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Canada's Wonderland

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Canada's Wonderland
File:2007cf.JPG
LocationVaughan, Ontario
OpenedMay 23, 1981
OwnerCedar Fair Entertainment Co.
SloganWhere Else?
Operating seasonMay through October
Area330 acres
(1.3 km²)
Attractions
Total65 Thrill Rides & 200 Attractions
Roller coasters14
Water rides20 Acre (81,000 m²) Waterpark – Waterpark, Outdoor Wavepool, 16 Water Slides
Websitecanadas-wonderland.com

Canada's Wonderland (often referred to locally as Wonderland) is located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, slightly north of Toronto, Ontario. It is one of North America's premier amusement parks, holding more than 200 attractions. The park is open yearly between May and October; the 2005 seasonal attendance was 3.7 million people. [1] In 2006, attendance was just over 3.2 million.[2] The park has also been the most attended seasonal theme park in North America two years in the running (2005 and 2006).[3]

Park history

In 1972, the Taft Broadcasting Company first proposed building a 1.50 km² (370 acre) theme park in the small village of Maple, now part of Vaughan, Ontario. Several other possible locations were considered, including Niagara Falls, Ontario and Milton, Ontario, but the site in Maple was finally selected because of its proximity to the City of Toronto and the 400-series of highways.

Other companies had seriously considered the greater Toronto area as a spot to build a park, including the Conklin family (whose Conklin Shows ran various midways around North America) and Walt Disney, who eventually decided that the area would not make a suitable park site, the main reason being that the climate was too cold, thus the operating season too short to be sustainable.

Construction of the park was opposed on multiple fronts. Many cultural institutions in Toronto such as Ontario Place, the Royal Ontario Museum and the operators of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) felt that the new theme park would put them out of business because the Toronto market wasn't large enough to support more competition. Other groups that fought the building of Wonderland included a Vaughan residential association (called 'SAVE') who felt the increased traffic would reduce property values. Some of the concessions from the company included a landscaped berm around the park to reduce noise and the visual sight of the large parking lot. Taft was concerned about opposition, going as far as to fly a group of opponents and regional councillors out to Cincinnati to show residents and town councillors the positive impact of one of their theme parks within the local community (it should be noted that up until the 1970s, amusement parks had the reputation of being poorly designed and 'unsavory')[citation needed]. People in the region were concerned that the new park would be similar in aesthetics to a carnival or midway.

Wonderland was also responsible for changing the master development plan for the Province of Ontario. The government wanted to increase residential and commercial development to the east of Toronto in the Oshawa/Pickering region while having the lands to the North of Toronto remain agricultural. Wonderland was able to convince the province to amend the planning policy for the region, and the park secured infrastructure improvements (including a highway overpass and sewage systems) to be expanded and built out to the site. These improvements paved the way for increased development throughout the region.

Concerns were also raised about the cultural implications of allowing an American theme park to open in Canada. Many felt that it would be a "Trojan Horse" for American culture. To offset the criticism, Taft planned to open Frontier Canada, a part of the park devoted to Canada's history. Early park maps show the area encompassing what is now Splashworks, White Water Canyon, Paramount F/X Theatre and the southern part of Kidzville, as well as proposed attractions, including a steam passenger train. While Frontier Canada was never built, several elemental themes remain in the area, including White Water Canyon, the "Frontier-style" theming of the walkways and path railings, The Mighty Canadian Minebuster roller coaster, as well as the area's "Deep in the Forest" setting. In addition, unlike its sister parks, Kings Island and Kings Dominion, it was decided during the early planning stages that center piece of the park would not be an Eiffel Tower. Instead the parks designers chose to build a massive mountain, known as Wonder Mountain. Situated at the top of International Street, Wonder Mountain featured a huge waterfall and interior pathways which led visitors to a look-out point. Other elements which were never built include a hotel and conference centre (to have been built north of the park).

Construction and opening

The initial construction of the park began in April 1979. During construction, Canadian companies partnered on the preliminary design and engineering of the project. Two years later, on May 23, 1981, Canada's Wonderland was officially opened by then Premier of Ontario William Davis. The spectacular opening ceremony included 10,000 helium balloons, 13 parachutists, 350 white doves, and a pipe band. Four children representing the Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes regions of Canada each poured a vial of water from their home regions into the park's spectacular fountain. Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky also appeared as a special guest, helping to raise the Canadian flag.

Recent history

In June of 2007 the accident at a theme park in the U.S.A on a ride similar to the one called Drop Zone at Canada's Wonderland caused the company to close all similar rides until further notice.

