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The Wildcat was the big attraction added when Hersheypark added the Midway Americana section in 1996.  The ride was a bit of a gamble as it was the first coaster designed and built by a then brand new company called Great Coasters International.  It turned out to be a huge success and Great Coasters has gone onto building 22 other coasters throughout the ensuing years.

Unfortunately I did not get many photos of The Wildcat other than one from The Kissing Tower and this shot of the bottom of the first drop.  Despite the lack of photos it is a really fun ride that really whips you around like only GCI's creations can.



Speaking of whip's there s one right down the midway from The Wildcat.  Bond and I are big fans of Whip rides and this was to be the first Whip out of the five that were at parks on our trip.



Rides like The Whip have been thrilling people for a hundred and one years as W.F. Mangels patented the ride in 1914.  I'm not sure if Hershey had a classic Mangels Whip but in 1997 they contracted with Rideworks to make a modern version of the classic ride.
 


Rideworks did a pretty good job at bringing the classic ride back to life in a modern form.  They missed being as good as the original with these ugly cars and with the floor that The Whip cars run on.  On every Whip besides this one the floors are sheets of steel.  At Hersheypark The Whip's cars run on concrete which leads to a rough and noisy ride.  It is still fun and not to be missed, but not as great as an original.



The final coasters we had to hit at Hersheypark is this tangled mess of tracks that makes up Lightning Racer.



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Paul B. Drabek