Canada's Wonderland

 

 

Canada's Wonderland

Slogan	Thrills Connect
Location	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates	43°50′33.16″N 79°32′31.00″W
Owner	Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
General Manager	Norm Pirtovshek
Opened	May 23, 1981 (1981-05-23)
Previous names	Paramount Canada's Wonderland (1993-2006)
Operating season	May through October
Visitors per annum	3,481,000 in 2011
Rides
Total	68
Roller coasters	16
Water rides	2
Website	www.canadaswonderland.com

Canada's Wonderland is a 330-acre (130 ha) theme park located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, a suburb directly north of Toronto. Opened in 1981, it was Canada's first major theme park and is still today the largest theme park in Canada. It is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. It was owned by Paramount Parks from 1994 to 2006, while it was known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland. The park's normal operating season runs from May to October when it is open daily. The park is then only open on weekends until the end of October for Halloween Haunt. The park also features a water park, Splash Works.

The park has been the most attended seasonal theme park in North America for several years. It is also the second most visited park in the Cedar Fair chain with 3,481,000 million visitors in 2011. With 16 roller coasters, Wonderland has more roller coasters in a park anywhere outside of the United States, and is currently tied with Cedar Point for the second most amount of roller coasters in the world

Park history

Planning

In 1972, the Taft Broadcasting Company, headed by Kelly Robinson, first proposed building a 330-acre (130 ha) theme park in the then small village of Maple, part of Vaughan, Ontario. Several other possible locations in Ontario were considered, including Niagara Falls, Cambridge, and Milton, but Maple was finally selected because of its proximity to the City of Toronto and the 400-series of highways.

Wonder Mountain and the Victoria Falls

Others had seriously considered the Greater Toronto Area as a spot to build a theme park, among them the Conklin family (whose Conklin Shows ran various midways around North America, including Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition midway). Walt Disney also considered the idea before choosing Florida, rejecting Toronto mainly because the climate was too cold, making the operating season too short to be profitable.

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 felt that the Toronto market was not large enough to support more competition. Other groups that fought the building of Wonderland included a Vaughan residential association called SAVE, which thought the increased traffic would reduce property values. People in the region were concerned that the new park would be similar in esthetics to a carnival or midway. Some of the concessions the company made included a landscaped berm around the park to reduce noise and modifying the appearance of the large parking lot. Taft was concerned about opposition and flew a group of opponents and regional councillors to Cincinnati to show them the positive impact of one of its theme parks on the local community.

Canada's 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 Regional Municipality of Durham, which includes Pickering and Oshawa, while keeping the lands to the north of Toronto agricultural, as a Greenbelt. The Wonderland promoters were 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, that were expanded and built out to the site. This infrastructure 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 counter 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 Splash Works, White Water Canyon, the F/X Theatre and the southern part of Kidzville. Taft also proposed including a steam passenger train. While Frontier Canada was never built, several original themes remain in the area. Unlike its sister parks, Kings Island and Kings Dominion, it was decided early that the centrepiece of the park would not be a replica of Paris's famous Eiffel Tower. Instead, the park's 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 that were never built include a hotel and conference centre, which was to have been constructed north of the park.

Construction and opening

On 13 June 1979, Ontario Premier Bill Davis depressed the plunger on an electronic detonating device in downtown Toronto, triggering an explosion on the site. Construction began immediately and continued on to early 1981. Canadian companies were partners on the preliminary design and engineering of the project. Construction of the mountain alone involved a dozen local companies under Cincinnati engineer Curtis D. Summers.

Two years later on 23 May 1981, Davis, and Taft Broadcasting President Dudley Taft, officially opened Canada's Wonderland to the public. 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 fountain. Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky also appeared as a special guest, helping to raise the Canadian flag. 12,000 guests were welcomed into the park for the first time. The park cost $120 million to build.

Kings Entertainment and Paramount era

A view of Splash Works from atop Behemoth with Mighty Canadien Minebuster in the foreground.

During the 1980s, Canada's Wonderland and the Loblaws supermarket chain mounted a cross-marketing campaign. Loblaws issued "Wonder dollars" based on customers' purchases, which were redeemable at Canada's Wonderland at par with the Canadian dollar on weekdays. The obverse of the coin featured Wonder Mountain, while the reverse featured the Loblaws logo.

Kings Entertainment Corporation operated the park during the 1980s and early 1990s. The park's former connection to Hanna-Barbera Productions was reduced after Paramount Pictures raised its stake from 20% to full ownership of the park in 1993 and renamed it Paramount Canada's Wonderland. After Viacom bought Paramount in 1994, a successful attempt was made to bring families back to the park by attracting children with original Nickelodeon cartoon characters that were familiar to a new generation.

Many changes were made in the next decade. In 1996, Splash Works was expanded, with a new water slide, a wave pool and a new child-friendly water playground (The Black Hole, White Water Bay and The Pump House). In 1998, the park expanded by adding KidZville, which was mainly designed for infants and children. In 1999, Splash Works was expanded for the second time, with the addition of raft rides: The Plunge and Super Soaker.

In 2001, a new themed area called Zoom Zone was added within the KidZville section. Three new attractions were built in that area: Silver Streak (a family roller coaster), Blast Off (a "frog hopper"), and Jumpin' Jet. In 2002, the park unveiled Action Zone, a new themed area, which at the time contained already existing rides and added the Psyclone ride.

Splash Works also received its third and most current upgrade, with the addition of a child water playground area called Splash Island and the removal of Pipeline.

