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Canada’s Wonderland
Ontario, Canada
Cedar Fair Entertainment
Park News - (8/17/18) One more huge piece of news for Canada's Wonderland in 2019... the park will extend their season through to November when the park is transformed into a holiday wonderland for the first WinterFest event! The event will include a tree lighting ceremony, live entertainment, ice skating on snowflake lake, select rides and tons of holiday lights throughout the park. Oh... and don't forget appearances by St. Nick!
(6/2/18) While nothing has been said by the respective parks yet, I'd expect to see all of the Dinosaurs Alive attractions that opened in 2012 to be closed by the end of the 2018 season. This list includes Cedar Point, Dorney Park, Canada's Wonderland and Kings Dominion. Kings Island opened the first one in 2011 and closed it at the end of their 2017 season. As an attraction where the dinosaurs were leased from the company that made them (Dinosaurs Unearthed I believe...) we assume that a 6-year lease deal was likely signed to operate all of other Dinosaurs Alive attractions as well that opened in 2012 and 2013.
(4/26/18) A Screamscape reader pointed out an odd restriction made to the Cedar Fair "All Season Dining-Plan" when used at Canada's Wonderland, that does not seem to affect the use of these plans anywhere else in the Cedar Fair chain. While the plan allows guests to get a lunch and dinner meal every day that they visit a Cedar Fair theme park, Canada's Wonderland adds the additional restriction that all meals have to be served "1 hour prior to Park close". So no riding your rides and rushing in to grab your dinner at the last second.
While Canada's Wonderland regulars may already be familiar with this, it comes as a surprise to anyone who buys the Platinum level All Season Dining add-on plan at other parks in the chain. I don't know if the park just closes all restaurants entirely an hour before park close or if there is some other force at play here, but I felt it was worth a fair warning.
(12/26/17) Rumor has it the park is working on upgrades and enhancements to Wonder Mountain's Guardian that could possibly see the capacity on the ride increased somehow. We may find out more about this project as the park gets closer to reopening in the Spring.
Meanwhile be sure to scroll down to see the latest on new 2019 and 2020 projects.
(11/3/17) A quick video shot around Canada's Wonderland this week shows off various sites in the park where land survey markings have been found for projects known for 2018, and some that are still a mystery.
2018 - Lumberjack & Flying Canoes - (5/23/18) Some footage of riders taking test rides on the new Lumberjack ride at Canada's Wonderland can be seen below. I'm also told that the park's popular Sledgehammer ride has been closed for awhile now and looks to be undergoing some kind of extensive repair or maintenance program, so it could take awhile before it is ready to open for the season.
(4/29/18) Park Journey went to Canada's Wonderland for a sneak peek at the park before passholder preview and got a look at the new Lumberjack and Flying Canoes rides, as well the Lakeside Lagoon splash/fun area coming to Splash Works. Check it out in the video below.
(10/24/17) A series of photos have been posted to Twitter over the weekend showing off some markers and flags in the former Skyrider area. I’m not really sure what those are for though, so does anyone else have an idea? Meanwhile a few other markers were spotted, one by Timberwolf Falls and another were the new Lumberjack ride is supposed to go.
(8/29/17) A fun video update about the three new additions coming to Canada's Wonderland from the crew at CWMania has been posted below, showing off the sites where the various new attractions will be located. They talk about a new kids area coming to the Splash Works waterpark in 2018, as well as going over details about this year's Halloween Haunt that will feature 3 new mazes: Blackout, The Bloody Buccaneer and Forest of Fear. Enjoy!
(8/16/17) Canada’s Wonderland was the first Cedar Fair park to make their 2018 announcement this morning for two new flat rides:
LUMBERJACK - Loop through the sky attached to the a pair of giant flying axes. While I don’t know who is making this, the artwork looks like a Zamperla Hawk 48, and given Zamperla’s excellent reputation for adding custom theming to their creations it would make sense. Plus Zamperla already made a an axe themed single-arm version for Enchanted Village a few years ago.
FLYING CANOES - Described as an interactive ride for the entire family.
 2019 - Yukon Striker / Frontier Canada - (10/20/18) Looks like Yukon Striker was officially topped out yesterday as the tallest point on the ride (The top of the lift hill) was raised up into place.
