Canada's Wonderland - May 29th, 2025

 After visiting Kings Island and Cedar Point last week, it was time to make my second visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland!

It was somewhat rainy throughout our visit, but my brother, our mom, and I had a great day at the park! During my visit, I took more photos of AlpenFury's construction, which doesn't have too much further to go in terms of track installation. Also, Mighty Canadian Minebuster was still being worked on, but the wait will be worth it. 

During this visit, I was able to get on 23 different rides due to the low crowds thanks to the rain showers!

Be sure to enjoy the photos of my second visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland! 🙂

This morning from the parking lot, AlpenFury looked complete.

The Canadian floral flag has returned since our previous visit on May 9th.

Upon further inspection, the track over the entrance for Grande World Exposition of 1890 is incomplete. It looks like they'll have it put in place soon!

I still can't believe how close AlpenFury's track is placed to itself and the ground!

AlpenFury is going to be quite awesome once it does open. My guess for an opening date is late June/early July at this point!

Once the rope drop at 10am, Scott and I headed to Behemoth, followed by a ride on Sledge Hammer. Both were running great in the damp weather!

Up next was a ride on Yukon Striker! It had a less than 10 minute wait within the first 30 minutes of the park being open!

I've always enjoyed the forces produced from the loop of Yukon Striker!

I did a ride on Tundra Twister after riding Yukon Striker. You can just barely see it through the supports of Yukon Striker!

Work was also continuing on the supports of the first inversion on AlpenFury just outside of Wonder Mountain. It was kind of funny seeing these guys strapped to the supports working away when we rode Vortex.

I definitely respect those who can do this aerial work!

The interaction of AlpenFury with the other roller coasters and Wonder Mountain is still quite mind blowing!

Shortly after 11am, I went to Lazy bear Lodge for my first meal of the day. I had ribs with a side of smashed potatoes. Everything was good, including the ciabatta bun!

After lunch, we ventured into more of Alpen Fest. The construction of the station is still coming along. Construction crews were working on it throughout the day. I took a spin on Shockwave while in Alpen Fest.

Despite the weather being quite cool and rainy this May, the landscaping and grounds crew were filling in the flowerbeds today in Frontier Canada near White Water Canyon.

White Water Canyon was open, so Scott and I took two laps on it.

It is always a fun ride as you never know when you'll get soaked! Of interest, the Velcro strip seatbelts installed last year on the rafts were replaced with seatbelts again, which were the norm for years prior. I guess the Velcro strip seatbelts didn't work out.

After two rounds on White Water Canyon, we then took a ride on Flying Eagles since KidzVille wasn't busy today.

We also headed to Planet Snoopy to get rides on Ghoster Coaster and Snoopy's Racing Railway.

After visiting Planet Snoopy, I took a ride on Wilde Beast as it had a really short line. Typically I like riding in my special seat (first row of the second car), but I was assigned to the first row of the fifth car. I was expecting it to be an awful ride, but to my surprise it turned out decently good!

Scott joined me for a ride on Leviathan, Drop Tower, and Dragon Fyre which all had very short lines! I also did a ride on Riptide too, where the gondola did a surprise flip nearing the end of the ride!

I always enjoy dropping by and taking a ride on Drop Tower!

While in Medieval Faire, I took a look in on the renovations of Kings Feast. The interior is looking really good so far and I look forward to seeing the final product!

Fences were being installed around AlpenFury near the International Showplace.

I had my first blue ice cream of the season today!

Afterwards, we took a spin on Swing of the Century. I enjoy trying to get different angles of this beautiful ride!

Here's our mom, Scott, and I on the Antique Carousel! It's been quite a while since all three of us rode it together!

A lot of ground work around AlpenFury's skyflyer loop was being completed.

I was hoping Grande World Eatery was open, but due to low crowds, that was not to be. I headed back to Lazy Bear Lodge for my second meal of the day. I had smoked hickory chicken with a side of garden salad. Unfortunately the chicken was well over done, but I ate it anyways. lol The salad was good.

After eating, we ventured back to Alpen fest to ride Klockwerks, Thunder Run, and Krachenwagen.

