Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread

[anonymouscactus]

Quality review, and makes sense, but something I never really thought about. I'll give it a whirl on Sunday (well, maybe not if the line is insane due to such slow operations). Also I hate the feeling of being tightly packed. Thanks for going into detail.

[Johnlloyd]

Rode Soaring Timbers Thursday and again on Friday... The sensations are cool, but I really am not a fan and think that a lot of people who will ride this season will agree...

 

A couple of things to note to back myself up here.

 

The ride was originally a touring flat, so unlike the other Mondial attractions the park has, this ride was designed specifically for the road and for European fair style operations, where no seat belts and no US/CAN standard "Restraint Checks" would be required. Due to its super compressed seating arrangement to fit on a trailer, the ride ops cannot fit into each row to do the standard check of each seat and this is really not helping with the fact that you are packaged SO TIGHTLY into each row, that you cannot physically move your arms to buckle the seat belt yourself once restraints are down. The ride-ops are then forced to try to climb over the two outer riders to reach the person in the centre to buckle them. This is causing MASSIVE load times of around 10 minutes, and a ride cycle of about a minute... This may get better with continued practice of the ride ops, and once the guest become familiar with the loading procedure, but I don't think we will see load times faster than 5 minutes even when this happens.

 

I rode twice, and I don't feel the need to ride again; considering that less than a 2 minute walk on the other side of The Fly is very similar, more comfortable and fun ride called Shockwave...

 

GP that were riding in my gondola said multiple things including "This is stupid, I can't even see anything but the seat in front of me." "Move your fucking arm so I have room" and "I WAITED THAT LONG AND THATS IT!?" and LOTS of "OMG MY SEAT BELT ISNT BUCKLED OMG IM GOING TO DIE I CANT DO IT MY ARMS ARE STUCK I WANT TO GET OFF."

 

The ride is cool looking, and its always nice to have another flat ride, especially when they can eat a nice chuck of people who would otherwise be waiting in another line... but I just wish that this had been a park model and not a previous touring ride that was designed to fit in a small space. It shows with the rider comfort level and the inability to follow what has become standard procedure for restraint checking at this park...

 

The landscaping and the ride design is breathtaking, and the park nailed it in that respect. Its just, in my opinion (and we will see over the course of this season what others have to think), that it is not to the standard of what they already have, which is a shame.

 

I was wondering if this was going to happen once Soaring Timbers was announced. Sure, the Mondial Inferno looks like a great ride, but I think a newer designed park model would have been better for Canada's Wonderland because it sure does look very tight as I and many others had noticed before it had opened on Thursday. Hopefully the operations do improve as a 10 minute loading time and a one minute ride doesn't sound great. But, I do plan on going back to the park for my third visit of the season on Monday to try it out as it was closed and still testing the last two times I was there. I don't know if this is a rule, but I heard from someone else who rode it and the ride operator informed them that they won't operate Soaring Timbers unless there are ten people in line to ride. Anyhow, it sure sounds like Soaring Timbers is an interesting ride in more ways than one.

[nicman]

I cant say im surprised either. Anyway this is sort of a test ride for future Cedar Fair parks anyway.

[Johnlloyd]

I cant say im surprised either. Anyway this is sort of a test ride for future Cedar Fair parks anyway.

 

I do not necessarily see how Soaring Timbers is a "test ride for future Cedar Fair parks" as the ride itself is over 20 years old and given a new lease of life by being completely refurbished and installed at Canada's Wonderland. Would you mind elaborating on your thoughts or statement for me to understand where you're coming from?

[thrillseeker4552]

Wait, Soaring Timbers was relocated? And it's not a park model? I haven't been following this ride much.

[Henry M]

Sort of funny about the 10 minute loading time and 1 minute ride. At fun fairs Air Wolf has a 1 minute loading time and 10 minute ride cycle! I did not ride it, as I did not see the point it it. The seats looked uncomfortably close together and the constant sideways swaying with not many forces (by the looks of it) did not appeal. I wish I had ridden so I could compare my feeling to the "park version", but I never thought this ride would make it into a park.

[TheoB]

Sort of funny about the 10 minute loading time and 1 minute ride. At fun fairs Air Wolf has a 1 minute loading time and 10 minute ride cycle! I did not ride it, as I did not see the point it it. The seats looked uncomfortably close together and the constant sideways swaying with not many forces (by the looks of it) did not appeal. I wish I had ridden so I could compare my feeling to the "park version", but I never thought this ride would make it into a park.

