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Six Flags Great Escape | The Bobcat | Gravity Group Wooden Family Coaster | 2024

As far as I can tell, this is the biggest non-hybrid wooden coaster built anywhere in the world over the past two years. Or, well, a year and a half; Leviathan at Sea World Australia opened in December of 2022. It might reign as champion for 2025 too.

Which is to say, it is the only non-hybrid wooden coaster to be built since Leviathan. There is one more planned for Happy Valley Xi'an, which appears to be stuck in a bit of a limbo (RCDB still says "opening 2023"), but the other two under construction are both confirmed to be hybrids, as is Zambezi Zinger which opened last year.

(*Sigh*), it sure has been a while since the days we primarily divided coasters into "wood" and "all others", hasn't it?
 
Was able to ride Bobcat three times today.

Great little coaster, tracks incredibly well and the layout has great rhythm between alternating airtime moments and powerful valleys/turns. The momentum and pacing is utterly ruined by the elevated double down near the end, but asides from that it’s a fine ride.
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I visited Great Escape yesterday and got to ride Bobcat. Lines were not existent and I took three laps, can't decide if the front or back were better but it's definitely a fun little ride. I would probably put it a second only behind Wooden Warrior as far as the smaller GG's go and the ares around the ride is probably one of the nicest SF has done in the last decade.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1819534064040194229
 
CoasterForce always coming through with the BEST POV's!

Also...it's amazing how such little simple things elevate a coaster so much. Like that entrance with the waterfall, the rocks, the shrubbery, no metal poles for the queue...it looks great!
 
CanobieFan said:
I visited Great Escape yesterday and got to ride Bobcat. Lines were not existent and I took three laps, can't decide if the front or back were better but it's definitely a fun little ride. I would probably put it a second only behind Wooden Warrior as far as the smaller GG's go and the ares around the ride is probably one of the nicest SF has done in the last decade.
Click to expand...
I should have posted sooner, but better late than never.
During and after filming the POVs, Scott and I took a half dozen rides throughout the day. The front-seat POV was filmed immediately after the first test runs on an empty train. We then jumped on for our on-ride and were surprised at how well it was already running after just four times around the track. Obviously, we had to get in some re-rides in the afternoon when the coaster was properly warmed up. So we wrapped up filming at the park around 4:30 pm and got in four more rides before the water park closed.
What was a very pleasant ride in the early morning had become quite an exciting ride for a family coaster. The front two cars offered actual ejector airtime, while the last two cars featured floater air instead (we didn't try the two middle cars, since the previously non-existent queue line grew to about a half-hour wait as the water park guests made their way to the coaster). The front seat ejector also adds a bit more excitement to the headchopper after the hill at the bottom of the first drop. Neither of us has ridden a coaster with such a short train where the difference in airtime could be felt so clearly from front and back cars.
I don't often disagree with CanobieFan, but I rate the coaster higher than Wooden Warrior. It's second as far as the smaller GG's go, behind Roar-O-Saurus at Story Land (which is an unbelievable airtime machine for a coaster its size). I asked Scott how he would compare the three, but unfortunately he hasn't ridden the other two. He did say it's the best new family coaster to open this year, in spite of Good Gravy having the best IP.
Here's the other two POVs we filmed:


 
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