(10/19/18) While I have no photos to share, a local sources tell Screamscape that Yukon Striker was almost topped off on Thursday afternoon, with the top piece of the drop (with the holding brakes) installed. There are just a few more track sections for the top of the lift and turn left to still be installed up there.
(10/13/18) The latest construction pictures of Yukon Striker posted to the official website show that the lower sections of the lift hill and vertical dive are already in place. The park shares a picture of this along with some construction pictures from the past as they prepare to start going full-tilt on this thing to get it up before the harsh-winter months arrive.
(9/21/18) According to a Screamscape source, Canada's Wonderland confirmed during an ACE event at the park on Saturday that the park's Vortex coaster (Arrow Suspended) will be renamed in time for next season in order to better fit into the Frontier Canada theme.
(9/10/18) A construction update on Yukon Striker has been posted by ParkJourney this week, where they get up close and personal with the track and construction site as part of an official tour and interview from the park. As part of the tour, they actually go down into the bottom of the tunnel under the lake as well, showing off how deep it does and what it looks like inside.
Special thanks to Park Journey for sending Screamscape some of the on-site pictures to share with everyone as well. Great work guys.
(9/4/18) The latest construction update on Yukon Striker can be seen below, posted by J-Forces, showing off where a lot of the brake run has been installed and looks like the turn out of the station heading towards where the lift hill will go.
(8/17/18) To finish up with the rest of the Canada's Wonderland 2019 news, I've added the official full animated videos from the park for Yukon Striker that confirm all the stats previously mentioned. Oh, and for anyone wondering, this will have the same new vest style restraints Cedar Fair used on Valravn instead of the standard B&M restraints.
The park has also confirmed that Yukon Striker will be part of a new land being added to Canada's Wonderland called Frontier Canada. The gold rush themed area was actually originally conceived the intended to be built way back when the park first opened in 1981, but was cut at the time. Now Frontier Canada will be fully realized and include several existing attractions within the new boundaries: Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Lumberjack, Soaring Timbers, Flying Canoes, Timberwolf Falls and White Water Canyon. You can even see some original concept art drawn up back then for buildings and signs intended to go into Frontier Canada.
(8/15/18) For whatever reason Canada's CBC broadcasting company posted all the details about the new coaster coming to Canada's Wonderland in 2019, saving us all from having to wake up at 5:30am to catch the details at the official announcement. They were even kind enough to post the full animation video to MSN.
The new B&M Dive Machine will be called Yukon Striker and feature a 75 meter / 246 foot vertical drop down into an underground tunnel before hitting a series of four inversions (including a vertical loop) before hitting a mid-course brake run, a little dip and into a final helix spin before hitting the brakes. Top speed will be 130 kph / 80.7 mph.
(8/9/18) While it wont be long until we know everything about the new coaster coming to Canada’s Wonderland on August 15th, a bunch of new hardware for the ride has been dropped off at the park, including more of the orange/brown track and forest green supports. Special thanks go out to one of our readers for sending in photos of it all to share.
(8/8/18) The latest banners in Canada's Wonderland with the 8/15 announcement date on them have changed the background once again. Instead of a map background, now they are showing off a close up photo of a large bird eye, possibly an eagle, but definitely some kind of bird of prey. This falls in line perfectly with the flying creature theme used at Cedar Point on Valravn. Being honest though, I hope they give this a more mythical flying creature name rather than just using an Eagle, Falcon or Hawk theme, though unfortunately the Griffon and Hippogriff names are already taken. Maybe a "Roc", Firebird or Phoenix perhaps?
(7/31/18) I'm told that the information about how the teaser in the park marking the site of The Dome originated in a video posted by Amusement Insiders. I can't verify or back up anything else posted there, but if you want to see more about the themeing and teasers going on right now, you can watch the video in question here.
(7/28/18) The August 15th teaser posters on the construction walls in Canada's Wonderland were swapped out this week to now feature a "map" in the background, showing an area bordered by the Yukon and Klondike rivers, where the Klondike Gold Rush took place near Dawson City. According to an eagle eyed report who compared the map shown with a real map, the location of the period in the "8.15" text is positioned right over the top of King Solomon's Dome, a large mountain known to be a hot spot location from the gold rush era.
