Showing posts with label Sledge Hammer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sledge Hammer. Show all posts

Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Canada's Wonderland - August 25th, 2025

On August 25th, I made my eighth visit of the season to Canada's Wonderland. This time I went by myself and was able to get on a handful of rides despite the park being very busy! It rained a couple times during the afternoon, but that didn't ruin my final weekday visit of the 2025 season as I went prepared. I'm looking forward to Fall weekend visits, which will be coming very soon!

Be sure to enjoy the photos from today's visit! ๐Ÿ™‚


I arrived to the park on this cooler, late-August day at 9:30am. As soon as the gates opened, I was off to AlpenFury.

On my way over to AlpenFury, I noticed work was being done on the former slap shot hockey game structure location across from Thunder Run. It looks like it might be transformed into another game.

Unfortunately AlpenFury started off with an hour long delay. On a positive note, my wait was only an hour and 30 minutes, the shortest I have waited so far! If it wasn't for the delay, it would have only been 30 minutes! This visit marked my fifth ride on AlpenFury since its debut in July.

After an exhilarating ride on AlpenFury, I took a ride on Shockwave! This cycle had many flips, which is always fun! One thing I noticed is as of recently, the gondolas don't park back in the position they started at as they normally do. I guess there was a tweak in the programing?

Afterwards, I ventured over to Lazy Bear Lodge for my first meal of the day. The smoked chicken and chili lime corn were all good. The only thing that wasn't good was the line that had formed inside Lazy Bear Lodge just before noon!

After lunch, I went over to White Water Canyon which had an under 20-minute wait due to the cooler weather. This was one of the shortest waits of the day!

After a slightly soaking ride on White Water Canyon, I went over to ride Tundra Twister. While in line, it began to rain for a short time. Luckily the queue for Tundra Twister is mostly covered.

Here's a look next to Splash Works of the Halloween Haunt props getting staged to be set up over the next month!

Up next was a ride on Psyclone. It began to rain again while I was in line, but stopped just before I got on!

Here's a look at one of the hanging baskets placed in front of Wonder Mountain on the bridge on International Street.

The sun came back out as I rode Spinovator!

Up next was a ride on Leviathan! It had about a 65 minute wait!

After a ride on Leviathan, I swung by the Cookie Cafe to have another broken cookie ice cream sundae. This time there was tons of cookie pieces in it! This and the blue ice cream are my favourite items from Cookie Cafe!

As of recently, Sledge Hammer has been opening at 4pm. I managed to get on it just after 4:30pm!

My final ride of the day was on the Antique Carousel.

Before I headed out, I got my second meal of the day from Aprรจs Poutinerie in AlpenFest. It was a decent poutine with lots of gravy and cheese curds with crispy fresh cut fries.

After a fun but busy day at Canada's Wonderland, it was time to head out. Until next time! ๐Ÿ™‚


Sunday, 29 October 2023

Canada's Wonderland - October 28th, 2023

 That's a wrap! On Saturday, October 28th, I made my final visit to Canada's Wonderland for the 2023 season, making it my 10th visit of the year!

The day started out quite chilly due to strong winds, but warmed up nicely as the sun shined throughout the day, which was really nice considering how other final regular operating weekends have been in the past. The sunshine also made the remaining Fall foliage standout, allowing for many great photo opportunities! The park was a little busier than I had anticipated, but I still managed to get on many final rides for the year!

Be sure to check out my photos of my final visit to Canada's Wonderland for the 2023 season!


The last of the fall foliage was quite beautiful as I arrived at the park before opening time on this late-October day.

The weeping willows that line International Street have even yellowed since my last visit to the park two weeks ago.

The morning sun was making the corn stocks used on various displays throughout the park really stand out.

Behemoth wasn't the only thing that was orange at the park today.

The tree in front of Vortex was really vibrant as the sunlight hit it!

After getting on Behemoth, Yukon Striker, Sledge Hammer, Psyclone, Time Warp, and Flight Deck all within the first hour, I then went to Shockwave. It was operating well, but not quite as insane as it was throughout the season.

So many photo opportunities today as the sun was shining brightly!

I just love this time of year! The remaining foliage was really standing out on today's visit.

Wooden roller coasters and Fall foliage go hand in hand. Don't you agree?

Today Tundra Twister was giving some interesting hangtime when it swung over the top today. It made the ride experience feel a bit more intense than usual.

Twisting around over 150 feet above the ground has been quite fun this year! Tundra Twister was a fun addition to the park for this year and one that was highly re-ridable! Maybe next year we'll see more head dives on Tundra Twister like we had seen earlier this season.

In the early afternoon, I went through the daytime versions of Spirit Manor and Cornstalkers like I had a few weeks ago. Unlike a few weeks ago, the leaves from the trees around White Water Canyon and area had fallen off, blanketing the ground with beautiful tones of yellows and oranges.

Yukon Striker can also now be seen during the daytime version of Cornstalkers. Speaking of Yukon Striker, it felt very forceful during this visit!

Since it is the final weekend for regular operations at Canada's Wonderland, it also means that events such as Camp Spooky and Halloween Haunt will be wrapping up on Sunday. The nice weather saw a lot of children dressed up descend on Planet Snoopy and Kidzville for the Camp Spooky event.

It was a nice day to be riding thrill rides and roller coasters, including Wilde Beast which is pictured here.

The Fall foliage and sunshine make for some awesome photos!

