Canada's Wonderland - Question for those who have been.

Hi, im from canada and the only park close to me is paramount canadas wonderland. I am getting a seasons pass and i am just wondering. for people who have been there how good do you think it is?

From what I've seen, it looks like the place is full of torture devices.

There's a togo stand up, a Vekoma boomerang, a Vekoma SLC and a Vekoma kiddie inverter, one of those weird Zamperla flyers, an Arrow corkscrewer...

Ouches all around.

They are however getting the Italian Job Stunt Track coaster, which should prove interesting at the very least.

Here's my take on Canada's Wonderland....

- It's a nice looking park

- They have a lot of coasters.

- They have a lot of flat rides.

- They don't have very many "good" coasters or flat rides.

- The water park is cool!

For the "General Public" this is probably a GREAT park. They've got a ton of coasters for all ages and the flat ride collection doesn't look like your typical carnival fare. So that's good.

But from an "Enthusaists" point of view, I believe ALL of the coasters are some sort of clone:

- The Bat: Typical Vekoma Boomerang

- Dragon Fire: Mirror Image of The Demons

- The Fly: Standard large size Mack Wild Mouse

- Minebuster: While technically original, it's a LOT like one side of the Paramount Racers.

- Scooby Doo: Just like all the other ones

- Silver Streak: Vekoma SLC in training

- Top Gun: Vekoma SLC

- Skyrider: Togo Standup similar to PKI and PKD.

- Taxi Jam: Just like all the others

- Vortex: Just like Top Gun at PKI

- Tomb Raider: Standard Zamperla Volare

- Wilde Beast: Same as Grizzly at PKD, but rougher

- Italian Job: Same as PKI's

So there you have it. Not a bad collection of coasters to the GP, just nothing that original or ground breaking. As for the flat rides, they had some really, REALLY cool looking stuff! But found that the Top Scan, the Jump II, and their Giant Frisbee ran kind of weak programs. The Top Spin kicked ASS though! IMO, it was the best ride in the park!

Check out this link for video of one of thier flat rides:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/videos/video.htm#sledge

--Robb

The park is pretty much as average as they come.

It's a good park, but not a great park.

They have quantity, but not quality. I have a season pass this year, which is the first time in years. Though the only reason is because I will be visiting PKI and PKD later this year, so it's cheaper to get one.

There's nothing really at wonderland that thrills me. Actually the only ride that does that is the skycoaster(those always freak me out).

Don't expect too much from the park and you'll still have a great time.

Oh, and they lose points with me with teh way they have butchered Minebuster. They've actually removed/reprofiled entire hills to fit in water slides. So the ride has been completely castrated of what it used to be.

well, i agree about the coasters, but wonderland dos have 2 of the best flat rides ive ever been on: cliffhanger and sledgehammer. yuo will find another version of cliffhanger at another park and it will have a tomb raider theme, but as far as sledgehammer gos, its ours. and you forgot about thunder run in your coaster list. where else can you find that?

Personally I found sledgehammer to be pretty boring. It was way overhyped.

It was slow, didn't really have any kick to the jumps,and ran a predictable program.

^ That was my thought exactly. I remember walking up to Sledgehammer going "OMG, that thing looks BAD ASS!!!!!" then riding it and thinking it was pretty tame. Just look at the video and you can hear us in line thinking it looks amazing!

It was a fun ride, but nothing that made me want to rush around to get back in line.

--Robb

The one thing that would make it a much better ride would be a random program.

The problem I found was that after watching it cycle 3 times I had memorized the program. So while riding it I wasn't caught off guard at all. I knew exactly what was coming.

I had been warned that Sledgehammer's bark was bigger than its bite, so I wasn't underwhelmed. I thought it was a very fun and relaxing ride. I rode it a bunch.

Cliffhanger was nuts. It gave an insane cycle, it got you wet, and the whole thing shook like it was going to collapse. Awesome!

-kip-

If you are into flats, you will probably enjoy Canada's Wonderland. As far as coasters go ... it is pretty bad when the "Mouse" is my favorite.

Oh its not that bad, I get a pass every year, sure there rides are a little tame, but they are alot of fun. The coasters might be a little rough (wooden ones esp.). But they wont hurt you. Their fast and fun, lots of air time.

Put it this way, I've been to better parks and alot worse parks. I've been on more thrilling coasters and really bad coasters. Canadas Wonderland is right in the middle. Its fun, Its close, and you can spend a day there, esp if you hit the water park.

