Canada's Wonderland - May 9th, 2025

 May 9th marked my first visit to Canada's Wonderland of the 2025 season! My brother Scott and our mom tagged along for the day.

It was a great weather day with sunny skies and a high of 17°C. Low crowd levels allowed me to get on 17 different rides during my visit! In between rides, I was able to capture many photos of AlpenFury under construction and all the new features and upgrades found around the park that were completed during the off-season. I also ran into Toronto Ty of Wonderland Weekly while at the park, taking a spin on The Fly together during the afternoon.

Overall, it was a great first visit of the season and I look forward to many more visits this season, especially once AlpenFury debuts this season! Enjoy my photos! 🙂

We arrived at the park around 9:25am, 35 minutes before the rides opened for the day. From the parking lot, you could see AlpenFury being worked on as it is still under construction.

The inside top-hat inversion and the Skyflyer loop can be seen from the parking lot, with the rest of AlpenFury staying closer to the ground. AlpenFury is expected to open in late-Spring.

It was great to be back after being away from the park for four months. Thankfully Winterfest shortens the off-season by a few months!

Here's another look at the Skyflyer loop on AlpenFury as seen from International Street.

AlpenFury's inside top hat inversion that emerges from Wonder Mountain almost blends in with the blue sky, not overly taking away the beauty of Wonder Mountain.

Here's another look at the first inversion of AlpenFury peeking through the peaks of Wonder Mountain.

It is still kind of surreal to see AlpenFury twist its way behind International Street through Grande World Exposition of 1890, turning around where Xtreme Skyflyer once stood.

There is still a bit of track that needs to be installed before AlpenFury begins testing!

It's neat how it all intertwines with the surrounding roller coasters that call Wonder Mountain home!

Just look how close you will be to Wonder Mountain's Guardian when you blast through the inside top hat inversion on AlpenFury!

I was expecting the inside top hat element to be closer to Vortex, but that's okay!

Speaking of Vortex, our first ride of the day was on Vortex! It is still provides a thrilling ride!

Here is a look at AlpenFury's brake run and station that sits high above the newly renamed Alpenfest section of the park.

With the introduction of AlpenFest, many of the existing structures within the former International Festival received an upgrade to their looks, making them fit in with the Alpen theme.

It is said that the former high striker building will be the entrance to AlpenFury! I am glad to see the park keep some of the old International Festival architecture.

Here is a look at the clearance envelop machine that will help ensure a safe ride on AlpenFury. You definitely don't want too close of a clearance on this high speed launched roller coaster!

During the off-season, the queue for Shockwave was shortened and rerouted with the introduction of AlpenFury. I am actually kind of glad to see the entrance to the queue off of the main pathway now. it will help with congestion!

Our second ride of the day was on The Bat! It rode very well in the coolness of the morning!

Another update made during the off-season is the enclosure of Kings Feast in Medieval Faire. It is set to reopen soon!

Up next was a ride on Drop Tower. I never get tired of free falling! Due to the wind, it was operating with four out of five gondolas.

Afterwards we joined the queue for Leviathan. it only had a 25 minute early in the day!

Here's a look at AlpenFury's top hat inversion from Medieval Faire.

During the off-season, Spinovator was refurbished, giving it a new platform and an updated colour scheme, making it really stand out. I am happy to see the park continuing to take care of their classic rides, such as Spinovator!

For lunch I swung by the Lazy Bear Lodge. While the hickory smoked chicken and smashed potatoes were good, the small ciabatta bun was hard as a rock. Hopefully they resolve this or reintroduce the potato roll buns they had last year.

After lunch at Lazy Bear Lodge, we ventured to Action Zone and Grande World Exposition of 1890 to see what had changed. It looks like the Subway location in Action Zone is gone. I wonder what will replace it.

It looks like a new bar will open up across from Psyclone and Sledge Hammer.

Sledge Hammer was running well throughout the day, with minor downtime.

After Sledge Hammer, we took a ride on Behemoth. With no surprise, it is still a great airtime filled machine!

While at Behemoth, I captured a photo of the new Fast Lane machine placed outside the ride. I believe similar machines have been placed outside of Leviathan and Yukon Striker too.

As it was announced a while ago that Time Warp was removed. I just had to see the plot of land for myself, where Time Warp operated for the past 20 years.

The queue and station are all that remain of Canada's first flying roller coaster. Here's hoping we get a worthy replacement soon! It was interesting to see how quiet Grande World Expo is with the removal of Time Warp! 🤣

I decided to ride Flight Deck, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year! It rode decently during my visit as I was able to get my shoulder restraint firmly closed, reducing the lower body shuffle that can occur!

While it may not be the greatest to ride, Flight Deck is very photogenic!

Mighty Canadian Minebuster remains closed as it continues to receive a ton of retracking completed by Gravity Group! Hopefully it reopens in June!

Here's a look at some of the new track on the first drop. There is also a ton of new track on the return run on Mighty Canadian Minebuster! It is an exciting and much needed refurbishment!

While passing through Frontier Canada, Scott and I joined a short Yukon Striker line. During the off-season, the larger bins were removed from Yukon Striker, making people with large bags pay for lockers in order to ride Yukon Striker. The large bins were replaced with new, smaller bins with small shelves.

My camera bag just fit in the new bins at Yukon Striker. For reference, my camera bag is approximately 8" length by 5.5" width. The new bins cannot accommodate large bags, so be sure to pack lightly when wanting to ride Yukon Striker this year!

After Yukon Striker, I rode Tundra Twister. While riding Tundra Twister, I spotted Toronto Ty in line, so I hung around after the ride to chat with him.

AlpenFury's top hat inversion sure looks massive and is quiet visible from the path along Yukon Striker!

After chatting with Toronto Ty, Scott and I headed to Planet Snoopy to hopefully catch a ride on Ghoster Coaster and Snoopy's Racing Railway. Unfortunately Ghoster Coaster went down as we approached it, but luckily Snoopy's Racing Railway was up and running! It was fun as usual!

On our way back from Planet Snoopy, I took a ride on Shockwave. While it was operating with a thrilling ride cycle, it just didn't feel the same as last year all the trees were removed. This year, AlpenFury's station and gift shop now stand behind Shockwave.

AlpenFury's station is quite large. It'll look amazing once completed!

After a ride on Thunder Run, Scott and I came across Toronto Ty again, so we all rode The Fly together while discussing AlpenFury construction updates.

Here's a look at AlpenFury's station under construction from the entrance to The Fly.

AlpenFury's track also runs along the backside of Wonder Mountain.

And alongside International Showplace too!

Another bar was added across from the Pizza Pizza on International Street. How many more new bars will we see pop up around the park?🤣

The track for AlpenFury over the globe in Grande World Expo has yet top be set in place.

My second meal of the day was at Grande World Eatery. I ordered ginger beef with a side of green beans. The ginger beef was quite flavourful and the green bean salad was nice too!

After the meal, Scott and I rode Swing of the Century. I then took a ride on Backlot Stunt Coaster, which is celebrating 20 years of operation in 2025.

While Backlot Stunt Coaster had a bit of a wait (25-ish minutes), the wait was worth it as it provided a great riding experience this visit. Sometimes it can be a bit jarring on the turns and brakes, but not today!

After eight hours of fun, we decided it was time to head home! It was a great first visit of the season! Thanks for checking out my photos! 🙂