Having ridden airwolf it was a huge disappointment, it barely ever flipped unless you are held vertically and mainly just swung. The operations were like how you said though. Is there an actual park model, if so where is it?

[nicman]

I cant say im surprised either. Anyway this is sort of a test ride for future Cedar Fair parks anyway.

 

I do not necessarily see how Soaring Timbers is a "test ride for future Cedar Fair parks" as the ride itself is over 20 years old and given a new lease of life by being completely refurbished and installed at Canada's Wonderland. Would you mind elaborating on your thoughts or statement for me to understand where you're coming from?

 

Isn't it the first ride like this in the Cedar Fair chain?

[Prof Kaos]

Rode Soaring Timbers this morning. Fun ride, but yes it is cramped. Tbh, at 6'4",I'm accustomed to being cramped on rides, so not a huge deal. Also, they did wait for 10 people before loading.

 

That being said, it is similar to Shockwave, but not as wild. Shockwave is definitely the superior ride. That being said, it's still a good ride, and fits a different niche. I can see about of people riding this who won't touch Shockwave.

[Henry M]

Sort of funny about the 10 minute loading time and 1 minute ride. At fun fairs Air Wolf has a 1 minute loading time and 10 minute ride cycle! I did not ride it, as I did not see the point it it. The seats looked uncomfortably close together and the constant sideways swaying with not many forces (by the looks of it) did not appeal. I wish I had ridden so I could compare my feeling to the "park version", but I never thought this ride would make it into a park.

Is there an actual park model, if so where is it?

Welcome to the Canada's Wonderland thread. The park is version is located at Canada's Wonderland!!! Thanks for the review on AirWolf, glad I saved myself £8!

[Johnlloyd]

I cant say im surprised either. Anyway this is sort of a test ride for future Cedar Fair parks anyway.

 

I do not necessarily see how Soaring Timbers is a "test ride for future Cedar Fair parks" as the ride itself is over 20 years old and given a new lease of life by being completely refurbished and installed at Canada's Wonderland. Would you mind elaborating on your thoughts or statement for me to understand where you're coming from?

 

Isn't it the first ride like this in the Cedar Fair chain?

 

Yes, it is the first one of it's kind in the Cedar Fair chain and North America but, I don't see a new one being constructed. This one formerly operated as Nightfly from what I understand. It was manufactured in 1995 and was up for sale for quite a few years. Cedar Fair acquired it during their 2015 European ride search.

 

Rode Soaring Timbers this morning. Fun ride, but yes it is cramped. Tbh, at 6'4",I'm accustomed to being cramped on rides, so not a huge deal. Also, they did wait for 10 people before loading.

 

That being said, it is similar to Shockwave, but not as wild. Shockwave is definitely the superior ride. That being said, it's still a good ride, and fits a different niche. I can see about of people riding this who won't touch Shockwave.

 

I am used to being crammed on rides as well. But, I just don't really like the idea of a ride attendant reaching over me. I am glad to hear Soaring Timbers is a fun ride and I look forward to riding it on Monday. Do you happen to know why they require 10 people to load before they operate it?

[Rill'o'beily]

That being said, it is similar to Shockwave, but not as wild.

 

One of the selling points of this ride should be a bigger, more intense shockwave but I guess they've neutered it, though considering it's old and used no wonder.

[canadianparkfan]

Any more word on land clearing/activity in the back of the park near whitewater canyon/sky rider's old spot?

[Prof Kaos]

I forgot to mention, while being loaded into the ride, the attendant didn't reach over to check the belt and restraints. Instead they instructed us to do it ourselves, and watched to make sure we did it right.

[williamj2543]

I forgot to mention, while being loaded into the ride, the attendant didn't reach over to check the belt and restraints. Instead they instructed us to do it ourselves, and watched to make sure we did it right.

Same when I went today. Wow that ride has terrible restraints and terrible loading procedures. With a busy day that ride will have huge lines. The restraints are very tight, and putting on the seatbelt is actually a pretty big challenge (you have to stretch your arm to reach that low). That being said, the ride is great, its a nice twist on shockwave, but the cycle is kinda short.

[Married a Canadian]

Haven`t yet made it to the park this season due to work cycle. Weather forecast starting to look good so this week might be the week to go and take a look.

 

Soaring timbers looks interesting, but I hope the loading procedure becomes more streamlined than that described earlier, as otherwise in the summer months it will be pretty much a no go if the queue lengths get anywhere close to the norm.

