Wilde Maus
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
I'm sure I'm gonna' feel realy stupid after you point it out. The only thing I can guess is BGW calling it Wilde Maus over here but Wild Maus over there. Make up your mind, maybe? I also have problems remembering it running past, oh, 2000? Was it SBNO for anytime? None of that rates "big" tho'. Interested to hear this one.
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You are thinking about it in a business direction. That isn't what was meant (@Zachary correct me in I'm wrong). I believe he was pointing out that the park has always strived for quality and theme over budget and money. It had only been recently with the park being sold off in 2009 that the park had started cutting corners and trying to be cheap but still decent.
I disagree that Wild Maus, Wlide Maus, Wild Izzy, or whatever you prefer, should not have been installed solely based on the fact it was a clone box coaster with not real theming. When the park originally opened and through its years, there were plenty of poorly themed clone coasters if I'm not mistaken?
That said, I agree with the sentiment that the park should strive for quality and theming over budgetary concerns.
@BGW Family, @GrandpaD: Yep, definitely meant the name. So many of the paper products published by the park mistakenly claimed the ride’s name as Wild Maus, but both the park’s website at the time and the official ride sign agree that it’s actually Wilde Maus. Over the years I assume we came to accept Wild Maus as canon since contemporaneous brochures and the like were much easier to find than the actual ride sign. Sources like RCDB, BGWFans, and many others, in turn, unknowingly perpetuated that false information solidifying it online as “fact.”
Anyway, thread renamed. Look for more Wilde Maus documentation soon!
Anyway, thread renamed. Look for more Wilde Maus documentation soon!
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Nope. The bread and butter of my Wilde Maus article will be a collection of detailed, never-before-shared Wild Izzy site and track plans.
PS: If anyone has any contemporaneous material to share that includes Wilde Maus, I’m interested.
So if I'm not mistaken, doesn't the real Oktoberfest usually have traveling coasters to some extent?
If that's the case, even if they're not mice, then this ride still thematically fit since it was a more permanent installation of a carnival type ride similar to the swings, Katapult (before being relocated again), bumper cars, etc.
Multiple:
https://www.oktoberfest.de/en/attractions/rides
A few iterations of a wild mouse and best, a classic Schwartzkopf/Stengel coaster.
Not that it helps the story any, but in my files I have:
The fun parts for me are the location (and name) in their own media release for 1998. Plus, the 2001-2003 park maps have no indication of this ride. I only did 2003 since the other years are the same. I cannot locate my 1998-2000 maps the see what those had.
The fun parts for me are the location (and name) in their own media release for 1998. Plus, the 2001-2003 park maps have no indication of this ride. I only did 2003 since the other years are the same. I cannot locate my 1998-2000 maps the see what those had.
If I remember right Izzy was a modified version of the traditional Mack Mouse with tamer drops (and the final dip being basically cut entirely).
Those early 2000's maps were so squeezed and tight they probably didn't have room to put it on the map haha
I am certain that it was called the Wild Izzy in 1996 (because of the Olympics mascot) and then re-named Wild Maus in 1997. In fact, it may be the only Busch Gardens ride ever to be renamed. I think I remember the "Wilde" spelling, but I don't recall if that was in both versions of the name or not.
"Wilde Maus" after one year of operation.
Catapult/Katapult would like a word with you....?
That is my recollection. The Izzy name went away as soon as that '96 season came to a close.
I always assumed it was a licensing thing. But few people remember Olympic mascots anyway, so the name had no recognition value or interesting tie-in by 1997. Good move to change it.
Fun fact: a close family member of mine hated big roller coasters, but felt Wilde Maus would be easy enough to try out. Somehow they smashed their lower leg on the T-bar restraint during the ride, and sported a baseball-sized bruise for a week. I never could figure out how they managed that. This was the second-worst roller coaster ride they ever experienced.
Interestingly enough though it's likely few remember Olympic mascots, quite a few people continued to refer to it as Izzy, even today when it moved out almost 2 decades ago.
So while it may have not been the best look for not thinking about long-term naming with rights/licensure being an issue, it may give a glimpse into their thought process at the time - could this ride have originally been more temporary than it ended up being?
So while it may have not been the best look for not thinking about long-term naming with rights/licensure being an issue, it may give a glimpse into their thought process at the time - could this ride have originally been more temporary than it ended up being?