Martin's fantasy islands wildcat

I just hered on the news that martin's fantasy island sold the wildcat to some park in Russa. They are puting a new spinning coaster in for next year.

It's definately true & I also saw the same newscast...

This was the exact quote I got from the newscast (thank you, DVR)....

"For 35 years at Marty's Fantasy Island entertaining millions of guests, the Wildcat coaster is coming down and moving to Russia.
The park says it's time for a change and that's why you'll see a new spinning coaster in its place next season. The Wildkat has found another life in a park in Moscow."

Im not sure what park they're shipping Wildcat to, but doing a RCDB check, it's either

Attractionmania
Gorky Park
or Star Galaxy

At least the coaster isn't facing the scrap heap, but I kinda expected something better from Marty's Fantasy Island. The reason I say that is because there are two neighboring parks... Waldameer Park in Erie, PA & Seabreeze in Rochester, NY... two small parks both with Spinning Wild Mouse coasters as well.

So I'm a little disappointed, but at the same time I'm happy... but it's like the East Coast is clogged with these lil' coasters now.

Hmmmm.... Guess I'll have to make a trip up there again to ride this new one (and of course get several more re-rides on the great, and often over looked, Silver Comet)

I love those Schwarzkopf Wildcats but I also love spinning coasters so I guess the only thing better than replacing the coaster would be having both! Nice to see a small park like Fantasy Island doing well enough to make such an investment.

Look at a map. Next year you could easily make a big loop through western NY and western PA and hit 5 spinning coasters... Seabreeze, Martins Fantasy Island, Waldameer, Kennywood, Del Grossos. Might be able to add another to that in 2006 (Knoebels is removing Whirlwind and rumored to be putting in another coaster to replace it in 2006... who knows what they will get).

While, like Rob said, it is nice to see a park making an investment in a new coaster like this... I like the path that Clementon took a little better. Instead of taking a relatively cheap way and going with a mass produced spinning mouse to replace the SBNO Jackrabbit, they built Tsunami. Of course... since a) Martins already has the great Silver Comet and b) is replacing an aging compact steel coaster with a newer (and in my opinion better) type of compact steel coaster, perhaps it does all even out.

I can pretty much guarantee that the next Knoebels coaster will not be a spinning coaster. But that's a topic for a later date...

Personally, I would have liked to have seen MFI build another wood coaster but they already have a kick-a** ride with the Silver Comet so a small steel coaster probably makes the most sense. Does anyone know what kind of spinning coaster this will be? Is it too much to hope for one of those new Gerstlauer rides like the ones built at KCS and WoF? Those look awesome.

I've been wondering the same thing Rob. You would think that if they wanted to differentiate themselves somewhat from the models at the other two parks, they might go with Gerstauler. Then again the gp probably wouldn't care either way. They would probably just see them all as spinning coasters. I've only ridden the two Gerstauler models and am wondering how they compare to the Mauer ones. Both seem to cost the same amount (give or take a million). Who knows, maybe they will surprise us and build the first Xtended SC 3000 model in the states :)

I love Wildcat coasters. There's more to them than meets the eye. It's sad that MFI is losing a good coaster, but progress must be made. Hopefully I'll be able to visit the park again in '06 when I return to the Falls. I just hope Silver Comet is running better than it was during my previous visit.

-Mark
Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.

I wish SFMM still had theirs.... ;-(

I wish SFGAdv had a Wildcat. I'd take that over Kingda Ka!

I have a feeling that the Gerstlauer spinning coasters, which don't seem to be portable, cost quite a bit more than Reverchon and Mauer-Sohne spinning coasters. If that's the case, I'm sure a coaster from one of those two companies is likely for a small park such as MFI.

Rob, according to rcdb, Spinning Dragons cost 4 million while the three Mauers in the US range from 2-4 million. The Whirlwind at Seabreeze is the one that is 2 million but that was bought used and probably explains the cheaper price compared to the other two. Of course none of that matters now that it's been revealed to be a Zamperla spinning mouse. Heh, at least now it will be different than the two at the other nearby parks.

I didn't know it was going to be a Reverchon, er.. Zamperla spinning mouse. Yeah, at least that's somewhat different. And not at all bad!

Here is a small article on the coaster going to russia.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20041202/1002900.asp

Army Rangers lead the way

I think that Zamperla is now marketing Reverchon's spinning mouse in the U.S. Makes sense since Zamperla can probably reach a lot more customers than Reverchon since most parks have at least one Zamperla ride.

That's essentially the way it used to be, but Zamperla is now making spinning coasters completely separate from Reverchon. The layout is the same, but the cars have individual lapbars (see the news item). The SFGAm ride was still manufactured by Zamperla, I believe, but it was under the old agreement where Reverchon got a cut.

-Nate

I had no idea that Zamperla used to market the Reverchon coasters, I thought that was a recent thing (as in this year). So now Zamperla makes what is essentially a Reverchon Crazy Mouse but with their own restraints? Does this mean that a park can still technically go to Reverchon and buy a Reverchon Crazy Mouse?

A few things:

Comparability: When putting Maurer and Gerstlauer head-to-head you have to compare appropriate models. The XC2000 (like at Seabreeze) is comparable to the Gerstlauer 380-4 with Spinning Gondolas, not the MOA install. The Minneapolis/WOF coasters are more comparable to Maurer’s XC3000 in both experience and pricing.

Pricing: In addition to the model difference as noted above, you have to break down the $4 million and ask yourself, which cost does it represent? Is it the ride cost, the installed cost or the project cost? All three are very different numbers.

Portability: Gerstlauer could do the 380-4 with a base frame and have it travel. However, it would run into the same problems as the XC2000 would have if someone tried to move it in the states- weight issues. Both would take a lot of trailers. The smarter choice is Ray Cammack’s Maurer Compact Spinning coaster, which is more DOT friendly. Of course, an even better choice than that for a U.S. portable coaster is Reverchon’s Crazy Mouse. It takes only 5 trucks and some operators, such as Steve Vander Vorste, can run 10 cars on it, which is a generous pph. IMHO he really has the easiest coaster with which to earn back his investment.

Rob- Yes, they can go to Reverchon and buy a mouse. Zamperla's coaster (with its own restraints, PLC system, etc.) is the Twister Coaster.

Adam *** Edited 12/2/2004 6:28:00 PM UTC by LONNOL*** *** Edited 12/2/2004 6:30:42 PM UTC by LONNOL***

It was a recent thing as discussed here. Zamperla and Reverchon announced just last year during IAAPA that Zamperla would manufacture and sell Reverchon amusement rides worldwide under a license agreement. Apparently Zamperla is starting to make some modifications to Reverchon's original design. As far as them no longer being under license from Reverchon, I haven't heard of any changes to last year's agreement.

LONNOL said:Rob- Yes, they can go to Reverchon and buy a mouse. Zamperla's coaster (with its own restraints, PLC system, etc.) is the Twister Coaster.

So what happened to last year's agreement?

Canceled.

Adam