Wild Maus was a compact wild mouse coaster that ran in the Oktoberfest section of Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia. It first opened on April 12, 1996 as Wild Izzy, named for Izzy, the mascot of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, which Busch Gardens sponsored that year. After its debut season, the park gave the ride a European makeover and renamed it Wild Maus, a nod to the classic German wild mouse coaster style built by manufacturer Mack Rides.
Designed by noted coaster engineer Werner Stengel, Wild Maus delivered the sharp, jerky turns and sudden drops that define the wild mouse genre, packed into a compact footprint of just over 1,200 feet of track. The ride operated at Busch Gardens Williamsburg through the 2003 season before the park decided to part ways with it, setting the stage for the coaster’s next chapter far from Virginia.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Busch Gardens Williamsburg (Williamsburg, Virginia)
- Manufacturer: Mack Rides
- Model: Wild Maus (Compact Mobile)
- Opened: April 12, 1996 (as Wild Izzy; renamed Wild Maus in 1997)
- Closed: 2003
- Height: About 46 feet
- Top speed: 28 mph
- Length: About 1,214 feet
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
True to its wild mouse design, Wild Maus sent single cars, each holding four riders in two rows, careening through a tight tangle of sharp hairpin turns and unbanked switchbacks. The compact, transportable Mack layout meant the whole ride fit into a small footprint, but the tight turns and abrupt drops made the roughly two-minute journey feel far more intense than its modest 46-foot height and 28 mph top speed suggested.
The coaster sat within the park’s Oktoberfest area, fitting the German theming Busch Gardens Williamsburg was known for, and its name change from the Olympics-themed Wild Izzy to the more European Wild Maus reflected that shift in branding after its first season.
From Wild Izzy to a New Life in Tampa
After the 2003 season, Busch Gardens Williamsburg removed the coaster, and the St. Petersburg Times reported it would be shipped to sister park Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for reassembly. The ride reopened in Florida on February 28, 2004 as Cheetah Chase in the Timbuktu section, replacing a flat ride called Crazy Camel.
The Florida version ran as Cheetah Chase until 2011, when it was rethemed and renamed Sand Serpent to avoid confusion with the newly opened Cheetah Hunt coaster. Sand Serpent continued operating at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay until it closed permanently on July 9, 2023, to make way for the Phoenix Rising attraction, finally ending the ride’s 27-year run across two parks.
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Wilde Maus Photo Archive: July 2001
These are original ThrillZing photos of Wilde Maus taken at Busch Gardens Williamsburg on July 12, 2001, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the Mack wild mouse coaster in its Oktoberfest-village years: the entrance sign, cars on the upper switchbacks, the lift hill from below, and the green track winding through the yellow structure above the rooftops. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Wild Maus FAQs
Why was it called Wild Maus at Busch Gardens Williamsburg?
The ride opened in 1996 as Wild Izzy, named for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics mascot. In 1997, the park rebranded it with European theming to match its Oktoberfest surroundings, renaming it Wild Maus after the classic German wild mouse coaster style.
Who manufactured Wild Maus?
Wild Maus was built by Mack Rides, a German manufacturer, using its compact, transportable Wild Maus model, and was engineered by Werner Stengel.
What happened to the Wild Maus coaster after it left Williamsburg?
After closing at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in 2003, the coaster was relocated to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and reopened in 2004 as Cheetah Chase, later renamed Sand Serpent in 2011. It operated in Florida until closing permanently on July 9, 2023.
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Photo: Adog / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.