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Hershey Park | Wildcat's Revenge | RMC Wildcat | 2023

I will be intrigued to see what path RMC takes with Wildcat (if it is an RMC conversion, of course).

Two GCI woodies have thus far been converted by RMC (SFDK’s Roar into Joker and Gwazi into Iron Gwazi), but I’d argue that only Joker was a proper “conversion” (Iron Gwazi was arguably a ground up IBox that happened to use bits of Gwazi’s structure; they deviated from the original layout of that ride a lot, and used very little of its structure).

Joker’s slightly more lukewarm reception compared to other RMCs would suggest that GCI layouts might not be especially well suited for RMC conversions compared to other types of wooden roller coaster, but RMC as a company has become a lot more creative and moved on a fair amount since 2016, so an RMC conversion of Wildcat might prove that hypothesis incorrect.

I did hear suggestions that Wildcat might have more of an Iron Gwazi-style conversion, where they make the lift hill 200ft+ tall, add loads of new bits on, and not use all that much of the original structure, but I’ll digress that I’m not overly sure how plausible that seems. I’m not familiar with where Wildcat is placed; is there a lot of extra space around for such expansions to be added?
 
Matt N said:
I will be intrigued to see what path RMC takes with Wildcat (if it is an RMC conversion, of course).

Two GCI woodies have thus far been converted by RMC (SFDK’s Roar into Joker and Gwazi into Iron Gwazi), but I’d argue that only Joker was a proper “conversion” (Iron Gwazi was arguably a ground up IBox that happened to use bits of Gwazi’s structure; they deviated from the original layout of that ride a lot, and used very little of its structure).

Joker’s slightly more lukewarm reception compared to other RMCs would suggest that GCI layouts might not be especially well suited for RMC conversions compared to other types of wooden roller coaster, but RMC as a company has become a lot more creative and moved on a fair amount since 2016, so an RMC conversion of Wildcat might prove that hypothesis incorrect.

I did hear suggestions that Wildcat might have more of an Iron Gwazi-style conversion, where they make the lift hill 200ft+ tall, add loads of new bits on, and not use all that much of the original structure, but I’ll digress that I’m not overly sure how plausible that seems. I’m not familiar with where Wildcat is placed; is there a lot of extra space around for such expansions to be added?
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Well, Roar/Joker is only a sample size of one. That's not much to go on.

As for extra space near Wildcat, the coaster looks pretty boxed in. Trees and some possible wiggle-room on the east, a parking lot on the west, very little wiggle-room to the south, and then there's the road to Wildcat's north. If they wanted to do an over-the-road coaster, then they'd suddenly have tons more space to work with.
 

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I don't think if it gets RMCed that it will be a hyper hybrid coaster but it'll be quite close! This is genuinely really exciting now!
 
TexasCoasterEnthusiast said:
My birthday is on July 31, based on how much I dislike Wildcat, I see this as a perfect birthday present.
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Small world… my birthday’s on 31st July too! I’ve never ridden Wildcat, so I can’t pass comment on how good of a birthday present its closure will be, but I can legitimately claim it as a theme park event that occurred on my birthday (which are few and far between)!
 
Matt N said:
Small world… my birthday’s on 31st July too! I’ve never ridden Wildcat, so I can’t pass comment on how good of a birthday present its closure will be, but I can legitimately claim it as a theme park event that occurred on my birthday (which are few and far between)!
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That's crazy! At least when it closes you won't have to worry about missing out on a good coaster, Which I would consider a pretty good birthday present from Hersheypark
 
TexasCoasterEnthusiast said:
That's crazy! At least when it closes you won't have to worry about missing out on a good coaster, Which I would consider a pretty good birthday present from Hersheypark
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I'm heading to Hershey in August and I was hoping, amid the RMC rumors, to ride Wildcat just so I could get my first before-and-after of an RMC conversion. I've only become an enthusiast within the last year so I've never had that sort of comparison before.
 
