Marineland Discussion Thread

[joelwee]

^ So would the horses and donkeys at Knott's.

[grsupercity]

my bad. I forgot how similar a petting zoo with rented seasonal animals and a marine park are. Basically the same thing. When I walk through the frontier trail I feel like I am walking through Sea World Orlando. Cedar Fair loves animals so much it was the very first thing they got rid of when they purchased Six Flags World Of Adventures. SMH 

[Garet]

To be fair, how many times have people assumed Marineland will be closing down in the near future? Eventually somebody will post it at the right time for it to randomly end up being true.

[JT325]

On 10/6/2021 at 2:56 PM, grsupercity said:

Cedar Fair does not do animal parks. Plus Cedar Fair totally forgets about half the parks it currently owns and should not take on anymore parks or debt 

I do believe Cedar Fair tried to buy Marineland a few years ago.  I'm not sure what you mean by CF forgets about their parks... every single CF park runs circles around SF in terms of operations, guest satisfaction; they have a much higher standards.  If you are referring to CF not getting new coasters at some parks, there are things more important.  Like good operations   People who go to Michigan's Adventure will continue going even if there is never a new coaster. 

 

[JT325]

I'll add Marineland is just waiting to be flipped.  It needs it, and it's a great location and opportunity.  Otherwise CF wouldn't have tried to buy it.

Just my 2 cents

[coasterbill]

The fun thing about Marineland is that I wouldn’t be shocked if they closed forever tomorrow and I also wouldn’t be shocked if they announced a hyper GTX tomorrow because it’s a park run by insane people.

[805Andrew]

I did a Cedar Point to Canada road trip in 2018 and I went right by three parks which I skipped with this being one of them (the other two being Darien Lake and Fantasy Island). I spent two night in Niagara Falls (the Canadian side) and had 1 ⅔  days there for sightseeing. I was kind of intrigued about Dragon Mountain but nothing else interested me at the park at all and the both the price point and the welfare of the animals prevented me from going there (but mainly the latter). I love good aquariums and marine life parks but I didn't want to visit a depressing one for one unique credit especially after hearing how they treat their animals. I chose to spend more time seeing the falls instead and saw them from different vantage points both on the US and Canadian sides. I have no regrets in my decision. 

[coasterbill]

Honestly, if you only had a half-day you probably didn't have time to ride Dragon Mountain anyway. It's in the back of the park.

[bert425]

^ it only took us 35 minutes to walk to it from the front gates when we went on our trip in 2017!

but I must admit, it was well worth it (and with so many coupons avail, it was, I think, only ~$17 to get in for the day, so we certainly got our $$ worth.  and the animals seemed really well cared for and the environments well maintained)

[SoCalJasonland]

It looks like they just ended their season with 6 of their rides not operating, including their bigger coaster.  Not very good maintenance stats or signs of financial health.

 

RIDES

Ocean Odyssey

Family thrill ride. (42″ unless with adult. Minimum height requirement is 36″).

 

Bumble Bee

Both parents and kids will enjoy this delightful family ride. (42″ unless with adult. Minimum height requirement is 36″).

 

Orca Screamer – Closed until further notice

A kid-size version of our world’s highest triple tower ride and just as much fun. (42″ unless with adult. Minimum height requirement is 36″. Max. height 74″).

The Orca Screamer is closed until further notice. Check back for updates.

 

Viking Adventure – Closed until further notice

A ride that will thrill and surprise. (42″ unless with adult. Minimum height requirement is 36″).

The Viking Adventure is closed until further notice. Check back for updates.

 

Tivoli Wheel

All ages will enjoy this unusual ferris wheel (no height requirement).

 

Lady Bug Coaster

A roller coaster designed for the younger set (40″ unless accompanied by an adult).

 

Boat Carousel

A ride that the whole family can enjoy together (no height requirement).

 

Sky Screamer®

The world’s highest triple tower ride, will take you over 137.2 metres (450 ft.) skyward giving you a thrilling ride not to mention a spectacular view of the Falls and surrounding Niagara landscape. You will also be launched up and down at speeds of up to 96 km/h (60 mph). (48″ height requirement).

