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Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread


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Makes me wonder if this was a park decision or a CF decision. If it was indeed CF, then it makes me wonder how much longer Shockwave has to live. Of course, its very possible that they only removed it for the land that its on, and since Shockwave is on a thin sliver of land, Shockwave might not be doomed at all.

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Im still disappointed that CW is only getting a used waterslide and a another kids play structure, Splash works never received an expansion in like forever, i was hoping for a slide complex like snake pit at Dorney

 

I wonder if Canada's wonderland is getting Darien Lake's 'Cuda Falls slides?

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Im still disappointed that CW is only getting a used waterslide and a another kids play structure, Splash works never received an expansion in like forever, i was hoping for a slide complex like snake pit at Dorney

 

I wonder if Canada's wonderland is getting Darien Lake's 'Cuda Falls slides?

 

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Im still disappointed that CW is only getting a used waterslide and a another kids play structure, Splash works never received an expansion in like forever, i was hoping for a slide complex like snake pit at Dorney

 

I wonder if Canada's wonderland is getting Darien Lake's 'Cuda Falls slides?

I'm starting to think that you purposely make stupid posts in threads just so that you can bring Darien Lake into every conversation on this forum.

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Im still disappointed that CW is only getting a used waterslide and a another kids play structure, Splash works never received an expansion in like forever, i was hoping for a slide complex like snake pit at Dorney

 

I wonder if Canada's wonderland is getting Darien Lake's 'Cuda Falls slides?

I'm starting to think that you purposely make stupid posts in threads just so that you can bring Darien Lake into every conversation on this forum.

 

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Canada's Wonderland Trip Report August 24th and 25th:

 

I recently went to Canada's Wonderland for the first time on August 24th and 25th with my dad. My biggest priorities were Leviathan, Behemoth, Skyrider, and WMG. We were originally going to make use of the free FLP Platinum Pass renewal but it turns out it is only valid if you got your Platinum Pass from CW. We still forked out the $75 each anyway but it was worth it.

 

We drove in through Sarnia at the Michigan/Canada border on the 24th. This was also my first time in Canada. We finally got to Toronto and Google Maps told us to go on this road called 407 ETR. It’s an all electronic toll road that apparently you’re only supposed to be using if you’re previously signed up. It didn’t even cross my mind until I saw the sign that said “Non-Ontario residents will be billed”. Then I thought back to reading something on this forum about it and it doesn’t sound good. We still have yet to get a bill for it but if you go on the site and calculate it, it came out be about $12 which isn’t THAT bad, but there’s also a $50 plate fee I’m not quite sure about so I’ll have to see what all comes of this.

 

Finally, we got to the park and even trying to get into the parking lot it was packed and was about 1:00 pm. We knew we would need FLP so we purchased it as soon as we got into the park. Right away we headed to Leviathan. We got right into the station almost immediately and sat in the back row. The lift hill seems to go on forever which I love since it builds the anticipation. Finally, the drop comes and it was solid floater air the whole way down. I’ve never felt a drop that felt so long. By the time you feel like the drop should pull out, it doesn’t. It just keeps on dropping. It’s probably my favorite drop in terms of duration. The entire ride isn’t very forceful, but has a great feeling of speed. On Millennium, the bottom of the first drop and overbank is one of the most forceful coaster moments that I’ve experienced and I grey out almost every time. On Leviathan, I didn’t grey out at all. The speed hill that follows the first big turn is probably my favorite part besides the drop. It’s probably the strongest airtime on the whole ride and I love the immediate turn it does. The trims are noticeable and we’re used on both hills every ride. The biggest airtime hill is fun since you get such a long duration of airtime. Although not very strong, it seems like it’s never going to end. The main turnaround is quite banked and it felt like an inversion in my eyes. I thought ride was a little short but I don’t think it should have been any longer. The whole ride focuses on speed and by the last turn you can feel it’s definitely slowing down.

 

We rode Leviathan again in the front and then we did Drop Tower. Drop Tower really disappointed me. I didn’t feel any of the freefall feeling that you usually get on drop towers. We went to Vortex next and rode in the front. It was obviously just like Bat at Kings Island except different location. I think I like Bat more though.

