New station signage for Wild One--What we've all been wanting

I walked into the Wild One station at SFA today to find new signage above the trains, one for either end. In the middle of the signs they have instructions with illustrations--1) Sit Down 2) Put on seatbelt 3) Pull lapbar down and 4) Keep hands and arms inside of the car at all times

But they didn't stop there. At either end of the signs there are circles containing Height of lift 98ft./Height of first drop 88ft. and Speed 60mph and then on the other end Giant Coaster 1917-1985 and underneath Wild One 1986-present. I may have some of the wording a little bit wrong, but you get the idea. Hopefully enough people will read the signs and there won't be so many lapbar rechecks due to someone not putting on their seatbelt. I think it's also great that a lot more people will know about Wild One's past.

Also new and interesting was a white security booth that goes up on a scissors jack and has dark tinted windows. This was sitting in the left-hand corner (facing the park) of the first parking lot and was labeled Post 7. From this vantage point the person can monitor both the first parking lot and the first overflow lot. I can only assume it was in response to the recent parking lot shooting.

Having riden the Giant Coaster many times between '72 and '85, there is NO similarity to that ride and the Wild One. Every time I visit SFA, I am amazed to see how SFA has butchered this former world class woodie. My $.02.

Tom

Kinda like the Schmeck up the road at Dorney....I can't even imagine how good they must have been in their respective heydays. I think they are *quite solid* as is, on thie r"good days" at least. Even though I am absolutely CERTAIN that those coasters delivered incredible rides when they ran *as intended*, they still are far better than average.

I have gotten some *sub-par* rides on Wild One, and I have gotten some that were "Near Top Ten material". As much as ANYONE out there, I'd love to see it, and T-Hawk, restored to what they once were....but since that's likely not happening, I *am* happy to enjoy them for what is still there. Neither of them has been tamed to the degree of say HP's Comet....yet. And they're doing WAY better than the John Miller rotting away in Ohio...:(

So, overall, I'll take Wild one for what it still is, AND I'll have a tinge of regret for what it was, and could be again..

Well, Wild One was changed even before the Six Flags upgrade in 99' and work done by Wild World and/or Adventure World. This is a comment in a sidebar from the American Roller Coaster by Scott Rutherford "PTC did a lot of renovation and alteration-type work to several coasters over the years, some of them PTC rides and some having been built by other manufacturers. In 1932, Herbert Schmeck did alteration work on Paragon Park's Giant Coaster at Hull, Massacheusetts. This ride was designed and built by John Miller/PTC in 1917 and is shown in 1979. Now known as the Wild One, this excellent ride today resides near Washington, D.C." As far as I know, the only thing Six Flags did was add the double-up/double-down at the turnaround, and add new PTC trains. You can see the original profile of the turnaround if you look from Gotham City.

Someone can correct me on this, but word has it that it was Wild World who added the helix back onto the ride from a postcard, since the original burned in a fire. Is this just myth, rumor, or fact? I could see getting upset if you've really ridden the original, but for most of us, we haven't and so we'll take the highly re-rideable woodie that Wild One is.

I was one of the first to ride Wild One when it opened in 1986. As a park employee of Wild World at the time, we were permitted to ride the coaster during family days the weekend before Memorial Day when the park opened to the public. I guess I never realized how lucky I was until now.

Anyway, I do know the helix was there when WW built the coaster, I'm not sure if it was restored by WW or if it was there before it was moved from Paragon Park.

I-Fan, they forgot one thing in their instructions that would speed things up. Put the blame backpacks in the cubby holes before you sit down in the train and pull the lap bar down. If everyone would follow this relatively simple concept it would greatly improve capacity and reduce the number of lap bar rechecks.

Glad SFA add the extra signs. I love the fact they added some of the stats for the coaster, a little bit of history and the directions. Way to go. Hope to see all of when I'm at the park tomorrow.

For those wondering what I-Fan is refering to with the new security tower, here is a photo I snapped a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.sfafans.org/DSCN0158.JPG

*** Edited 7/3/2005 1:30:03 AM UTC by coasterguts*** *** Edited 7/3/2005 1:30:17 AM UTC by coasterguts***

I-Fan, I was also there yesterday...it was a good day at the park, light crowds.

