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Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread

p. 433: AlpenFury launched coaster announced for 2025!

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Are there any decent restaurants close to the park? This isn't CP or BGW, so we'll leave for dinner and come back, as per usual.

 

Oh, the park has food aside from the Tim Horton's up front? I didn't notice...

So is Tim Horton's more or less like a Starbucks? (with 'more or less' depending on your tastes) Do they offer my sissy boy coffee options like almond milk and half flavor?

 

Is there anything we have to do with our credit cards when we go to Canada? I have no idea how the US/Canada currency exchange works, so if anyone can offer any input I'd appreciate it. We're going to the Canada side of Niagra Falls for one night before Toronto. This is our first trip out of the US.

 

I also just wanted to confirm again that we have to be at the airport 3-4 hours early to get through customs. (wtf)

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Are there any decent restaurants close to the park? This isn't CP or BGW, so we'll leave for dinner and come back, as per usual.

 

Oh, the park has food aside from the Tim Horton's up front? I didn't notice...

So is Tim Horton's more or less like a Starbucks? (with 'more or less' depending on your tastes) Do they offer my sissy boy coffee options like almond milk and half flavor?

 

Is there anything we have to do with our credit cards when we go to Canada? I have no idea how the US/Canada currency exchange works, so if anyone can offer any input I'd appreciate it. We're going to the Canada side of Niagra Falls for one night before Toronto. This is our first trip out of the US.

 

I also just wanted to confirm again that we have to be at the airport 3-4 hours early to get through customs. (wtf)

 

This is all coming from memory of my first and only trip to CW in 2016 so please excuse me in any of it is inaccurate. Will be going back in August however.

 

The park's in a fairly densely populated area. From what I remember there were plenty of places to eat within walking distance of the parking lot. Just doing a quick google maps look, can confirm right across the street there are a few Tandoori restaurants, a Starbucks, a kaboob place, a place called St Louis Bar and Grill to name a few. This park is definitely not in the middle of nowhere, so finding a place to grab lunch or dinner won't be hard.

 

I would recommend at least calling your bank to find out. There may be small to significant foreign transaction fees. Also, my brothers debit card was declined and shut off for suspicious activity. At a Tim Horton's ironically. calling the bank to let them know they can usually mark the card as being out of the country or something. I typically call and say I will be traveling to X country between the dates of Y and Z and haven't had a problem. In my brother's case, he did not inform his bank.

 

There are places to exchange currency at the border crossings if you'd prefer to carry some cash.

 

Edit: I would compare Tim Horton's more to a Dunkin Donuts than a Starbucks.

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Agreed with the Tim Hortons/Dunkin Donuts comparison... The reason so many people drink a double-double (2 cream, 2 sugar) from TH is that you need all that cream and sugar to hide the horrid flavour...

 

And if you're looking to save some money, go to your bank and exchange your money before your trip... You'll get a better exchange rate than if you did it at the border, and using your cards up here can often lead to foreign transaction fees...

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Tim Horton's is more like a Dunkin Donuts than a Starbucks. It improves upon Dunkin Donut's horrific food and brings it up to the level of edible but the coffee is the real appeal. The French Vanilla Cappuccino is the reason that I love them. If you want basic bitch coffee they have you covered.

 

You don't really have to do anything with your credit cards, just check to see if the card has a foreign transaction fee (you can just Google it) and stick with cards that don't. At this point most good credit cards or annual fee cards don't have them. I'm not sure what you have but I know you're a Hyatt guy so I'll make an educated guess and mention that the Chase Hyatt card doesn't have one so just use that if you have it. The card will convert everything to USD for you.

 

Currency exchange is a pain in the ass and some of them rip you off so just use an ATM if you want cash. The bank will handle the conversion. That said, we spent all of last weekend in Canada and used credit cards for everything and we're going to Montreal this weekend and plan to do the same. I don't see the point of using cash unless you just want to because it's colorful and fun and the nickels have beavers on them (in which case I totally get it).

 

If you want to call the card issuer and tell them that you're traveling you can do that, but we never do and we never have a problem. If you do have a problem you can just call them. The only company you need to call is your cell phone provider and make sure that you have some kind of international plan on it. They're usually like 5 bucks a day but not doing it ahead of time can lead to insane roaming charges.

 

PS: There are some places right in Niagara Falls that will ask if you want to pay with US or Canadian dollars. Sometimes they give you a crappy conversion rate so just always say Canadian. When you're away from the tourist traps in places like Wonderland / Toronto they won't ask you this.

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It is best to call your CC company and/or your bank for atm/CC cards to let them know you will be out of the country. My story as to why. I was in Key West, at dinner, and my card was declined. WTF, I live in Florida! Called the bank who said it looked suspicious as I had never used it in Key West. Fine, now you know it was me, but was told , as this was late on a Friday, the card would not be re-activated until Monday morning ! I was not a happy camper to say the least. The next trip was to Puerto Rico, and while it too is in the USA, I was not taking any chances. I called first. My advice, do yourself a favor and call your bank or CC company first. It will save you a possible headache.

