar Point announced the WildCat midway would be converted into Celebration Plaza. WildCat was originally planned to remain in Celebration Plaza.
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On May 2, 2012, Cedar Point announced that WildCat would be removed to make room for an expanded Celebration Plaza. WildCat would be the first Cedar Point roller coaster to be removed since 1978. The ride would be completely gone by opening day.
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WildCat was replaced with a small bar and bleachers. The new additions helped make Celebration Plaza a more conferable place for guest.
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After WildCat was removed Cedar Point continued to add unique experiences including: Dinosaurs Alive! (2012-2018), GateKeeper (2013), New Gemini Midway (2014), Rougarou (2015), Valravn (2016), Cedar Point Shores Water Park (2017), Steel Vengeance (2018). Forbidden Frontier (2019), Cedar Point's 150th Anniversary Celebration (2021), The Boardwalk (2023), and Top Thrill 2 (2024). All of these changes are great, but WildCat is really missed.
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As of the 2024 season, Cedar Point has still not truly used the WildCat location for a replacement yet. The site is used to house bleachers for the nighttime show and food trucks for food vendors during certain times of the year.
You can still look on the ground and see exactly where the ride sat. |
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Wild MouseIn 2023 Cedar Point opened Wild Mouse! Wild Mouse is a new and modern updated version of WildCat!
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Last Updated: 5/01/2024
Photos by: Andrew Borgen, Cedar Point, Russ Hauden, Ray Osburn, and Jake Hamons
