Wilde Beast is a much maligned wood coaster at Canada’s Wonderland. This ride gets a lot
of hate in the coaster community, but it is really as rough and bad as people
say? Find out in this review of Wilde Beast. This wood coaster was an opening day attraction
for the park, opening back in 1981. The ride was designed by Curtis D. Summers.
The ride was modeled after the former Wildcat coaster at Ohio’s Coney Island.
This layout would be used for three other parks in the Taft chain that same decade.
One would be Grizzly at Kings Dominion in 1982 and I think this is the clone that runs the best.
Another would be Bush Beast at Australia’s Wonderland in 1985. Lastly there was Grizzly
at California’s Great America in 1986. The builder of Wilde Beast is interesting.
The plaque in the station states this ride was built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, or PTC,
but that’s unlikely. PTC stopped building coasters in the late 1970s. It’s believed
this ride was assembled by construction workers who previously worked for PTC.
Wilde Beast is located in the Medieval Faire section of the park. There’s no theming in the
station, queue line, or ride course. The only tie-in is the ride’s spelling. Wilde is spelled
with an e. Although it used the more conventional spelling without the E from 1997 through 2018.
The original name was only recently restored.
This woodie has the stereotypical brown appearance, which is fine. The lift hill
looms over the midway, but the ride has more of a presence from the employee parking lot.
Wilde Beast usually has one of the shorter waits for the park’s larger coasters, but it can still
develop a 30-40 minute wait on busier days. For a wood coaster, this ride has good capacity.
It runs two PTC trains, each with 7 cars. And each car consists of 2 rows of 2, so each train
can accommodate a max of 28 riders per cycle. You have a seatbelt and individual lap bar combination
like most PTCs, but the latter ratchets downwards in larger increments than usual.
Once checked, I would hold onto the restraint or it will staple you on the ride’s valleys.
Which seat you’ll prefer depends on your tastes. The back car has slightly better airtime,
but it is a bit rougher. The very front is pretty darn smooth by comparison.
Wilde Beast’s roughness is its biggest flaw. But I’ve never had an issue with
this coaster as long as I avoid a wheel seat or the back of a car. You’ll find shuffling
in quite a few valleys, but it’s mostly tolerable except for two I’ll point out.
Once dispatched, you round a corner and ascend the 82 foot or 25 meter tall lift. You don’t get the
best view looking in front of you, but you do get a cool view of the park if you look behind you.
Once at the top, you head down the first drop. And if you’re towards the back, you’ll get an ok
pop of airtime. Then everyone gets treated to some nice positive Gs in the valley.
Everyone will also get some jackhammering and it’s particularly unpleasant when paired with
those positives, which is why it’s so critical to avoid a wheel seat.
You then head into the first turnaround, meekly lifting out of your seat on the entry if you’re
up front. The turn is super slow and uneventful, but you do get a nice view of the park at least.
The drop off this turnaround isn’t all that good, but the next bunny
hill is. You get a good pop of airtime up front. In the back, the airtime is weaker
in power but it’s instead mildly sustained. This hill ends with a terrifying headchopper with
a support beam. Then you have another bunny hill that subtly banks right. No airtime on this one,
but you do get some mild laterals. I really like how so many of this ride’s bunny hills
are banked like this to induce laterals. The second turnaround is more interesting
than the first. It’s a giant fan-turn with minimal banking, so it has a quick lateral slam up front.
You lose a bit too much speed to get this in back. Instead, those in back just get
a nasty slam coming out of the turn. Next is another nice bunny hill. This
one combines airtime and laterals. Everyone gets decent laterals. Then those up front
get a weak bit of airtime while those in back get a much more pronounced pop.
This is followed by yet another banked bunny hill. It only gives a pinch of
airtime in the back car, but it does give a small dose of laterals for all.
Next is the final turnaround. No airtime into or out of this element, but the unbanked turn
does offer some sustained laterals for all. You then have two more bunny hills. The first
doesn’t do too much, but the second offers some more laterals and a really
good headchopper with a support. Then those in back also get some mildly sustained floater.
You then rise into the brake run, ending the 3150 foot or 960 meter long coaster.
I touched on this ride’s smoothness, but what about the pacing. It’s imperfect in
this category. Not all the hills deliver. It seems like every other one takes a break.
So what would I rate Wilde Beast? I would give this wood coaster a 5 out of 10. This
is an overhated ride. It’s not an elite ride by any stretch of the imagination, but it is this
park’s best wood coaster and it’s tolerable if you avoid a wheel seat. That allows me to enjoy
the layout that has a decent mix of airtime and laterals. As I mentioned earlier, the banking on
the bunny hills is a major plus for me since it helps compensate for the ones notable airtime.
Should this ride be RMCed? I certainly wouldn’t be opposed. Not sure if and when Cedar Fair will
work with Rocky Mountain Construction again, but I cannot deny a hybrid conversion would be a major
upgrade. That being said, I’d rather see Mighty Canadian Minebuster get the treatment since that’s
a much less exciting ride in my opinion. So those are my thoughts on Wilde Beast at
Canada’s Wonderland. What are your thoughts on this wood coaster? Is it your favorite woodie
at Canada’s Wonderland as well? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
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lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!