The Wild One is a wooden roller coaster at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland . It features a 450° spiral helix and a series of bunny hills that produce a significant amount of air time. The wooden coaster was previously known as Giant Coaster when it was located at Paragon Park in Hull, Massachusetts . It operated there from 1917 to 1984. It is the oldest coaster in any Six Flags park.
12-613: When the roller coaster first opened in 1917, it was The Giant Coaster at Paragon Park in Nantasket Beach , Massachusetts. The Giant Coaster was a double out-and-back side-friction coaster designed by John A. Miller and built by Herbert Paul Schmeck of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC). In 1932, after it was partially destroyed by fire, Schmeck redesigned much of the ride using an underfriction track system. In April 1963, another fire destroyed
24-470: A bumper cars ride known as "Auto Scooters", a Ferris wheel , a horror-themed dark ride called "Kooky Kastle", and a wooden roller coaster known as The Giant Coaster . There was also a ski lift -type ride called the Sky Lark, an automobile-themed ride known as "Turnpike Cars" (replaced by a different ride in the 1970s called the " Indy 500 "), and a water ride called " Bermuda Triangle " (formerly
36-614: A water slide and a few rides. The Dream Machine arcade is still in operation. The historic Fascination game room closed in 2019 due to storm damage. The remains of the Turnpike Cars roadway ride are hidden in overgrowth beside the parking lot, but these remains are visible through Google Maps. Skydiver (ride) The Skydiver is an amusement ride produced from 1965 to 1987 by Chance Rides , an American manufacturer based in Wichita , Kansas . Skydiver cars are mounted on
48-810: The "Congo Cruise," the "Jungle Ride," the "Red Mill", and the "Mill Rapids"). More rides that Paragon hosted over the years were the Trabant, the Tilt-A-Whirl , Galaxy Coaster, the Skydiver , Paratrooper , Matterhorn , Himalaya , Round Up , Scrambler , Crazy Tea Cups, Twister Kiddie Coaster, Caterpillar , the Whip , Batman-slide, Super-slide, Salt and Pepper Shakers, Swing ride , Rotor, along with many rides that were smaller versions of these, geared towards children. Skeeball and pinball machines were favorite games at Paragon Park's penny arcade . Vendors along
60-424: The boardwalk is the historic Paragon Park Carousel , which was moved from its original site. It now is located next to the old train station and clock tower. The rest of the site is devoted to condominium development. The Giant Coaster, built in 1917 and removed from the park in 1985, now operates as The Wild One at Six Flags America . A miniature golf course is located on one of the smaller sites that once housed
72-500: The boardwalk sold fried clams, salt water taffy made in a pulling machine visible to patrons, hot dogs and other food. There was a miniature golf course under the roller coaster. And in the mid-1960s, local radio station WBZ sometimes had live broadcasts from Paragon Park. The deejays used a trailer, called the Sundeck Studio, which was outfitted with broadcasting equipment. Today, the only surviving remnant of Paragon Park on
84-499: The coaster. On July 19, 1963, Forest Park Highlands in St. Louis suffered from a massive fire, but its roller coaster, Comet, remained standing. When Comet was torn down in 1968, Paragon Park bought its trains as opposed to buying more expensive ones from PTC. The trains continued to have the name "Comet" labeled on the front car during the remaining years of Giant Coaster's operation. The Giant Coaster closed with Paragon Park in 1984 and
96-412: The rest of the ride was fine-tuned with portions retracked. In subsequent years the ride has been retracked multiple times with much of the recent work completed by Martin & Vleminckx . American Coaster Enthusiasts awarded The Wild One the organization's Coaster Landmark award on June 18, 2018. When The Giant Coaster opened in 1917, at 98 feet (30 m) tall, it was the tallest roller coaster in
108-438: The station, trains, double helix finale and part of the lift hill. The park asked John C. Allen president of PTC to rebuild the coaster as it was, but his estimate proved too high for the traditional park. Instead he left out two bunny hops and the helix finale in order to create an angled approach into the brake run. Although nowhere near as exciting as Miller's finish, Allen gave the park an affordable alternative to tearing down
120-497: The world. Its record was not surpassed until 1925 when the 100-foot (30 m) tall Revere Beach Cyclone opened. Paragon Park Paragon Park was an amusement park located on Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts . It closed in 1984. Among the amusement rides in operation during Paragon Park's history was a traditional-style Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel (PTC #85) built in 1928 with hand-crafted horses,
132-438: Was considered to be fairly intense. The financially plagued park owners had difficulties maintaining the coaster, and it quickly developed a reputation for being rough. Several rides, including the coaster, did not open for the 1991 season. In the winter of 1991/1992 the park was sold to Tierco Group, Inc. Tierco hired John F. Pierce Associates to refurbish the coaster. The first and second drops were dramatically reprofiled, and
SECTION 10
#1732793896814144-477: Was sold to Wild World (now Six Flags America ), which acquired the ride in a last minute bid at auction. Charlie Dinn of the Dinn Corporation was contracted to relocate the ride and supervised the reconstruction. Curtis D. Summers reworked sections of the layout, and restored the helix finale that had been lost in the 1963 fire. The ride opened in 1986 as The Wild One and although popular with riders
#813186