 

Dragon Mountain® roller coaster – Closed until further notice

Ride the world’s largest steel roller coaster, Dragon Mountain® found only at Marineland®. Spread over 30 acres of land, it is the world’s largest non-stop roller coaster. Dragon Mountain also features more tunnels – 1,163 feet – than any other coaster in the world (48″ height requirement).

The Dragon Mountain® roller coaster is closed until further notice. Check back for updates.

 

Kandu’s Twister

An all-time favourite with theme park visitors, each gondola on this teacup-style ride features an image of a killer whale (47″ unless with an adult. Minimum height requirement is 40″).

 

Magic Experience – Closed until further notice

Themed to honour our black bears this ride allows you to experience several different types of motion simultaneously. (54″ unless with an adult. Minimum height requirement is 46″).

The Magic Experience is closed until further notice. Check back for updates.

 

Sky Hawk – Closed until further notice

Lifts you high above the Marineland funscape for an awesome view and floating experience. (54″ unless with an adult. Minimum height requirement is 32″).

The Sky Hawk is closed until further notice. Check back for updates.

 

Wave Swinger

A beautifully designed and popular ride with our guests (42″ height requirement).

 

Flying Dragon – Closed until further notice

A guaranteed white-knuckled experience is what you’ll get on this ride (52″ height requirement).

The Flying Dragon is closed until further notice. Check back for updates.

 

Hurricane Cove

A ride that will spin you in to peals of laughter (42″ height requirement).

[Honorarius]

On 10/11/2021 at 11:18 AM, bert425 said:

with so many coupons avail, it was, I think, only ~$17 to get in for the day

Where'd you get said coupons? Might give the place a try next time I'm down that way.

[bert425]

12 minutes ago, Honorarius said:

Where'd you get said coupons? Might give the place a try next time I'm down that way.

handed out all over and in booklets avail in the Tourist-Trap area of Niagara Falls (Canadian Side).
Over where the Wax Museum, Go-Karts, Arcades are:

 

and so you can see how close it is to the falls - not even 5 minutes:

 

 

[ricklap77]

Last time I visited the park was June 2018 and my 2 sons and I had a great time there!  Yes the park is huge and has plenty of room for many more rides and attractions! Everything was open and well taken care of.  The park was clean.  I don't think the park will close.  Covid restrictions were harsh for the park but I think more rides and possibly a major roller coaster will be added in the future.

[coasterbill]

1 hour ago, ricklap77 said:

Covid restrictions were harsh for the park

... that's just hilarious to me. They should have just re-named the park "Social Distancing Land", changed nothing, implemented no additional protocols and they would have been fine. Maybe they could have played a recording that said "Remember to social distance 1/4 mile between parties" and then everyone could laugh and say "Yeah... we were already doing that but thanks".

[ricklap77]

Canada's Wonderland and Marineland did not open one day in 2020!  They were not allowed.  That is what was harsh for them, especially Marineland.  They still had all the bills related to the animals and minimal staffing that year.

[ricklap77]

From a reliable source Marineland has been sold and will open for 2022.  Dragon Mountain will open as parts for it have been ordered.  The sale will be announced later this year and the park's future is bright with a lot of investment over the next few years.  Name change will also be coming in the near future.

[ricklap77]

Well reportedly the owner of the pMarineland Marie Holer has announced that the park is up for sale now.  They are looking for a buyer to grow the park in the future.  They are opening this May as usual.

[ricklap77]

New owner should be announced soon.  It seems it will be either 100 Kellogg lane, Hard Rock, or Hershey!

[ricklap77]

Kiska their killer whale passed away last Thursday and they sent their walrus and her calf to Seaworld Abu Dhabi.  It sounds like the end of the marine theme and the sale of the park.

