Closure of Six Flags America threatens 108-year-old Wild One roller coaster

This is the thing that makes me saddest of all. It’s not the best wooden ride out there, but there are plenty of reasons to have it around.
We went to the enthusiast event honoring the Wild One when it was reopened at… what was the name of that Maryland park? Wild….? I’ve forgotten. I was there with a friend who was from Boston and he was most excited as it was the ride of his childhood and he missed it so. I remember being shocked at how thrilling the ride turned out to be. The rails on the track seemed narrow- far less beefy than newer rides. It looked like a simple out n back but there were slight shifts and jogs that tossed riders around a bit, especially at the turnaround. A most notable feature of the rebuild was the return of the helix finale- the original ride at Paragon had something similar but that stretch burned down one day and was never replaced by the park.
Anyway, over the years the ride was altered further- the water ride that ran under and through it prompted some re-profiling and in general it was tamed a bit. The last time I rode it I was braced for the worst but found it smooth, comfortable, and lots of fun. There was a young lady with Down’s syndrome who asked if she could ride with me. I said sure, and we wound up buddying up, as single riders often do, for many rides in a row and had a blast. She was there with her grandmother, who I eventually met, and she explained she was caretaker and many days they’d just come to the park with their season passes so the girl could ride her favorite ride. That made a wholesome memory for me from that solo trip.
Sadly I’ve said this many times over but wouldn’t it be nice if someone were to re-rescue this old Giant Coaster? 108 is pretty old.

It was Paragon Park. In the article. ;)

This is exactly how I felt about Big Dipper when Geauga Lake closed. I know some folks weren't all that phased by it since it was just an average ride. But it was historic, had survived a fire and a tornado, and on a personal note was my first coaster.

Sucks.

Six Flags America… A hidden gem?

RCMAC:

We went to the enthusiast event honoring the Wild One when it was reopened at… what was the name of that Maryland park? Wild….?

Wild World. It started as a water park, my first visit was sometime in the late 80s, after Wild One had been there a few years. I remember the local commercials for it featuring Big John Studd of (then) WWF fame.

As more non-water rides were added, the name changed to Adventure World and thrived until the Six Flags acquisition. I think that's what bums me out about it the most, despite not having set foot in the place since '03, it's been a staple of the DC area and was a really nice place before Six Flags took it over. They really did a nice job at first, too, but it didn't last long.

BrettV, I operated the Big Dipper in the late 80s and early 90s. Manual breaks, the smell of chain lift grease, loud and energetic cheering in the station on a summer weekend night. I didn't get to live through the Roaring 20s and that growing popularity of amusement parks during that time, but my years spent working the Big Dipper were as close as I would ever get to that.

I echo your sentiment regarding the closure. I miss the Dipper far more than I miss the Raging Wolf Bobs or really anything else about Geauga Lake. I empathize with those who will feel the same way about Wild One.

Wild One is biggest reason I hate to see SFA close. It's not the best roller coaster, but it was a lot of fun, and those classic woodies are getting very scarce.

On my recent visit both Roar and Wild One were riding well. We are going to visit again in the fall before it closes for good.

It would be nice if someone would move the Wild One. I imagine it would be nice at Knoebels. Wishful thinking.

^^ Me, too. I've only been to the park once, but Wild One ran exceptionally well. It was the sleeper hit of the day.

Superman was good, and the spaghetti bowl coaster was much smoother than the indoor versions which was confusing, but very welcome.

Some trip planning - realistically, on a Sunday in August, how much time should I allot to hit the highlights? Three hours? Four hours? Not gonna do a fast pass for this park.

(I'll be going from DC back to NYC. No, I'm not stopping at Knoebels on the way.)

If it’s a warm day everyone is going to be in the water park and the ride lines will be dead.

I wasn't a huge fan of this ride in the beginning, however I must admit that over the years it has grown on me. Like a fine wine that gets better with time I guess. Sucks. ACE even installed this outside the entrance of the ride in 2018.

^^^ Hambone we were in the park for 4 hours and rode everything. We have prestige passes so we get a free skip the line and used that on Batwing. We paid to skip Superman. Everything thing else was a walk on to 10 minute wait.

Cedar Flags usually relocates rides don’t they?

hambone:

No, I'm not stopping at Knoebels on the way.

Sucks.

The_Orient_of_Express:

Cedar Flags usually relocates rides don’t they?

It was up, now it's down.

The_Orient_of_Express:

Cedar Flags usually relocates rides don’t they?

Well for Geauga Lake they relocated the rides that were cost effective and worth moving. I think they scrapped Double Loop, Raging Wolf Bobs, Big Dipper, and Villain. Then moved Dominator, Head Spin, Thunderhawk, Steel Venom, and X-Flight. I think it would depend on the age of the ride cost to move it to what they think it would bring in?