I do however like that in adding these rides each year, the park is trying to keep the lines constant everywhere over the park, and when you add the waterpark upgrades, as busy as the park gets...there are lots of options spread out over a wide area to hopefully keep queues tolerable over the busy months (and if not..then just get Fastlane).

 

For the flat ride gurus out there, Wonderland definitely has a pretty decent selection.

[anonymouscactus]

Went to the park today with two of my cats:

 

 

- No lines for the big rides! Love that Sunday passholder ERT in the morning. Surprised they had the photos open for morning ERT too

- Some employees were completely clueless about the drink program. One said we had the souvenir cup on file, even though we confirmed with guest services afterwards we had the disposable cups. People were confused everywhere we went and had no clue what we were talking about.

- Canada dippin' dots... red and white. Both times at two different locations they messed it up, lol. Also learned I don't like the 'ice' dots

- Soaring Timbers was very meh. The loading procedure is not very good (granted it's the best they can really do given the ride design) but the ride itself was waaaayyy too short. I wasn't a fan.

- Didn't feel so good / was a little sick after shockwave... I had only been on it once before a long time ago. I liked it better than Timbers.

- 0 flips on Skyhawk... again

- Guardian was in terrible shape. Almost all of the projectors we're not synced properly for the 3d so it was a visual mess. No photos for the scoreboard. Etc. It just seemed neglected.

- Funpix: worked well for the most part. They cropped at the booths if you wanted, but you can't seem to do it directly at the kiosk as far as I can tell. Bohemoth's kiosk was showing Leviathan photos, lol. At the front gate for the roaming photographers you have to take the paper card to the funpix center to load it your pass but unfortunately they don't get in the system right away so we had to go back later in the day. Wish the guy taking the photo told us. The app worked better than I expected. I linked my email before getting to the park and surprisingly everything worked right and I could see in the app even though it was our first day.

- I think that's all I got for now... had a great day overall. Leviathan was running awesome and was way more fun than I remembered.

 

Edit: just got home and got to play around with the full funpix website. There are a lot of nifty borders and you can crop and do whatever you want to the photos to make it look exactly how you want, and then download them, so no need to bother with an employee trying their best to make the best photo when you can just do it yourself and make it perfect. I'm impressed!

 

Everyone in pain since it started raining... lol

 

Edited May 15, 2017 by anonymouscactus

[Prof Kaos]

So I actually rode Leviathan for the first time yesterday, it's my first giga. I really, really hate to say it, but aside from the first drop, I was a bit underwhelmed. So was my girlfriend, who was the holdout all last season (I promised to wait until she was ready to ride it, so we could together for the first time). Even she was underwhelmed. Maybe we built it up way too much in our heads.

 

Now don't get me wrong, it was alot of fun, but it didn't blow my mind the way I expected it would. The first time I rode Behemoth, I couldn't wrap my mind around all the airtime. I had no idea airtime like that even existed. I was hoping for some kind of similar new feeling with Leviathan I guess. We rode it again right after the first ride (lines were less than 10 minutes), and the second d ride was much better, but I was still left wanting more.

 

Yesterday was a day of a couple other firsts too. I had my very first front seat ride on Behemoth, and it was sooooooooooooo good. It was also the first time that my girlfriend was eager to ride it again (she's not so good with heights, and the airtime freaks her out a bit). Seriously, Behemoth is the King... queen? Whatever. Behemoth is the reigning monarch of CW, yesterday cemented that.

 

Anyways, just thought I'd see how everyone else feels. Am I crazy for thinking Behemoth is clearly the superior coaster?

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I honestly prefer Leviathan because of how awesome that first drop is, but the two rides are extremely close in my book. I agree Behemoth has the better air.

[DILinator]

I haven't been to CW since Leviathan has been there, but I've heard it's the most underwhelming of the Giga's, from those who've ridden them all. So there's that. Then, as far as Behemoth goes, I love B&M Hypers, and it's my favorite of the B&M Hypers, not too far outside of my Top 10 coasters! So, yeah, I agree that it's simply an awesome coaster, that gives a great all around ride experience!

[Gumbo_Baggins]

Hi. I have signed up after much lurking mainly to pick any willing brains. I am travelling over from the UK in July so I hope to fit in a visit to Wonderland. There will be 3 of us visiting -

Me (will ride anything)

Son (getting brave, but refuses anything like an inversion....for now)

Bag carrier (maybe a merry go round or donkey)

 

It looks like we will be there on Saturday 29th July and I know it is going to be busy, but this is my first time visiting a park out of the UK, and could be the only one for some time, so I want to squeeze every drop out of it I can.