Note to self: Avoid Krachenwagen on school group days as school aged children have a hard time understanding how to drive the cars! 🤣

Despite the occasional periods of rain, The Fly did reopen briefly. We quickly got in line for a ride!

After a ride on The Fly, we ventured back to KidzVille to ride Silver Streak and Taxi Jam. I only ride these two roller coasters on really quiet days at the park.

As Scott and I got in line for Taxi Jam, other adults had joined us. 😂 It looks like Taxi Jam got a fresh coat of paint during the off-season.

After rides on Silver Streak and Taxi Jam, I headed over to Tundra Twister for one final ride of the day! After a fun day of thrills at Canada's Wonderland, it was time to head home! Until next time!🙂

Cedar Point - May 20th and 21st, 2025

 From May 19th through May 21st, 2025, my Mom and I did a small road trip through Ohio, visiting Kings Island and Cedar Point!

Cedar Point - Day 1 (May 20th, 2025):

On May 20th and 21st, 2025, my mom and I made our first-ever visit to Cedar Point, "America's Roller Coast"! To start things off, there are two words to describe our two days at Cedar Point: windy and wet! 🤣Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, we made the most of our visit! I managed to eventually get on all the roller coasters (with the exception of the two in Camp Snoopy), including the newer re-imagined addition, Top Thrill 2! The new-for-2025 Siren's Curse was still testing during our visit.

For those who don't know, Cedar Point is located on a peninsula in Lake Erie, in Sandusky, Ohio and first opened its gates in 1870. The park has a lot of history from over the past 155 years, and it is interesting to see where old meets new as you venture through the park! With our enjoyable two-day visit at Cedar Point, it is easy to see why people go back, not only for the thrills, but also the life-long memories made at this park located on the shores of Lake Erie!

After a nearly 3 and a half hour drive from Mason to Sandusky, we arrived at Cedar Point just before 12pm. The skies were grey and the wind was howling across the peninsula that Cedar Point has called home for the past 155 years.

Despite the gusty winds, I was excited to finally be at Cedar Point to ride their line-up of roller coasters!

While walking through the parking lot, I kept capturing photos of the park!

Near the entrance are these artificial topiary of Peanuts characters. It was a neat touch! 

At this moment, it felt a bit surreal being at an amusement park such as Cedar Point that I've heard about, read about, and looked at photos/videos of over the past two decades! Having a legacy Six Flags Membership with the all park passport made it easy to decide that 2025 was the year to visit Cedar Point than ever before, cutting costs down significantly as I didn't need to pay additionally for admission or parking! Sometimes mergers as such work in our favour! 😉 

Once through the front gate, we were greeted by this lovely Cedar Point marquee on the main midway.

With it being very windy, I just knew I had to quickly make my way over to Top Thrill 2, my first ride of the day!

Along the way, I captured many photos of the main midway.

I was excited to see Top Thrill 2 operating in strong winds as we made our way through the park!

While I was navigating towards the tallest roller coaster at Cedar Point, I was happy to finally see this iconic view of Cedar Point in-person, with the walkway going under the Corkscrew roller coaster.

Off to the far side of the pathway was Siren's Curse, Cedar Point's new-for-2025 Vekoma Tilt Coaster. It was testing during both of our days at the park.

It was quite exciting to see the vertical swing launch spike of Top Thrill 2 towering over the midway at 420 feet tall!

It was cool walking under Corkscrew as a train navigated the corkscrew inversions. Corkscrew was manufactured by Arrow Development and has been operating at Cedar Point since 1976.

The time had come to finally ride Top Thrill 2! I handed all my loose articles off to my mom who waited in the grandstand along the track, as I quickly got in line. To my surprise, the queue for Top Thrill 2 was just under 30 minutes long, which was great in my opinion!

What an insane ride Top Thrill 2 was! I was fortunate enough to have my first ride on Top Thrill 2 in the back seat of the train! Having a seat in the back row allowed me to experience the abundance of airtime experienced on the 420 foot tall vertical spike that the train navigates as it launches forward then backwards before being launched again over the 420 foot tall top hat element! While I never got to experience this roller coaster in its original form as Top Thrill Dragster, the spirit of Top Thrill Dragster lives on in the re-imagined Top Thrill 2, reusing Top Thrill Dragster's iconic top hat element.

