Wild Mouse roller coaster

Wild Mouse roller coaster
The Wild Mouse, a Wild Mouse roller coaster in operation at Luna Park Sydney
Wild Mouse, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, United Kingdom

A Wild Mouse roller coaster (or Wildemous, Mad Mouse, Crazy Mouse, Magic Mouse or Rat Run) is a type of roller coaster characterized by small cars that seat four people or fewer and ride on top of the track, taking tight, flat turns (without cant) at modest speeds, yet producing high lateral G-forces. The track work is characterized by many turns and bunny hops, the latter producing abrupt negative vertical G forces. When approaching a turn from a straight section the intended impression is that one will simply continue straight, and thus plunge off of the device, this since there are no transition sections as are in a conventional high speed coaster track and the turn itself is obscured upon close approach. Almost all Wild Mice feature "switchback" sections, consisting of several of these unbanked turns, separated by straight sections. Usually the turns on the switchback section are 180°, but some coasters feature 90° turns as well as more rarely steep runs with loops (for example Crazy Mouse at Tobu Zoo in Japan, which is no longer operating).

The feeling of a Wild Mouse coaster is amplified by using cars that are wider than the track itself, giving the impression that the riders are hanging off the side or that they might fly out, thus giving it the name "wild".

Some may include trick-track — a "straight" piece of track banked slightly side to side designed to throw the rider left to right. Some wild mouse coasters, such as Primeval Whirl, also have spinning cars.

The modern Wild Mouse was invented by German designer Franz Mack (see: MACK Rides). In the original wooden Wild Mouse coasters of the 1960s and 1970s, the cars were so small that they could only fit two adults in close contact. While the low capacity of these rides led to long lines, the cars were small by design.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Wild Mouse type coaster was nearly extinct. However, beginning in the mid-1990s, Wild Mouse-style rides made a comeback for two reasons: First, they were cheaper than larger, conventional coasters; second, they added to a park's "coaster count" with minimal impact on cost and square footage.[1]

Contents

Examples of Wild Mouse roller coasters

Wild Mouse at Hershey Park

Australia

Belgium

Canada

Chile

France

  • Une Souris Verte at Parc Saint-Paul in Le Becquet

Germany

Ireland

  • Wild Mouse at Funderland, Dublin

Italy

Netherlands

  • Flying Dutchman Gold Mine at Walibi Holland, Biddinghuizen (moved to Mer de Sable in France as Tiger Express in 2011)
  • Kopermijn at Drievliet Family Park, The Hague

New Zealand

Moscow, with German name, Wilde Maus

Russia

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

Go Bananas (renamed in 2010) at Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia
Wild Mouse at night, Champlain Valley Expo, 2009

Accidents

  • Twenty-year-old Gemma Savage died on 21 June 2001 following an accident the previous day when two carriages collided on the Treetop Twister at Lightwater Valley, Ripon, England.[2] Police decided not to prosecute a maintenance worker, who claimed that he had only received an hour's training on that ride and had not seen its manual.[3] Faulty wiring had also caused a malfunction on the ride.[4] In October 2004, the deputy coroner ruled death by misadventure. On November 14, 2006, the park was charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of riders, and the ride operator was charged with failing to ensure safety through his work. Both pleaded guilty.[5] The ride manufacturer, Reverchon Industries SA, was convicted of two charges of failing to ensure the ride's safe design and construction.[6]
  • On May 29, 2004, a 52-year-old ride mechanic from Zion, Illinois was killed by a roller-coaster car as he attempted to cross the tracks. Suffering from a traumatic head injury, he died at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
  • In December 2005, two sisters, 11 and 9, fell 10 feet (three meters) off Alpha 8, a wild mouse ride at Escape Theme Park, Singapore, and sustained back injuries. They were rushed to hospital, in critical but stable condition. The cause could be a faulty car restraint. The ride has been closed since.
  • At the 2006 Indiana State Fair, a 24 year old woman was thrown out of the ride's car and sustained minor injuries. The cause has been determined operator error.
  • At the 2006 South Carolina State Fair, a boy, (estimated at the age 12) whose name has not yet been released (as of October 25, 2006), was thrown out of the ride's car and suffered a fractured femur on Saturday, October 21, 2006. The ride was the same one responsible for the injuries in Indiana (see above).
  • In early 2007, when Legoland Billund had only been open for a short time, a female employee was hit by a Test Track (similar to Jungle Coaster at Legoland Windsor) car and died immediately. The cause was her attempting to retrieve a guest's dropped purse; she crossed the restricted area, was hit by a rushing car, and lost consciousness. Inspectors found that the ride was operating correctly and stated that the accident was due to the employee's own negligence.[7]
  • In late 2007, 63 year old Karen Price, a ride attendant for the Primeval Whirl at Walt Disney World in Florida died after being hit by one of the moving vehicles and falling from a platform and hitting her head. Price was conscious, alert, and talking at the time of the injury, but her condition deteriorated several days later, sheriff spokesman Jim Solomons said. Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said the ride was operating normally at the time of the accident. The ride was closed for the remainder of the day and reopened the following day. Disney has since added clear warning signs and safeguards to prevent employees from being in restricted areas while the ride is in operation.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ Sandy, Adam. (2006) http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/1980_1990/90s_part_two.shtml Roller Coaster History, 1980's - 1990's
  2. ^ "Student dies after fairground crash". BBC News. 21 June 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1400470.stm. Retrieved 2006-11-30. 
  3. ^ "Worker cleared over ride death". BBC News. 31 August 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1518756.stm. Retrieved 2006-11-30. 
  4. ^ "'Worker error' before ride death". BBC News. 5 October 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/3717410.stm. Retrieved 2006-11-30. 
  5. ^ "Theme park guilty over ride death". BBC News. 14 November 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6147002.stm. Retrieved 2006-11-30. 
  6. ^ "Firm guilty over park ride death". BBC News. 30 November 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6160067.stm. Retrieved 2006-11-30. 
  7. ^ "Legoland Employee Dies After Being Hit by Roller Coaster". AP. 2007-04-30. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269254,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-08. 
  8. ^ "Disney worker dies after falling from ride platform". 2007-11-29. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-metcfbriefs29x_0207nov29,0,7938238.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout. 
  9. ^ "OSHA cites, fines Walt Disney World in fatal ride accident". 2008-05-24. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/05/osha-cites-fine.html. Retrieved 2008-05-26. 

External links


v · d · eTypes of roller coaster
Construction material
Train configuration
Track layout
Dueling · Figure 8 · Launched · Möbius Loop · Out and Back · Racing · Shuttle · Twister · Wild Mouse · Hypercoaster

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