Mixed with the theme of the teaser poster that was up at Cedar Point earlier this month about how the Cedar Creek Mining Company was starting up operations in Canada, it sure sounds like the new Dive Machine coaster may be given a gold mine theme.
(7/27/18) Thanks to one of our readers for sending in new pictures of the construction taking place at Canada's Wonderland for the new 2019 coaster project.
(7/23/18) Canada's Wonderland has set an August 15th date to make an announcement... most likely regarding the park's new 2019 coaster project. The graphic is also an interesting one, appearing as if the words were being chiseled right into a rocky surface.
On a related note, check out the image posted to Instagram I've embeded below as well... which actually shows off a new poster on a wall inside Cedar Point that seems to be teasing information about the CW Dive Machine coaster as well and may be hinting at the theme. The poster is an ad seeking workers for the Cedar Creek Mining Company (which is the theme behind the Cedar Creek Mine Train coaster at CP) who claims to be expanding the operations of the company to a new "northern mining facility" and that a "proper passport required for passage across border".
The job is "Most Unique", and you must endure extreme heat and cold, darkness and light, tight spaces, dizzying heights, sudden drops and wet conditions." There are also some interesting numbers in the bottom corners as well... "3,215ft" and also "3,501'", so I'm guessing one of these is the overall track length, but I've no idea what the other number represents. For the record, Valravn at Cedar Point is 3,415 ft long, so this new coaster could be a little over or under that, depending on which number is the length. The other two numbers are also odd... "#17", which I can only assume is that this will be the 17th coaster at Canada's Wonderland and "137 MCBR", where MCBR could mean Mid-Course Brake Run... and often on Dive Machines the MCBR is followed by a second vertical dive, so perhaps they are giving us the height of the second vertical drop as being 137 feet. Note: Valvarn's second drop is said to be 131 feet by comparison.
But 137 is bugging me... and I thought I had seen that number elsewhere too... and sure enough I had. On the Whyte Lightning red herring teaser poster up on the wall at Carowinds that looks like an ad for spark plugs, at the bottom is also says "Guaranteed Over 137 Miles", which is quite the bad guarantee for a spark plug, but to include the number 137 on posters at both Carowinds and Cedar Point seems a bit more than coincidence.
Also if you look at the small text around the company logo you'll see references to other rides and fictitious companies within the Cedar Fair chain of parks like the Calico Mining Company, Carolina Goldrusher, Mighty Canadan Minebuster, Thunder Run and more. This also makes me wonder if they are telling us to look for other possible teaser posters out there at other parks in the Cedar Fair system, possibly the parks with the rides mentioned here which would be Carowinds, Knott's, Gilroy Gardens and Kings Island.
(7/9/18) I haven't see any pictures, but have heard some dark green steel that could be the structure for the new coaster's transfer track may have arrived this week at Canada's Wonderland.
(7/2/18) A reader sent in some new pictures of the track pieces on site at Canada's Wonderland for the new Dive Machine coaster. Nothing special, as noted before it looks like they only have straight / brake run track sections on site and there doesn't seem to be a hurry to bring in the rest too quickly at this point.
While on the subject of track, lets talk about the height again. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm still hearing information closer to one of my original theories... that this Dive Machine is not going to be the huge record breaker some think it will be, and instead it could very well end up being little shorter than Valravn (223 ft) and then use the tunnel to pick up the extra height needed to match or just slightly exceed Valravn's drop height (214 ft).
For those still hoping this may be close to being a Giga Dive Machine... I just don't see it from a financial point of view, and in terms of Cedar Fair's own pride in Cedar Point. After all, it took them 15 years to build a coaster (Fury 325) that was both taller and with a bigger first drop than Millennium Force. I don't see them ready to blow past Valravn's stats by such a huge margin anytime soon.
(6/28/18) For anyone interested, some new track pieces arrived at Canada's Wonderland this week that were caught on video (see below). This looks like brown brake-run track sections, likely those used for the transfer track before re-entering the station. Unfortunately the person behind the camera didn't try to get a shot of the track tag on the end section, which was facing the back of the truck cabin. Maybe next time they'll catch a shot of a track tag.
