Valleyfair!'s Wild Thing Press Folder

I decided that since I have them all, it'd be nice of me to post the three press kits from the announcements of the late 90s Cedar Fair hyper coasters. Yes, that would be Wild Thing, Steel Force, and Mamba.

Starting with the first Morgan ride, here's Valleyfair!'s Wild Thing - the unedited press release with associated images.

Valleyfair Announces Capital Expansion For the 1996 Season

Shakopee, MN - Valleyfair Family Amusement Park announced today that it will build a $9.5 million roller coaster to open in May of 1996. The coaster is the main focus of a $10.0 million capital expansion planned for the park next year.

The new steel roller coaster, Wild Thing, will be the largest project the park has ever undertaken, representing a capital expenditure of 1-1/2 times the original investment to build the park 20 years ago.

Designed by Morgan Manufacturing of California, Wild Thing will offer guests one of the longest and wildest rides in the world. With a track stretching over one mile in length, Wild Thing will reach speeds up to 74 mph during its three minute ride.

"Wild Thing offers everything you could want in a roller coaster. It's non-stop excitement with its unpredictable layout, tunnels, excellent pacing, high speeds, hills and steep drops," stated Randy Geisler, associate editor of At-The-Park magazine and past president of ACE (American Coaster Enthusiasts). "There's something happening every inch of this ride!"

The world-class roller coaster promises to deliver thrill after thrill throughout the entire ride. Located on the south side of the park, the track will be 5460 feet long. The coaster will go out along a straight line with a series of hills, the first one towering over 200 feet in the air. It banks into two seeping "S" curves traveling over the go-kart track at Challenge Park to near the main park entrance, before completing a 360 degree spiral. The return stretch features a number of smaller hills with covered tunnels. The ride also features a "weightless" zone at the crest of the second hill which is the longest low gravity section of any coaster in the world. Three trains, carrying 36 passengers each, give the coaster a ride capacity of 1700 guests per hour.

The term "hyper" coaster has been used by At-The-Park magazine editor, Allen Ambrosini, to describe coasters of this magnitude. Wild Thing joins an elite club, in which only four other coasters in the world are members.

According to Walt Wittmer, Valleyfair's general manager, "This world-class attraction reflects our commitment to our guests to provide the finest, most exciting rides available. It also reinforces Valleyfair's image as a major player in the theme park entertainment industry.

Valleyfair is owned and operated by Cedar Fair, L.P. which also owns Cedar point in Sandusky, Ohio, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentwon, Pennsylvania, and Worlds of Fun & Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri.