Canada's Wonderland TR

[CdnbMatt]

Right off the bat I have to apologize for the lack of photos. I intended to have some but forgot my camera that day . If you are anything like me, I greatly prefer the TR's with photos...moving on..

 

I decided to visit Wonderland on July 2nd. the day after Canada Day. Normally I would never consider visiting this park on a long weekend as even on the quietest of days at this place you tend to feel like a sardine packed into a can filled with too many sardines. Seriously, I have never in my life visited a park with such consistently long lines. That being said, I try to plan my visits to other parks during the off seasons. On this day, I figured it was the morning after fireworks so perhaps it may not be too busy. I was pleasantly suprised. This also happens to be my first visit since it became a Cedar Fair park (I don't really count last year)

 

We drove past the "Paramount" Canada's Wonderland sign into the parking lot around 9:30am. I wanted to get there early to process my Maxx Pass. Suprisingly the lot was relatively empty. Season Pass processing took all of 3 minutes, much much better than last years 1.5 hours. One of the first changes I noticed was the photoless season passes. They still take your picture, but it doesn't show up on your card. They make you print your name on the back of the card and this is really the only way to tell one pass from another. I can foresee some problems once the penned in names rub off.

 

We were still a bit early so we had to wait to get into the Medieval Faire area. This was fine with me as we got take a moment to enjoy Wonderland's International Street.....which in my opinion is one of the nicest areas of any park anywhere. Take away the Magic Kingdom, and I really don't think there is a nicer entrance area to a park.

 

Once the rides opened we booted it over to The Bat... I know..I know it's a Boomerang, but I happen to have a soft spot for these coasters and have always liked them. It also helps to be on the first ride of the day and have a 0 minute queue.

 

After the Bat we headed over to Wild Beast......or Wilde Beaste as it was formally called and IMO a better name. I am happy to report that contrary to what I have heard, this Beaste was running far better than I can ever remember. It was smooth and comfortable. Too bad I can't say the same for Wonderland's other woodie.

 

Next up was Drop Zone, which had re-opened since the accident in Kentucky. It was typically fun like Intamin towers usually are.

 

After we headed over to the bumper cars or Kratchenwagen. Here is a tip.... if the ride operator says your kids are too small to ride....THEY ARE TOO SMALL TO RIDE.....don't argue with them.....it is for the safety of you and everyone else....don't hold up the line arguing.... these are bumper cars with a good chance of injury if you are too small and get thrown around. That is all I really have to say about that.

 

Shockwave seemed to be running a more intense program than I can recently remember. This pleased me as this has always been one of my favorite flat rides and this made it better. Sledgehammer, on the other hand, seemed to be running a tamer (is that a word) program than last year....that is one ride that has the potential to be great if they would up the intensity a few notches.

 

Next up was Vortex. For all you Arrow Suspended haters out there, I ask you to give this one a try. Personally, I never been on a better suspended coaster, and that includes Big Bad Wolf and Ninja. Truthfully, this one eats the faces off those other coasters. It's over quick, but it's fast and fun.

 

I have to say that I feel sorry for the Mighty Canadian Minebuster. I really want and try hard to love it, but it is getting harder and harder to do so. Even after what seems like yearly improvements to the track...it's still so terribly rough. This year is the absolute worst I have ever experienced....it hurt so much that I wanted to get off and that rarely if ever happens. It looks like over the winter they rebuilt the very westernly portion of the track, but that really wasn't the area that needed it. The whole section after the first drop needs to be rebuilt. I predict that within ten years, this ride will be gone OR a major overhaul.

 

We tried out the new Coasters restaurant. For those who don't know, it's a 50's diner themed burger place. While a tad pricey, the burgers were actually really good. I have always been a fan of original restaurants in parks....who wants the same old stuff you can get everywhere. The only downside was that this didn't seem like a new place on the inside. I already noticed peeling paint and dirty areas. Nothing that can't be fixed, but a little disappointing.

 

Last but not least in my long winded trip report is 2008 progress. Most of us have heard about a possible B&M Hyper or Dive Machine. While I really have no idea what they are putting in, if early construction is any indication, it's going to be BIG. If you take a look between Italian Job and Sledgehammer you can see construction already beginning with some kind of footers in place.. In my history of visiting this place, I have never seen construction for the following year begin so early. Upon closer inspection the construction area spans all the way from Kingswood Music Theatre to behind Splash Works...if you are familiar with the area you'll know that is A LOT of space....this is making me lean more towards the Hyper side of the rumors...which would be absolutely fantastic. I'll try to get some pictures taken of the area to show where I mean.

 

To conclude....we started right at 10am....did about 10 rides in the first 2 hours......2 rides in the last 2 as it started to get really really busy...so we left. I am happy to see some of the changes CF has done to the place...however the parks seems in need of some TLC. Paramount was always really good at the upkeep of the park and tended to slap a new coat of paint on most things in the off season. I'd like Cedar Fair to remember that and keep it beautiful.....It is still early in CF's reign....and I am confident that once they get their feet under them they will take good care of the park. THANKS FOR READING!

