Vaughan, Ontario – Saturday, September 15th & Sunday, September 16th, 2012
The back half of the park approaching the kids area feels a bit underdevloped compared to the front half, not sure if there's zoning or noise considerations back here that have prevented any tall structures. That would be fine, if this area didn't also feel so blandly utilitarian. (By the way, that's my friend Chris in the white shirt just ahead of me.)
Silver Streak, themed to the fun and excitement of mass transit. For kids.
Silver Streak is one of the older model Vekoma family suspended coasters, back when they still came with these hideous over the shoulder restraints.
Nearly a half hour later, we're finally about to board. #597.
It wasn't as abjectly terrible as some of the other Paramount-era family inverted coasters I've done, but I don't know why they continue to make family rides so low-capacity that there's always an unnecessarily long wait for them.
A photo of a roller coaster I did not ride.
Approaching Planet Snoopy, the park becomes surprisingly beautiful with these huge mature trees and landscaped gardens everywhere.
Again, there are small pockets of this park that feel more European in design with large, open, grassy areas.
I'm not a huge fan of the Planet Snoopy branding that's going into Cedar Fair parks (the pop-art look and "Planet" branding really doesn't match the tone of the Peanuts at all), but the abundant greenery and fact that it's relatively undisturbed by the rest of the park makes Canada's Wonderland's one of the better kiddie areas I've walked through.
By the way, they also have the Ghoster Coaster, which is probably in contention for being one of the top five most enjoyable coasters in the park.
It originally opened as Scooby's Gasping Ghoster Coaster in 1981, and it's nice to see them preserve some of that history even if Scooby has long since left the house.
The simple presence of buzz bars is already enough to make this one of the park's must-ride attractions.
Two train operation also helps. The layout is familiar to me as Zach's Zoomer at Michigan's Adventure was my first almost-full-sized coaster.
Ghoster Coaster runs quickly and smoothly with some good float over the drops.
Verdant foliage and large iron rides just go so well together.
Drop Tower stands 227 feet tall, which ties it for the world record for the worst drop tower ride name ever.
Drop Tower and The Bat
The Bat is a Vekoma Boomerang that seems way more popular with the local crowds than it should be.
Sometimes when I ride a Vekoma Boomerang, I try to imagine how I would respond if this were my very first ride on a coaster like this. Am I able to authentically replace my disgust with purer, more joyful emotions?
No.
Night Mares is another of Canada Wonderland's unique and relatively rare flat rides. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the ride itself, but it's sort of like a mix between a Super Round-Up and an Enterprise.
Canada Wonderland's Medieval Faire section was recently renovated to once again look more medieval.
Thunder Run is Canada's Wonderland's powered coaster that takes place inside the Wonder Mountain.
Here's another attraction that makes Canada's Wonderland subtly feel more European than American. Powered coasters (at least those that are seen as acceptable for adults and kids) are exceedingly rare south of the border, but across the pond these types of rides are quite plentiful.
Wild Beast would be exceedingly boring if it wasn't so excruciatingly rough. While it's a tough call with the Mighty Canadian Minebuster on the opposite side of the park, I think I'm going to declare Wild Beast the worst wooden roller coaster I've ever ridden. I'm actually rather pleased of the fact, as my distaste for this pitiful excuse for a termite buffet has expanded the spectrum of emotions I previously thought I could feel about a ride. It's like discovering you can hear a new frequency that was previously beyond your auditory range, the only downside being that it's also the brown note.
Such a terrible coaster is the Wild Beast, I actually have no photos of the structure itself. So here's an image of the best part of the ride, this piece of public sculpture. I wish more parks could install random art installations like this, instead of it always having to be "theming".
Another one of these sculptures belongs to Dragon Fire, Medieval Faire's 4-loop Arrow Dynamics steel coaster.
This was one of four coasters that opened with the park in 1981, and the only steel coaster.
Dragon Fire is unique among Arrow loopers for having its double corkscrew spin counterclockwise instead of clockwise like nearly every other Arrow-designed corkscrew. Apart from that quirk, the layout's pretty conservative, even by 1981 standards. Loch Ness Monster and Orient Express were already thrilling riders a couple years before Dragon Fire ever hit the scene.
I'm having a hard time focusing on Dragon Fire, though I'm not sure what's distracting me...
Jeremy,
Good to see you update the website; I enjoyed reading your work long before meeting your at GCI’s FREDx all those years ago.
As for the random owl sculpture in the roof of Behemoth’s station, I think that it is intended to scare away wildlife from trying to roost in the building; I have seen these non-lethal deterrents for sale at outdoor stores. If you must quote me on this, please include my uncertainty.
Hope things are well with you.
Respectfully,
Ethan T. Benedict, BSME, EIT
P.S: Do you know if Thinkwell is looking to hire engineers in a plausible future?
Hey Ethan, good to hear from you again! Your theory about the owl makes perfect sense, though I have to wonder why it was only in use at Behemoth.
Things are going as well as can be expected for me, I hope you’re making it through these times okay.
Unfortunately Thinkwell had to reduce its staff not so long ago, and as you can imagine I can’t expect many new job opportunities coming along in the foreseeable future. However, I’m optimistic it will soon be a good time to be on the lookout for less traditional or start-up companies especially as the industry starts to return and there’s lots of new stuff forming to re-fill the voids created.