Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread

[Canobie Coaster]

Usually I'm one to prioritize coasters over sightseeing. As unique and enjoyable as Dragon Mountain is, Niagara Falls is undoubtedly the thing I'd prioritize in that area.

[coasterbill]

Marineland's future is very much in doubt and Dragon Mountain is actually really, really good. I'd suggest going to the park for a few hours and then checking out the falls on the same day. You only need a few hours at Marineland even if you're like us and you like the animal exhibits. The price point is kind of high for a park that's objectively a sh*thole but I think it's worth it just because the park may not be long for this world and the coaster and drop tower are legitimately very good.

 

As for Niagara, I can't recommend the Hornblower / Maid of the Mist enough if you haven't done it.

[anonymouscactus]

Cave of the winds. USA side. You're welcome.

 

It's ranked #1 thing to do in the falls on TripAdvisor for a reason.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-d283344?m=19905

 

(While they did add an annoying "pre-show" (well it's informative but us locals know the drill ) the upside is you can now get a return time instead of waiting in line for an hour or two. You can view the falls from up top (which is a sub par view on the USA side but, eh) while you wait so make sure you get your ticket FIRST and then stroll around the park.

 

 

 

PS: the poncho does nothing. lol.

[Canobie Coaster]

Niagara Falls Fun

 

I did Journey Behind the Falls a few years ago. Walking behind the falls was completely lackluster, but it gives you access to a viewing deck at the base of Horseshoe Falls.

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

Well . . . I might have to add a new park and tourist attraction to my "Canadian Adventure Trip!"

[Invertalon]

That is probably the reason why they finished the coaster so early.

 

When will people realize that almost ALL B&M installations done with CF have been done around the same exact time? It's not early, it's on schedule as planned. Finishing in Jan/Feb is common.

 

Fury was finished Jan 30th.

 

Gatekeeper was Feb 27th.

 

Banshee was Jan 23rd.

 

Leviathan was in Feb sometime.

 

And so on...!

[WolfBobs]

That is probably the reason why they finished the coaster so early.

 

When will people realize that almost ALL B&M installations done with CF have been done around the same exact time? It's not early, it's on schedule as planned. Finishing in Jan/Feb is common.

 

Fury was finished Jan 30th.

 

Gatekeeper was Feb 27th.

 

Banshee was Jan 23rd.

 

Leviathan was in Feb sometime.

 

And so on...!

 

Please don't ruin enthusiast conspiracy theories... It's not like CF strives to actually have their rides open with the parks opening day and on rare occasions miss them. It's not like they choose to open new attractions after Memorial Day like another regional chain.

[Invertalon]

Please don't ruin enthusiast conspiracy theories... It's not like CF strives to actually have their rides open with the parks opening day and on rare occasions miss them. It's not like they choose to open new attractions after Memorial Day like another regional chain.

 

My thoughts exactly!

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

Well . . . Yukon Striker track is finally done!

[Doppel Looping]

Some friendly tips for people coming to ride Yukon Striker:

 

Wonderland is a pretty good park with an improving collection of coasters and some diverse flat rides. It's water park is not bad either. Early season weekdays before school lets out before ~late june, are the best time to go to Wonderland to avoid lines. It gets crazy busy from then on to september.

 

If you have a season pass or platinum pass, you can get ERT Sunday mornings 9:00am to 10:00am when the park opens to everybody else. I usually go for ERT and the first hour or two, and then go home as the park gets busier. I can get lots of rides in 2.5 hrs and then have the rest of the day to do other things. Each week they rotate the ERT area between Behemoth, Leviathan, and up til now Vortex area. On the website they have a calendar of what areas have ERT on a given weekend, though clearly i am not very good at reading websites. They also have Slashworks ERT where passholders get in an hour early there too (it opens later than the main gates).

 

 

Toronto has an international airport which has direct flights to lots of cities as it is one of Canada's big hub airports. Flying to US from here, you actually clear US customs on this side, so when you land in US it is treated like a domestic flight (factor in extra time to clear customs on the ride home). Lots of rental car options there. Or you can drive here, our roads connect you yours via buffalo, detroit and the thousand islands.