 

After Vortex we went over to ride Behemoth. This was probably the longest wait of the day since the FL line was so long and they only let a few in at a time. It ended up being 10 minutes on FL which is still way better than the normal line, but still not a walk on like all the others had been. Behemoth was underwhelming. It just crawled over the airtime hills and felt slow, especially towards the end. Fun ride, but I like Leviathan more. It’s funny to hear my dad’s reactions to the rides since he’s not a coaster enthusiast and it gives a good perspective of how good the actual ride is like despite manufacturer, age, or ride type like us coaster enthusiasts judge coasters on. His reaction to Behemoth was “That’s a really tall family ride”. See, even the GP notices that B&Ms are forceless! He did love Leviathan, though.

 

We took a ride on BLSC after that and it was fun. No effects at all; it didn’t even pause at the effect section like the one at KI does. I think this is one of the best family rides by far. After that we did Skyrider and I was impressed. I was expecting it to be a headbanger and to kill my legs like Mantis does, but it did neither. It was awesome having airtime on a stand up and it was just a giggly ride. Everyone was laughing coming into the brake run.

 

Since Mighty Canadian Mine Buster was right across the midway we took a ride on that. It wasn’t rough but it wasn’t that thrilling and the airtime was lacking. I wanted to go on every coaster there so we headed over to Flight Deck and endured the pain. It was a lot worse than Thunderhawk and the restraints smelled so bad. This is definitely the worst coaster at CW.

After experiencing the worst coaster, we decided to go on the best coaster again. We got another lap on Leviathan and then I rode Wild Beast. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. The bottom of the first drop was jarring but the rest of it was just a lame woodie, not that particularly rough.

 

We did another 2 laps on Leviathan and then headed over to Behemoth for another ride on that. We also rode BLSC again. I wanted to ride Windseeker since I love Windseekers so we rode that. It doesn’t play the dramatic movie soundtracks like the one at CP and KI. I wanted to take another ride on Skyrider so I did that and said goodbye to it. We took another ride on MCMB after that.

 

We had a late lunch and sat on the huge lawn area that they have. It’s really nice. I wish more parks had that. After we ate we went back over to Vortex and rode that again, except in the back. I got 2 more rides on Leviathan before heading over to Behemoth for some sunset rides. The sunset was absolutely beautiful and it was awesome seeing it from 200ft. I rode Behemoth 4 times while the sun set and then went over to Leviathan for night rides. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea since the FLP line at Leviathan was a good 10 minutes each time. We ended up getting 6 night rides on Leviathan, finishing with the last one in the front row.

 

We stayed at a hotel called Aloft and it was very nice and quite cheap compared to rooms you could find in the US for the same price. They ran out of the rooms with the 2 queen beds so they gave us 2 connected king beds instead for the same price. I would highly recommend staying there, although breakfast wasn’t included.

 

We weren’t going to get FL on this day since we wouldn’t be there the whole day. We got to the park around 10:30 since traffic took so long coming in and our plan was to go straight to Wonder Mountain’s Guardian but we were too late. The line was already massive. Instead, we went to the Fly. It was about a 10 min wait. It was a fun wild mouse. After this we went over to Planet Snoopy. We rode Ghoster Coaster with another 10 minute wait, and after we got off the line had really built up. After this we rode Silver Streak and it was 10 minutes as well. The same thing happened with the line, it was huge after we were done. I was starving now and there was a Subway in that area so we ate there. It tasted a little different than the U.S. Subway. Not much different, but still not the same.

 

Before I leave my review of Wonder Mountains Guardian, I’m going to quickly give my thoughts on what dark rides should be. I think the 1st element of a perfect dark ride is immersion. The ride should make you forget you’re at an amusement park and really have you involved in the storyline. That’s 2: a storyline. Dark rides should tell a story. It gives a purpose and gets everyone interested. The 3rd is detail. Detail is such a huge part of what a dark ride needs for it to be immersive. Finally 4th is no shooting. This is, in my opinion, the quickest way to ruin a dark ride. Everyone immediately ignores any potential story, detail, or theme so they can try and hit the targets. It individualizes the experience as everyone is so focused on where they’re shooting.

