Canada's Wonderland - August 28th, 2019

The weather was nice and sunny, so it warranted another visit to Canada's Wonderland for the season! Today (August 28th) marked visit number nine of the season for me, so I wasn't bothered by the crowds and had an amazing time! It was nice to be back at the park after nearly a month of being away!

Be sure to check out the photos below of the great day my Mom and I had!

After being away from Canada's Wonderland for nearly one month, we decided it was time to pay another visit. Our day started out partially cloudy as we rolled into the parking lot.

It was nice to see Wonder Mountain once again. Although the higher fountains were off during our visit.

Before you know it, it'll be Halloween Haunt season once again at Canada's Wonderland! Halloween Haunt runs on weekend nights starting September 27th. Be sure to visit Canada's Wonderland's website for hours and ticket pricing.

Also coming up this year is the all-new Winterfest! The park will be transformed into a Winter Wonderland starting November 22nd and operating on select days through December 31st. Be sure to visit the park's website for more details! 

After getting two rides on Yukon Striker, one ride on Behemoth, and a ride on the one and only Sledge Hammer, I captured this photo of it.

Shortly after, I managed to get a decent ride on Flight Deck. Keeping your head firmly against the headrest and making your restraint nice and tight allows for you to have a decent ride on the Vekoma manufactured SLC.

Drop Tower was drawing in the crowds on this very busy end of summer Wednesday.

The hanging flowers in Medieval Faire were displaying a beautiful bloom.

Young amusement park visitors and those young at heart were taking relaxing and scenic rides on Kidzville Station (foreground) and Jokey's Jalopies track rides while Lumberjack looped in the distance.

With the new for 2020 rides announced a couple of weeks ago, news has been shared that one of the additions, Beagle Brigade Airfield will be replacing Peanuts Putt Putt Mini golf in Planet Snoopy.

This mini golf attraction originally opened with the park in 1981, known as City Zoo Golf.

It happened to be quite popular today as the park was busy. While it is kind of sad to see another original park attraction fade into history, it is nice to see a new ride that generations to come will enjoy.

After catching a ride on the timeless Ghoster Coaster, we ventured through the neighbouring Kidzville. It sure was packed!

Here's Yukon Striker under the afternoon clouds.

Psyclone was also eating up the crowds of guests as the late afternoon arrived.

Many visitors were even taking the opportunity to fly on the Xtreme Skyflyer attraction throughout the day.

After catching a ride on the Antique Carousel, my Mom and I decided it was time to head on home. Here's a beautiful view of the International Street Royal Fountain.

Here's my Mom and I after spending another great time at Canada's Wonderland! Thanks for checking out my photos! :-)

Canadian National Exhibition - August 22nd, 2019

Thursday, August 22nd was the day that I made my annual visit to the Canadian National Exhibition (also known as the CNE and The Ex) in Toronto! My Mom joined along for the trip and had a great day as the weather was a bit cooler and the crowds were not as large.

There were many new attractions at The Ex including the Star Dancer, a ride that sends thrill-seekers head over heels as it gains momentum, eventually going all the way over. It was a nice addition to the North American Midway Entertainment line up of rides. Be sure to check out the photos below!

As per tradition, here we are catching the GO Train at Oakville, which takes us directly to Exhibition Station.

After a half hour ride on the GO train, we arrived at the CNE. Here's the midway games getting set up for the day.

North American Midway Entertainment (NAME) had repainted this Tilt-A-Whirl, making it look brand new.

Here's the popular Crazy Mouse roller coaster testing before opening for the day. Rides at The ex open at 11am on weekdays and 10am on weekends.

Here's the all-new for 2019 Star Dancer, a Technical Park Street Fighter Revolution ride. It sends passengers head over heels after gaining enough momentum to go over the top! Below is an off-ride video that I had filmed of the Star Dancer.

Once the rides had opened at 11am, the midway was buzzing with activity! Here's a log on the Niagara Falls log flume coming in for a splash landing!

The Zipper, which was refurbished for the 2018 season was placed at the west end of the main midway this year. 

For lunch we went to the Food Building and grabbed a couple of slices of pizza from Pizza Nova. They unfortunately didn't have the more fancier varieties at The Ex on the day we were there. There were many of these large maps around the grounds to help find your way around.

A view of the south side of the Food Building.

The Rock-N-Cars bumper cars were quite popular all-day long.

Some classic rides, including Campbell Amusements' Zero Gravity (Hrubetz Round Up) were on the midway this year. While NAME is the main midway ride supplier at The Ex, Campbell Amusements brings in a few rides to fill some spots on the midway.

Pharaoh's Fury was also placed at the west end of the midway this year, allowing it to swing over visitors walking by.

The Pharaoh's Fury is packed with a lot of airtime!

The Euro Slide also received a face lift, making it look all shiny and new!