[abovethesink]

We took our first trip to Marineland on 7/1. Combined with Niagara Amusement Park, it was the first day of our trip that was to take us next to Darien Lake, then to Kennywood, and finally to Cedar Point. Darien Lake day ended up being one never ending thunderstorm so we skipped that, but the other four parks went off without a hitch. MarineLand was up first.

I had wondered how crossing the border at Niagara Falls on July 4th weekend would be. Unsurprisingly, it turned out that extremely busy was the answer. Oh well. We had plenty of time to spare only really planning credit whoring two small, close in proximity parks with one running coaster each.

Marineland was what I had read it would be. It was huge and every single thing in it was isolated in a way that you can only really experience there. Even every mild flat ride is almost its on area in the park. What I didn't expect was to find that pretty charming. It makes everything you come across feel like an event in itself. All we did was check out the animals we came across on our way back to Dragon Mountain and ride that old weirdo twice, but I will say it was a pretty pleasant walk. The park seems to teeter on the edge of being unkempt. For example, there are grass and weeds growing up in the tiled walkway basically everywhere. It doesn't fall over the other side though. All the little areas have at least some theming and everything was clean and very green. This is probably the most green park you could go to as it is basically part traditional picnic-lunch-city-park just as much as it is part zoo and amusement park.

I had done absolutely no research on animals, so the Belugas were a very nice surprise early on. The group they have were also by far the most interested and interactive sea creatures I have come across too. They constantly chattered above the water and swam up to people both above and in the underwater viewing area. I really loved being around them, though of course there are the moral concerns with keeping such animals in captivity so it is a conflicting feeling to say the least. Next we found the black bears. I am not sure if you can buy food to feed them or someone was being bad, but there was a bear up against the wall that you look down from catching food that a mother and child were throwing over the edge to it. Again, not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it was fun to watch. I see wild black bears where I live several times a year, but it is definitely different seeing one up close and not fleeing for an extended period of time.

Finally after walking around the globe twice, we found Dragon Mountain and hopped on for two rides. Yup! Dragon Mountain is as befittingly weird as a weird ass park like Marineland deserves. It is a long, old Arrow looper just as concerned with wandering around themed hillsides and flying through tunnels as it is with the traditional Arrow inversions. I enjoyed it for what it was. The theming was fun and there wasn't any headbanging. It is such a long ride too. It shouldn't draw anyone there who isn't a massive coaster nerd, but come on now. We are all here on this forum, aren't we? Go ride if before this park randomly closes down one day. It is one of a kind at the very least.

With that, we headed back to the exit. An aquarium sign briefly distracted us near the gate and in there we found some penguins in a pretty sad looking little arena. I mean they had water, land, and the right air temperature, but we were at SeaWorld a couple months prior so yeah. And if the penguin exhibit was a little lackluster, let me tell you about the aquarium. Koi. There I told you about the aquarium. Don't bother. After the akoiarium (see what I did there?) we were crossing back into the states to check out Niagara Amusement Park so off we went.

I liked Marineland. We have twin one year olds and I could see us taking them there in a few years if it is still around. Four to six year olds would love the flats and animals. Until then though, unless something drastic changes, there just really isn't a reason to return. Usually I wouldn't say this about an independent park, but I would like to see a major chain gobble this thing up and try to drive up attendance. It is in a truly great location and has near infinite land to work with. It is hard to imagine that someone really investing capital couldn't see a return in that area. 

[bert425]

^ rumors of it closing have been around for years and it hangs in there.

too bad you didn't make the massive (but worth it) trek to the top of the hill for the drop tower. . it really does provide incredible views of the falls.

as to the bears?  yup, you can buy the food to feed them.

[ricklap77]

The park is apparently for sale and according to the mayor of Niagara Falls it should eventually become  a park like Canada's Wonderland filled with rides!

[ricklap77]

 

[bert425]

I'll believe it when I see it.

the main source for this has been saying they're shutting down every year for a while now, and he's always been wrong.

[ricklap77]

https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news/niagara-region/marineland-denies-claims-of-layoffs-closure/article_1bed6fca-13c6-5203-b8b1-8ff9bb32dbd2.html