Influential Coasters of My Childhood is an ongoing series on We Were Inverted showcasing the rides I grew up enjoying in the 1980’s & 90’s. Some of these rides sadly no longer exist and some are far from what I would deem as a “good” coaster nowadays. Nevertheless, these are the coasters that hold a special place among my memories and helped make me the enthusiast that I am today.
In the late 80’s I visited an amusement park I had never been to before called Wild World. The first time I heard the name of the park from my Aunt Cheryl, I thought she was talking about Wild Wood, the beach resort town in New Jersey I visited with my grandparents most summers as a kid. But no, she said Wild World was a different place with rides and she wanted to take me. Since she had already hooked me on roller coasters with Hersheypark’s Comet in recent years, I was game.
My earliest memories of Wild World, later known as Adventure World, and now, Six Flags America (SFA), are mostly from the waterpark. I remember spending hours in the hot sun with my aunt, going to the wave pool, the lazy river, and doing the various slides. As I sat here writing all this, I had to take a break and really think, “Did my first visits to Wild World come before Wild One?” For those who might not know, Wild One is a relocation of the former Giant Coaster, from Paragon Park, which operated from 1917-85 in the Hull, Mass. It reopened as Wild One in 1986, so there was a chance I was there before it’s relocation.
Not knowing the information above, I sent a text to my aunt. After chatting for a bit, we narrowed down the first visit taking place sometime between 1987-88. That means I rode Wild One a year or two after its relocation.
Changes Over the Last 30-Plus Years
I wish I had some photos from the late-80’s of Wild One. Looking at it now, it’s so vastly different. I will, however, be getting into those changes in the “Modern Take” follow up to this entry. With that being said, there were several things that really stuck out to me visually about Wild One in those early days.
The first thing I remember about Wild One was just how bright white the coaster looked. Back then I had no idea that the coaster had just been rebuilt. All I knew was it was a bright white, which really stood out against the second item I’m going to bring up. That paint was fresh!
Location. Back in the late-80’s and into the 90’s, I remember Wild One being located in the back end of the park. There was nothing around Wild One except for green grass, some bushes, and trees. It wasn’t built into the woods or anything either. It was just out in the open and you could see the ride from start to finish. I was able to find a photo on Roller Coaster Database (RCDB) by Joe Schwartz with a 1994 copyright watermark showing exactly what I’m talking about. The surrounding area looks nothing like that today, as many of you surely know.
Lastly, one of the things that always stuck out about Wild One growing up was the large wheel located just in front of the ride’s lift hill. Thankfully, RCDB also has a photo featuring this. I am not aware of the photographer or date the image was taken. Today, that covered structure is not open to the elements. I’m guessing the wheel is still housed inside the structure there today, unless some kind of updates to the ride has been made. If anyone knows, I’d love to hear from you.
My First Ride on Wild One
Now let’s move on to the ride itself. Unlike Anaconda, which was the first installment in this blog series, I didn’t know anything about this ride before getting in line. I didn’t even know I was going to be riding a roller coaster that day. I knew absolutely nothing about Wild World that first visit, let alone Wild One. That only added to excitement.
The Trains
After waiting in line and watching that large wheel just spin away, my Aunt Cheryl and I sat down. Back then, the train had buzz bars and I was much smaller. The ride ops did their checks and we were heading out into the left hand turn and onto the lift hill. Back then, the 98 foot tall lift hill seemed so big. I had been on Comet in recent years, but that was still 14 feet shorter at 84 feet. This just seemed so big. I guess you could say “giant?” Whomp! Whomp!
The Airtime
So there we were, cresting the top and making the slightly-banked first drop. I was loving it. My small self was getting a huge pop of airtime with that buzz bar, which I was surely holding onto tightly back then. Then it was right back up and down over an airtime hill, followed by the turn around, which was quite different back in the 80’s. You really felt yanked around the turn back in those days, especially with the minimal restraints. This is something else I will make mention of in my “Modern Take” follow up.
Following the turn around, all I remember was being lifted up and dropped back down over and over again until we went underneath the first drop. Being so close to the track supports back then was awesome to me. I felt like things were rushing by me so fast. This is still something I love to this day and something I’m always fond of on any wooden coaster. This is a big reason I love Knoebel’s Twister so much. You are constantly buzzing over, under, and through the coaster’s structure. It makes things feel so much faster and out of control.
The Helix
Once the train broke free from the wood structure surrounding us, I was finally able to catch my breath. That, however, was short lived. Little did I know, the little “circle” part of the coaster’s ending, which I’d later come to find out is called a helix, was about to rock my world. I had watched this part of the ride over and over again from the train’s loading station while we waited for our ride. I was now seeing why so many people were screaming as the ride completed it’s last element.
After experiencing all the airtime on the coaster, I would have never expected to be sucked to the left side of the train for what felt like an eternity. My aunt and I were holding on the best we could, but you just can’t fight those lateral forces and Wild One sure does bring them. Even to this day, that ending gets you. I’m sure Elaina would agree. It’s one of her favorite aspects of all the rides at SFA. The first time she and I rode it together we were laughing the entire way through the helix and even talking about it as we walked down the ramp seeing other riders go through it as well.
Once out of the helix, my first ride on Wild One was coming to a close. We made our way slowly through the covered straight track, which always stood out to me as well, and back into the station. I loved Wild One and wanted to go again. I don’t remember how many times we rode it that day, but I do know that we sure racked up a good number of rides on it throughout the years.
Many More Rides After & Still, To This Day
From its days at Wild World to its days at Adventure World, my Aunt Cheryl and I rode and re-rode Wild One who knows how many times? Those memories, and the ones from our following visits, are some of my fondest memories riding coasters with my Aunt Cheryl. Even though many years have now gone by since those visits, I always think of those days when I sit down on Wild One today. There isn’t a time when I ride Wild One, or visit SFA, and don’t think about my Aunt Cheryl.
I’m sure my friends have heard the stories of those visits over and over by now too. We tend to visit the park a few times each year, so I’m always reliving those childhood memories. Oh well… They’ll keep on hearing them and now you too have gotten to learn about one of them. There will be some more to come too as my Aunt Cheryl will surely be a fixture throughout this series.