 

After eating, we still had Wonder Mountains Guardian to ride and that was actually a little bit of a shorter line that in the morning. The line was still pouring out of the midway down the midway, and I was worried it would take a very, very long time. It only ended up being an hour and once you’re inside the mountain, there really isn’t much line at all. Immediately walking into the station/queue area inside, I noticed how unfinished it looks. Half of it has the rock and the dramatic lighting, the other half is literally a black warehouse. You can see the ending from there and the screens that show your score is right open to the queue and station. We were handed a pair of the 3d glasses and boarded in the very back, facing backwards at first. Going outside first immediately ruins the feeling of immersion as well. We go up the lift hill and do the little coaster park which was actually kind of rough which I found really weird. Now we enter the mountain and I see the piece of black plastic close ahead of us. We rotate and start heading through the series of screens which I immediately notice is extremely dim. There are speakers that play a really loud sound effect every time you shoot at something. I couldn’t tell where I was shooting anyway so I just stopped. There’s a few dead spots which I wasn’t expecting either. Before you know it, you stop and the dragon does its thing and then the track drops and actually that part was fun. I was disappointed in this ride, and it didn’t even fit into one of my “dark ride musts”.

 

There were still 4 more credits to get and I was determined. We went over to Time Warp and got in line. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about this and I was actually quite scared it would be extremely painful. The line was only 15 minutes and the loading process is brilliant. Nothing makes the GP move faster than a moving car that looks like it’ll leave without them. I got strapped into the carnival style car and we started off up the spiral lift hill. I find it a bit strange that it doesn’t have anti rollbacks. Granted, it’s not a chain, but the rotator, wheel, or arm on the car still has the potential to fail. The ride was a lot better than expected and was actually kind of fun! The inversions were slow and you had some cool flying hang time. The turns were a little tight and transitions weren’t the best but those were the only things I found bad about it. I would actually ride it again. We didn’t though, as we now had 3 remaining coasters.

Up next was Dragon Fire. There was a sign that said 60 minute wait from here which made no sense because it was literally on the ramp to the station. It was 15 min wait. This ride was nothing special, just an Arrow looper that hurt my neck. It’s probably one of my least favorites actually, if not my least favorite. I’ll have to ride Corkscrew at CP again to make up my mind.

 

Now, for the one I was dreading that I still had to ride, the Bat. It had a huge line but then I saw the single rider line and got excited. My dad was sitting this one out anyway so it was perfect. Until I got into the line. Everyone in line was in a group thinking that this was their own personal Fastlane or something, totally abusing the purpose of the line for people that actually are single riders. They were complaining when they only let about 3 in each cycle, and there were at least 50 people in line. The wait was about 45 min in the single rider line and it was the most painful, slow moving, annoying line I have ever waited in. (I stand corrected, the winner of that award actually goes to Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Great America with 6 min dispatches and 2 ½ hours in line.) But this ride was not worth the wait one bit. I wouldn’t even ride again if it was a walk on. This was my first true sit down Vekoma boomerang, although I have ridden Invertigo at KI. It was rough, disorienting, and I felt nauseous the rest of the day. I don’t know if I hated this or Flight Deck more.

At this time, we had one last remaining credit to get: Thunder Run. I thought this was a powered baby coaster that went partly inside the mountain. I was partially right. It’s not a baby coaster though. This thing actually was fast! 40mph according to RCDB. I thought it was better than WMG actually.

 

It was about 4:30 at this time and we weren’t staying another night so we had to leave. We weren’t going to go on the 407 again. We got onto the main, and free, expressway, 401 at 5:00 on a Monday. I don’t know what the bigger mistake was: going on 407 or 401. We got onto 401 and it was completely packed. It ended up taking us an hour to drive the same distance we did in less than 15 min on the 407.

 

Overall it was a good park. I’m glad I finally got to go but I don’t know if I would have a huge desire to go back unless they built something new. It’s hard to get to and the only coasters I’d want to go back for are Behemoth and Leviathan.

 

levi.thumb.jpeg.21269a76f7a640759033fd621ad5d605.jpeg

What I've been waiting for!

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Behemoth's Fastlane line was even long

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Behemoth is a pretty coaster.

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That transition....

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How does this count as an inversion.....

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...when this doesn't. What does it take to technically count?

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^^Totally agree with you on Leviathan. Personally find leviathan a lot better in the front... Far better airtime IMO. Pretty surprised to hear what you thought of Behemoth and drop tower. I personally find Behemoth to have much better airtime, and sitting in the back, the turnaround, while not all too forceful, feels really cool. As for drop tower, I'd actually rank it near the top of all the towers I've done, and find I got more air than on the ARM/Larson Towers.

 

That's just my two cents though, and overall, great TR!... Hope you return in 2016 for whatever we get!