 

We have our own currency which you can get from bank machines, or rely on lousy exchange rates at places that take us cash.

 

You pretty much need a car to get to Wonderland. Technically there is a bus that takes you there but is a pain in the arse and takes a long time. Wonderland is north of the city, and in good traffic i can get there in 30 min from downtown, it can take much longer during rush hour depending on where you are coming from.

 

Toronto is a great city with lots to do. Public transit in the city is not bad and you can get to theatre, restaurants, bars, breweries pretty easily. I own Junction Craft Brewing which is a 20 min drive straight south of Wonderland (in good traffic). Tell them you are one of Doug's rollercoaster friends and you will be looked after. (or message me)

 

We have an island in our harbour that is a city park with a small amusement park, Centerville. They have an old log flume, some antique cars, an indoor scrambler, the Haunted barrel works and a steam train that takes you around the island. No extreme thrill rides, but a nice park. bring a picnic, it is fun, and has great views of the city. You need to take a Ferry boat over. Open weekends in may to september. http://www.centreisland.ca/

[thedlr]

^ We'll be visiting late May. Thanks for all that great info. I've added your brewery to my bookmarks!

[Sledgehammer_77]

The only thing I would change from above is that you can take the subway to the Vaughn Metropolitan City Centre subway station From the downtown core and take a 10 minute ride which will bring you directly to wonderland.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Track is complete?!?

[Sledgehammer_77]

According to Grace Peacock Orbiter has bitten the dust. No immediate plan on what the replacement is. The last of its kind in North America I believe.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Sledgehammer_77

[prozach626]

Bullshit. Yukon Striker isn't the tallest fastest anything, yet. Send a train for a lap and we'll talk...

 

[JG-77]

According to Grace Peacock Orbiter has gotten the dust. No immediate plan on what the replacement is. The last of its kind in North America I believe.

Not sure about permanent parks, but I know there's at least one (and probably more) traveling. I rode on at the MD state fair just this past summer.

[SbSteveZ]

According to Grace Peacock Orbiter has gotten the dust. No immediate plan on what the replacement is. The last of its kind in North America I believe.

Not sure about permanent parks, but I know there's at least one (and probably more) traveling. I rode on at the MD state fair just this past summer.

 

Wade Shows owns one, they do the NYS fair. Plus, I believe Strates Shows (Erie County Fair - NY) also has one, or at least they had one recently. I know Strates a couple of years ago got rid of their top spin, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another ride bit the dust from their collection.

[Johnlloyd]

According to Grace Peacock Orbiter has gotten the dust. No immediate plan on what the replacement is. The last of its kind in North America I believe.

Not sure about permanent parks, but I know there's at least one (and probably more) traveling. I rode on at the MD state fair just this past summer.

 

Wade Shows owns one, they do the NYS fair. Plus, I believe Strates Shows (Erie County Fair - NY) also has one, or at least they had one recently. I know Strates a couple of years ago got rid of their top spin, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another ride bit the dust from their collection.

 

Orbiter was one of last three known Huss Sky Lab/Giant Enterprise rides operating Worldwide. It is quite sad to see it removed without much notice. But at least it had a great 37 year run and created lots of memories for park guests. The Huss Skylab/Giant Enterprise was larger than the traditional Enterprise ride as it features 15 4-passenger gondolas for a total capacity of 60 passengers. There are indeed quite a few standard Enterprise models (both Huss and Schwarzkopf) operating at some amusement parks and travelling fairs around the World, but even they are slowly disappearing.

[Doppel Looping]

 

Sad to see the Orbiter, or the Enterprise go. It is one of my all time favourite flat rides. I thought when they painted it last year they were going to keep it a while longer, but who knows, they may have found a major problem and chose to retire it rather than spend more to repair it. I'm not sure it was new in 1981 when the park opened, so 37+ years of operation for such a machine is not too bad.