The park's former connection to Hanna-Barbera productions was reduced after Paramount Pictures purchased the park. At that point the park was renamed Paramount Canada's Wonderland. After Viacom bought Paramount in 1994, a successful attempt was made to bring families back to the park by providing children with Nickelodeon cartoon characters that were familiar to a new generation. While the Nickelodeon channel (part of Viacom's MTV Networks) is not available in Canada, many of the network's shows air on YTV, making this decision logical. YTV had previously been involved in numerous projects at the park, including the 1992 direct-to-video Festival of Friends concert, raising money for Kids Help Phone.

In 2005 the park introduced Fearfest. Fearfest is a Halloween event featuring various haunted house attractions in different themed areas of the park. The park continues running many of their thrill rides during the event, but the section of the park for smaller children is closed off. Thunder Run, where patrons ride a mine car like train through a mountain, is also changed for the event. During Fearfest it is called Haunted Thunder Run, and patrons ride through a darker tunnel with more strobe lights, fog machines, and black light lit scenes featuring the skeletons of miners that might have died in the mine. There is reportedly a headless skeleton in the mine that is a reference to the headless employee legend, but this is not confirmed. More details of the headless employee legend can be found in the Thunder Run article. In 2006, the Park introduced Spooktacular, a Halloween event geared towards children. The event included children's rides, costume contests and a treasure hunt. Spooktacular was open on weekends during the daytime, while Fearfest remained open at night.

On 22 May 2006, it was announced that Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. was interested in acquiring the five Paramount theme parks, including Canada's Wonderland. The aquisition was completed on 30 June 2006.[4] As a result, in early January 2007, Cedar Fair began to drop the "Paramount" name from all of their former Paramount parks, and the park is currently referred to once again by its original name, "Canada's Wonderland".

New for 2007

  • "Coasters" - a new restaurant located in Expo beside Orbiter.
  • "The Marketplace - International Buffet" - a second new restaurant, located in Medieval Faire, serving a buffet selection.
  • Two new shows - Endless Summer and Twisting to the 60s.
  • A new covered picnic area, located to the right of the front gate. The area was built upon the implementation of the policy that no outside food/beverage be brought into the Park, with the exception of special dietary need items and plastic bottled water. The decision was made to bring the Park policies in line with those of all other Cedar Fair parks.
  • Birthday Parties in Nick Central - Parents can book their child's birthday party at the Park.

Attractions

Today, Canada's Wonderland has over 200 attractions, including over 60 thrill rides. The park has North America's 3rd greatest number of roller coasters with 14 in total, and North America's greatest variety. The park features eight themed areas on 330 acres (1.3 km²) of land which includes a 20 acre (81,000 m²) waterpark called Splash Works. Splash Works has over 2 million gallons (7,570 m3) of heated water, Canada's largest outdoor wave pool measuring 36,000 square feet (3,300 m²), a lazy river, and 16 water slides.

Ride "Top Gun" pictured

In 1983, Canada's Wonderland added the Kingswood Music Theatre, a 15,000 seat amphitheatre that hosted many "big-name" concerts. After the Molson Amphitheatre opened on the grounds of Ontario Place in 1995, cultural festivals at the theatre became more prominent. Splash Works, the waterpark, is featured in the southwest quadrant; an artificial mountain forms the park's central feature.

The park's themed areas are as follows:

  • International Street
  • Medieval Faire
  • International Festival
  • Nickelodeon Central
  • Hanna-Barbera Land
  • Kidzville
  • White Water Canyon
  • Splash Works
  • Grande World Exposition of 1890, a section with exciting and new rides. Includes the Action Zone.

Shows

  • Endless Summer (opening 2007), The Paramount Theatre stage will return to its roots and be transformed into a skating rink with a new ice show for the 2007 season.
  • Twisting to the 60s (opening 2007), International Showplace will once again feature a live music show, with songs from the 1960s
  • Dora's Sing-A-Long Adventure returns for the 2007 season in the Playhouse Theatre.

Water slides

  • Black Hole
  • The Plunge
  • Super Soaker
  • Body Blast
  • Riptide Racer
  • Barracuda Blaster
  • Whirlwinds
  • Splash Island Waterways

Roller coasters

Main article: Rides at Canada's Wonderland

Children-geared roller coasters

Flat rides

Main article: Flat rides at Canada's Wonderland

Besides the large number of roller coasters it has, it also has a huge variety of flat rides, such as bumper cars, carousels, many of these relying on centrifugal forces, and other funfair ride, such as:

  • Psyclone - A large pendulum swinging and spinning reaching heights of over 110 feet (33.5 m)
  • Shockwave - A ride that twist and turns on every possible axis.
  • Cliffhanger - A ride with twin gondolas that flip and go around in the air, but you might get wet.
  • Klockwerks - An old classic that rotates and with the centrifugal force pushes you outward.
  • Sledgehammer - Spins riders on 2 axes and blasts you up and down distances of 85 feet (25.9 m).
  • Action FX Theatre - Motion based seating ride in two large theatres featuring Sponge Bob Square Pants in 3D (2006 Feature "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera" has been removed).

