Friday, 30 July 2021

Canada's Wonderland - July 29th, 2021

July 29th marked my second visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland! It started out rainy and cool, but soon turned sunny and warm an hour into our visit. 

Scott and I kicked off our day with a ride on Thunder Run followed by many other rides on various rides and roller coasters throughout the park as the waits were quite minimal, with the longest line being a 10 minute wait! The combination of reduced park capacity and the rainy weather had a hand in that, resulting in myself getting on 19 different rides!

Below are photos of our day spent at Canada's Wonderland!


We arrived at the park around 10:40am. It was raining quite hard as we pulled into the parking lot.

The process of getting through the gate was quite fast, just like during my last visit to the park. A cheerful International Street greeted us on a dreary start to our day. Scott and I headed towards Thunder Run, making it our first ride of the day.

After catching some rides on Thunder Run, Shockwave, and The Bat, Scott and I headed over to Ghoster Coaster in Planet Snoopy. This wooden roller coaster is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, along with the rest of the park.

Ghoster Coaster is always fun to ride as it has a nice pop of airtime down the first drop! 

Shockwave, a Top Scan manufactured by Mondial is celebrating 20 years of twisting and flipping thrills in 2021!

Although my brother Scott and I didn't ride Yukon Striker during this visit, I still decided to capture photos of it. Here's one of its trains speeding through the final inversion, an Immelmann!

Sledge Hammer was unfortunately down once again this visit, but it was testing during the day.

It was a shame not being able to catch a ride on this one of a kind ride this time around, but I am sure we'll catch its airtime-filled action again next time! The last time I rode Sledge Hammer was Fall 2019.

I decided to take my annual ride on Time Warp. As I entered the queue, I noticed the scenery at the entrance looked a bit more shinier than it had it the past. Maybe the park touched it up during the time the park was closed? It is quite possible!

Surprisingly my ride on Time Warp wasn't filled with too much head banging as it has provided in the past. Maybe I caught it on a good day!

After taking a ride on Time warp I headed next door to Flight Deck, the park's Vekoma SLC. For being 26 years old, Flight Deck is still tolerable if you hold your head firmly against the headrest. Here's a view from under the first drop!

Unfortunately the 40th anniversary Canada's Wonderland store in Grande World Exposition of 1890 wasn't ready to open yet. Hopefully it is open by our next visit!

The Royal Fountain on International Street are quite photogenic!

Drop Tower was plunging thrill-seekers 227 feet to the ground as usual. Scott and I managed to "drop" in and take our second ride of the season on it during our visit today!

Here's another freefall shot!

The Flying Frontenacs Stunt and Dive show is taking place at Arthur's Baye in Medieval Faire once again this year! At the end of the show one of the performers dives from the top platform, which is 70 feet high!

Unfortunately I did not get on Wilde Knight Mares this time around. I am definitely going to get on it when I visit again in two weeks!

Earlier in the day Scott and I took a ride on The Fly! It still whips you around the corners like any good Wild Mouse coaster should!

Here is another shot of a train on Yukon Striker whipping through the Zero-G Winder inversion!

Park guests were enjoying the splash down of Timberwolf Falls both on and off the ride today!

To finish the day off, I took a ride on the Wilde Beast! It provided a fun, out-of-control experience as I sat in the first row of the second car as per usual. In my opinion that is the best seat to be in on the Wilde Beast for the past few years!

Here is Scott, our Mom, and I after a seven hour, fun-filled day at the park. We shall be returning to Canada's Wonderland in two weeks. Thank you for checking out my photos of our second visit of the season! :-)


Wednesday, 7 July 2021

Canada's Wonderland - July 6th, 2021

 On July 6th I was finally able to visit Canada's Wonderland once again, 592 days after my last visit to the park on November 22nd, 2019! My brother Scott and our Mom had joined me on my visit to the park. July 6th was the second day for Season Pass Holders to visit the park before the general public was able to visit on July 7th.

Since my last visit to Canada's Wonderland, quite a few things have changed to meet the current COVID-19 safety protocols put in place by the provincial government. The safety protocols put in place at Canada's Wonderland include the requirement of all guests to book a reservation as the park is currently operating at 25% capacity, the wearing of face masks on all rides as well as waiting in line for the rides, reduced capacity on the rides, and physical distancing markers in the ride lines and on the paths throughout the park to keep guests safe during their visit.

