Wild Mouse coasters - CoasterBuzz

Are wild mouse coasters too boring or just as good as anything else?

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Talon is going to rock, roll, and take its toll!

I've been on one and I give it a 3 for fun and 1 for thrills on 0-10.
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What is life without geniuses?

Exterminator at Kennywood looks like a blast, but other then that they're a good ride when waiting for your favs.

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it...eventually

I've only been on The Fly@PCW, (the worst name of any coaster I might add), and I think of it as a large kiddie coaster. It is small, slow, and the wait is always over an hour, so I have avoided it ever since that first ride.

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-Dave Rutherford
*If things seem under control, you're just not going fast enough*

I personally think it's all in how they are run by the park.

The best I've ridden is the Mouse at Hersheypark they run theirs virtually unbraked making it a true "WILD" Mouse. Other mice I've ridden similar to Hersheys that don't compare are the ones at SFKK, Dorney, and BGW.

The Vekoma Wild Mouse at Idlewild is another unique ride especially the tilted lift hill. It's the biggest mouse I've ridden.

Then there are the old Herchell mice. These things are real wild mice. They ride on tiny almost skateboard or shopping cart sized wheels giving it a jerky, bumpy ride. The supports are extremely small so when the car whips around a turn the supports sway as if their going to topple over. If thats not enough you sit in tandem on the seats almost like a Jet Star. There are two styles of these one is just called a Wild Mouse that stands about 12-15 feet tall. If thats not enough they also have a Monster Mouse with an extra hill with about a 20 ft drop!

I like Wild Mice as long as their at parks and not in my house. ;)

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

I rode my first "mice" this past season and I give it a thumbs up...way up!! Randy said that it's a good ride waiting for your favs, but the problem is...Wild Mouse coasters usually have the same or longer waits than your favorite rides because of capacity. I think they are outstanding rides. Unexpected turns, quick drops, bouncing whoopdy-do's, I love 'em. I realize this is just my opinion, but I rode the Exterminator 4 times and the Wild Mouse at Hershey 3 times this summer. I found they are a great switch from our big boys that we love. The two are completely different and both are amazing in their own unique ways. Indoors or out, I'll continue to ride them for the great change of pace that they offer.

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There's nothing like a woodie...

what is a spinning mouse like? Do the cars spin on a separate axis while traveling on the track?

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When the ride comes to a stop.......please stand up - please stand up - please stand up!

They spin freely. There's a huge plus to that... each ride is completely different. My first ride on Exterminator, we happened to go across the bunnyhop finale facing forwards. The next time, though, we went over them backwards. I was completely caught off-guard.

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com

All the modern day Wild Mouse rides seem to be cloned, and I find them very disappointing.

However, the woodden wild mouse (one of only 3 in the world) at Blackppol Pleasure Beach the the UK is awesome. I don't know how it stays on the track! It's right up there with my favorite coasters.
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#Life is a rollercoaster you just gotta ride it#

Grant said:
"All the modern day Wild Mouse rides seem to be cloned, and I find them very disappointing."

Well, they are standard models. I for one will take as many Reverchon spinning mice as I can get (the model at Kennywood). There are only so many things you can do to a mouse ride without incurring a lot of extra development cost.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I sure wish I could remember the name...

On one of those coaster shows, they have a feature on a spinning mouse. I don't remember if it's Reverchon, but the layout looks remarkably like Exterminator. Since, other than the theming, Exterminator was "off-the-shelf," I wouldn't be surprised if the one on the show was the same as Kennywood's.

Sort of interesting to see Kennywood's "first underground coaster" in daylight. ;)

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com

There is also a rather large wild mouse installment at Idlewild Park, about an hour away from Kennywood. For those of you that didn't know this, Idlewild and Kennywood are considered "sister parks". Kennywood was originally going to put Idlewild's wild mouse indoors at their park, but installed it at Idlewild and built the Exterminator.

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...But that's just my opinion. Unless it's also someone else's.

I completely agree with Lynch. In my 4 rides on Exterminator, the last half of the ride was completely different from the other 3 trips. When you hear that big "CLICK" and the car begins spinning, it adds a whole new excitement to the ride. We laughed and giggled through the entire course. The screams were not of fear, but pure joy and excitement.

Begin "Dream Weaver" music in the background....

I only wish Cedar Point finds a way to build an Exterminator type Wild Mouse coaster in the near future...

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There's nothing like a woodie...

Who manufactured the old school Wild Mouse pre-fab coasters from decades past? Was there one standard design or were several manufacturers involved? There used to be one at Lake of the Ozarks and I believe SFSL had an identical model years ago. Are there any of these types still operating?

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Billy Starfire
(One of the KC 'once in a blue moon' posters)

Wild Mice are not very good for thrills but, if you're looking for fun, then these are it. The best ones do not have restraints which were typically built in the 50's. Many of these are not cloned and make for a good quik coaster ride.

Hershey's mouse is a really fun ride. It's always the longest line in the park.

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"One good thing about all this, with all this fresh air we're gonna sleep like babies"
Phoenix-A great town and a great coaster

Best spinning mouse in existence is Exterminator at KW. O..M..G. That thing is so unbelievable! My last ride on it this year we spun so incredibly much that when we came into the station our car continued spinning for about five more seconds. It was crazy! Taking a bunny hill when you're going that fast, wow, nothing like it. Hersheypark's Wild Mouse is the best non-spinning mouse I've been on. No brakes on that thing at ALL when I rode it! I wish they all could run as well as this one. It ranks up there with some longer/taller coasters! When it takes some of those turns toward the end of the ride, you better hold on.

All in all, I enjoy the Wild Mouse coasters immensely.

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In the future, packages will be sent to distant worlds by BEAMS OF LIGHT! - Space Mountain WDW exit

Great Mice>>>>>>How about the one at Playland in Ocean City, NJ. Looks like a giant erector set. A past classic. The Herschel model at Lakemont is great for families, a transplant of the former White Swan park in Pittsburgh. Sometimes simple is better. Conneaut Lake Park had a great wooden one, though a bit dangerous. That one at Idlewild is just plain rowdy. I think if Kennywood puts one in Lake Compounce, they will be the first 'chain' to have great examples on a featured basis.

MM at California Adventure is a great mouse. Last week in the morning when I rode it they didn't have any trims on and it flew into the turns. I don't know how the wheels kept from snapping off.

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Say no, to lap bar nazis!

That HP Mouse is just brutal on the hairpins, definately something different
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I'm 2 for 2 so far!!!