Meanwhile, take a look at this picture posted to Reddit showing the B&M track plant in Ohio not long ago, which appears to have the same piece of track in the background, along with three more straight sections of brown track with magnetic brakes, positioning wheels and more. The piece in the foreground may actually be for the maintenance shed as you'll notice that the end of that piece is actually painted brown, has no bolt holes to connect to another track section, and the end's slightly curl upward. It also has a clamp-brake as well to keep the train from rolling when parked here. Look for these to arrive at the park soon, if they haven't already, along with whatever steel is needed to put up the station, transfer and maintenance sheds.
(6/26/18) There is lots of ongoing speculation regarding Canada Wonderland's new for 2019 Dive Machine coaster. The current common rumor being spread is that it could stand anywhere between 260 to 290 feet tall. I'm still not quite certain of this myself... as that seems like a very big jump in height from Cedar Fair's previous record holder, Valravn, which stood 223 ft tall and has a 214 ft drop. But this is Cedar Fair we're talking about, so you never know... sometimes they just get the urge to go big.
(6/22/18) A new video from Canada’s Wonderland was posted by Coaster Nation this week, showing off the current state of construction around the already built underwater tunnel, with lots of new concrete footers popping up all around the area.
(6/17/18) According to one theory, the teaser posted by Canada's Wonderland about the Chilkoot Trail may indicate that the park will use the associated Klondike Gold Rush as a general theme for the new coaster or the theme of a new area it will be located in. Based on the theme and location of the park's new rides for the past two season (Soaring Timber, Lumberjack and Flying Canoes) this may tie together along a themed pathway through the park going from the Mighty Canadian Minebuster over to the new Dive Machine that could be themed to the Chilkoot Trail. White Water Canyon could also be attached to the new theme of the area easily, and possibly even Vortex who changed the previously bright paint job of the cars to a new woodgrain theme this season.
On a related note... there is also a question about just how tall this new Dive Machine will be. Most expect they will try to go taller than Valravn at Cedar Point, which stands 223 feet tall, with an expectation of going at least 250 feet tall for this one. My only question would be to wonder if they would go 250 feet above the ground, or would it be a 250 foot drop, because you have to remember to include the depth of the underground tunnel into the equation as well. This means it would be possible to make this coaster a little shorter than Valravn, and yet ensure that it has a taller first drop via the tunnel. Of course there are those out there who are holding out hope that the new dive machine could be the world's first Giga Dive Coaster (300+ feet) but at this point, I'm not even going to guess on what the final height would be. Just something to think about.
(6/2/18) A detailed construction video of what's going on at Canada's Wonderland was posted to YouTube last weekend, with a look at the footers in place for the park's 2019 Dive Machine coaster.
(5/23/18) What appears to be some early teaser posters are appearing around the park for the 2019 Dive Machine coaster as a promoting for the "Historic Chilkoot Trail".
(4/29/18) A couple of good shots of the now complete underwater tunnel added for the 2019 Dive Machine coaster project were posted to Twitter by J-Forces. Note the tarps covering the openings, but you can see the track pieces, already installed inside the tunnel, sticking up against the green tarp.
(1/30/18) Things are moving much faster than expected at Canada’s Wonderland for the new coaster it seems. Construction work is already taking place on the site previously indicated to build that underground/underwater tunnel feature. A few supports and track sections from Vortex have been removed to allow access to the site during the off-season, the lake has already been drained in this area, and heavy machinery is on site tearing things up at a rapid pace.
Even more surprising is the fact that a video and screen captures obtained from a drone-cam flying next to the park spotted a small pile of about 4 pieces of very large Dive Machine style brownish B&M track sitting in a back storage area, mostly covered by a large tarp, but with enough of it exposed to clearly make out exactly what it is. Meanwhile the removed pieces of red Vortex track are placed on the ground next to it, making it easy to compare the sizes of the two and identify the new B&M track as being Dive Machine sized, and in a color similar looking to what Cedar Point used on Valravn.