On a side note, it was also great on a personal level to experience this roller coaster as I had experienced its now defunct relative Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure a few times which was built approximately 30 feet taller! Intamin sure knew how to build two thrilling roller coasters over twenty years ago! Luckily Top Thrill 2 continues to live on thanks to the ingenuity of Zamperla who redesigned Top Thrill Dragster for the 2024 season! Well done!

Here's my on-ride photo. I am pictured in the back seat of the train as we sped through the launch! Once we went backward up the vertical spike, I raised my hands up to experience the insane amount of airtime! 😁

Here's a view of Top Thrill 2 from the grandstands.

The vertical spike is something else!

The Top hat element on Top Thrill 2 is really fun too as it gives you a quick view of the surrounding area before plummeting down a spiraled drop!

Due to strong winds on Tuesday, Gemini was closed.

As was Magnum XL-200. I would ride both the following day.

Here's a skyward look of the structure holding up the 420 foot top hat element of Top Thrill 2!

After an awesomely insane ride on Top Thrill 2, I took a ride on the classic Corkscrew followed by a spin on the classic Monster, an Eyerly Monster ride. Cedar Point's version is coloured ever so vibrantly!

Here's a look at the Cedar Point 2025 park map. it is crazy to think how much is squeezed onto the peninsula!

Continuing on, we headed to Frontier Town.

Here's a look toward the Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Skyhawk.

Up next for me was a ride on Steel Vengeance, an RMC coaster that opened in 2018!

Steel Vengeance was originally a giant wooden roller coaster known as Mean Streak from 1991 through 2016. In 2017, it was announced that Mean Streak would be converted to become Steel Vengeance, the first hybrid hyper coaster standing 205 feet tall. Pictured is the 205 foot tall 90° drop!

Since 2018, Steel Vengeance has been hurtling visitors of Cedar Point through its 4 inversions along 5,740 feet of track!

Steel Vengeance provided a wild ride in the back seat, making it one of my favourite RMC coasters! And yes, just like all the other RMC coasters I have been on, I rode with my hands up the entire ride as the airtime is over-the-top!

Diving and weaving through the massive wooden structure of Steel Vengeance was wild!

After a wild ride on Steel Vengeance, I joined my mom on a relaxing ride on the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad.

Here is a look at one of the beautiful locomotive engines.

The CP and LE Railroad takes you through the fictional western community of Bone Ville. The residents come to life as you pass through.

It isn't a western town without shoot outs! The popping of the guns startled my mom and I at first! 😂

Bone Ville also has a saw mill!

One of the residents was fishing.

While riding the CP and LE Railroad, you pass by other rides, including the Cedar Creek Mine Ride.

Many residents of Bone Ville were up to crazy antics!

The residents of Bone Ville sure are protective of their properties!

Some like to slack off on the job!

This musical band was quite neat!

The coolest scene along the journey is the hotel and saloon on fire!

Here's my mom and I enjoying our journey on the CP and LE Railroad.

Throughout the day, Siren's Curse was going through many testing phases.

Afterwards, we ventured through The Boardwalk section of Cedar Point. It is a lovely section along the shore of Lake Erie with many classic rides, paying homage to the park's past.

After having a bite to eat, I would return to The Boardwalk to ride the Troika, Calypso, and Wild Mouse.

The rides on The Boardwalk have very vibrant colour schemes!

For lunch I had nacho chili fries from the Hot Potato location near Raptor! They were very good!

After eating, I rode the classic Troika, Calypso, and Wild Mouse. The Wild Mouse is a Zamperla custom spinning wild mouse coaster that opened in 2023. The banked curves and drops make it fun for all!

Each car is themed to one of six mice featured at the entrance of the roller coaster.

As it was a windy day, the seagulls were nestled comfortably on the roofs of the buildings throughout the park.

On my way to Valravn, I captured this photo of the Cadillac Cars antique car ride. It is very scenic.

Valravn is a dive coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard that opened at Cedar Point in 2016. It features three inversions within its 3,415 feet of track. When it opened, Valravn claimed the title of World's tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster in the World. Three years later, Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland claimed these titles, while tying for the tallest dive coaster at 230 feet tall. It was a fun dive coaster, despite having to shield my face from the rain!

