Canadian National Exhibition - August 25th, 2026

August 25th was a great day to make my annual visit to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto!

Lately, it has been quite rainy, so it was nice to have a day off from work to visit the CNE in Toronto on a day with a slight breeze and plenty of sunshine. During my visit, I got to ride many of the classic rides that make their way to the CNE each year and even rode the two new rides on the midway in 2026, the Super Miami and Downdraft! 

My mom came along for the outing and had a great time taking in the atmosphere and excitement of the CNE. We also saw the new dive show, which was really fun to watch! Be sure to check out the photos from our day at the CNE! 🙂

It was a beautiful day to be at the CNE as the skies were quite sunny!

We arrived just after 10:30am, so it gave me time to redeem my ride wristband before they opened at 11am.

The Sky Ride opens before the other rides, so I took it for a relaxing ride to see how the midway was laid out this year.

The other rides were testing as I rode along the Sky Ride.

One of the new rides at the CNE for 2026 is the Super Miami. It is placed along the back of the midway, where the Remix usually operates.

The Remix was brought to the front of the midway where the X-Drive operated for the past three years. Sadly, North American Midway did not bring X-Drive to the CNE this year. Hopefully it makes a return next year as it is an amazingly insane ride!

The skies were quite clear, allowing riders to get a good view of the CN Tower.

The Swing Tower received a fresh coat of paint over the past year, making it look very new and eye-catching!

Here I am taking a ride on the Sky Ride!

After a journey on the Sky Ride, things were about to get crazy with a ride on the Crazy Mouse! It's hard to believe that the Crazy Mouse is celebrating 20 years of fun in 2026! The cars had a shiny new coat of paint!

From one Zamperla manufactured ride to the next, here's a look up the recently repainted Swing Tower!

I then took a 130 foot freefall on Mega Drop!

Once back on the ground, I rode the new-for-2026 Super Miami.

It is a Super Miami ride model manufactured by Technical Park of Italy. It provides a fun experience of spin tingling airtime as you get tossed around both clockwise and counterclockwise. This is the first time in over 15 years that a ride like that has been on the midway at the CNE!

Here's a sunny view of the Wave Swinger. I would take a spin on it later in the afternoon.

Up next was a ride on Niagara Falls! This log flume is a staple at the CNE and provides riders with a refreshing ride!

For lunch, my mom and I headed over to the Food Building. She had $1.99 spaghetti from the Primo booth, while I had a chicken bacon sandwich from Philthy Philly's. It was very delicious as it had garlic aioli sauce on it!

For dessert, I went to D-Spot. I ordered a Belgian waffle with strawberry ice cream and berry blaze sauce. D-Spot never disappoints! 😋

After lunch we checked out The Midway Exhibit in the Music Building (Entrance across from the Fire Station).

It featured many CNE pieces and artifacts, such as this antique carousel horse.

We then walked over to the Withrow Common featuring Common Threads: An Exhibit of Quilts, Craft, & Community this year.

There were many large quilts on display of various designs from different years.

I then got back onto the Sky Ride.

The midway was bustling with excitement on this beautiful day!

Thankfully the temperatures weren't too warm as the asphalt on the midway can reflect quite a bit of heat.

I then took a spin on the classic Polar Express!

After a fast spin on the Polar Express, I took a slide on the Euroslide!

It provides quite a view of the midway from its tall platform.

I then took a ride on the Haunted Mansion. I've always  loved the decor, but the ride could use a refurbishment.

Further down the midway from the Haunted Mansion is the Downdraft, the other new ride on the midway! These floorless models are so much fun! It replaced the Hurricane that Campbell Amusements owned for many years. Campbell Amusements brings some rides to the CNE every year to help fill in the midway.

I then went head over heels on the Ring of Fire.

Afterwards, i took a spin on the classic Wave Swinger. It is not only fun to ride, but also to photograph!

The Cuckoo Haus should also be up for a refurbishment as none of the features inside worked, with the exception of the spinning barrel!

I then walked through the Rock & Roll Space Station. This fun house received its new theme last year, but the features inside remain mostly non-functioning.

The midway got quite busy during the afternoon.

At 3:30pm, my mom and I walked down to the Princes' Gate to catch the new show, The Big Dip High Dive Show presented by Pizza Pizza.

The show featured seven talented high divers performing many different dives into a 10 foot deep pool!

Some of the flips were very impressive!

They're quite a talented bunch!

The second half of the show featured comedic dives as the performers were dressed as clowns!

The finale featured a dive from the 80 foot high platform!

It ended with quite a splash as the diver landed in the pool below! It was a great show!

Once back on the midway, I played a round of skee ball for $2.

While I didn't win a prize, I did quite good by scoring 150 points with six balls.

After a round of skee ball, I took a ride on the Scrambler.

I then took another ride on Mega Drop.

I then soared into the skies on the Swing Tower one last time!

We then walked along the midway where we saw this stilt walker.

With an early start at work the next day, it was time to head home in the early evening! It was a great day of fun at the CNE! Until next year! 🙂

Below is an off-ride video of the new-for-2026 Super Miami!