A little over a week and a half ago, Lex and I visited the coaster metropolis of our “neighbors to the North:” Canada’s Wonderland. To my surprise, I found myself a new “Top 10 Coaster,” any guesses?
We arrived at the park at about 2pm on a day that called for rain, which is a good thing in the roller coaster community (as long as it doesn’t rain).
As you can see, I was really eager to get in the park just in case it did start pouring (that cloud looks threatening, does it not?), but Lex was more concerned about getting some good photos.
The first ride we decided to go on was the brand-new Wonder Mountain Guardian. The line was a bit out of the entrance, but we decided to wait in case it did rain (because this ride is mostly indoors). The wait ended up being about an hour.
Wonder Mountain Guardian, to me, is just not very good. I appreciate that Cedar Fair is at least attempting to add some new generation dark rides, but it all just seemed unorganized. The cars were comfortable and the guns were cool, but the 3D quality was not good and the responsiveness to the guns was just ok. The whole “coaster section” (which is literally a lifthill with a small drop) is very bland and seems unnecessary. The only part of the ride that is even remotely thrilling is the surprise finale (I don’t want to ruin it for anyone… so skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know what it is). I think the drop section on this ride is MUCH better than Verbolten’s at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Besides that though, I don’t think I would wait more than 15 minutes to go on this ride again.
Hey there, Behemoth.
Is Behemoth one of my new favorite coasters even though I had ridden it back in 2008? No, it is not. I am going to have to personally classify Behemoth as “overrated.” I have ridden it in pretty much every row and it just doesn’t do it for me. The first drop is great, but the rest of the layout is just blah. The airtime that everyone raves about is only existent on the second half of the camel backs, which just does not do it for me. I am much more of a sustained airtime fan and there happens to be another ride in the park that has one of the best examples of that type of airtime that I have ever come across.
While we were in the “Action Zone” section of the park, I was really excited to see Sledgehammer running.
It ended up being a really unique flat ride with a decently long cycle.
Psyclone is your local Mondial Frisbee.
Flight Deck is (unfortunately) your local Vekoma SLC.
Vortex is a true gem. It is my personal favorite Arrow Suspended model because of its excellent pacing. The entire layout just flows so wonderfully.
Drop Zone- Lexie hates drop towers which makes them must-rides for me at any park.
Lexie with this Zamperla Volare death machine.
Just get the credit and run away, these things are just not fun.
I wish I could have taken a better picture of Shockwave, but I did not. This is one of the best flat rides in the world and it should not be missed if you are visiting Canada’s Wonderland.
Lexie’s face explains Bat pretty well.
Wild(e) Beast is one of the 5 original coasters opened here at Canada’s Wonderland in 1981 — what were the others? (Hint: Leviathan is sitting on one of them)
Pretty.
Unlike Time Warp, however, this ride is pretty fun.
Leviathan started its reign as the tallest (306 ft) and fastest (92mph) roller coaster in Canada 2 years ago in 2012. It is also the second longest coaster in Canada at 5,486 ft — anyone know what the longest coaster in Canada is? — I had to look it up.
A decently long way up.
With a decently long way down at a decently steep angle (80 degrees)… it is very steep.
So what did I think of Leviathan? It is an absolutely phenomenal coaster. Let it be known that I am an enthusiast that is a fan of the newer B&M coasters (since about 2009) and I personally find them very thrilling. The first drop on Leviathan is right up there with Millennium Force and Intimidator 305. It offers an insane amount of airtime and the ride quickly rips through the first overbank with a good amount of force. The next part of the ride is what I was most excited for — the speed hill. To my surprise, the speed hill seemed to offer more lateral versus negative G’s, which I found great because my negative G craving was more than satisfied with this bad boy:
I do not know how some people don’t appreciate the airtime on these newer B&M camelbacks, if you sit in the middle-back rows on rides like Diamondback or Leviathan, the floater airtime is absolutely insane.
Leviathan then enters another overbank at a crazy pace over the entrance of the park and enters another airhill. This airhill was trimmed enough to notice on my visit, but it still offered a good amount of floater airtime. Leviathan than turns to the left, offering one last view of the epic first drop before entering another record breaker Leviathan boasts — the worlds longest brake run.
Ooooo impressive…
Nerd shot taken from Leviathan’s queue, which is another thing worth mentioning. Leviathan had a constant wait of 15 minutes throughout the day because it eats through people. The ride operators were doing a great job getting trains sent out in under a minute from their arrival. I feel like even if the queue was completely full the line would not last more than an hour, which is a true testament to the ride operations at this park.
Canada’s Wonderland is one of the more scenic Cedar Fair parks, too.
We end the trip report on this picture. Lex and I really enjoyed our day at the roller coaster capital of Canada. Leviathan was worth the trip alone and I am happy to add it to my “Elite” class of roller coasters. Wonder Mountain Guardian was a bit disappointing but I still appreciate Cedar Fair trying to incorporate new generation dark rides (Cedar Point 2015 maybe?). Behemoth was just as “blah” as it was in 2008 when I visited this park for the first time so I feel comfortable now classifying it as “overrated.” I know a good amount of people disagree with that statement, but that is just my opinion. Vortex is the best Arrow Suspended coaster still operating (RIP Eagle’s Fortress) and I hope it continues to thrill people for years to come.
For more information on Canada’s Wonderland, visit their website at CanadasWonderland.com
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I am a huge travel and roller coaster enthusiast. I have ridden 504 unique coasters across the world and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and am now working with a creative firm in Orlando, Florida. 
