Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread

[kunpc1]

Opening day for Wonder Mountain's Guardian!

Triotech staff are getting the first rides before the park opens.

[A.J.]

Just noticed the restraints have shin guards. Wonder why so many née coasters are getting them lately ? Could it mean that this ride might be a little more intense than we first thought?

Based off the photo, it looks like the cables for the lasers are running through the guard so that's probably why.

That, and the trains don't have fronts. Without the shin guards riders would be able to extend their legs and hit stuff.

[kunpc1]

It's a great ride! Perfect for families. It's a bit short. The ride never stops moving. It's basically a continuous set of screens throughout the entire ride. The finale is "bigger" than I was expecting.

 

The trains track a bit rough on the outdoor coaster section (shake back and forth quite a bit) but are perfectly fine inside the mountain. The guns seem very accurate. Each gun gets it's own "colour" on the screen when shooting.

Pano shot of the queue area inside he mountain

Edited May 24, 2014 by kunpc1

[cfc]

It's good to see a Cedar Fair park trying something new. I'm looking forward to riding this myself, someday.

[kunpc1]

To expand: The trains shuffle side-to-side quite a bit but it won't hurt you. It's just a big awkward/uncomfortable but it only lasts a few seconds. Once you're in the mountain it's perfectly fine along the course. The cars rotate 90 degress once you enter and remain that way for the duration of the ride until you return to the station.

 

And don't avoid the ride if there's a bit of a line out of the mountain. There isn't much queue space inside (only 2 switchbacks) so I would expect a full queue to be around 30 minutes max when the ride is cycling properly.

 

And for those interested, you can check out the finale spoiler here so I don't ruin it for those that want to be surprised (I don't seem to be able to add a "spoiler" here):

http://www.cwmania.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=59769#p59769

[KBrylczyk]

Oh crap, didn't even know this was supposed to open by now, haha! Glad to hear it's a fun ride. Shooters have never really been a favorite of mine but they serve their purpose and are definitely fun enough for a ride or two.

[leviathandude306]

Any1 got pics/vids of the ride yet ?

[linearinduction]

Interesting about the trains not tracking very well when BomBora's Trains track very well. It also appears as though the tires are made of a harder material which could also contribute to the tracking.

[PCW_Nut]

Any1 got pics/vids of the ride yet ?

 

Here are aome photos for you.

[Woodie Warrior]

The station looks nice.

[robbalvey]

Wow, I really hope the rest of the ride looks better than the station. Seeing this image, for example:

Doesn't look like there is much theming involved. I hope it's more elaborate in other places...

[CPSFMMCW]

***SPOILER ALERT***

 

So, question about the drop at the end. In the review someone mentioned the drop at the end to escape the dragons lair, is that a normal drop or the Verbolten style track free fall section that we expected?

[denning]

***SPOILER ALERT***

 

So, question about the drop at the end. In the review someone mentioned the drop at the end to escape the dragons lair, is that a normal drop or the Verbolten style track free fall section that we expected?

 

Verbolten style and twice the height actually. It is very well done.

 

 

Got one ride Very impressed that this ride is in a regional seasonal themepark. Thoughts on the ride

 

Trains are comfy and the guns are surprisingly responsive. I would not say I am a marksman by any means but was able to get a pretty high score - 7900. Around closing 9600 was the tops.

 

The first section though very short is a true coaster. I road backwards - not rough like from the earlier reviews. It's really just one drop and curve but it works well as a nice intro to set you up for the dark ride portion

 

Dark ride portion - good length - liked the use of coaster track which made for a very smooth movement through the ride with the use of the wind you felt you were motoring through. The world's "largest" screen looked to be only for guests riding forwards. The backwards side uses multiple smaller screens.

 

On the negative side - dark ride section is just a videogame. No physical props. No interaction with the enviroment other than the screen. No drops betweens scenes. You shoot at bad guys. It moves quick. Rinse and repeat. You don't really notice the story. But's fun and will have high repeat value. I can't wait to ride it again and look forward to future changes and seasonal themes. There were random coins throughout that must be "the quest for gold" subtheme.

 

The finale drop is well done. If you are on this site there will be no surprise to spoil. You figure it out right away. You can clearly see how the track and room is designed. Still they use smoke and wind and it works well. My reaction was "darn wonderland actually pulled this off" knowing that the budget was relatively small and that they didn't use a single well known supplier like vekoma or intamin.

 

From a story point of view I was sad about the finale as I was hoping since it was announced that Herman the Dragon (from 1985's Thunder Run coaster also in the mountain) would be Wonder Mountain's "Guardian" who would swoop in and save you. He wasn't. The red dragon, who no matter what marketing calls him, looks like Herman is the big bad that you are battling at the end. Hoping that they can retcon Herman as a lovable villian like Darth Vader that you root for and want to buy toys.

 

For those who are saying it can't match to Disney/Universal it depends on what you are comparing it to. A true E ticket like Spider-Man or Harry Potter or Seven Drawfs Mine Ride with elaborate animatronics it is not. But in my books it is actually superior to its closest competitor - Toy Story Mania which to me is just a lazy wii game. This is at least tries to combine multiple genres and succeeds. A truly solid addition to the park which to me is much of an improvement as adding a B&M. Happy that Cedar Fair is investing in us like this. not a cookie counter clone by any stretch of the imagination.

