A Wild Ride
Wild Thing is a Morgan hyper coaster that opened in 1996. It was actually the first Morgan roller coaster to ever be built, and the first Morgan hyper coaster that I had ever ridden. I was pretty excited to ride it since I had only experienced Intamin and B&M Hypers before. I hadn’t read anyone else’s opinion on it either, so I was going in pretty blind. We managed to get two rides on the coaster, once in the front and once in the back. Here are my thoughts:
Sacrificing Smoothness for Airtime
Our first ride took place in the back row. Right off the bat, I have to say that Wild Thing has one of the weakest drops on any roller coaster I have ever ridden. It might be tall, but it is such a gradual and slow decline that you don’t get any sort of pull in the back. There is some airtime during the first plummet, but it’s nothing compared to other hyper coasters I’ve ridden. The drop also didn’t seem to be profiled very well, which made for an awkward and rough decent. There were other parts of the ride that suffered from the same issue, specifically some of the larger helices. Luckily, the ride did end strong with a wonderful string of airtime hills after the midcourse brake run. That’s perhaps the only positive about riding in the back.
Sacrificing Airtime for Smoothness
Wild Thing does feel like a pretty different roller coaster in the front row. The first drop is a lot smoother, albeit it still suffers from feeling a bit awkward. It also feels a lot faster in the front, as the wind really pushes against your face in a way that honestly reminded me of Fury 325. Sadly, you do lose a lot of the airtime moments that you get in the back. The final airtime hills after the midcourse feel kind of pointless and uncomfortable.
The Verdict
I didn’t really have many expectations before riding Wild Thing, so therefor I can’t really say I was disappointed. However, I definitely wasn’t impressed. No matter where you sit, you are sacrificing a good part of the ride in exchange for something else. If I had to choose between front and back, I would choose front because of the smoothness and speed, but it’s still a bummer that you lose the airtime at the end. It’s definitely an important coaster to ride if you find yourself at Valleyfair, but it isn’t exactly a reason to visit.
Coaster Grade: 5/10
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