Fiender said:
I'm heading to Hershey in August and I was hoping, amid the RMC rumors, to ride Wildcat just so I could get my first before-and-after of an RMC conversion. I've only become an enthusiast within the last year so I've never had that sort of comparison before.
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I still have yet to get a before and after RMC experience, I’m here hoping wildcat will be my first
 
Wazzupnerds said:
Still think GASM should have gotten the Iron Horse.
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Oh man, agreed. I've been hating on GASM for many moons. I've been campaigning for the better part of 20 years to tear it out.

I will say that I find it a bit sad to see Wildcat get axed. It is the first GCI woodie and it really isn't that bad of a ride. It's just not that great. And unfortunately, it takes up a decent plot of land and simply doesn't pull the ridership. I give Hershey the credit for trying though. They've done a bit of trackwork over the years and retrofitted it with Millennium Flyers. Again, it just doesn't pull the ridership and probably isn't worth the maintenance.

I'm super curious to see if they go big or stay mid-sized. I feel like mid-sized is probably more likely, but the run to the lift gives them ample room to make a pretty sizeable lift hill.
 
Indy said:
Oh man, agreed. I've been hating on GASM for many moons. I've been campaigning for the better part of 20 years to tear it out.

I will say that I find it a bit sad to see Wildcat get axed. It is the first GCI woodie and it really isn't that bad of a ride. It's just not that great. And unfortunately, it takes up a decent plot of land and simply doesn't pull the ridership. I give Hershey the credit for trying though. They've done a bit of trackwork over the years and retrofitted it with Millennium Flyers. Again, it just doesn't pull the ridership and probably isn't worth the maintenance.

I'm super curious to see if they go big or stay mid-sized. I feel like mid-sized is probably more likely, but the run to the lift gives them ample room to make a pretty sizeable lift hill.
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I've been doing the exact same thing for Judge Roy Scream at my home park, but as of recently, it's actually getting trackwork done to it and isn't all that bad of a woodie, definitely not the best, but not the worst for sure.
 
Indy said:
Oh man, agreed. I've been hating on GASM for many moons. I've been campaigning for the better part of 20 years to tear it out.

I will say that I find it a bit sad to see Wildcat get axed. It is the first GCI woodie and it really isn't that bad of a ride. It's just not that great. And unfortunately, it takes up a decent plot of land and simply doesn't pull the ridership. I give Hershey the credit for trying though. They've done a bit of trackwork over the years and retrofitted it with Millennium Flyers. Again, it just doesn't pull the ridership and probably isn't worth the maintenance.

I'm super curious to see if they go big or stay mid-sized. I feel like mid-sized is probably more likely, but the run to the lift gives them ample room to make a pretty sizeable lift hill.
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They should have 100% retracked it after the mega flood, Im convinced that was the real issue with it was all the warped wood. I've heard the retrack is a lot better, so I have to see if its better now.
 
I hope they manage to do something worthwhile with it. Wildcat was fine when I rode it, but just a bit bland, and is massively overshadowed by Lightning Racer.

Honestly, I'd much rather see it refurbished into a more interesting traditional woodie, vs. being torn to pieces and turned into another solid but somewhat soulless steel RMC multi-looper. I've seen so many instances of that in recent years, and whilst in many cases it's probably justified, I feel like both Hersheypark and Wildcat deserve better than that.
 
MouseAT said:
I hope they manage to do something worthwhile with it. Wildcat was fine when I rode it, but just a bit bland, and is massively overshadowed by Lightning Racer.

Honestly, I'd much rather see it refurbished into a more interesting traditional woodie, vs. being torn to pieces and turned into another solid but somewhat soulless steel RMC multi-looper. I've seen so many instances of that in recent years, and whilst in many cases it's probably justified, I feel like both Hersheypark and Wildcat deserve better than that.
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I disagree, RMC at Hershey here we go!!
 
RMC Wildcat is pretty much confirmed. An interview of Clair Hain Jr. (Founder and President of GCI) mentioned Wildcat closing and he had this to say; "There was competition with myself and another competitor on redoing what they have with a new type of track, the steel track. I felt pretty positive I was going to get the project but I was told I did not get the job. It’s sad. These are part of my children the way I look at it. But this isn’t the first time this has happened to me”.

Here's the full article: https://www.wkok.com/shikellamy-grad-enjoying-success-running-great-coasters-international/
 
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