Major attractions by year

1981 - Park Opens with:
Antique Carousel (originally built in 1928), Balloon Race (Frequent Flyers), Bayern's Curve (R), Bedrock Dock (R), Blauer Enzian (Thunder Run), Dragon Fyre (Dragon Fire), Ghoster Coaster, Great Whale of China (R), Happy Landing (Swan Lake), Hot Rock Raceway (R), Klockwerker (Klockwerks), Krachenwagen, Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Quixote's Kettles (Spinovator), Scooby Choo (Kidzville Station), Shiva's Fury (The Fury (R)), Sol Loco (Orbiter), Swing of the Century (Swings of the Century), Wilde Nightmares (Nightmares), Viking's Rage (The Rage), & Zumba Flume (R)
1982 - Kings Courtyard (The Courtyard)
1983 - Kingswood Music Theatre
1984 - White Water Canyon
1985 - Sky Rider
1986 - Thunder Run (formerly "Blauer Enzian", was relocated inside the mountain)
1987 - The Bat
1988 - Racing Rivers (R)
1989 - Timberwolf Falls
1990 - Jet Scream
1991 - Vortex
1992 - Splash Works
1993 - Kid's Kingdom play area(later renovated and renamed Candy Factory)
1994 - Days Of Thunder (Action FX Theatre)
1995 - Top Gun
1996 - Xtreme Skyflyer; SplashWorks Expansion: Wave Pool, The Pump House, Black Hole Water Slide
1997 - Drop Zone, Speed City Raceway
1998 - Kidzville, James Bond - License To Thrill (feature at Action FX theatre (R)), Climbing Wall (R)
1999 - The Fly; Splashworks Expansion: Super Soaker and The Plunge; Escape from Dino Island (feature at Action FX theatre (R))
2000 - CliffHanger, Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion
2001 - Shockwave; Zoom Zone (new kids area) including: Silver Streak, Blast Off and Jumping Jet; 7th Portal (feature at Action FX Theatre)
2002 - Psyclone; Splashworks Expansion: Riptide Racer, Barracude Blaster and Kids Sprayground
2003 - Sledge Hammer, Nickelodeon Central (replacing Bedrock)
2004 - Tomb Raider: The Ride
2005 - Italian Job Stunt Track
2006 - Paramount's Hollywood Stunt Spectacular (R)
2007 - Coasters 50s Diner, Marketplace Intl. Buffet, "Twistin to the 60's" show, "Endless Summer on Ice" show, and Picnic Pavillion

Current name in (brackets); R= Removed/Closed

Location

Canada's Wonderland is on the east side of Highway 400 between Rutherford Road (Exit 33) and Major Mackenzie Drive (Exit 35), 13 km (8 miles) north of Highway 401, 6 km (3 miles) north of Highway 407 and 64 km (41 miles) south of Barrie. It is bounded by Highway 400 to the west, Jane Street to the east, Major Mackenzie Dr. to the north and Rutherford Rd. to the south. Formerly quite isolated, it is now surrounded by housing on all sides. It has three public entrances and one entrance designated for staff, deliveries and buses. Regular transit access is provided by York Region Transit (YRT), while GO Transit, Brampton Transit, and Mississauga Transit all run special services, as does YRT from Newmarket and Markham.

Public transportation

Transportation to the park is available from the following of the regional transit organizations:

Each of the above services provide at least one specific, seasonal routes to the park. As well, the YRT operates six year-round routes that are either diverted into or stop near the park during its operating season.

Facts and figures

  • A 1982 episode of The Littlest Hobo, entitled "Forget Me Not", was set at the park.[5]
  • The park played host on several occasions to the now defunct City TV program Electric Circus.
  • Unsubstantiated rumours have swirled that a person died at the base of Wonder Mountain. However, other than a shooting which took place outside the front gate (stemming from an earlier argument from off park property), there have been no confirmed deaths at the Park that were not as a result of 'natural causes'.
  • Another common myth surrounding the Park is that the metal detectors were a result of the above mentioned shooting. However, the metal detectors were planned prior to the shooting, following the lead of several American parks.

References

  1. ^ "Canada's Wonderland" (Online slideshow). Most Popular Amusement Parks. Forbes.com.
  2. ^ "Canada's Wonderland 2006 Attendance" (PDF). 2007-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Canada's Wonderland Rated The Most Popular Seasonal Park In North America!". 2007-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Sale of Paramount Parks to Cedar Fair, L.P." 2006-05-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Kevin McCorry. "The Littlest Hobo".

Satellite Image]

43°50′33.16″N 79°32′31.00″W / 43.8425444°N 79.5419444°W / 43.8425444; -79.5419444

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