Alot of people will slam this park but honestly, The park is pretty good. Just remeber most people here travel alot to hit the most intense and thrilling new coasters and flat rides. To some PCW is tame and old, but it is still a blast!

Have a great season.

SPIKE- front seat on Wild Beast is best

^ I didn't really want to my synopsis to come off as much of a slam. I actually enjoy PCW quite a bit, but it isn't because they have top-notch coasters. Minebuster and Wilde Beast both suffer from the same problems that most "Summers/Dinn" rides face.

My PCW ratings:

Dragon Fire - An earlier Arrow looper. Pretty smooth in comparison to some of the others. The corkscrews are taken at a pretty good speed that is comparable to the Carolina Cyclone. The flat stretch after the first drop cracks me up every time.

Mighty Canadian Minebuster - Before it was modified to accomodate the waterpark, this ride was top-notch. It still has some air, but nowhere near as much as it did pre-mod. Still decent, but the final helix is now taken at a slower speed. I got a decent ride a couple of years ago in the rain, but that's about it.

Scooby's Gasping Ghoster Coaster - One of the better Beastie/Ghoster/Fairly-Odd clones. Received a lot of new wood a couple years ago.

Silver Streak - Runaway Reptar Clone. Junior Vekoma invert. Not much more than a credit. It just isn't that enjoyable.

Skyrider - Togo standup. I actually enjoy these a little bit and this is the best one left in North America since the King Cobra was dismantled. Much better than Shockwave at PKD.

The Fly - One of my favorite "mouse" coasters. Very similar (if not identical) to the layout of the Ricochet coasters at Carowinds and PKD.

Thunder Run - A powered Mack coaster. A double helix figure 8 inside the mountain. It goes through the course twice and is actually a pretty fun ride.

Tomb Raider: The Ride - Pre evil. Bad restraints and some of the worst transitions I have encountered on a coaster. The only plus is that it runs very effeciently.

Top Gun - Probably the roughest SLC I have been on. There isn't too many good things I can say about this one. If you want the credit, it is best to hit it early or late. It can get some pretty good lines in the middle of the day.

Vortex - PKI Top Gun clone. I like this one a little better than Top Gun because of it's location. The drop off the "mountain" is very cool.

Wild Beast - Wooden twister modeled after the defunct Wildcat at Coney Island in Cincinnati. Fun but it shuffles just enough to take a noticable about of speed away.

Overall, PCW is a day-long park that while enjoyable is not full of "killer" ride experiences.

The reason I liked sledgehammer so much was because when i went with my friends there was no line cuz the park had just opened and we were the first ones to it.

The reason I liked sledgehammer so much was because when i went with my friends there was no line cuz the park had just opened and we were the first ones to it.

and coaster fanatic, i understand what you say about the coasters, bu8t what about all our flat rides? (P.S. you forgot the bat and I agree, tomb raider is the worst ride in the entire park)

^ It's not hard to forget

Actually, i have been there 3 times and still haven't rode it. I can't believe how long people will wait for that thing.

As for flat rildes

Sledgehammer - jump2 - over hyped, not too exciting

Psyclone - monidal giant frisbee - This one is supposed to be one of the better rides at PCW, but I haven't ridden it yet.

Cliffhanger - Mondial splash over(basically a double top spin). Awesome ride, really gets you drenched in the summer. The entire car gets thrown right through a giant water curtain.

Shockwave - mondial topscan - Pretty fun ride, though I have only ridden it a couple times a few years ago.

Jet Scream - inverting space ship - Fun ride, but you need to make sure to hold the restraints back. What I do is place my hands between my cheast and the shoulder harness. If you don't do this the sholder harness will tighten as you ride, and by the end you'll barely be able to breath.

Drop Zone - intamin drop tower - Nothing too special. I really don't get my stomach taken out on this ride, even though it is over 200 feet tall. Just seems to start breaking half way down. Not nearly as good as the newer intamin and S&S towers.

I agree with most of that. but psyclone is pretty good. its the same as delerium but not as cool-looking. dont all boomerangs take just as long to load as the bat?

^ It's not really the length of loading, but the amount of people in line.

During the summer the bat will typically have a full queue all day long.

I've never seen that many people in line for a boomerang anywhere else. Same thing for all the other SLC's I've ridden. Top Gun always has a long line.