Canada's Wonderland - September 14th, 2024

On Saturday, September 14th I made my eighth visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland! My brother Scott and our mom joined me on this visit on this summer-like Saturday in mid-September!

We started our day with a ride on Leviathan just before the park opened for the day! Throughout the day, I managed to get on 13 different rides including classics like The Bat, Vortex, and Dragon Fyre, and other thrills like Drop Tower, Shockwave, Behemoth, and Tundra Twister, and Sledge Hammer just to name a few! Despite it being quite busy, we managed to have a great day!

Be sure to check out photos of my day at Canada's Wonderland! 🙂

We arrived at the park around 9:15am. To my surprise, we were able to walk on in and head over to Leviathan for our first ride of the day!

Here's a very empty International Street as the park doesn't officially open until 10am.

In less than two weeks, Halloween Haunt will be over taking the park for another year of scares! Many skeletons and other decorations have been set up throughout the park in preparation of the Halloween Haunt season.

This weekend was one of three weekends for the Oktoberfest event at Canada's Wonderland. The courtyard in Medieval Faire had quite the German vibe!

This is the first time in a very long time that I can recall Spinovator having an unobstructed view! For years there was a snack/refreshment trailer parked in front of the ride. Part way through the season, a more sturdy structure replaced the trailer.

For the upcoming Halloween Haunt season, the new Thirsty Dragon building was moved from in front of Spinovator to in front of Riptide, which is now closed for the season.

A skeleton has even overtaken Leviathan!

Leviathan started taking passengers approximately 15 minutes before the park opened for the day. Scott and I were on the second train of the day!

After Leviathan, we then rode Drop Tower, followed by The Bat once the park opened for the day.

To our surprise, The Bat was surprisingly smooth during this visit!

After The Bat, I took a spin on Shockwave! Over the last two weeks, the trees around Shockwave have been removed. Sadly you'll never have the chance to kick the trees ever again, but it was fun while it lasted! 🤣 Scott and I then rode Vortex!

Over in Frontier Canada, the park was preparing for Trick of Treat Street scare zone.

While in Frontier Canada, I took a ride on Tundra Twister. Ever since it opened last year, I just love how every ride on it is different!

Scott and I then rode Behemoth and then eventually rode Sledge Hammer.

The jack o' lanterns where strung above the entrance of Grande World Exposition of 1890 again like that have been for several years. This view will look different as AlpenFury will be going over the globe!

For my first meal of the day, I had the hickory smoked chicken with a side of Spring mix salad from Lazy Bar Lodge. It was very good as usual. I then had a cone of blue ice cream from dessert from the Cookie Cafe.

The pirate skeletons have found a treasure chest hopefully filled with gold at the base of Wonder Mountain!

These skeletons are just hanging around over Tim Hortons on International Street!

In the afternoon, park guests were enjoying the Oktoberfest event taking place in the medieval Faire Courtyard!

Later in the day, we all took a spin on the Antique Carousel.

For some reason I decided to take a ride on Flight Deck. It wasn't too bad during this visit as I was able to 'staple' my restraint so I didn't get jostled throughout the ride as I sat in the last row of the train.

For my final meal of the day, I had the new Nacho Bowl at Grande World Eatery. It was okay, but I think next time I'll order it without the nacho cheese as it made the chips very soggy.

Our final ride of the day was a second spin of the day on Sledge Hammer. Unfortunately Sledge Hammer is operating at a reduced capacity of 32 passengers as two gondolas are currently closed. Despite the longer wait, it still provides a fun ride!

That concludes my eighth visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland! I plan to return once again during the Thanksgiving long weekend in mid-October! 🙂

Canada's Wonderland - September 30th, 2023

Saturday, September 30th, 2023 marked my eighth visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland!

My brother Scott and our mom came along with me today for a daytime visit of fun and thrills on the last day of September! It was a beautiful and not insanely busy day at the park!

Enjoy my photos below!

Canada's Wonderland was open for daytime operations from 10am to 5pm, with Camp Spooky for young children and their families to enjoy in Planet Snoopy and Kidzville. Luckily for us, the rest of the park wasn't ridiculously busy!

International Street has been transformed for the Fall/Halloween season since my last visit a little over one month ago.

The vines growing on Wonder Mountain are quite beautiful during September and October.

The Halloween Haunt decorations look just as great during the day as they do at night.

Tundra Twister's gondolas were doing a slow roll today as the giant arm slowly swung over the top.

I hadn't been on Psyclone in a while, so after a ride on Behemoth and Sledge Hammer to start our day, I took a ride on Psyclone. I always enjoy facing the ground and waving to the bystanders below while riding Psyclone!

Since Halloween Haunt operates at night during September and October, the scare zones and a couple of the mazes are open for guests to wander through without the jump scares!

This year the Trick or Treat buildings were located on the path near Splash Works in the Frontier Canada section of the park. Along the path with the houses were some interesting props used, including these rats who were enjoying some pecan pie!

I feel at night during Halloween Haunt, you would miss some of these somewhat hilarious details when visiting at night as you try not to get scared by the actors.

Also along Trick or Treat Street you can bob for ankles.

Any takers? lol

As mentioned, two of the Halloween Haunt mazes were open for daytime viewing during the Camp Spooky event. While I enjoy Spirit Manor and Corn Stalkers at night, it is always a treat to see them in the daylight! This daytime photo I captured in the "attic" of Spirit Manor looks kind of creepy. lol

Some friendly scarecrows were in the daytime version of Corn Stalkers.

