Canada's Wonderland

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**Canada's Wonderland**

Location	Vaughan, Ontario
Website	canadas-wonderland.com
Owner	Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.
Opened	May 23, 1981
Operating season	May through October
Area	330 acres (1.3 km²)
Rides	60 Thrill Rides & 200 Attractions total 14 roller coasters 20 Acre (81,000 m²) Waterpark – Waterpark, Outdoor Wavepool, 16 Water Slides water rides

Canada's Wonderland (often referred to as just 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]

1 Park history
- 1.1 Construction and opening
- 1.2 Recent history
2 Attractions
3 Location
- 3.1 Public transportation
4 Facts and figures
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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.

The construction of the park was fought on multiple fronts. Many cultural institutions in Toronto felt that the new theme park would put them out of business. Many of the institutions included Ontario Place, the Royal Ontario Museum and the operators of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) who felt that 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 the building of 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 councilors out to Cincinnati to show residents and town councilors the impact of one of their theme parks on 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 and aesthetic to that of a carnival and midway like the CNE.

Wonderland was also responsible for changing the master development plan for the Province of Ontario. The government had 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 secured infrastructure improvements (including a highway overpass, and sewage systems) to be expanded and built out to the site. The subsequent improvements paved the way for increased developments 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. Other elements to the park which were never built include a hotel and conference centre (to have been built north of the park).

Previous names

Canada's Wonderland 1981-1992
Paramount Canada's Wonderland 1993-2006
Canada's Wonderland 2007-present

[edit] 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.

[edit] Recent history

The park's former connection to Hanna-Barbera productions was reduced after Paramount Pictures purchased the park. 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. A Halloween event featuring various haunted house attractions in different themed areas of the park. The park also had many of their thrill rides running during the event. They had the section of the park that was normally suited for smaller children closed off during the event. On one of their rides known as Thunder Run where patrons ride a mine car like train through a mountain is also changed for the event. 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 staked skeletons, and the skeletons of miners that might have died in the mine. There is also supposedly a headless skeleton in the mine that is supposedly a reference to the headless employee legend, but this is not confirmed and is only based on what people saw as they quickly rode passed the display. More details of the headless employee legend can be found in the Thunder Run article.

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, a deal which was completed on 30 June 2006.^[4] In early January 2007, Cedar Fair began to drop the "Paramount" name from all of its acquired Paramount Parks.

New for 2007

"Coasters" A new restaurant located in Expo beside Sledge Hammer
"The Market - International Buffet" A second new restaurant, located in Med Faire, serving a buffet selection.
Two new shows, mentioned below.

[edit] Attractions

Today, 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 (8,000 m²) 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, Wonderland built the Kingswood Music Theatre, a 15,000 seat amphitheatre that used to play host to many "big-name" concerts. In recent years, concerts took a back seat to cultural festivals. SplashWorks, 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Water slides

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

[edit] Roller coasters

Main article: Rides at Canada's Wonderland

The Bat - Steel shuttle Coaster with two loops and a cobra roll, built by Vekoma
Dragon Fire - Steel double-loop, double-corkscrew with a downwards helix, built by Arrow
The Fly - Wild Mouse roller coaster built by Mack Gmbh
Italian Job: Stunt Track - steel, powered launch, built by Premier Rides
Mighty Canadian Minebuster - Wooden coaster with modified out-and-back layout, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company
SkyRider - steel stand-up, with one loop and a downward helix, built by Togo
Thunder Run - Steel mine train coaster with no lift, built by Mack Gmbh
Tomb Raider: The Ride - Steel flying roller coaster, built by Zamperla
Top Gun - Steel inverted looping coaster, 5 inversions of various types, built by Vekoma
Vortex - Steel suspended coaster, built by Arrow Dynamics
Wild Beast - Wooden, modified Bearcat/Wildcat, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company

[edit] Children-geared roller coasters

Scooby's Gasping Ghoster Coaster - Wooden, children's coaster, double out and back layout, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Silver Streak - Inverted steel family coaster, built by Vekoma
Taxi Jam - Steel children's coaster, built by Miller

[edit] 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).

[edit] Major attractions by year

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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 (Renovated and renamed Candy Factory)
1994 - Days Of Thunder (Action FX Theatre)
1995 - Top Gun
1996 - Splash Works Expansion: Wave Pool, The Pump House, Black Hole Water Slide. X-Treme Skyflyer
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, Super Soaker, The Plunge, Escape from Dino Island (feature at Action FX theatre (R))
2000 - Cliff Hanger, Scooby-Doo Haunted Mansion
2001 - Shockwave
2002 - Psyclone
2003 - Sledge Hammer, Nickelodeon Central
2004 - Tomb Raider: The Ride
2005 - Italian Job Stunt Track
2006 - Paramount's Hollywood Stunt Spectacular (R)

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

[edit] Location

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. It has three public entrances and one entrance designated for staff, offices, deliveries and busses. Regular transit access is provided by York Region Transit, while GO Transit, Brampton Transit, and Mississauga Transit all run special services, as does YRT from Newmarket and Markham.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 a City TV defunct program, Electric Circus.