Canada's Wonderland - July 5th, 2022

 On July 5th, my brother Scott and I had visited Canada's Wonderland. It had been over a month since my last visit to the park with my trip out to Edmonton in June. The day started out rainy, with the skies clearing in the mid-afternoon which allowed us to get on many rides throughout the day!

About an hour into our visit, shortly after 11am we ran into Amadeo, a fellow amusement park enthusiast! We hung out with him for the remainder of the day riding rides and laughing our heads off until well after close with our last ride of the night on Leviathan, which by the way gave an amazing night ride! This was the first time in almost a year since I did a 12+ hour visit to Canada's Wonderland, but it was totally amazing spending it with Amadeo!

Below are some photos from our amazing day at Canada's Wonderland!

Scott and I arrived at 9:30am. It was quite rainy at times in the morning, keeping the ride lines nice and short.

The flowers on International Street sure brightened up the dreary morning.

Before running into Amadeo, Scott and I were able to get on seven rides within the first hour of the park being open, one of those being The Bat!

As you can see in this photo, the park wasn't very busy thanks to the rain!

Celebration Canada is a food and live entertainment event happening in Frontier Canada throughout the month of July.

The new dining facility known as the Lazy Bear Lodge has come a long way since my last visit to the park in early June.

It really does look like a lodge from here!

The flowerbeds around the park are very nicely done.

In the early afternoon we decided to go over to Planet Snoopy and Kidzville to ride Ghoster Coaster and Silver Streak. When riding Silver Streak we got stuck on its brake run right before the station. After a little while, they got the train back into the station. After we got off, they handed us these skip the line passes for rides in Kidzville and Planet Snoopy. I ended up keeping mine as a souvenir.

While in Kidzville, Amadeo was able to get on Taxi Jam! There happened to be an odd-number of children in line for it, so he was able to ride!

Amadeo was also able to get on Jumpin' Jet too! Although it is not nearly as intense as Drop Tower. ;-)

The lights strung up above the pathway in Frontier Canada for the Celebration Canada event made the section really feel complete. It is something the park should keep up all year long.

All the rides were either a walk-on or a short wait throughout the day.

The newly constructed Cookie Café location had opened since my last visit to the park in early June. The sign just looks amazing! The blue ice cream they serve there is great too!

Work on the Lazy Bear Lodge restaurant was being done throughout the day.

The wait before the drop on Yukon Striker is always intense!

You can get a nice view of the back section of the Lazy Bear Lodge from the Timberwolf Falls exit path.

The sun did eventually come out later in the day.

Behemoth looks quite faded. Despite that, it still gives an amazing ride!

Even though it was a rainy start to the day, that didn't stop visitors from enjoying the attractions at Splash Works.

A hands-up experience is a must when riding Behemoth!

Yukon Striker was riding amazingly well during our visit!

A small marching band was performing in Frontier Canada for the Celebration Canada event. I strongly believe that marching bands such as this one should be featured around the park even outside of events. It just adds to the atmosphere of the park!

After a long wait, The Fly had opened for the day long after the rain had passed. It was giving an almost trim-less ride which made the cars zip around the tight hairpin turns!

It is nice to see that the flickering lights originally installed in the lamp posts on International Street for Winterfest are here to stay.

As the sun began to set, we began to get some night rides in.

After getting a ride on Yukon Striker followed by two laps on Mighty Canadian Minebuster, we ventured back over to Medieval Faire to be on the last train of the night on Leviathan. The lights in Frontier Canada for Celebration Canada look quite beautiful!

Windseeker always puts on quite the display at night!

Before our last ride of the night on Leviathan, Amadeo and I squeezed in a night ride on Drop Tower. The view from the top looks quite different at night than it does during the day as the surrounding neighbourhoods are all lit up.

Wilde Knight Mares was spinning strong all day long.

After our night ride on Leviathan, it was time to head home. Here is a look at International Street and the Royal Fountain lit up at night.

Here's Scott and I before heading home for the night.

We sure had an amazing day at Canada's Wonderland! It was great hanging out with Amadeo and riding (and re-riding) as many rides as we could thanks to the somewhat rainy weather! In less than two weeks I'll be heading off to Montreal and visiting La Ronde again for the first time in four years! So stay tuned for photos of that trip! :-)

Galaxyland at West Edmonton Mall - June 20th, 2022

 From June 19th through June 24th I had visited the city of Edmonton, the capital of the Province of Alberta. While there, one of the attractions I had visited was Galaxyland at West Edmonton Mall, which is the largest mall in Canada and the largest or second largest mall in North America depending on which sources you look at. Galaxyland is an indoor amusement park that opened at the West Edmonton Mall in 1985 and features many rides and four roller coasters, including the Autosled, Galaxy Orbiter, Dragon Wagon (kiddie coaster), and the Mindbender which was unfortunately closed due to maintenance during my visit.

Despite the legendary Mindbender being closed, I still greatly enjoyed my time at Galaxyland taking in many repeat rides on the Galaxy Orbiter spinning coaster, the Autosled family coaster, and the Space Shot power tower just to name a few. The photos I took really show how compact Galaxyland is! :-)

After a short bus ride, I arrived at the West Edmonton Mall. What you are looking at is the exterior of Galaxyland! Inside that tower is the Space Shot.

While walking towards the mall entrance, I happened to walk by a bay door that was left open by maintenance workers. It was quite a view for an amusement park enthusiast such as myself!