I love visiting Canada's Wonderland in the Fall, especially when the leaves begin to change colours!

The skeletons were up to their usual antics on International Street!

While closed all year, the shop next to Xtreme Skyflyer was open and transformed into Halloween Bootique for the Halloween Haunt season. It featured many different Halloween decorations and Haunt merchandise.

While I didn't ride Shockwave during this visit, I had to capture a photo of it in action!

After some lunch, I had a "Toxic Waste" vanilla ice cream cone from the Cookie Cafe bear Wonder Mountain. It was a part of the park's Fall food lineup. For those wondering, the ice cream was just dyed green. The ice cream was very good as usual!

More beautiful Fall colours as seen near Vortex!

In front of Time Warp this year is the scare zone, Necropolis. This area was quite detailed and felt like it was always there! haha

There were many grave stones and other props placed along the pathway. I bet it looks quite eerie at night during Halloween Haunt!

Sledge Hammer rode very well today!

Here's Swing of the Century with some Fall foliage nearby!

Our last ride of the day was on the classic Klockwerks, a ride I don't ride too often.

After getting on 12 different rides during our daytime visit to Canada's Wonderland, it was time to go home as the park closed at 5pm to transform into Halloween Haunt at 7pm. Thanks for checking out my photos of another great day at Canada's Wonderland! :-)

Acton Fall Fair - September 16th - 18th, 2022

 What a great way to spend a weekend! It was great to be back at the Acton Fall Fair of Acton, Ontario after a two year hiatus! It was a fun three days seeing friends and acquaintances I haven't seen in a while due to the pandemic! Below are some photos of my weekend at the fair. :-)

This is a view I hadn't seen since September 2019!

There was a decent sized crowd on the midway for a Friday evening.

It was great to see the community come together after a few years of no major events.

We were lucky to have a great evening of nice weather.

The giant Mulligan Wheel was set up in the center of the fairgrounds this year, making it a prominent feature.

It was nice to see its lights shining bright over Prospect Park again.

Throughout Friday evening, Scott and I had hung out with our friend Travis, riding some of the rides together. The Mulligan Wheel was one of them. It provides a nice view of the midway.

The dazzling lights were quite a sight!

The animals in the Ag Awareness tent were back.

The Berry Go Round was our final ride for Friday. Scott and I sure know how to spin it!

Albion Amusements is very fortunate to own such a lovely piece such as the Mulligan Wheel.

Here is Scott, Travis, and I at the fair on Friday night!

The Avalanche is a swirl of action at night!

Taking photos of midway rides at night is one of my favourite things to do!

Midway rides at night look spectacular with their flashing lights.

Just before the Acton Fall Fair closed for its first night in three years, I captured one final photo of the Mulligan Wheel.

The next day, a lot of people came out to the fair. It was great to see many out enjoying it on a very nice day!

The Acton Fall Fair has always been a great way to create memories for people of all ages!

A ride on the Mulligan Wheel is a must when visiting the Acton Fall Fair.

You can see the excitement in the faces of the people riding the Avalanche as it went around!

It was a very warm day with a bit of cloud coverage and a nice breeze.

It was nice to see the fair bounce back after a pandemic when caused many things to grind to a halt over the past couple of years. The return of the fair also saw the return of many local food vendors, including Gord's Hot Dog stand! He serves the best hot dogs in town!

The Mulligan Wheel is always so very photogenic.

The midway was scaled down this year compared to other years prior to the pandemic. But we're really lucky that midway companies like Albion Amusements were able to survive through difficult times as they did not operate at all in 2020.

The Sizzler was providing some classic fun with its sweeping motion.

Saturday evening at the Acton Fall Fair saw the return of the lawn tractor pulls.

Some were able to pull the weight quite far!

The fairgrounds began to become busy in the late afternoon and early evening.

Younger fairgoers were enjoying the Lolly Swing once it got dark.

Games of skill and luck are always a classic at many fairs!

The line for the Mulligan Wheel got quite long in the evening.

My camera had a hard time focusing on all the lights of the midway!

The Zero Gravity is just a blur in this photo!

The lights on the Mulligan Wheel are just stunning!

From the Mulligan Wheel you can get a nice view of the other rides, including the Sizzler.

Late Saturday evening, the beer tent was packed! The absence of the fair over the past couple of years made a lot of people yearn for a social event like this.

Here's another photo of the dazzling Sizzler!

After another day of fun at the Acton Fall Fair, it was time to head home for the night.

Sunday morning at the fair featured some antique tractor pulls , followed by some truck pulls.

Some of the tractors were quite loud as they pulled the weight sled along the track.

Just before a rain shower passed through, Scott and I hopped onto the Mulligan Wheel.

The chance of rain kept some people away for the final day of the fair.

The children's midway had a nice collection of classic rides.

From the Mulligan Wheel you can see the row of vendors.

The rain began to come down hard for a short while, but it didn't seem to deter those who were there as the temperatures were warm.

During the heavy rainfall Scott and I headed into the Homecrafts building. There were quite a few entries despite the reduction of categories.

Travis and his girlfriend came by Sunday afternoon to enjoy the fair during its final hours.

After the rain had passed, the sun came out allowing the fair to end off on a great note!

Here is Scott and I after a great weekend at the Acton Fall Fair! It was great to have it back again after a few years of it not happening! Hopefully next year's fair is even better! :-)