 

To summarize a really great family ride. Proud to have in my home park the first ride that combines a coaster, really good 4D shooting technology, and the finale technology all into a family experience that is well themed and fits in perfectly with the parks centrepiece. Now if only other people disagree so the lines can shorten up.

 

Oh and Robb the station looks much better in person that photo isn't a good representation. It's decently themed not disney caliber but a serious step above the usual Cedar Fair quality. Fits in nicely with the mountain theme.

[PCW_Nut]

^Which way were you facing going up the hill? As mentioned earlier, it is a very different ride depending on which way you are facing.

 

If you want more story you want to be facing forwards going up the lift. If you want to get a higher score you'd wanna be going backwards.

 

I love the fact of the little secrets during the ride, for example in the final scene you want to explode all the crates at the bottom to find the crown. Once you find it, simply shoot it. I believe that's what helped get me into 2nd overall for the day on the high score list. There are lots of hidden targets like that throughout the ride.

[rollin_n_coastin]

Glad opening went really well! Looks like a fantastic ride for everyone in the family. Wish I was in town to try it out this weekend.

 

I think from the sounds of it I may be a "forward facing" kind of rider for this

[Dom497]

^Which way were you facing going up the hill? As mentioned earlier, it is a very different ride depending on which way you are facing.

 

If you want more story you want to be facing forwards going up the lift. If you want to get a higher score you'd wanna be going backwards.

 

I love the fact of the little secrets during the ride, for example in the final scene you want to explode all the crates at the bottom to find the crown. Once you find it, simply shoot it. I believe that's what helped get me into 2nd overall for the day on the high score list. There are lots of hidden targets like that throughout the ride.

 

Wait, are you saying that the the 2 sides are different from one another in terms of what is projected on the screens?

 

And Robb, I agree with you about the station. I was thinking about the station last night and I couldn't help but wonder how ironic it is that exactly half of the station is themed. It makes me wonder if they had plans to theme the other half but they just wanted to get the ride opened. Also, inside the mountain is apparently ALL screens and nothing else so there's no physical themeing in the ride anyway.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Dom497

[leviathandude306]

^Ya, aside from the lack of theming in the station, this ride looks great. It may not be exactly universal/Disney quallity, but for a regional park chain known for record breaking coasters, this ride looks awesome . So glad to have this at my home park . & who knows, maybe in the off season they'll "finish" the station.

 

As a side note, love how this combines my two favourite hobbies, coasters and gaming. Can't wait to try this!

[gerstlaueringvar]

Looks very nice for a Cedar Fair park. How much is the capacity of this ride?

[kunpc1]

Projected capacity once the ride is running smoothly is aroun 560 pph. It was just confirmed that Guardian will have a zombie theme for Halloween Haunt!

[Koasterking48]

I understand the complaints about the lack of physical theming, but you've also got to realize that they can change the scenes of the ride potentially every year, plus the above mentioned Halloween Haunt theme. I see it as an innovative way for the park to keep the ride fresh every year!

[Dom497]

I understand the complaints about the lack of physical theming, but you've also got to realize that they can change the scenes of the ride potentially every year, plus the above mentioned Halloween Haunt theme. I see it as an innovative way for the park to keep the ride fresh every year!

 

They are (or at least that's the plan).

 

Projected capacity once the ride is running smoothly is aroun 560 pph.

 

How do we go from 640, to 700, to 560pph?????

[coasterfreak101]

It's interesting that they rotate the cars when you enter the mountain but don't keep rotating them to provide an equal experience to both sides...

[Dom497]

^A user on CW Mania made an animation based on the photos the park released of the trains a while ago. The cars can only rotate 90-degrees in one direction.

[coasterfreak101]

^My confusion still stands, though now I just can't understand why the engineering group behind this ride wouldn't have designed (or why Wonderland wouldn't have wanted) a more dynamic system that would improve the rider experience for very little additional work or money.

[denning]

It's interesting that they rotate the cars when you enter the mountain but don't keep rotating them to provide an equal experience to both sides...

 

The ride system works really well. You basically have two modes - coaster mode where you face front/back or shooter mode where the car tuns so you can be side to side. There really would be no benefit to rotating more times unless you were hoping for a spinning mouse style ride experience. There are already enough different ride elements that spinning really isn't needed.

 

The difference between facing forward or rear is how the screens are laid out. On the rear/left side it is just like toy story mania you start shooting against a straight wall facing north then the track turns 90 degrees to a different screen facing west and then at the end that row you turn again. There are slight gaps when you move between screens giving you a breather to set up. It works just fine. Basically it feels like each screen is a different scene

 

On the front/right side the screen you start facing curves around and continues as you travel down the circuit. This is the "world's largest videoscreen" so it is a continuous screen. As in a few places there aren't the gap resets you get a couple of extra seconds of continuos video but we are talking seconds here. To the average guest they would never know.

 

My comments were more nerding out on theme park review about the layout and how the two experiences are slightly different. It really is a simple elegant approach.