coaster_dude2002

Love the report Divv. It certainly was an eventful weekend for us all. Can't wait to see the photos from Tibidabo and the super sketchy rides. My fear of Ferris wheels was not helped in any way from riding bucket on a stick!

The waiting is over, more photos from the media event! Jason and I braved the cold Canadian spring (it honestly snowed a bit this morning…) to check out the parks 16th and new for 2012 coaster at Canada's Wonderland. LEVIATHAN! The ride is a great addition to the park and really does stand out compared to Behemoth. They may look similar but Leviathan focuses on the speed and turns, and boy does it do it well. It does feel like Millennium Force but a million times better. Right from the start the speed never lets up as you move right along the front section of the park and over the main entrance. There are also a lot of airtime points ranging from floater, to even ejector air on the smaller hills! Quick rundown of some stats: Height: 306ft Length: 5,486ft Top Speed: 148km/h (92 mph) Angle of descent: 80 degrees Capacity: 1600 pph 16th coaster at Canada's Wonderland! Check out TPR's official POV Video: Now on to some photos! The awesome Leviathan ride sign! The park kept managed to keep this secret and wow did they do a great job on it. The whole entrance plaza is focused around this fountain creating a really nice atmosphere. Leviathan media kit! All checked in and ready to go. First some lunch with the media/auction winners. New view from the front entrance. With the ride running long the length of the park it add great atmosphere to the park as you enter. The first major hill is right next to the parking lot and towers over everything. Dragon Fire looks incredibly small from anywhere around Leviathan. The hammerhead turn of awesomeness. The ride really hauls through this area and that wonderful B&M roar fills the main entrance. 306ft in the air. Time to throw your hands up and start screaming! The drop in to what will soon be a tunnel. Construction on it will being on Tuesday and will be completed before opening day! It will definitely will add to the ride and make it even more amazing. From what I was told it will be a tight fit, so expect a great head chopper! The park did a great job at updating the area around Leviathan and you would even notice that this is a brand new building. The Queue wraps around behind the building in to a few more sets of switch backs before heading up the stairs. Even with a small queue it shouldn’t be an issue as the ride-ops were really pushing the trains out this afternoon. It wasn’t just media day today; it was also the first rider’s auction! 96 eager riders and their guests were ready to go. The only people to ride before today was the park manager and any testing authorities, making these 96 people truly the first riders! Over ,000 was raised for Sick Kids Hospital Foundation thanks to the 96 bidders for the first rides. One last test run before they can open it up for everyone! Here comes the first train and the car wraps were looking great. And they’re off! The first train of riders heads to the lift. Up and away! At this point there was a huge amount of screaming. That view up the hill really is intimidating. Flying through the barrel roll. 32 happy riders back in the break run. It may look long, but it really does move quickly through that upper section. Looking cold, but they are smiling, must be a good sign right? I'm really not too sure about this… Guess there no turning back now! The lift moves quickly and before you know it you have an amazing view of the park beside you and that massive drop ahead. Then you face this. Hanging over the edge of the 300 ft drop for what seems like an eternity. The track just keeps getting steeper and steeper. Certainly didn’t feel like just 80 degrees! TWISTY!! Airtime hill. I was out of my seat the whole time during this with great floater air. This little airtime hill may not look like much, but it the train is really flying through here and it does throw you up and out of your seat. The supports also make for a head-chopper in this spot. In to the hammerhead and really flying over the front gate! The next hill is full of airtime and from there the ride really doesn’t let up until the break run. With it being so cold this morning I can only imaging what it will be like this summer. The train should be much faster through here making it even better. Another view of the barrel roll from the parking lot. Another train full of anxious riders about to plunge 300ft. The lift looks even more terrifying thanks to the lack of supports at the top. The small speed hill is only visible from outside the park, making for a nice surprise for unsuspecting riders. View from the station. All three trains were on the track and cycling well today. Canada’s tallest, fastest, and steepest coaster! It’s a great addition to Canada’s Wonderland and everyone needs to check it out. Sadly Snoopy was too scared to ride today; maybe by Leviathan bash he’ll change his mind. Snoopy may not ride, but that wont stop us. Some of the new Leviathan merchandise available in the gift shops. Leviathan’s construction also brought a facelift to the arcade. It now fits in with the medieval area a lot better. No more futuristic theme in a medieval area! Leviathan vs. Behemoth! Who do you think would win? ater in the evening the ride sign came to life even more. In addition to the mist and smoke the eyes now glow! Really creates a menacing atmosphere. The back of the sign also has a bit of themeing to it! One last shot of Leviathan as we say good-bye to Wonderland. Definitely have to get back there soon to ride with the new tunnel and hopefully warmer weather! The ride is fantastic and everyone needs to go and check it out. It's a great addition and B&M can pull off amazing things when they push their limits on things! Be on the lookout in the next few days for even more video of Leviathan!

This just keeps looking better and better! Can't wait to check it out on the Europe trip.

I signed up to do the "Men's Health Survival of the Fittest" this October in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its a 10km run with obstacles every km, and they can anything from monkey bars to cargo nets, or even the 8ft wall to climb at the end. Started running for the first time 3 weeks ago with a run walk plan and I managed just over 5.5km last night in 45 min. Glad I started the training now, by time the race rolls around that 10km should be easy I hope.

Wow I never though McDonald's would start this! Would be interesting to see what it looks like in the store when the McWedding is set up.

Really looking forward to checking this out next year! It just keeps on looking better and better.

Looks great! Can't wait to see more.

The flat ride collection certainly is growing, although the enterprise was down on our past two visits. I'm pretty sure the new swinging ship is from Loudon Castle as well (probably some sort of package deal) and it was probably easier to place it in the new area than move the other one. As for the queue on The ultimate being ridiculously long. The were using both trains all day which kept the line moving. We didn't feel like waiting that long to get bashed around for a second time though. ^ I wouldn't say throughput was terrible on Raptor Attack. Sure it was longer than normal, but it opened early in the day and allowed for most people to ride. The same cant be said for Dracula's Labyrinth, when we saw them cut the line off there were at least 50+ people who had to leave. It should have remained open longer or at least opened a bit earlier.

^ that was a great segment from the show. I went last Tuesday as part of a birthday present from my parents. It was incredible to be up on the outside of the tower leaning out 1,168 feet above the city. The group spent a good 30 minutes outside walking around, doing a bunch of leans over the edge (forwards and backwards), and the guide pointed out a lot of stuff around the city. It was one of the most terrifying things I've ever done. For those thinking the $175 price tag is a bit high I can say it was worth every penny. The whole package includes the total tower experience ($35), 30 minute edge walk, a 10-15 minute DVD of the walk, and two photos. Plus the groups are limited to a max 6 people so you really get personal experience at edge walk.

One week away from completing my Bachelor of Environmental Science in Geography. Did a bit of resource management and geology over the 5 years as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if they put that on to mislead people. They certainly are making a lot of progress on this since I was there a few weeks back.

Looks amazing! I was wondering what all the spikes were being installed for over the past few weeks. Can't wait to give it a go.

I like the new site. It was a nice surprise to see footage of Tornado at Bakken from the Scandi trip as well!

Big Mike, I would like to enter the contest because my favorite part of The Big Mike Road Show is the awesome trip reports and being able to go back through them to enjoy the memories from the Scandi trip.

Failed with the skateboard. But it was good fun.