Here's a look at the train on the tilt track on Siren's Curse!

Rougarou opened later in the day. I took up a ride on this floorless coaster! Rougarou originally opened in 1996 as Mantis, a stand-up roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard. For 2015, it was converted to a sit-down floorless coaster to make it a more comfortable riding experience.

I thought Rougarou was a rather smooth floorless coaster with a forceful layout featuring 4 inversions, including a large 119 foot tall vertical loop to start things off!

Here is one of the trains on Siren's Curse navigating the twisted track.

The dive loop element on Rougarou pushes you into your seat!

It started to rain, so my mom and I boarded the CP and LE Railroad again, this time catching it near Millennium Force.

Here is a look at Millennium Force's 300 foot lift hill from the CP and LE Railroad.

You can get great views of Maverick while riding the train.

I unfortunately wouldn't get to ride Maverick until the next day as it went down for the rest of the day when I got in line.

Instead I rode the classic Cedar Creek Mine Ride.

Due to low crowds, it was operating with one train, which was okay as the wait was minimal.

The Cedar Creek Mine Ride is a mine train manufactured by Arrow Development that opened at Cedar Point in 1969. It features banked turns, small drops, and a few head chopper moments throughout the ride!

My second last ride of the day was on Millennium Force!

To celebrate the arrival of a new millennium in 2000, Cedar Point debuted this massive 310 foot tall Giga Coaster manufactured by Intamin!

I was lucky to get a back seat ride to really experience the force of Millennium Force! It is filled with many airtime moments along its 6,595 feet of track as the train hurtles at speeds up to 93 mph (149.6 km/h)! It started to rain while I was riding Millennium Force, so the rain felt like hail at those speeds! I had my hands up the whole ride to not only experience the airtime, but to also shield my face from the rain!😂

The park was quite damp and dreary as closing time approached.

To finish off my first day at Cedar Point, I took a ride on Blue Streak, Cedar Point's PTC out-and-back wooden roller coaster.

Blue Streak is currently the oldest operating roller coaster at Cedar Point as it opened in 1964. It was surprisingly smooth with a great amount of airtime!

The Main Midway is quite beautiful with its large flowerbed.

Here is my mom and I after a great first day at Cedar Point! Continue on to our second day at Cedar Point! 🙂

Cedar Point - Day 2 (May 21st, 2025):

Our second day (May 21st) at Cedar Point was less windy than our first day! It started out slightly overcast, with the sun peeking out from behind the clouds at times, causing the mayflies to swarm at some rides! 🤣 During the afternoon, the rain came down hard, causing most rides to go down for an extended time until it passed! I managed to get on the remaining rides and roller coasters I did not ride the previous day! 

It was another great day at Cedar Point! Be sure to check out the photos below! 🙂🎢

Our second day at Cedar Point started out with a slight breeze and no rain.

To our surprise, there was early ride time for pass holders, so I took up on the offer!

From 9am to 10am, I took a ride on the Ocean Motion, Gate Keeper, and Cadillac Cars. Ocean Motion is a Huss Pirate ship that provides a decent amount of airtime!

GateKeeper is a Bolliger and Mabillard Wing Coaster that opened at Cedar Point in 2013. This was my second Wing Coaster roller coaster. It was quite comparable to X-Flight at Six Flags Great America, which I rode nearly two years ago.

The water on Lake Erie was much calmer than the day before!

The highlight of GateKeeper is the two key hole elements positioned directly over the front gate! These elements make you feel as if you're going to hit your feet as you pass through!

With there being only a slight breeze, the Sky Ride was operational for most of the day.

While walking along the Main Midway, I captured some photos of the rare Cedar Downs Racing Derby ride. 

It unfortunately wasn't open during our two days at Cedar Point. 

As you can tell, there was some maintenance on the Cedar Down Racing Derby. I hope to experience this ride one day! 

The Cadillac Cars was another ride open for early ride time. It is a relaxing antique car ride manufactured by Arrow Development, operating at the park since 1958. 