Here is Campbell Amusements wonderful Scrambler!

The Mach 3 and Mega Drop were providing sky-high thrills!

Visitors of all ages were enjoying the spinning of the Crazy Mouse under the mid-afternoon sun.

The all-new Star Dancer continued to loop above the midway throughout the day.

The view of the midway from the Gondola Wheel is quite nice.

Here's an overview look of the Crazy Mouse from the Gondola Wheel.

The west end of the midway was quite busy in this shot.

The Orbiter was good as usual, but seat dividers were added to the cars. I guess this was mandated by the manufacturer to prevent riders from potentially slouching in their seat, possibly slipping under the lap bar. You just had to be careful entering and exiting the seat.

Out of all the years of going to The Ex (I've been going since 2006), the Rock-N-Roll Video Fun House was always broken and had none of the fun house elements working. Well, this past off-season NAME had the fun house refurbished and all of the elements, including the spinning barrel fixed. It was nice to see everything working on it now!

The Blitzer was unfortunately down all day. It was testing throughout the day, but it never opened. I had many rides in years past, so that was okay.

Here I am atop the Mardi Gras fun house. This mirror made me look quite short! ;-)

After spending a great day at The Ex, we decided it was time to head home. Thanks for looking at my photos of our time at the CNE! :-)

Six Flags Darien Lake - August 14th and 15th, 2019

For two days (August 14th and 15th), my Mom and I were at Six Flags Darien Lake, taking in some of the best thrills of Western New York!

Since our last visit to the park in May, the operations and implementation of the Six Flags point of sales system had greatly improved. There were no issues with redeeming any of my benefits on my Six Flags Membership card, unlike the time before. Luckily for us, the park wasn't too busy so the wait times for rides were relatively minimal, including the new for 2019 ride, the Six Flags Sky Screamer!

Our two day visit was definitely fun, so be sure to check out the photos from both days below!

Shortly after we arrived, the front gate had opened for the day. While we were waiting for the rope drop, I noticed Six Flags members get early ride times on the park's top attractions, so I took advantage of that. I was able to ride the Ride of Steel and Moto Coaster before the park opened at 10:30am. 

After the rest of the park opened, I headed over to The Predator, to catch a ride on it as it had evaded me on my two other visits.

After a relatively short wait, I was able to ride the Predator, the park's wooden roller coaster that opened in 1990. If you look closely, you can see me seated in the front row of the second car.

While the Predator is known to be notoriously rough, the Predator had been retracked in certain parts along the course of the ride in May. It is nice to see that Six Flags has taken care of this wooden roller coaster since they came back to operate the park.

With the retracking done in some spots, the Predator gave a decent ride with quite a bit of airtime! I would ride it two more times in the second car throughout my trip.

After getting a ride on the Predator, I went sky high on Blast Off, the park's S&S Space Shot tower. 

Blast Off sends passengers 180 feet into the air in a matter of seconds thanks to its compressed air tanks. While it is a short ride, it definitely provides a rush of excitement!

The new for 2019 Six Flags Sky Screamer was definitely visible throughout the park thanks to its height of 240 feet!

Since I saw it operating, I decided to give it a ride. With the combination of the height and the speed of the rotation of the swings, it provided quite a thrill and a view! 

Prior to riding the Six Flags Sky Screamer at Six Flags Darien Lake, I had rode a few other Sky Screamer (Funtime Star Flyer) rides at a few other Six Flags parks. This one was very enjoyable like the rest! It made a great addition to the park.

There were many ducks nearby the Midway Marina attraction which is situated on Fun Lake at Six Flags Darien Lake.

After taking a paddle around on Fun Lake in one of the paddle boats available for rental, I decided to ride the Grizzly Run, the park's River Rapids ride. It surprisingly provided a soaking experience as passengers flow down a concrete channel in a nine-passenger raft while passing through rapids and waterfalls. It was quite refreshing nonetheless!

Here are some other park guests enjoying the relaxing pace of a paddle boat on Fun Lake. For $10 ($5 per person), my Mom and I were able to take a 30 minute spin on the lake in a paddle boat, allowing us to see a different view of Six Flags Darien Lake.

I think more parks should have a paddle boat up charge attraction such as the Midway Marina as it provides a relaxing ride for visitors of all ages.

With the sun shining bright, I took a ride on Shipwreck Falls, Six Flags Darien Lake's shoot-the-chutes splash boat ride. it was quite soaking, but not as soaking as others that I have been on.

Here is a boat of 20 passengers plunging down the hill into the water below, creating a splash for those waiting on the newly-rebuilt bridge above the flume.

The Predator, along with many other wooden roller coasters is quite photogenic.

The fountain in front of The Emporium gift shop was gleaming beautifully in the early evening sun. 

Here is my Mom and I sitting in front of one of the many beautiful flowerbeds found throughout the park.

