Season Pass Sneak Preview Night at Canada's Wonderland- April 27th, 2018

It was that time of year again where Scott and I, along with our Mom ventured to Canada's Wonderland to check out Season Pass Sneak Preview Night on Friday, April 27th, 2018!

This was the first visit of the season, so we really looked forward to being there. The weather was decent with a few light showers here and there, but it was nothing to dampen our spirits. Also, a few rides, including the new for 2018 Lumberjack and Flying Canoes were closed, but we still had a very good time regardless as the crowds were light in comparison to a mid-summer day at the park. During the four hours, I had managed to get on 12 rides, which wasn't bad at all. We greatly look forward to going back very soon, which by then all the rides will be operational once again!

Be sure to check out my photos below of the great time we had at Season Pass Sneak Preview Night!

We arrived at the park for Season Pass Sneak Preview Night shortly after 5pm. We were greeted by a freshly painted front entrance. The bright teal which matches Leviathan was a nice touch!

Speaking of Leviathan, here it is testing before the park had opened for the evening! 

Once inside, we made our way over to International Festival where we would wait for another 10 minutes for the rides to open.

Once the rope drop occurred, we had made our way over to see the all-new for 2018 Lumberjack. Unfortunately, Lumberjack was not open as it was still testing. But, the park sure did a wonderful job with the landscaping of this ride!

Here is a slightly closer view of Lumberjack. As you can see, it is very detailed with the two arms looking like axes which a lumberjack would use. Lumberjack was manufactured by the Italian manufacturer, Zamperla. Lumberjack comes from the model line of the Hawk 48.After looking at Vortex, Scott and I took our first ride of the year on Vortex, the park's classic Arrow suspended coaster! Vortex's trains had received a new mine train type paint job, which looked quite nice!

After taking a thrilling ride on Vortex, I wandered over to the White Water Canyon section of the park to check out the other new addition, Flying Canoes. But before I saw it, I happened to notice the newly expanded and redone "Canyon Trader" shop. This revamp definitely made the White Water Canyon section feel more like an old logging town than ever before!

Here is a look at the all-new for 2018 family ride, Flying Canoes. As you can see, Flying Canoes was still being worked on due to the delay caused by the ice storm which happened a couple weekends ago. But when Flying Canoes is operational, it will allow children and adults to rise and lower together as the ride spins. The Flying Canoes was manufactured by Preston and Barbieri, also of Italy. Flying Canoes had replaced the Launch Pad trampoline up-charge attraction which operated at the park from 2003-2017.

Beside Flying Canoes, the park had closed off the entrance to Action Theatre and placed more outdoor dining tables for visitors to enjoy. It looks like Action Theatre's time at the park is over. It had operated from 1994-2017.

After riding Vortex, we made our way over to Action Zone. Along the way, I had rode Skyhawk ( which had temporarily broke down while I was on it at the top of the tower), and Mighty Canadian Minebuster which we rode twice as the park had done some more re-tracking along some of the drops in addition to the re-tracking of the helix which was done last year. A ride on the Mighty Canadian Minebuster is quite smooth compared to a couple of years ago. 

In this photo you can see SledgeHammer was one of the few rides which were unfortunately down that night. We had rode the awesome airtime-filled Behemoth while in Action Zone!

Psyclone was also surprisingly closed that night as well! 

Riptide was down too that evening. But, it appears that during the off-season, yellow covers were added to the bottom of the shoulder restraints to keep them clean.

Here is a timeless classic, Spinovator with a freshly painted teal center piece. Previous seasons it had operated with a red painted center. Before this photo was taken, Scott and I had took in a ride on Dragon Fire, which was very good.

Drop Tower was also another ride that was unfortunately down that night...

But for obvious reasons!

Here is a train whizzing along the fan curve on Wild Beast!

Here is a somewhat eerie view of Nightmares operating as light rain was soon approaching.

A View of The Bat with its train going through the loop.

Here is a somewhat blurry look at the closed Shockwave. It too was unfortunately down during Season Pass Sneak Preview Night.

Here is a view (or a blur) of Thunder Run's train making its first round into Wonder Mountain, delighting all those who ride.

Here is Thunder Run's train again winding along the track as it makes its second round.

As the sun began to set, the lights on the rides came on. Here is a view of the all-new Lumberjack with its lights on. Throughout the evening, Lumberjack was testing, in hopes of opening on opening day (Sunday, April 29th, 2018). Lumberjack will send passengers head-over-heels many times as the two arms loop in opposite directions of each other. Below is a video of Lumberjack testing.

Here is Windseeker swirling high above the ground, 301 feet high to be exact.

Here is a view of Skyhawk operating into the darkness of the night.

Now here is the moment you all have been waiting for! ;-);-) What you are looking at is the entrance of the tunnel for the park's next roller coaster, which is believed to be a Dive Coaster. The tunnel exit is located on the other side of Vortex, ultimately meaning that this tunnel goes under water! It will be the first of its kind in Canada when it opens in 2019.

Here is a fancy shot of the classic Orbiter operating in the darkness of the night!

Here is another view of Windseeker operating way up high!

Here is a peaceful view of the Antique Carousel.

Here is the iconic Wonder Mountain standing mighty against the night sky.

International Festival was buzzing with activity as people were taking in the final hour of the night.

Here is a somewhat eerie shot of The Bat with its train passing back through the cobra roll inversion as seen from the queue line.

Here is The Rage swinging high, delighting passengers of all ages.

As usual, Leviathan draws quite the crowd, so much so we didn't get a chance to ride it this time around. But we'll catch it next time.

Nightmares looks much like a golden ring when operating with its light on at night.

Here is the Wonderland Theatre and the moon.

After a great night of fun, we decided it was time to head home. Here is Scott, our Mom, and I standing in front of the Royal Fountains.

Before we left the park for the night, I had captured this final shot of the Royal Fountains with Wonder Mountain in the background. For some unknown reason, the Royal Fountains were non-operational that night. Thanks for looking at my photos of Season Pass Sneak Preview Night 2018 at Canada's Wonderland! :-)