I just love visiting amusement parks this time of year!

Two visits ago I had the Toxic (green) Ice Cream from the Cookie Cafe. Well today I had tried the other Halloween Haunt inspired ice cream flavour Caramel Apple. Thankfully it wasn't too sweet and was really good!

Here is Swing of the Century doing its thing surrounded by some beautiful Fall foliage.

Fall foliage, blue skies, and wispy clouds also make for quite the photo!

Some of the trees still had some vibrant red leaves on them.

Including this tree located in front of Backlot Cafe.

I know I keep going on about the Fall foliage, but I just love it!

While I was in line for my second ride on Tundra Twister for the day, I captured this photo of one of Yukon Striker's trains passing through the zero-g winder inversion.

My final ride of the day and season was a second round on Sledge Hammer! What a way to end off a great season at Canada's Wonderland and to commemorate Sledge Hammer's 20th anniversary!

The leaves on the trees near Flight Deck were also standing out today.

Here I am taking one final photo of myself before heading out for the day until next year!

Overall, the 2023 season at Canada's Wonderland was a great one! This year I enjoyed riding the all-new Tundra Twister, finally gaining the courage to ride Xtreme Skyflyer, and once again hanging out with some friends who share an enjoyment and passion for amusement parks!

One thing I would like to see improved for next year is the level of customer service provided at Canada's Wonderland as it wasn't as great as it has been in previous years.


I'll see you next year, Canada's Wonderland! Thanks once again for a great and thrilling 2023 season! :-)

Thursday, 31 August 2023

Canada's Wonderland - August 29th, 2023

 On Tuesday, August 29th I spent a whole day at Canada's Wonderland, hanging out with Amadeo and his friends Arianna and Daniel throughout the afternoon through closing time. We ended our day with a night ride on Behemoth! While it was really busy at the park, it was amazing hanging out with them on my 7th visit of the season! I hope to do it again sooner, rather than waiting a whole year!

Be sure to check out my photos of our great time at Canada's Wonderland! 

The morning was bright and sunny when I arrived at the park shortly after 9:30am.

Once the ropes dropped at 10am, I headed over to Yukon Striker for my first ride of the day.

After a ride on Yukon Striker, I went over to Behemoth as Tundra Twister wasn't quite ready for the day. After a ride on Behemoth I saw people on Tundra Twister, so I got in line for Tundra Twister. Once in line the ride temporarily goes down and cycled empty. I managed to get this nice shot while waiting for Tundra Twister to reopen.

After a ride on Tundra Twister, I ventured over to International Street to watch the Victoria Falls High Divers show at Wonder Mountain.

While the performance is relatively the same every year, it is still cool to see divers jump off of the top of Victoria Falls down into the pool below at the base of Wonder Mountain.

You wouldn't catch me up there!

The show always draws a crowd!

If you're going to dive off of Wonder Mountain, going head first is the way to go! ;-)

While waiting for Amadeo and his friends to arrive, I captured a photo of the small shrubs planted around Swing of the Century. They will look nice once they have fully grown.

The flowers planted throughout the park have done really well with all the rain we have received this summer!

Once back in Action Zone I rode Sledge Hammer. It is still hard to believe that this one-of-a-kind ride is 20 years old this year!

Shortly after 1pm, I met up with Amadeo and his friend Arianna on the patio at the Lazy Bear Lodge. The patio offers a really nice view of Yukon Striker and Vortex!

And Tundra Twister, too!

The trains on Vortex just zip on by!

Afterwards we took a ride on Vortex and Shockwave (which is still running insane!), followed by a ride on Drop Tower, where Daniel met up with us to take the 227 foot plunge!

I always enjoy free falling on Drop Tower, especially with my hands up!

Once back on the ground, I headed over to Backlot Cafe for a Chicken Nacho Bowl. I was used to the beef Nacho Bowl, but the chicken one was surprisingly good! Here is a photo of the highly photogenic Flight Deck.

While I was eating at Backlot Cafe, Amadeo, Arianna, and Daniel were in line for Ghoster Coaster. Here's a photo of them I captured from Ghoster Coaster's exit path.

There they are on the fun and classic family wooden coaster. I also enjoy taking it for a ride every once in a while.

Unfortunately for us taller riders, the trains on Ghoster Coaster aren't too kind on the knees. ๐Ÿ˜†

I just love how the evening sun shines on Yukon Striker's track. This was on our way over to ride Sledge Hammer.

That little dip on Yukon Striker is filled with a bit of airtime!

After a fun ride on Sledge Hammer, I captured this photo of the sun setting. it looks as if Yukon Striker's track just heads into the sun!

After another ride on Tundra Twister, we hung out on the Lazy Bear Lodge patio again. There I was able to get some night shots of Tundra Twister in action.

It is quite tricky to capture at night!

Once the sun goes down, some of the rides really come to life!

We finished our night at the park with a ride on Behemoth! It is a great roller coaster to ride in the dark! I was glad to enjoy a night ride on it as it has been quite a while since I had last done that! Just afterwards, it began to lightly rain.

International Street is quite beautiful at night with the Royal Fountain lit up.

Here I am after a day of hanging out with some great people at Canada's Wonderland!

Here are the four of us (from left to right: Amadeo, John (myself), Daniel, and Arianna) before leaving the park just as the rain began to pour down! Thanks to Amadeo for this photo! It was amazing hanging out with you guys! :-)