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rollergator said:
Kinda like the Schmeck up the road at Dorney...As much as ANYONE out there, I'd love to see it, and T-Hawk, restored to what they once were....

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and don't forget Schmeck's COMET at SFGE. I hear it went through the butchering machine. What a damn shame too. It was my number one woodie between 1994-1999. Not sure where it would be now that they have reconfigured those signature "turn hills"...as I call them.

What! Beside making 2 roughs spots into 2 very good turns.. Six Flags hasn't done anything to Comet but add seatbelts they don't even check!

LOL, safe to say there's been *considerable disagreement* as to the results of what happened to Comet. As I have yet to ride it (might remedy that in August), I have nothing to say either way. Of course, not having ridden BEFORE last year, I still won't have any basis for comparison. ;)

All I remember of Adventure World was passing by it on the way to King's Dominon, Hanna Barbara era, (which is kinda tricky to say, LOL). That was before Giant Coaster even left Massachusetts, around '82-ish.

Wild One, when wet, really *slid* through the pre-helix brake, which made the finish really nice. HP's Comet, in an absolute downpour, still "locked up" and bored us to tears on what I'm certain was once a fabulous Schmeck ending.

The helix finale, which originally burned in the late 60's I believe, was reconstructed when the Wild One was moved to WW by Charles Dinn.

The Wild One used to be a really out-of-control coaster and definitely remains as one of my favorite wooden coasters. I think the ride's glory years were probably after the first drop was shortened by about nine feet and before SF reprofiled the rest of the course. In those days, the ride really MOVED and there was good to extreme air on every hill, along with two spots of insane air combined with lateral slams. I always found the ending, after the train passed under the lift, to be a bit anticlimactic, but if you caught the ride at the end of a warm day it was an experience that really lived up to its name from start to finish.

Still, it's a decent ride these days, just nowhere near what it used to be. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Comet at HP. Rounding the station turn and seeing all those bunny hills coming up you just know it's going to be fun and then wham! that brake hits and the ending is totally ruined. Too bad. :(

The weird thing about the trim before the helix is that it seems to be speed sensitive. In other words, sometimes it's not on, sometimes it only gives a light tap, and other times it's on pretty hard. I came up with a pretty sadistic modification to present day Wild One–right after the helix, follow it with a bunny hill or two–in a tunnel. You'd be trying to catch your breath after the helix and then WHAM!, the track falls out from underneath you. Of course this is when I own the park.:)

I received a message from Sam Marks last night that said:

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The ride has finally gotten the respect it deserves! As you approach the entrance ramp there's a sign above the safet rules sign that says "The Wild One" and below the sign it says "Established in 1917" At the top of the first part of the ramp is a 3X4 foot sign with a pic of the ride when it was at Paragon Park, and historical verbage about it. at the top of the 2nd ramp is a pic of the Wild One and the story of it's transfer to "a small waterpark called Wild World" As you turn to go down the 1st switchback you see 3 two sided signs which give you brief descriptions of 6 SF Woodies. New England Thunderbolt, SFFT Rattler, SFOG GASM, SFMM Colossus, SFGadv Rolling Thunder, SFOT Texas Giant. then at the end of the 1st switchback a sign showing the reprofiled turn around, which made the ride faster by a few MPH."

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This sounds pretty impressive to me. I'm on vacation or I would run out and grab some pictures for everyone. In addition to the above improvements the park has reworked the queue and adding a sign above the park giving instructions on how to ride, the stats of the ride and it's past names and operating dates at it's former and new parks.

Something to look at during ACE and Coaster Zombies Night Superman ERT in September.

*** Edited 7/11/2005 11:37:07 AM UTC by coasterguts***

I moved the post to this thread after it was pointed out it was a similar topic. *** Edited 7/11/2005 12:27:50 PM UTC by coasterguts***

I might make it down there this week, but the 95 degree temperatures and threat of storms in the latter half of the week are a deterent.

I might be going next week, depending upon the weather, if the weatherman doesn't call for storms.