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I also just wanted to confirm again that we have to be at the airport 3-4 hours early to get through customs. (wtf)

 

I wouldn't go with 4......3 should be OK. It really does depend on the time of your flight. They are desperately trying to improve the US customs times at YYZ, and there is more of a lean for people getting "NEXUS". However....in doing pre border clearance in Canada..they are just moving the wait time you would spend at a US airport...to a Canadian one....so the 3-4 hours includes your check in/baggage, security and THEN US Customs. If you didn't have to do all 3..it wouldn't take quite so much time.

 

The logic is sound though as when you arrive back in the US, you land as a "domestic" flight and don't have to line up again for customs control, as you would if you had flown in internationally.

 

What time is your flight and who are you flying with? I can give you a better idea of how busy it is at the time of day you are leaving.

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Guys, I really appreciate all of the advice. I will have to get with Emily about our flight. To be honest, I'm not sure our return flight is booked, yet. We were waiting on our passports, just in case, and we just got them last week.

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Guys, I really appreciate all of the advice. I will have to get with Emily about our flight. To be honest, I'm not sure our return flight is booked, yet. We were waiting on our passports, just in case, and we just got them last week.

 

Prozach...just as an estimate, we fly down to DC for our Virginia trip tomorrow (Kings Dominion and BGW), I am just checking in with Air Canada now and their check in page is "suggesting" 3 hours in advance for an 830am flight. "Professionally" I would agree with them on that one. If you want to PM me when you get a return flight time I will have a good look a what is scheduled around the same time you leave. For example it is ALWAYS busy first thing as all the flights to the East Coast and Florida are departing. I'll check in on TPR over the next few days.

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Are there any decent restaurants close to the park? This isn't CP or BGW, so we'll leave for dinner and come back, as per usual.

 

Oh, the park has food aside from the Tim Horton's up front? I didn't notice...

So is Tim Horton's more or less like a Starbucks? (with 'more or less' depending on your tastes) Do they offer my sissy boy coffee options like almond milk and half flavor?

 

Is there anything we have to do with our credit cards when we go to Canada? I have no idea how the US/Canada currency exchange works, so if anyone can offer any input I'd appreciate it. We're going to the Canada side of Niagra Falls for one night before Toronto. This is our first trip out of the US.

 

I also just wanted to confirm again that we have to be at the airport 3-4 hours early to get through customs. (wtf)

 

There is a Tim Hortons’s and Starbucks inside Wonderland. Hortons offers more food options at an outside park location. Horton’s has Soy Milk not Almond. They have flavour shots.

 

Canada is very digital. Many people carry no cash. Your credit card will work at almost every location, even coffee shops. With exchange, you will find that a $100 CDN purchase will show up as $70 USD or less on your statement, so go CRAZY!

 

As for restaurants near the park. There’s fast food options across the street and some nice restaurants close by for taxi or Uber. They are mostly near the Vaughn Mills Mall.

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Yukon Striker is great! The loose article bins are equally great. The related beer is decent.

 

I thought the loose article bins were mesmerizing and ingenious...until someone put a full soda in it and it dumped on my girlfriend while we were parked in the station.

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^ To the park's credit they did explicitly say to empty all drinks before using it, but you know how well people listen.

 

Woah, that sounds crazy.

 

I'm really excited to get to it this July!

 

Yeah the bins themselves are an attraction in themselves. And the ride is great too.

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FINALLY got to ride Yukon Striker, and it was my first ride on a dive coaster. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I find that dangling over the edge really only contributes to the experience when in the front row.

 

It's nice to finally have smooth inversions on a coaster in the park (though I'd still love to see a B&M Invert or something replace Flight Deck and Time Warp someday). I'm surprised to say it, but the vertical loop is my favorite element on the ride. It takes the loop quickly, and in the trench right after it you can really feel the ride pushing you.

 

All in all, a great addition to the park. Leviathan is still my favorite, and I'd also put Behemoth ahead of YS, but only by a bit; I love me some inversions.

 

I don't know if this makes me the odd one out, but I still find Leviathan's drop to he significantly better overall. I suppose it's the lap bars. YS gives much more of a free falling feel, while Levi feels like it's pulling me down the drop.

 

 

Oh, the park has food aside from the Tim Horton's up front? I didn't notice...

 

Heh. My American friends all love Timmy's when they're in Canada, and haven't had enough experiences to recognize it's exceptional mediocrity. Or maybe it's the novelty? I did notice that the handful of Tim's I went to in Michigan a couple of years ago weren't quite as good though. Maybe that's the comparison?

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