 

 

I have always been fascinated with how it works, with the centrifugal force pulling the gondolas outward while the arm lifts up until they go upside down. (some dork will tell me it's centripetal force, don't care) The Giant Enterprise is the biggest of all of the Enterprise variants, and has an extra hydraulic ram to start the lift. I build working lego amusement park rides as a hobby, and won first place at brickworld chicago in 2016. It was challenging to make in lego without having the thing fly apart. During testing, the pneumatic cylinder went too fast and it would launch the thing off the table! I built mine with 16 gondolas rather than 15 because geometry, and it was close to a meter in diameter.

 

LEGO Huss giant enterprise

 

My Dippin dots insider told me that Werner Stengel designed the first Enterprise for Schwarzkopf, and that HUSS engineers saw designs while visiting their office, and copied the idea. If you look at Schwarzkopf Enterprises, the pivot for the arm is raised up off of the platform rather than below the arm, so that when it comes back down, gravity does all the work rather than the hydraulic ram pulling you back at the top. The gondolas are also pivoted lower down so they swung out better. To get in and out, the roof and side bars would pivot upwards which prevented it from accidentally opening during operation, whereas the huss bars would pull back after unlatching. Heinz Fahtz also made a version which i have never seen.

 

 

If you were not careful when riding it, you could really get messed up. Some people are more susceptible to spinny rides, so this is not for them. If you keep your head back and look straight ahead you should be ok. It was fun to see the horizon flip upside down as you went around. Orbiter opened later at 11:00am, so i had to stay later to get one last ride before going home to avoid the crowds.

 

 

HUSS Maschinenfabrik aus Bremen

 

so long and thanks for all of the great rides!

[Married a Canadian]

Bullshit. Yukon Striker isn't the tallest fastest anything

 

Pretty sure it is the tallest and fastest coaster named "Yukon Striker". That is good enough for me, pretty sure it will be good enough for a large proportion of Wonderland visitors this year. Does it really matter otherwise?

[Honorarius]

Bullshit. Yukon Striker isn't the tallest fastest anything

 

Pretty sure it is the tallest and fastest coaster named "Yukon Striker". That is good enough for me, pretty sure it will be good enough for a large proportion of Wonderland visitors this year. Does it really matter otherwise?

 

Nope, a lot of the people coming through the gate are gonna eat it up, and isn't that the point?

[prozach626]

I was making a joke that it's not a roller coaster until they send a train... as for now, it's just a piece of metal.

 

Edit: You know what... fffk it. Next time I won't explain and I can just let the comments from the easily offended rain.

[mark549]

Standing But Not Yet Operating.

[jedimaster1227]

Canada’s Wonderland has sent us a press release announcing that the last piece of track for Yukon Striker has been installed!

 

The last piece of roller coaster track for Yukon Striker was just installed at Canada’s Wonderland, marking the completion of what will be the fastest, tallest and longest dive roller coaster in the world.

 

The construction project began in January 2018 with the excavation of Yukon Striker’s underwater tunnel and finished with the last piece of track just installed on the highly anticipated 360-degree loop. Yukon Striker will dive 90 degrees, 75 metres down, soaring past neighbouring coaster Vortex and hitting a top speed of 130 km/h through the tunnel. Yukon Striker spans just over 1,100 metres in length and consists of 107 track sections which weigh a total of 1,213 metric tonnes. It requires 42 support columns and will feature floorless trains with stadium-style seating in three rows of eight.

 

“Our talented team has worked for more than a year to bring this complex project to completion,” said Peter Switzer, Director of Construction and Maintenance at Canada’s Wonderland. “At times it’s like solving a puzzle as we integrate a massive roller coaster into the park’s landscape with our existing rides, park utilities and underground infrastructure.”

 

Next, the trains will be installed while the loading station and landscaping are completed. After that, the park will begin a thorough ride testing process, which includes running each train through hundreds of cycles around the track; the initial passengers are water dummies that simulate rider weight.

Edited February 6, 2019 by jedimaster1227

[SbSteveZ]

Bullshit. Yukon Striker isn't the tallest fastest anything

 

Pretty sure it is the tallest and fastest DIVE coaster named "Yukon Striker". That is good enough for me, pretty sure it will be good enough for a large proportion of Wonderland visitors this year. Does it really matter otherwise?

 

Fixed