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Great review. I haven't been on Guardian yet (going at the end of September just for one visit this year...didn't get a pass) but you have to keep in mind that the ride is unfinished. The project was delayed because of the horrible winter we had and I'm hoping Wonderland will finish the themeing and any other left out aspects this off season.

 

I am going to Canada's Wonderland on Sunday the 7th does anyone know what the lines are like in September? I know school is back in session. Thanks for the help.

 

It shouldn't be bad. Probably a max of 30 min waits....but Sunday's are always unpredictable. There was one Sunday in the middle of the summer where it was a ghost town and the next week it was jammed packed (based off what I saw in the parking lot)

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Great review. I haven't been on Guardian yet (going at the end of September just for one visit this year...didn't get a pass) but you have to keep in mind that the ride is unfinished. The project was delayed because of the horrible winter we had and I'm hoping Wonderland will finish the themeing and any other left out aspects this off season.

There is no reason why it shouldn't be finished right now. It was this year's new ride, not next year's. Also, the majority of the ride is INDOORS where weather has zero effect.

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^ The weather did effect it. The workers had to build a dark ride in a freezer, since the mountain obviously isn't heated, and last winter was one of the coldest in a long time. Plus with all those massive holes in the mountain during construction I'm sure snow would have been blowing around in there. Being a prototype isn't always a good thing. I'll be surprised if any more work goes into themeing, just look at Leviathans self-eating mailbox, which was supposed to be its lair.

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Your review sounds like you had a lot of bias going in, expecting the park to be bad or something. I don't think WMG's station is spectacular, but I wouldn't consider it unfinished.

 

Just had to point out though, you don't need to sign-up to use the 407 toll highway like you said, it's the same as pretty much every toll highway, cameras capture your licence plate when you enter and exit and you're billed directly vs having to stop and give an attendant change like old school. The sign about Non-Ontario plates will be billed, is to remind drivers that aren't from Ontario that the highway isn't free for them and that they will also be billed. You have the option to sign up and buy a transponder which goes in your window, which avoids the video toll charge each time you go on it so saves money for people that use it often. Just checked the 407 site for you, looks like your plate is dirty or covered:

 

IMPORTANT: A $50.00 Unrecognizable Plate Charge plus tolls per trip are billed to light vehicles without a valid transponder whose rear licence plate’s identifying features are altered, not visible to or recognizable by the toll system.

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I still think that the naming that goes along with the Olympic venues will continue.

 

Behemoth - Beijing - 2008

 

Leviathan - London - 2012

 

Rougarou (name trademarked by CF) - Rio -2016

 

Seriously, you actually believe this?

Not really lol... **HOWEVER** i have even less faith that the name will be "Ziz"... Such a godamn awful name for a coaster

 

Do we really have that much angst towards "Ziz" that we think "Rougarou" is a better name? I'm not partial to Ziz, but Rougarou sounds like a kid's TV show character or something. Like, "hey kids - meet Rougarou, Zaboomafoo's brother!" ... I mean, I live near a French Canadian area and I'm familiar with the basic origins of the name and that totally fits the "mythical creatures" theme they've got going (just without the religious undertones), so I guess it makes sense. I just don't think it sounds any cooler than "Ziz"

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Your review sounds like you had a lot of bias going in, expecting the park to be bad or something. I don't think WMG's station is spectacular, but I wouldn't consider it unfinished.

 

I wasn't expecting the park to be bad at all, actually I expected it to be really great. And overall the park wasn't bad I just thought WMG was really disappointing. I had a lot higher expectations for it.

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Yeah I did as well, I thought WMG was disappointing. I described it to my friend basically like if we had never heard of Wonderland and went for the first time, I'd PROBABLY think that WMG was a ride from the 90s and really old. It's not so much that it's "bad" it's just not mind blowing. The quality of the displays is terrible but still a fun ride for something different.

 

I think Ziz is a terrible name, sounds kind of dirty.

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Yeah I did as well, I thought WMG was disappointing. I described it to my friend basically like if we had never heard of Wonderland and went for the first time, I'd PROBABLY think that WMG was a ride from the 90s and really old. It's not so much that it's "bad" it's just not mind blowing. The quality of the displays is terrible but still a fun ride for something different.

 

 

They need to tweak that system.

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...I'd PROBABLY think that WMG was a ride from the 90s and really old.

 

Well, vertical drop tracks were first used in 2010 so......

Tower of Terror opened in 1994 and essentially uses a system not too far off from the drop track that WMG uses.

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