Wilde Beast facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wilde Beast |
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| Previously known as Wilde Beast (1981-1996), then Wild Beast (1997-2018) | |
"Wilde Beast" sculpture by Bill Lishman, at the ride's entrance
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| Canada's Wonderland | |
| Location | Canada's Wonderland |
| Park section | Medieval Faire |
| Coordinates | 43°50′38.94″N 79°32′35.37″W / 43.8441500°N 79.5431583°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | 1981 |
| Cost | 1.2M |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Wood |
| Manufacturer | Taft Broadcasting Company |
| Designer | Curtis D. Summers |
| Track layout | Out and Back/Figure 8 |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 25 m (82 ft) |
| Drop | 23.8 m (78 ft) |
| Length | 960 m (3,150 ft) |
| Speed | 90 km/h (56 mph) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 3:00 |
| Height restriction | 122 cm (4 ft 0 in) |
| Trains | 2 trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train. |
 Fast Lane available |
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| Wilde Beast at RCDB | |
Wilde Beast is an exciting wooden roller coaster found at Canada's Wonderland. This popular park is located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. The ride first opened in 1981. It was known as "Wilde Beast" until 1996. Then, from 1997 to 2018, its name changed to "Wild Beast". In 2019, it went back to its original name, "Wilde Beast."
Wilde Beast was one of the very first four roller coasters that opened with Canada's Wonderland in 1981. It is also one of two wooden coasters at the park that were designed like a ride from Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The other similar ride is the Mighty Canadian Minebuster. A part of the track called the "fan curve" was rebuilt in 1998 to make the ride smoother.
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How Wilde Beast Was Built
Wilde Beast is a special kind of roller coaster called a "double out-and-back" coaster. This means the track goes out and then comes back, and it does this twice. It also has a "figure 8" shape in its design. The famous designer Curtis D. Summers created this ride. However, its basic idea came from the original Wildcat coaster at Coney Island, which was designed by Herbert Schmeck.
The coaster was built by a team led by Curtis D. Summers. Even though some signs and reports say PTC (Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters) built it, they actually stopped building coasters in 1979. It's likely that some of the workers who built Wilde Beast had worked for PTC before. The ride uses two trains, and each train can carry 28 people. These trains were made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters company. Unlike some other trains that have three rows of seats, Wilde Beast's trains have shorter cars with two rows. This design helps them go around turns more easily.
Similar Roller Coasters Around the World
Curtis D. Summers used this same design for other parks owned by Taft. For example, a similar coaster called Grizzly opened in 1982 at Kings Dominion in Virginia. The Wilde Beast design was also used for other rides, but they were made a bit less intense. These include Bush Beast, which opened in 1985 at Wonderland Sydney in Australia, and another Grizzly coaster, which opened in 1986 at California's Great America.
Wilde Beast in Pop Culture
The Wilde Beast roller coaster even appeared on TV! It was featured in an episode of the puppet show Fraggle Rock called "The Thirty-Minute Work Week." In the episode, a character named Uncle Travelling Matt rode the coaster because he thought it was a type of transportation. A puppeteer named Dave Goelz also made a small appearance in that scene, sitting next to Uncle Travelling Matt.
Ride Improvements
In 2015, parts of the track were rebuilt. This happened after the first big hill. The goal of this reconstruction was to make the ride feel smoother for everyone who rides it.