 

P.S.....I like Dragon Fire's new paint job.

[Carnage]

P.S.....I like Dragon Fire's new paint job.

 

Are you colour blind?

[CdnbMatt]

HAHA I knew I'd hear something about that. I may be the minority but something about the colour works for me. At least it matches the restraints.

[dandaman]

I have always been a fan of original restaurants in parks....who wants the same old stuff you can get everywhere.

 

...'Cept for all the other Cedar Fair parks.

 

Good TR. Seeing as how I'm in the same country (and haven't been since 1999, before I liked rides to begin with), I'd definitely want to go this summer. Maybe next summer I can get the Maxx Pass instead.

[Carnage]

I actually found Minebuster and Wild Beast to be the oposite of what you found.

 

Wild Beast this year was brutally rough. Minebuster however was as smooth as I can remember. Boring yes, but not rough.

 

Could change from day to day though I guess.

[CdnbMatt]

I have to agree with you....with Minbuster especially.. it is very day to day. Mean Streak is another example, day 1 of a two day trip was rough, day 2 was smooth.

[vistaway]

Thanks for the update regarding construction! Fingers crossed. That area is perfect for a new coaster, although somewhat hidden from view (from the park side), it would certainly be dramatic to see from the 400.

 

It would be neat for them to use Kingswood as part of a new ride (queue, themed area, etc.). It's pretty useless these days, and it's in a great location for a ride entrance.

 

I have only been once this year, and that was a quickie to get our Maxx Passes processed. Haven't found the time since then unfortunately. As you mentioned, the weekends are just too crowded. Back in the late-80s I would be there at least twice a week. These days, I would be lucky to get there twice a summer! A new (good) coaster could up those numbers, mind you.

[CdnbMatt]

I agree that is a great location. Looks like they are finally putting it to good use. A lot of people comment that there is no room at Wonderland anymore for improvements, however, if you really look at it they still have plenty of room for new attractions. There is the space we have been talking about...that empty area is about the size of a third of the developed area of the park. They could easy build a coaster or boardwalk over the lake/pond. While I wouldn't want a parking lot coaster, the section of parking lot just south of Kingswood is fairly large. There is some space still by Dragon Fire. There is also that large area of land north of Major Mackenzie that Wonderland owns....you circle it when exiting the north side of the parking lot....the problem with that though is that it is so far removed from the rest of the park that it would be a challenge to get guests to and from that area.

[307]

I noticed some construction stuff around that area awhile ago and thought it was odd, but I'm not one to speculate, especially about something crazy like a B&M hyper or dive machine. It would be really awesome, though. But uh, stop getting my hopes up, jerk!

 

Also... the first time I went on Wild Beast this year, I thought it was awful. And that Minebuster was smoothish but still boring. More recent rides on both have affirmed my feelings about Minebuster but my feelings on Wild Beast are that if you sit in the front seat of a car, you should have a reasonable ride, but sitting in the back seat of a car is going to kill you. KILL. And Minebuster, well I only sit in the front two seats of cars anyway - maybe that's why I've rarely felt the agonizing pain on it that others have?

[CdnbMatt]

You bring up a good point that I didn't think of. I sat on the front seat of Wild Beast this time which I never do, and it was smooth, on the back...bumpy.. that probably explains it right there. I am going to try Minebuster on the front next time to see if there is any difference.

[dandaman]

The front seat is the only way I can survive Mean Streak, too. (Or as my friend calls it, the "Oy, my head!" ride.)

[bulldogmom]

Great TR. I was at this park once and was really impressed- the theming, the landscaping, the rides, and the cleanliness. And the politeness of Canadians! Vortex was my favorite- by far the best Arrow suspended, in my opinion. I loved the Bat too. I also hated Minebuster- very rough.

[307]

Some more stuff:

 

you tend to feel like a sardine packed into a can filled with too many sardines.

Beautiful simile, it really made me feel like I was in that sardine can.

 

After the Bat we headed over to Wild Beast......or Wilde Beaste as it was formally called and IMO a better name.

One too many Es - Wilde Beast.

 

tamer (is that a word)

It's a word.

 

It's over quick, but it's fast and fun.

Oh, the jokes I could make.

 

And...

 

And the politeness of Canadians!

We're not all polite, a$$hole! [just kidding]

[dandaman]

We're not all polite, a$$hole!

 

Quoted for truth.

[CdnbMatt]

One too many Es - Wilde Beast.

 

 

See that's what I thought too.....BUT....if you look at Wikipedia and rcdb.com they both list it as being called Wilde Beaste. I could swear the second "e" never existed. I know they used to pronounce the e in Wilde..which sounded better....I don't know why they ever changed the name. They still have the statue of the Wildebeest in front of the ride entrance (which has a completely different third spelling). My head hurts.

[shesaidboom]

^ I have park maps from before they changed it and it's called Wilde Beast. Maybe it was called Wilde Beaste in the 80s? Confusion!