Here is one of the entrances to Galaxyland. It didn't open until 12pm, so I spent some time walking around the West Edmonton Mall before I redeemed my admission ticket that I had purchased online that morning.

Once Galaxyland opened for the day, I redeemed my admission ticket and headed inside. The first ride I came across was the unfortunately closed Trouble Twist ride. It is a Unicoaster ride manufactured by Chance Rides and lets riders go upside down as it goes around in a circle.

Further along in the park I came across the beautiful Swing of the Century, a Zierer Wave Swinger ride.

It looks quite pristine as it has never faced the elements!

It had some beautiful paintings on its panels, like most Wave Swinger rides do.

While on my way to my first ride of the day, I walked by the Mindbender which was down for on-going maintenance. The Mindbender is a large triple looping roller coaster manufactured by Schwarzkopf of Germany. It's unfortunate that it was still closed during my visit, but it is what it is.

The Mindbender features many steep drops and curves that produce massive amounts of positive g's! I sure hope to experience this legendary coaster one day!

Its lift hill and triple loops look massive under the roof.

My first ride of the day was the 120 foot tall Space Shot! This S&S power tower blasts you up and down a few times!

Bystanders can observe thrill-seekers being launched up towards the roof on this thrilling ride!

The Havoc was also closed for the day. This Moser Rides Space Trainer ride opened at Galaxyland a few years ago and flips and twists thrill-seekers throughout the duration of the ride when operating.

The Galaxy Orbiter and Autosled interact with one another.

Although closed, the Mindbender was hard to ignore! It is just so photogenic!

Those swooping drops and loops look quite intense!

One of the Mindbender's trains was parked on the track while on-going maintenance has been occurring.

When riding the Galaxy Orbiter, you come quite close to the Mindbender. This is the closest I have come to a Schwarzkopf Coaster to date. The next step is to ride one! haha

The Galaxy Orbiter is a Gerstlauer spinning coaster that opened at Galaxyland in 2007. It sure does a lot of spinning throughout the duration of the ride!

The lift hill on the Mindbender was receiving some work.

As you can see, the booster wheels on the lift hill have been temporarily removed.

As I had mentioned earlier Galaxyland is home to four roller coasters consisting of the Autosled, Mindbender, Galaxy Orbiter, and the Dragon Wagon, a Wisdom Rides kiddie coaster as pictured.

Anther ride I took a spin on was the Cosmic Spinner. It rises, lowers, and spins all while the gondolas spin.

Here is a map of Galaxyland. It truly shows how many rides and attractions they fit into such a small space!

Later on I took a ride on the Swing of the Century. It provided a long ride for a Wave Swinger! It is one of the original rides at the park and dates back to a time when the park was known as Fantasyland. The park received its space theme in 1995. Swing of the Century appears to have received newer seats from the manufacturer within recent years.

For lunch I headed to the larger food court and had some chow mien noodles with some steam vegetables and honey chicken.

After lunch I ventured back to Galaxyland.

It is quite mesmerizing to watch Swing of the Century swing over the path as you walk by!

A few years ago Galaxyland partnered with Hasbro to bring some Hasbro themed rides to the park. Some of the children's rides were rethemed to feature Hasbro IP.

The 'mess' of track looks quite spectacular!

It must be quite a thrill for bystanders when a train-load of passengers passes over the path through the one of three loops!

More parts waiting to be reinstalled on the Mindbender.

The launch to the top on Space Shot is quite a thrill as it feels like you are going to hit the ceiling above!

The yellow track of the Galaxy Orbiter and the Autosled sure brighten up the place!

The first drop on the Galaxy Orbiter sure caught me by surprise!

The youngest of visitors enjoy the Dragon Wagon which is surrounded by the Autosled and Galaxy Orbiter.

Once you get launched to the top of the Space Shot, a camera quickly captures your photo! Of course I rode it every time with my hands up!

Quirks in the Works is an interesting and unique interactive dark ride featuring targets that you can hit with laser guns.

The cars are circular and spin around as they move along the track allowing riders to rack up as many points as they can!

Here's a closeup of the Autosled's station. It takes off quickly and stops quickly too, making it a bit more intense than other Zierer Tivoli coasters!

The ride up the lift hill is a fast one!

As you zip along on the Autosled, you come across some head-chopping sections!

The final helix features an on-ride photo section.

Up next was the Haunted Castle, a fun year-round haunted house attraction featuring various animatronics and gory scenes!

Another ride at Galaxyland that recently received a Hasbro IP retheme was the bumper cars known as Hungry Hungry Hippos: Feeding Frenzy. This bumper car ride really bumped you out of your seat as the cars collided with each other! Next door was a kiddy bumper car themed to Sorry!

Later during the day I took a ride on the Galaxy Express, a miniature train ride.

It takes you through a series of tunnels and close-up to other rides at the park.

Under shots of roller coasters always look interesting!

It just amazes me how much they can cram into such limited space!

Autosled just goes over your head as you pass under it on the Galaxy Express.

The lighted tunnels on the Galaxy Express were quite neat!

The breeze from the Swing of the Century while on the Galaxy Express was quite nice!

The Autosled is a roller coaster fun for visitors of all ages! Riding it in the back is highly recommended!

There is even a Carousel tucked into the layout of Galaxyland.

Here's a look at some more Hasbro rethemed rides.

The Flying Galleon sits high up as it swings, providing a bit of airtime!

After a fun-filled day at Galaxyland, it was time to head back to my hotel and rest up!

I hope you enjoyed looking at my photos from my visit to Galaxyland at the West Edmonton Mall! :-)