While the weather was hot and humid during our visit, we had a really good day! Be sure to check out the photos from our visit to Canada's Wonderland below!


We arrived at the park shortly before 10:30am.

Here I am before heading through the front gate!

It was great to finally be back after the park was closed for so long! Canada's Wonderland is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

It was surreal to see this view of International Street once again. In some ways it felt like an eternity, while in other ways it felt like my last visit was just yesterday.

Throughout the park there was signage indicating where to walk in order to maintain physical distancing such as on the bridge heading into the Medieval Faire section.

Leviathan was operating with all three trains to keep the lines moving as every other row was blocked off to maintain physical distancing. Scott and I would take a ride on it later in the day. Scott and I rode Dragon Fyre, Spinovator, and Drop Tower during our first round through Medieval Faire.

For the 2021 season, the Fun Shoppe was renamed Jester's Courtyard to fit in better with the Medieval Faire section.

Up next was Vortex, which is celebrating 30 years in 2021! It was forceful as usual!

After catching rides on Timberwolf Falls and White Water Canyon, we grabbed some lunch at Roadside Chicken in Frontier Canada.

After lunch Scott and I decided to ride Yukon Striker.

On our way over to Yukon Striker I captured this interesting shot of one of Vortex's trains speeding along its track.

Here's Scott and I after riding Yukon Striker! Since it has been a while since our last rides on it, the first 90° drop got our stomachs!

After Yukon Striker I took a ride on Mighty Canadian Minebuster. During the time the park was closed, they took the time to re-track the drop after the turn around, which helped make the coaster more enjoyable!

Unfortunately Sledge Hammer was down, but its power was on. I am hoping to catch it the next time I visit as it is a great one-of-a-kind ride!

Also for the 2021 season, the peeling billboard on Backlot Stunt Coaster was removed. Now the trains just "crash" through a wall. Maybe they'll redo it one day.

From Backlot Stunt Coaster's queue you get some nice views of Behemoth.

The line for Backlot Stunt Coaster moved quickly despite every other row being blocked off. It would be nice if the park were to add some shade to the queue as the afternoon sun was quite hot. Overall, Backlot Stunt Coaster's launch was still forceful as usual. I even greyed-out a bit on the helix!

I just love the airtime hills of Behemoth!

For 2021, Swing of the Century was also operating at a reduced capacity, with what looked like more than half of its seats removed. It usually operates with 48 seats.

It looked kind of funny seeing a good portion of its seats removed.

What didn't make sense to me was how the ride operator was only allowing guests to sit on the inside seats of the ride. That greatly reduced the capacity of Swing of the Century even more.

International Street was looking beautiful as usual.

Wonder Mountain was also looking great. Although the shrubby trees near Victoria Falls have grown quite a bit since the last time I saw them.

Pictured is the what was new for 2020 Beagle Brigade Airfield ride in Planet Snoopy. With the park not being able to open in 2020, it is now the one of two new rides for 2021.

This Zamperla Flying Tigers ride replaced the Peanuts Putt Putt mini golf attraction which had been at the park since 1981.

Children seemed to be enjoying the rides in Planet Snoopy and Kidzville. Pictured is the smallest roller coaster at the park, Taxi Jam.

Silver Streak is celebrating 20 years this year.

Silver Streak is a Vekoma Family Suspended Coaster. While I didn't ride it during our visit, I have been on it in years past.

Over the years, the trees surrounding Silver Streak have grown making it quite difficult to see from the paths of Kidzville.

The wooden shingles on some of the buildings along International Street have been redone. It is always nice to see the park taking care of its infrastructure.

Just before getting in line for Leviathan, I captured a photo of Viking's Rage in full swing. This Huss Pirate ride has been operating at the park since May 23rd, 1981.

Riptide was operating earlier in the day. While I didn't get a ride on it this time, I did notice it had new seats.

After riding Leviathan, my Mom and I took a spin on the classic Antique Carousel. Afterwards, I took a thrilling ride on Behemoth.

After being at the park for nearly eight hours, we decided it was time to head home for the day shortly after 6pm. Here we are in front of the Royal Fountain and Floral flag on International Street!

Here's one last shot of the park's entrance as we were leaving. Thanks for a great visit, Canada's Wonderland! :-)