Paragon's Giant Coaster

I rode the Giant Coaster at Paragon as well as its initial
reincarnation at Wild World. I think the original part of the ride
was outstanding at both locations. The subsequent reprofiling of the
bottom of the first drop at Wild World did not seem to diminish the
ride in my opinion. What I never liked was the helix and especially
the dead section of track connecting the original ride to the helix
that was added at Wild World. It could have easily been done so much
better.
I have not ridden the Wild One since it has been given the infamous
Six Flags treatment, but based on my reading of the major changes that
were made, I have no desire to. I prefer to remember it as it was.
Tom Halterman

On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:55:05 -0700, tehalterman@urbanengineers.com
wrote:

>What I never liked was the helix and especially
>the dead section of track connecting the original ride to the helix
>that was added at Wild World. It could have easily been done so much
>better.

I agree wholeheartedly. As for as I'm concerned, the ride is/was over
after the last big hill (that went under the lift). I've always
strongly disliked that helix.

>I have not ridden the Wild One since it has been given the infamous
>Six Flags treatment, but based on my reading of the major changes that
>were made, I have no desire to. I prefer to remember it as it was.

The changes were so extreme, SF may as well have torn down the Wild
One and built a whole new coaster. The new Wild One is a really good
ride. It's smooth and has plentiful air, but it's just *nothing* like
the old Wild One.

If you think of it as a new coaster theoretically, it's actually a
great ride, IMO. If you think of it as a coaster that's been tampered
with, then it's just a mess.

But, those pictures linked in my original post really reminded me of
how brilliant that layout was. It makes me emo :(


-kip

I rode the Giant Coaster in its last year of operation and I need to
say that the ride was excellent except the last hill/turn into the
brake run. It made me regret I wasn't there before the helix was
destroyed in the fire. From what I understand the helix part was rough
and fast. The back twisted curve over the minature golf course was
excellent.

I rode the Wild One after the first drop got elevated and I believe
some modification occurred in other areas. It was enjoyable but the
Mass. version was far superior in ride performance. The helix in Md.
was not exciting and the back curve was not as twisted or delivered as
much as the Paragon incarnation.

I rode it at Paragon in 1984.
The ride was a speed coaster before they existed - it moved so fast
and got to the turnaround so quickly you weren't sure what just
happened. The turnaround itself was pretty sick for it's day and
delivered. And that was then it - the ride was way short, but really
intense and good and fun for how long it lasted. I wonder what it
would have been like with the original helix.

I rode the Wild One a few years later after it had, I think, gone
through at least one reprofle and honestly, it was a pretty good ride.
However, I still preferred the original - there was just something
"extra" in terms of balls that the old one had, and the turnaround was
tracked far better.

-m

Though I was fortunate to hit some of the surviving classic woodies in
the late 70s and 80s (Idora Wildcat/J.Rabbit, Cascade Comet, Mister
Twister, both Shooting Stars, Crystal Beach Comet, etc.) the Paragon
Giant was not among them. That ride always intrigued me, especially
the pre-fire version.

I jumped at the chance to check it out the first day it opened as the
Wild One. Aside from the poorly designed helix finale, I found the
ride to be great fun. The outward run was incredibly fast and airy,
while the turnaround was exceedingly wicked. That element always
reminded me of a reversed/ less-steep yet wilder version of the
Mountain Flyer's turnaround.

Working at BWI in 1988/89 allowed me to spend many, many summer
weekdays riding for hours on a nearly empty train. In those days, most
people were at the waterpark side of Wild World and the Wild One was
mine. A tour of the circuit after a drenching rain was always fast and
intense.

After being away from the Wild One for more than a decade, I was
dismayed to visit SFA and find this ride had been transformed into
another coaster thanks to the SF butchering. Despite these
questionable alterations, a precious few fleeting glimpses of the
Giant Coaster still stood out. Not many, but a few.

I would really like to find an aerial shot of the original Giant prior
to the 1963 fire. Film footage would be even better. Not a big fan of
any helix, I always wondered if the Giant's actually worked.

Despite this ride's many re-workings, it is amazing that a coaster of
its size from 1917 remains in operation at all.

SR