The timing of this all pretty much locks in the new coaster for being ready for the 2019 season, as I’m told that the plan is to get this tunnel dug and fully built with the pieces of track installed inside, along with any nearby footers required, refill the lake and return Vortex to working order in time for the park to open for the 2018 season in late April. At that point they will take a break on things until they are ready to begin the construction of the rest of the attraction at the surface level as Summer 2018 begins to wind-down.
You can catch a peek at the Dive Machine track pieces in the video clip posted below and in the video clip below that you can see the construction taking place in the distance on the actual site. Note: They zoom in tight near the end of the video, so watch all the way or jump ahead to the second-half.
(1/18/19) Plans in the works to add a new coaster to Canada's Wonderland in the near future have been confirmed in the lists of the official meeting agenda notes from the Jan. 12, 2018 meeting of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. According to the meeting notes (click here and scroll down to page 45) Canada's Wonderland has proposed to "alter a waterway to construct in the Regional Storm Floodplain of the Don River in order to facilitate the construction of a by-pass channel and a new roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland located on Part Lot 18-20, Concession 5, 9580 Jane Street, in the City of Vaughan within the Don River Watershed."
The permit issued is for the period of Jan. 12, 2018 to Jan. 11, 2020, which seems to narrow down the timeline for the new coaster to open for the 2019 or 2020 season. According to the notes, the construction will create "a ride tunnel within the pond and regulatory floodplain" along with up to nine support piers within the regulated area.
"A portion of the proposed ride is located within the Regional Storm Floodplain. The proposed site is located at the south end of Canada's Wonderland, within an online pond, north of an existing online stormwater pond. The subject site is currently manicured lawn and an on-line pond."
"We are seeking approval for the full project at this time, however it will be a phased permit. Phase 1 will consist of the in-the-dry low-flow by-pass channel. Phase 2 will consist of the construction of the ride tunnel, piers and associated landscaping."
Based on the approximate location shown, the coaster looks like it will inhabit the empty space between Windseeker and Vortex. While I suppose it could take over the former Skyrider location, I've heard the former Skyrider location was earmarked to be used for future waterpark expansions.
Previous rumors indicated that the park was looking into the idea of a large-scale B&M Inverted coaster design, similar to Banshee at Kings Island.
2019/2020 - New Park Entrance / Parking Plaza - Rumor - (12/26/17) According to the latest rumors we may see some renewed focus on the expansion and infrastructure of Canada's Wonderland start in late 2018. If the rumors are true, at the end of the 2018 you may see park begin work on building a new modern Front Gate and a new Parking Plaza entry facility that will open as early as 2019.
I'm guessing this will be similar to what we've seen Cedar Fair build at Carowinds and Cedar Point itself in the past couple years. These projects add vital new infrastructure to park's ticketing and admissions systems, as well as create a new modern sense of arrival. Thing kind of upgrade has sort of been in a slow rollout to many of the old Paramount parks anyway as Kings Island also got a new parking entry plaza and smaller upgrades to the entrance and I believe a major upgrade for the entrance to California's Great America is also being planned for a future roll-out.
2020 - Hyatt Place/Hyatt House - (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.
(12/26/17) The rumors for building an on-site resort project keep rolling in, along with similar rumors for sister park, Carowinds. The latest rumor claims that Canada's Wonderland is looking to open this project as early as 2020 and are in talks with design experts regarding the design and construction of the hotel, but Cedar Fair will operate it themselves, just as they do their own resorts at Cedar Point. Location wise, they seemed to have locked into using the back section of the parking lot closest to the Kingswood Theater near the helix on Behemoth, which is the same location we had heard about previously. No word on if they are still hoping to offer a small indoor waterpark section or not, though a small parking structure for the hotel was also mentioned.
(7/30/17) Remember that story about a possible hotel being considered for Canada's Wonderland? According to a Screamscape source one plan being considered would see a 150-room hotel built in the parking lot area near the Kingswood Music Theater that is expected to also include a small indoor waterpark that would keep the resort active as an attraction throughout the winter months.
(7/15/17) An interesting development just came up that would affect Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds and the two biggest up and coming parks in the Cedar Fair chain. According to a new article posted to BNN, an analyst at Wells Fargo sent a report to his clients on what they should expect to hear from Cedar Fair very soon. "Management expects to announce details on branded flagged hotel properties in Toronto and Charlotte by year-end 2017".
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