Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Floater on most hillssmooth again after the retrack Lap bar and seat belt

Lake Compounce, Bristol, Connecticut

Wildcat

Live waitPowered by Queue-Times.com

1900192519501975200020251927older than 436 of theother 445 coasters we cover
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
a classic figure-8 layout
What riders love
  • A great intro roller coaster, well executed figure 8. It's amazing I can say all this about a coaster this old!
  • It definitely feels ancient after riding it, but it’s classic fun.
  • This ride is not really intense though, but as my first actual coaster ever, it is still a fun coaster
  • Solid airtime too; it doesn't reach a very fast speed, but enough momentum to hit the airtime hills for some nice forces.
  • The retracted airtime hills provide some decent floater.
  • Good pops of airtime.
  • I did not ride it before the full retrack work, but this is currently a fantastic, smooth coaster from start to finish with a lot of character.
  • Its smooth all the way through since they fixed the finale last year and even added an extra airtime hill.
  • I was hesitant going in given this coaster's reputation, but there's no doubt the retracking work was a success.
Wildcat Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Wildcat POV (2024 Front Row, 4K), Gravity Group Precut Track Added to Classic Lake Compounce Coaster

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Wildcat Back Row 4K POV Lake Compounce April 2024

youtube.com › Cheddar Point

Wildcat in-between the tracks on-ride 1080p POV @60fps - Lake Compounce, Bristol CT

youtube.com › Accelerated Creative

Wildcat Off-Ride @ Lake Compounce

youtube.com › David Hahner

Is Wildcat at Lake Compounce The Roughest Coaster in the USA? Full POV w/ Real Time Reaction

youtube.com › FullTimeCoasterTour

Wildcat Review (Original), Lake Compounce Classic Wood Coaster | Worst Roller Coaster in New England

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Wildcat Testing- Lake Compounce

youtube.com › Coastin' with Dan

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Lake Compounce

Its smooth all the way through since they fixed the finale last year and even added an extra airtime hill.

David Brochure

I thought this could be a little better but still had 4 solid ejector moments combined with a few other decent airtime/lateral moments. GCI needs to bring back higher verify’s though.

Carter Eckhart

Great pacing outside of the two turn arounds, fun floater on most hills and incredibly smooth compared to what it used to be. Unfortunately, the shared seatbelt is too short for larger adults and...

Cam Mooers

Wildcat used to be, by all accounts, a painfully rough ride, but now it is smooth and has real airtime and is a wonderful starter coaster for someone trying out big rides for the first time. (It...

Matt McIrvin

Slight pops of air, but the end of the ride is just terrible. At least it’s no longer the worst wooden coaster I’ve done, nor the worst operating coaster I’ve done.

Coaster Great

Wildcat is nothing special - a by-the-books figure-8 classic woodie, but it’s now smooth and fun. It could be a little faster in the turnarounds.

David

Wildcat is a very fun ride, and it really has gotten better since 2024, as it is much smoother, and unlike Boulder Dash, it runs on a consistent 2-train setup, which makes wait times short. This ride...

Enzo Andres

I knew it would be rough going in but it was kind of fun because it’s honestly comically rough. Like you are jackhammering up and down so high it’s funny.

Chris Jones

First drop is rough but tolerable. First turnaround isn’t noteworthy, and neither are the following turnarounds.

Bubble Gaming

Don’t let its image fool you, this ride is very intense from start to finish with crazy rattling despite the park re-tracking some of the bad sections. The ops aren’t great on this ride and the line...

Clayton Latone

This ride is not really intense though, but as my first actual coaster ever, it is still a fun coaster

Enzo Andres

Don’t go in expecting high thrills. Very enjoyable.

David

Wildcat is now running faster and better than ever.

Canobie Coaster

Approaching the brakes, all speed was lost and we barely made it up the final hill into the brake run.

Blathers

It was running two trains, so the queue was moving well. Good pops of airtime.

Scott Conro

The ops aren’t great on this ride and the line moves quite slow even with 2 trains. It definitely feels ancient after riding it, but it’s classic fun.

Clayton Latone

I know that they have only been using one train lately so be prepared to wait because lines could get long. I do think they have the capability to run 2 but they choose not two.

Isaiah White

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

85 ftHeight
150 PhobiaPhearCoaster 116 Zoomerang 110 BoulderDash 85 Wildcat
78 ftFirst drop
135 PhobiaPhearCoaster 115 BoulderDash 78 Wildcat
48 mphTop speed
Phobia PhearCoaster62 Boulder Dash60 Wildcat48 Zoomerang47 062 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Criticised for

Rough or rattlyPainful or bruisingOverrated

Don’t let its image fool you, this ride is very intense from start to finish with crazy rattling despite the park re-tracking some of the bad sections. The ops aren’t great on this ride and the line moves quite slow even with 2 trains.

Clayton Latone, Captain Coaster review

I knew it would be rough going in but it was kind of fun because it’s honestly comically rough. Like you are jackhammering up and down so high it’s funny.

Chris Jones, Captain Coaster review

Wildcat is nothing special - a by-the-books figure-8 classic woodie, but it’s now smooth and fun. It could be a little faster in the turnarounds.

David, Captain Coaster review

Since the retrack its almost a new credit, has truly become a good ride with plenty of airtime and is very smooth, only complaint is add the second train it can be easily a 90 minute wait for this ride.

Kyle White, Captain Coaster review

Yeah, unironically one of the worst coasters I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

Zachary, review

They fixed most of it, but it’s just not that good. Slight pops of air, but the end of the ride is just terrible.

Coaster Great, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Wildcat roller coaster at Lake Compounce amusement park, Bristol, CT, USA
Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Wildcat at Lake Compounce
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

1927Opened

Built by Philadelphia Toboggan, designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck.

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Roller Coaster Philosophy (CC BY 2.0), Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia (Public domain). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Matt McIrvin, rider review on Captain Coaster: “(It convinced my daughter that she could love a…”; Tess Jones, rider review on Captain Coaster: “A great intro roller coaster, well executed figure 8.…”; Clayton Latone, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It definitely feels ancient after riding it, but it’s…”; Enzo Andres, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride is not really intense though, but as…”; Cam Mooers, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Great pacing outside of the two turn arounds, fun…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Solid airtime too; it doesn't reach a very fast…”; Bubble Gaming, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The retracted airtime hills provide some decent floater.”; Scott Conro, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Good pops of airtime.”; Tess Jones, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I could see how this was unbearably rough before,…”; Scott Conro, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I did not ride it before the full retrack…”; David Brochure, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Its smooth all the way through since they fixed…”; David, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I was hesitant going in given this coaster's reputation,…”; Matt McIrvin, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This has a classic figure-8 layout with many bunny…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: Cheddar Point's back row POV, Wildcat Back Row 4K POV Lake Compounce April 2024 (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.