 

My idea is to purchase one, all in ticket, (fast lane/food etc.), one with fast lane and one standard.

 

I am willing to pay for the fast lanes even though my son may chicken out on Behemoth and Leviathan, I think he will ride and I don't want the bag carrier stood on their own for hours. Will I be able to get value for money from the All in ticket though? How does the food/drink offer work? How much is parking?

 

Any clues you can give me about ride orders, general park tips all appreciated. I think we will spend a good chunk of time on the water park, so how large are the queues for rides later on?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Henry M]

^ If you want to get him to love inverting coasters, get him on Rage at Adventure Island before your visit if you have time. It is the perfect coaster to get people over their fear of inversions. It is small, has a loop and twist, and in the UK. I don't know if you live near by to the park, but it would be worth a visit if you have never been, as it is a good park, and would help your son to have a better day at CW. You may know the coaster well, but if you do not, it has a height restriction of 1.2m and it is not mega intense (but it still has a bite), here is a picture. That is about as much as I can help. Have a good time!

Rage, a small coaster, which should get him over any fears of steep drops, and inversions, meaning he will have a better time.

[Gumbo_Baggins]

^ If you want to get him to love inverting coasters, get him on Rage at Adventure Island before your visit if you have time. It is the perfect coaster to get people over their fear of inversions.

 

Hi and thanks. We live closer to Blackpool so I haven't had that pleasure yet. He just recoils from anything over 90 degrees in any direction - if he sees the U-bend on Behemoth the deal maybe off. He is getting braver and we rode the Big One a few weeks back, (preparation), and he forced himself on with the 'what is the worst that can happen' mantra, I'm not forcing anything though. I was the same at his age, absolutely no upside down. I wouldn't even ride if I couldn't see the whole track and had watched it go round to check for secret inversions. My dad finally persuaded me to ride the Corkscrew and I haven't looked back since.....

[Married a Canadian]

Gumbo

 

Fast lane is always worth it, especially at the time of year you are coming over. The park does get REALLY busy in late July, August, so it is a worthwhile purchase and will definitely make the day go smoothly.

 

What height is your son at the moment? Would he be tall enough to ride Behemoth or Leviathan? Obviously they don't have flips or inversions.....so depending on the "braveness" factor and his height.....they might be ideal....which will mean Fast lane. The only coasters you would probably want to avoid with him are "Flight Deck" and possibly "Dragon Fire" (which have loops). Everything else is do-able....especially when you mention the word "brave".

 

If the weather gets the way it can (we hit 35C plus humidity in Toronto last summer) then the water park is a great option, but the queues can get pretty long. I have found in the past that it is best to do the water park when it first opens as everything is manageable. There are now a nice selection of water slides to choose from (including a pod drop) so it is easy to spend a couple of hours there. If you come to the water park later on a hot Saturday afternoon....you will probably find it too crowded (there are no queue options available in the water park).

 

Everyone has their own preference of ride order at CW. I don't believe there is any right or wrong answer. My own personal preference is to do "Wonder Mountain's Guardian" first...as it doesn't have a Fastlane option available (ie do it at Park opening). After that, it just depends on your schedule for the day and when you decide to go to the waterpark.

IF the weather is hot...and you are a pasty BRIT like me, factor in plenty of shade breaks and drink stops. We had a heatwave last year with a high humidex factor, and it was not the type of weather to be outside on the go all day. I am from the North East of Scotland...so I normally end up half dead in the shade somewhere!!!

 

Parking is $20 CDN if you purchase in advance.

 

If you have not been to Toronto before....factor in the traffic with any travel time from where you are coming from (traffic is pretty bad here..and public transit is not very good). If you have been before..then it hasn't got any better!

 

I'll leave it at that for now....there are plenty of knowledgeable people on here to help out. Hope the travel plans go smoothly. Remember they have changed the entry requirements into Canada now for the Brits...I think you need to get some form or waiver now?

[Married a Canadian]

Gumbo

 

Having just seen that your son has ridden "The Big One"....Behemoth and Leviathan will actually be fine for him. You can sell him on the comfort level and how much smoother they are compared to it. He will feel a speed difference for sure, and the different restraints.....but I would say they are MUCH more comfortable (personal opinion).

 

Having seen that you live close to Blackpool....you probably get your shirt off in March and are down on the beach when the sun is out for 5 mins....I know they do in Aberdeen!!