Here's my mom and I just before getting off the Cadillac Cars antique car ride. 

From one relaxing ride to the next, I boarded the Sky Ride. 

This Von Roll Sky ride has been operating at Cedar Point since 1962. 

It travels along the entirety of the Main Midway, featuring two stations, one at each end of the ride. 

The Sky Ride goes 92 feet above the midway, providing great views of the park from one of its 4-passenger gondolas. 

My mom isn't a fan of heights, so she walked along the path. 

Here is Valravn. 

Here is a view of the Wild Mouse. 

The Sky Ride is a quite scenic ride. 

The Giant Wheel stands tall over the Boardwalk. 

You can get a great view of the loop on Raptor from the Sky Ride. 

Here's one of the airtime hills on Gatekeeper as seen from the Sky Ride. 

The Sky Ride lines up with the keyhole element on GateKeeper. 

After the Sky Ride, I took to the skies on Raptor, a B&M Inverted coaster that opened in 1994. It provided a thrilling and forceful ride with its six inversions! 

After a thrilling ride on Raptor, I got back on the Sky Ride to go ride Iron Dragon. 

The loop on Raptor stands high above the ground! 

Here's another look at Valravn. 

The first drop on Valravn is quite fun as you hang there momentarily before diving into the Immelmann inversion below! 

Valravn is quite photogenic! 

The Corkscrew is also photogenic, especially the corkscrew elements! After the first drop, Corkscrew features an awkward airtime hill followed by a vertical loop, and the two corkscrew inversions. 

Magnum XL-200 was operating during our second day. I would get a ride on it shortly after. 

But first, I rode Iron Dragon, an Arrow Dynamics Suspended Coaster that opened in 1987. 

Iron Dragon is a fun, but not overly thrilling Suspended Coaster. If a suspended mine train coaster existed, Iron Dragon would be it. 

You do get some swinging on the turns, but it having two lift hills kind of ruins the momentum of the ride. I guess I am spoiled by Vortex at Canada's Wonderland! 

After I rode Iron Dragon, we ventured through the back half of Frontier Town. 

It is a very beautiful section featuring many old-styled buildings. 

The fort structure was really cool! 

Frontier Town is also home to a petting zoo named The Barnyard. 

In the Frontier section is Professor Delbert on his flying machine. I wasn't aware he was an animatronic, so it caught me by surprise when he began to pedal, causing the wings to move! A SkyCoaster and a water ride named Snake River Falls were removed recently from this area of Frontier Town, making it rather quiet. 

The steam powered tractor was a nice touch to the theming! 

This water wheel was a nice touch, too! 

Maverick continued to be down due to technical issues in the late morning. 

Maverick's trains sat idle waiting to run again. 

The sun peeked through the clouds again as were were leaving Frontier Town. 

Top Thrill 2 was thrilling parkgoers throughout the morning. 

The Gemini midway was bustling with excitement! 

Here's a glimpse at Wilderness Run, Intamin's first roller coaster! Wilderness Run originally opened as Jr. Gemini in 1979, being renamed Wilderness Run in 2014. 

Gemini was testing throughout the morning, opening for the day at 12pm. 

It was time for me to ride Magnum XL-200. This roller coaster coasters holds a huge significance in the amusement park industry as it was the World's first Hyper Coaster, breaking the 200 foot barrier with a height of 205 feet when it debuted in 1989. 

Magnum XL-200 was manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. It held the title of the World's tallest roller coaster until the Big One was built at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1994. 

Magnum XL-200 features a track length of 5,106 feet that stretches along the back edge of the park, featuring many airtime hills, turnaround, and three tunnels! I really enjoyed Magnum XL-200 as I rode it in the last car of the train, getting pulled through the layout. I found it to be quite enjoyable and appreciated it for what it is!

Afterwards, I took a spin on The Monster and Lake Erie Flyers while waiting for Gemini to open for the day. 

Here's another glimpse at Wilderness Run. The other coaster in Camp Snoopy is Woodstock Express, a Vekoma family coaster. It is crazy to think what roller coasters Intamin built in the following decades after building Wilderness Run, their first roller coaster!

