Canada's Wonderland - May 9th, 2024

 It was a great day to be at Canada's Wonderland for my first visit of the 2024 season! My brother Scott and our Mom joined me today! Scott and I managed to get on many rides during our visit!

Since my last visit in October, there were a lot of changes that happened at the park over the off-season! There are still many changes and upgrades to come. Be sure to checkout all of the new things at Canada's Wonderland through the photos I captured of our day, below! 🙂

The day started out slightly cool and very sunny as we arrived just before the park opened for the day.

New for 2024 are the permanent security checkpoints that take you through to the front gate. Last year was a bit of a mess when entering the park last year with how the security check points were set up. This year you must enter through the newly constructed checkpoint that takes you under Leviathan to get to the front gate plaza.
The new setup flows a lot better than the system used last year. Improvements like this are great to see! The only improvement I would like to see is if you do set off the metal detectors, the park should have an x-ray scanning machine to scan bags to help speed up the process rather than having a security guard look through each bag manually. 

With the metal detectors now placed at the checkpoint under Leviathan's turn around, the front gate look less cluttered than it had in the past with the bulky metal detectors that were once there.
When exiting the park, you now go through gates north and south of the front gate plaza, causing less congestion in the front gate plaza.

Here's a look back at the checkpoint located under Leviathan's turn around. The structures look very nice.

Once inside, we were greeted once again by Wonder Mountain. It has been over six months since I have last seen this view!

During the off-season, the front gate area received some signage updates. The new signs look very clean-cut and easy to read.

The Wonderland Store received a massive remodel over the off-season, expanding it outwards and changing the layout inside. It also received a new sign, matching the other park services signs at the front gate.

Continuing with the theme of signage, new directional signage has popped up around the park, helping guests find their way to rides, attractions, washrooms, and the park exit.

Scott and I began our day in International Festival with a ride on Thunder Run. Many buildings and structures have been demolished in International Festival to make way for future plans. Here is a look at the former Tiny Tom Donuts location.

The Multi faith space building and surrounding structures in front of The Fly in International Festival have also been demolished. Although for some reason, they left the end of the building standing for now.

Tiny Tom Donuts moved to a new location around the corner, which was previously home to the Alpen Amusements pay per use claw machine games. Crews were busy setting up the equipment at the new location. It looks like it will open soon. 

Springtime at Canada's Wonderland is simply beautiful as many trees around the park have vibrant pink blossoms! 

Here is a look at more of the new directional signage, these located in Frontier Canada near Timberwolf Falls. 

Another major change in the rides department at Canada's Wonderland was the elimination of the maximum height requirement for many of the children's rides in Planet Snoopy and Kidzville! This means you no longer need a child to ride Taxi Jam and Snoopy's Racing Railway.

Here I am finally getting a ride on Taxi Jam! I had the train all to myself! 😂 Scott would take a ride on Taxi Jam later in the morning.

After getting a ride on Taxi Jam, Scott and I quickly headed over to the New-for-2023 Snoopy's Racing Railway. 

Here we are walking through the queue for Snoopy's Racing Railway! 

You can get a rare view of Ghoster Coaster from the queue of Snoopy's Racing Railway. 

Snoopy's Racing Railway is a fun launched family coaster with many gentle drops and turns, a perfect roller coaster for anyone to enjoy! Snoopy's Racing Railway launches its train twice around the track.
As of this visit, I have now been on all of the roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland! The elimination of the maximum height restrictions helped achieve this as I was not going to borrow a child to do it! 😂

After getting on some more rides, I rode Tundra Twister, which was new last year. Surprisingly it was giving a somewhat intense ride with head dives towards the ground! I hadn't experienced that since it opened last year!

Yukon Striker, celebrating five years of operation this season, also rode very well today!  I remember being at the first rider/media day event for Yukon Striker just like it was yesterday! Time really flies!

After an exhilarating ride on Yukon Striker, I rode Mighty Canadian Minebuster which had received some retracking on the second half of the ride during the off-season. Unfortunately the first half of Mighty Canadian Minebuster now feels quite rough.

The Coca-Cola refreshment station in Action Zone has been replaced with a new structure. It looks likely to be a Coca-Cola refill station. I guess we'll know for sure within the next month!

Here's another view of more beautiful blossoms near Swing of the Century in Grande World Exposition of 1890. 

Another project that occurred during the off-season was the renovation and transformation of the Backlot Cafe building. For the 2024 season, it will be known as Grande World Eatery. The exterior of the building has been refreshed with a new coat of paint. Extensive work has also been done on the interior of the building. I am looking forward to the final product! 

Xtreme Skyflyer was removed during the early months of 2024 after 27 years of operation. Luckily I got my ride on it last year when I did! It looks quite likely that the removal of Xtreme Skyflyer has something to do with what is coming in 2025! Although nothing has been officially announced by the park yet. 

With the demolition of the old Coca-Cola refresh Centre building near The Fly, the building next to Klockwerks is now home to the Coca-Cola refresh Centre. This building had sat unused for the past decade. 

I forgot to mention earlier that the exit for Thunder Run has been rerouted due to the construction that has been happening in the area this year. The exit path is now a nice wooden boardwalk that exits to the left of  the Apres Poutinerie.

I always love it when amusement parks refurbish existing attractions, rather than removing them! Viking's Rage received a major overhaul during the off-season consisting of a new drive motor system and a fresh coat of paint, which looks to replicate that of what the ride had when the park opened in 1981!
It looks like the refurbishment process is still underway. Hopefully it is completed by the time I make my next visit to the park!

The mist on Leviathan's sign returned this year.

The diving structure in Arthur's Baye in Medieval Faire had been removed during the off-season. It will be replaced by a new structure sometime this year.

Across the way, the Whac-A-Mole game in Medieval Faire was removed.

The lockers at Wonder Mountain's Guardian were also recently removed. It looks like their removal is linked to the project happening around the park. 

Here's another shot of pink blossoms located in Planet Snoopy. 

After a great day of fun with a total of 18 different rides, it was time to head home! 

Here's an interior shot of the newly renovated Wonderland Store. It looks very nice! They have conceptual drawings from before the park was built placed along the upper perimeter of the store.

That's all for my first visit of the 2024 season! I hope you enjoyed the photos! 🙂