There's nothing like an evening paddle on Fun Lake at Six Flags Darien Lake.

As the sun began to set, it made the roller coasters (Ride of Steel and Predator) turn in to appealing silhouettes.

A load of passengers on the Predator is about to head off into the sunset.

With nightfall arriving, some of the park's rides came to life, such as the Six Flags Sky Screamer. Its array of LED lights made it stand out at night! 

With the sun setting, I decided to get in line for the Six Flags Sky Screamer. Once on board, it was significantly darker, ultimately making the ride standout even more. Riding at night is definitely quite an experience!

The moon appeared to be full as it loomed over the park.

Here's the Scrambler dizzying passengers under the night sky!

Its neighbour across the way, Lasso, was also giving rides after dark.

Atop the Six Flags Sky Screamer is the Six Flags logo attached to a globe. All that could be seen at night is the words "Six Flags".

At the end of each night (weather permitting) is the Ignite the Night show, located near the Boomerang. My Mom and I decided to see what it was all about since we had never seen it before!

The show began at 9:40pm with laser lights and fire works, accompanied by music and a projection screen.

Many popular tunes of old and new were being played as laser lights went over the crowds watching the show.

The crowd sure was enjoying the show!

The use of various screen projections and laser lights made the show quite spectacular.

Fireworks being shot up into the sky also made the show quite spectacular!

These flat laser light projections that scanned over the audience were quite cool.

The wave of laser lights shining against the fog created the illusion of low lying clouds.

The computer graphic projections were also a nice touch, adding to the overall experience of the show.

Some projections, along with the laser lights were quite an illusion to the eye.

Queen's "We Will Rock You" song used the combination of laser lights, projections, and fire! Unfortunately I didn't capture the fire, but there is a shot of another fire explosion further down.

Here are some more laser light visualizations!

Here's a combination of laser lights and fireworks.

Here is a fireball explosion I was talking about earlier! It sure was huge and bright when it first went off!

Near the end of the performance, they had a Salute to Canada presentation, which consisted of Tim Hortons and other stereotypical Canadian things. It was then followed by a Salute to the USA performance.

At around 10 minutes after 10pm, the Ignite the Night laser show had finished. It was sure quite the way to end a great day at Six Flags Darien Lake! Continue on to see photos of our second day at the park!

After a good night's rest at a nearby hotel, it was time to start day two of our trip! The morning started nice and bright! Early ride times for Six Flags members consisted of the Ride of Steel, Lasso, and Grande Carousel.

After the early ride time for Six Flags Members, I quickly ventured over to Tantrum after the park opened. The Tantrum was added to the park in 2018 and is quite thrilling with its combination of inversions and compact track. It still packs a punch like it did when I had first rode it many times during our last visit in May.

In this photo, you can see me with my hands up before diving down the 90 degree drop!

The Six Flags Sky Screamer was sending passengers 240 feet into the air throughout the day! Guests of Six Flags Darien Lake appeared to be greatly enjoy this amazing ride!

While Six Flags Darien Lake is home to some very thrilling rides and attractions, it also has some quiet spots where you can relax for a while. One of those locations is behind the Boardwalk section of the park.

Here is the sign of quality on the Lasso, the park's Wave Swinger ride which was manufactured by Zierer and opened at the park in 1981. This detail is surprisingly still on the back panel of this beautiful ride after all these years.

Blast Off allows passengers to show various facial expressions as they prepare to launch 180 feet into the sky!

The Boomerang's colours are quite basic, but they really pop out, especially when the sun shines on it!

Guests of all ages can enjoy a relaxing ride on the gas powered Tin Lizzy's antique car ride.

Here is another shot of one of the many beautiful flowerbeds at Six Flags Darien Lake.

Here's a delicious Perry's Ice Cream caramel sundae topped with whipped cream and a cherry, served in a waffle cone bowl.

The MotoCoaster is a fun compact launched roller coaster. Luckily I was able to ride it a couple of times during our visit.

Here I am after another successful and thrilling ride on the MotoCoaster. 

Here is an interesting view of a trainload of passengers going through the batwing inversion on the Viper.

The ducks sure like to swarm around paddle boaters as they paddle around the lake!

After catching another ride on the Six Flags Sky Screamer, a rainbow had appeared from the dark clouds to the south of the park.

Here is my Mom and I enjoying a great evening at Six Flags Darien Lake. After this photo was taken, I manged to get on Ride of Steel one last time before a storm quickly came over the park!

After the storm had passed, the rides reopened for the remaining 30 minutes of the park's operations. Riding the Ride of Steel before the storm hit was a great way to end another great trip to Six Flags Darien Lake. I'll be leaving you with a photo of the classic Haymaker as we were heading towards the park exit.

Based on this trip and the one from May, I look forward to visiting Six Flags Darien Lake again next year! Thank you for reading about our amazing time! :-)