Gemini finally opened for the day just shortly after 12pm. It was not racing during my visit, but that did not ruin the experience of this fun custom steel-hybrid Arrow coaster. Gemini debuted in 1978 and features two tracks side by side, both with a length of 3,935 feet and a height of 125 feet. The glass dome architecture on the station was neat. The only downside to my ride on Gemini was how many mayflies hung around the ride, swarming the train as we went around the track! It was a ride filled with tons of swatting and keeping your mouth closed! 🤣

After a 'buggy' ride on Gemini, I arrived to Maverick just as it was opening after being down throughout the morning and last night! I got on almost instantly, with little to no wait! Maverick may not be tall, but it is all about the launches, the disorienting diving and weaving track with two inversions snuck into its layout! It is a fast ride with an interesting loading system with two trains loading in the station at one time. I can definitely see why Maverick is a favourite among many since its debut in 2007! It is now one of my favourite launch coasters!

As it started to rain again, I took a ride on Skyhawk, Cedar Point's S&S Screamin' Swing ride. I love the amount of airtime these rides produce!

After a thrilling ride of Skyhawk, I had lunch at the Farmhouse Kitchen and Grill in Frontier Town. I got the garlic and herb grilled chicken, with a side of broccoli casserole, and a biscuit. While it was a tasty meal, the flavouring of the chicken was a bit weak for my liking. The broccoli casserole was very good and the biscuit wasn't dry. I was also intrigued to see it served on a tin foil plate, making it easier to carry as a paper plate can fold under weight of food.

While I ate my meal at the Farmhouse Kitchen and Grill, it drizzled on and off. Guests were enjoying a rainy ride on the Wave Swinger, a ride which I would take later in the day.

It really began to pour as we were leaving Frontier Town, so my mom and I stepped into the Build A Bear Workshop to seek shelter from the downpour. It lasted for over 20 minutes! 

Once it let up, we ventured to the front of the park to ride one of only operating rides, the Midway Carousel. 

Here we are on the Midway Carousel. 

The Midway Carousel was built by Daniel Muller and dates back to 1912, featuring 60 horses and four chariots. It has been operating at Cedar Point since 1946. It is a beautiful piece! 

As the rain continued to dissipate, the other rides began to open up again. 

With the dissipation of rain, came some dense fog! 

You can hardly see the top of Power Tower and Top Thrill 2 through the fog in this photo! 

It was really cool to see Top Thrill 2 and Power Tower hiding in the fog! 

I was getting in line for Power Tower when it went down due to lightning in the area. I did manage to get on it a couple hours later. Power Tower was manufactured by S&S and opened at Cedar Point in 1998. It stands around 240 feet tall, with two towers that launch riders upwards and two towers that blast riders downwards. I managed to ride both types! 

Here is a view of Iron Dragon maneuvering along its track. 

More testing of Siren's Curse continued throughout the day, even in the rain! 

We decided to take a round trip ride on the CP and LE Railroad before I took a rain-free ride on Millennium Force. 

While I love high thrill rides, I do greatly appreciate train rides such as the CP and LE Railroad! 

Here's one of the airtime hills on Maverick! 

Some blue sky began to appear from behind the clouds! Although it wouldn't last for long! 

That's one bad fire! It's been blazing for ages!😜 

It was time for my rain-free ride on Millennium Force! As I got in line, it went down for a little while. I waited it out and got one great ride in the back seat yet again! It was a perfect redemption ride, so to speak as i could see where I was going! 

The rain didn't stay away for too long! It began to pour just as I was riding the Atomic Scrambler in The Boardwalk section of the park. 

I then rode the neighbouring Matterhorn to escape the rain! The rain let up just enough for me to finish my visit to Cedar Point with a ride on MaxAir, the park's Huss Giant Frisbee! 

After a fun time at Cedar Point, it was time to head out for the evening! We greatly enjoyed our two days at Cedar Point despite the cooler, wet weather!

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Dairy Queen for some burgers. To my surprise, we were able to use our legacy Six Flags season passes for a discounted meal as Cedar Point is a franchisee of the Dairy Queen just off the causeway! How cool is that?

That is all for our first-ever visit to Cedar Point. I hope you enjoyed the photos I captured of our two day visit at the park! 🙂🎢