Canada’s Wonderland
Ontario, Canada
Cedar Fair Entertainment
 Park News - (10/13/21) Canada’s Wonderland confirmed the return of WinterFest to the park, set to take place on select dates between Nov. 13 through to Dec. 31, 2021. Follow the link to visit the official park blog which has the details on the food, entertainment and holiday fun that will be offered this year.
(10/2/21) It’s hard to enjoy Halloween on an empty stomach, so Canada’s Wonderland has you covered. In their latest blog post the park shows off mega-sized menu of special food and drink options for Halloween Haunt and Camp Spooky. This includes a look at some crazy new funnel cakes (Frankenstein & Pumpkin Spice), four different flavors of “Blood Bags” to try (Pixie Potion, Zombie Juice, Purple People Eater and the original Blood Bag flavor for guests 19+), a Zombie Mac & Cheese Burger served on midnight black buns, themed corn dogs (Dark Magic and the spicy Fang Drop), the Hellhound Dog, Troll Lint Poutine and so much more. Seriously, just follow the link to the official blog post for details and oh-so-many pictures!
(9/25/21) What's Next For Canada's Wonderland?
(9/22/21) Halloween fun kicks off at Canada’s Wonderland this weekend with the Halloween Haunt at night (13+) and Camp Spooky during the daytime for the kiddies. Canada’s Wonderland reminds everyone that reservations are required for all guests planning on visiting the Halloween Haunt and due to COVID-19 restrictions, there will be no indoor mazes this year. Instead the park will offer more outdoor haunt fun and experiences than ever before, plus extra live entertainment.
(9/1/21) Canada’s Wonderland has confirmed that Halloween Haunt will return to the park this Fall! After a long pause, The Haunt will return to the park on select nights from Sept. 24 through Oct. 31, but reservations will be required. Due to current COVID restrictions, all of the normal indoor haunted mazes will now be set up in outdoor settings and transformed into Scare Zones.
So officially there will be 10 scare zones this year with Wicked Hollow, Trick or Treat, Ghostly Pines, Gates of Terror, Forest of Fear, Frontier’s Revenge and CarnEvil all returning. New this year will be Kingdom of Carnage, Streets of the Undead and The Farmstead. You can visit the official website to read the full descriptions of each.
In addition to seven live shows, the park also promises more surprises are to come, so keep an eye out for future announcements from Canada’s Wonderland.
2022 - Internal Improvements - (9/25/21) A rather long video Q&A session from Canada’s Wonderland was posted to YouTube, but since it’s about 25 minutes long, I’ll break down the important parts for you about what the park has planned in the near future.
A new large eatery is coming that will take the place of the Mountainside Bakery, which will be torn out. The new facility will be 13,000 sqft, feature a bar, various lines to pick up different style food items and then a large dining hall with a “Timber Lodge” theme. (Editor note: From the sound of it, this sounds like a half sized version of the Harmony Hall project installed at Carowinds in 2014. I say smaller, because Harmony Hall is said to be 26,500 sqft.) Unlike Harmony Hall, this dining hall will not be built with a stage for performers, but it will be built to accommodate various productions or temporary stages as needed.
When it comes to new rides, several open questions were asked, but in general the response was that they can’t comment on long term future ride plans. Various things are always in the works, and plans and timelines can and do change, so it’s too early to say too much right now. That said, one question in particular asked about the park’s old Action Theater building. All of the former Paramount Parks sites had the same buildings installed in the 90’s, which originally was for an Iwerks TurboTour simulator attraction, starting up with Days of Thunder. The ride film was replaced over the years with new titles periodically such as the James Bond themed Licence to Kill, 7th Portal, SpongeBob Squarepants 4D and so on. Over the years the motion seat hardware was removed and many turned into temporary stationary 4D theaters for a time (typically to show Dinosaur themed 4D tie-in films for the various Dinosaurs Alive walk-through attractions), or just shut down entirely. Two of the Action Theaters were upgraded into new attraction concepts in 2016 based on video game themes, such as Plants vs Zombies 3Z Arena at Carowinds and Mass Effect: New Earth at California’s Great America, but nothing was ever done to upgrade the attractions at Canada’s Wonderland, Kings Island or Kings Dominion, though often the buildings are used as locations for Haunts during the Halloween season. The answer about Canada’s Wonderland version was simply that they do have some future plans for that building, but nothing they can share at this time.
One other interesting thing mentioned was the ongoing changes the park has to make to comply with the various demands of the health department as new COVID-related safety ordinances come out. One in particular was interesting, as a new requirement that goes into effect this weekend guests who want to eat at an INDOOR dining facility in the park will need to show proof of vaccination before you can enter any indoor dining area.
The former planned hotel for the park has been put on indefinite hold at this point. The plans were completed and ready to begin construction, but never did due toi COVID. However, since the plans were completed and approved, they could be put back in motion very quickly if Cedar Fair were to green light the project again in the near future.
Regarding the Flight Dec coaster, the park has looked into the possibility of replacing the trains on the Vekoma inverted coaster with new style Vekoma trains, and even options from other manufacturers. While this is something they may like to pursue in the future, it is not an active project at this time. Just think of it as an idea they keep on the backburner for a possible future project.
Again, no mention of any new ride for the 2022 season at this point.
(8/13/21) Canada’s Wonderland appears to be focusing on improving the guest experience in 2022, but not by adding anything new. According to a release from Cedar Fair, “Canada’s Wonderland will have four seasons of world-class experiences, events and entertainment for guests of all ages, including a new International Food Festival featuring a diverse menu of culinary tastes, treats and drinks from around the world. In addition, the park will be expanding its culinary offerings in 2022 with the introduction of a multi-level, rustic lodge-restaurant that will be the park’s largest dining facility to date.”
???? - Hyatt Place/Hyatt House - INDEFINITE HOLD - (5/16/21) At this point, it seems Canada’s Wonderland has opted to cancel their long planned hotel addition. This may be a temporary thing, as they failed to start construction during the time limits of the building permits they had. There is a good chance that Cedar Fair could have just opted to shelve the project for the time being until the company gets their financials back on solid legs and we have put the COVID-pandemic behind us. This could also be a reflection of the more strict lockdown rules in Canada, and Ontario in particular, that are keeping the park closed for longer than it’s American cousins who are all opening up this month.
(4/18/20) While Cedar Fair has not issued a new timeline for the hotel, it would seem likely that the closures would push back the ‘late 2020’ planned opening of the hotel until sometime in 2021.
(8/29/18) As we had been hearing for some time now, Cedar Fair will open a new hotel at their Canada’s Wonderland theme park property. Now we have a few more details as posted by BlooLoop. This will be a dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotel with 203 rooms that is set to open in late 2020. Construction is expected to begin sometime in the first half of 2019.
(4/29/18) Remember those rumored hotel plans for Canada's Wonderland? They aren't a rumor anymore, as the plans for the new hotel were confirmed in a planning meeting. The new hotel will be 8-stories with 603 rooms and built under the Hyatt Place brand name, to be built on park property on Wonderland Drive near Rutherford Rd and Highway 400. Construction should begin soon actually, but I’m not sure if it will be ready for 2019 or 2020. \
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