On 11 May 2003, with the park packed with people for Mother's Day, two guests were involved in a fight at the front gates of the park, which led to a shooting death. It was thought to have followed a prior dispute involving the two over a drug exchange, according to York Regional Police. The park has since added metal detectors at the front gate, with additional security.

In 2005, the park introduced Fearfest, a Halloween event featuring various haunted house attractions in different themed areas. Though the section for smaller children was closed off, the park continued running many of the thrill rides during the event, such as the Thunder Run, in which patrons ride a mining type train through a mountain. During the Halloween season, it is re-themed as the "Haunted" Thunder Run, with a darker tunnel and more strobe lights, fog machines, and black-light lit scenes featuring the "skeletons" of miners.

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. Due to very low attendance, Spooktacular only lasted one season.^{[citation needed]}

Cedar Fair era

On 14 May 2006, it was announced that Cedar Fair Entertainment Company was interested in acquiring the five Paramount theme parks, including Canada's Wonderland. The acquisition was completed on 30 June 2006. As a result, in early January 2007, Cedar Fair began to drop the name "Paramount" from all of the former Paramount parks, and the park is currently called by its original name: Canada's Wonderland. The 2007 and 2008 season was a transition year for removing "all things Paramount" throughout the park, which included renaming some of the rides. By the start of the 2008 season, the Paramount logo and similar references had been removed. In August 2007, Cedar Fair announced that Fearfest would be renamed Halloween Haunt to remain consistent with other Cedar Fair parks, and that Spooktacular would be discontinued. In its place, the park extended its regular operating season until the last weekend in October. Halloween Haunt runs in the late evenings on October weekends.

On 4 May 2008, Canada's Wonderland opened a hypercoaster called Behemoth. Until Leviathan opened in 2012, Behemoth held the record for the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Canada, standing at 230 feet (70 m) and reaching speeds of 77 miles per hour (124 km/h),.

On 19 July 2009, Nik Wallenda walked on a tight rope from the pond area of Medieval Faire to Wonder Mountain.

An aerial view of the park in May 2011.

In 2011, Canada's Wonderland opened a 301-foot-tall (92 m) WindSeeker, making it the tallest ride in the park until Leviathan opened in 2012. The park also announced the addition of the Starlight Spectacular show, which started on 25 June 2011 and ended on Labor Day, 3 September 2011. It was a nightly 'light and sound show' designed to celebrate the park's 30th anniversary; it was shown at 10 pm EST every night on International Street. Canada's Wonderland stated that the total cost for the show was approximately $1 million, with 16 million different colours and 300,000 LED lights. While the show took place at the front of the park (International Street), the highlight was on Wonder Mountain, with many 3D images and colours.

Leviathan was built for the 2012 season. It is the park's tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster, as well as the tallest and fastest in Canada. In addition to Leviathan, Canada's Wonderland also opened Dinosaurs Alive!, walk through dinosaur exhibit. On 27 May 2012, for the first time in the park's history, Canada's Wonderland hosted a 1-kilometre, 5 kilometre, and 10 kilometre run to raise money for the planned Vaughan hospital that will be built on land once owned by Canada's Wonderland.

Current areas and attractions

The park has several themed areas. The four original sections are: International Street, Medieval Faire, Grande World Exposition of 1890 (now Action Zone), and the Happyland of Hanna-Barbera (divided into 2 kids areas now). The current areas include the original sections and White Water Canyon (1984), Splash Works (1992), and children's areas including Kidzville (1998), Zoom Zone (2001) and Planet Snoopy (2010).

International Street

Main article: International Street (Canada's Wonderland)

Alpine Building on International Street, May 1981.

International Street is the park's entry area, similar to the Main Street, U.S.A. sections of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Using a format borrowed from Kings Island and Kings Dominion, both sides of the street are lined with shops, including souvenir shops, clothing stores, restaurants, and candy stores. Wonder Mountain, the park's centrepiece, appears at the end of the street. In early decades, stores sold high-quality imported goods, themed to the buildings, and restaurants sold unlikely foods for a theme park, such as shrimp, paella, and smoked sausage.

The buildings are named the Latin, Scandinavian, Mediterranean, and Alpine Buildings.

International Festival

International Festival is located in the northeast section of the park and is home to fourteen games and six rides. International Festival is most notable for its midway games.

Ride	Year opened	Manufacturer	Description	Rating
The Fly	1999	Mack Rides	A wild mouse roller coaster added as the eleventh roller coaster in the park. The ride begins with a 50 ft (15.24 m) drop, then returns back up followed by a series of sharp turns, drops, and brakes.	4
Klockwerks	1981	HUSS	One of the original rides from when the park opened in 1981.	4
Shockwave	2001	Mondial	A Mondial Top Scan that is located on the former site of Klockwerks before the attraction was relocated within the park. The ride spins around on an angle while guests (restrained on the seats) are spun around at almost every possible angle the ride operates on.	5
Thunder Run	1981	Mack Rides	A steel mine train roller coaster. It was originally called Blauer Enzian and located in a different section of the park when the park first opened in 1981. In 1986, the ride was relocated to Wonder Mountain. The ride uses a drive motor with a rubber wheel in the front of the train to drive it around the track, rather than a traditional lift. Thunder Run makes two passes through Wonder Mountain at the centre of the park.	N/A
Vortex	1991	Arrow Dynamics	A steel suspended roller coaster, similar to Flight Deck at Kings Island. It was Canada's first suspended roller coaster when opened, and was the eighth roller coaster added to Canada's Wonderland. It shares Wonder Mountain with Thunder Run for its lift and first drop, but the majority of the ride takes place over the open water behind the mountain.	5

Action Zone

Entrance plaza of Behemoth.

Action Zone was originally The Grande World Exposition of 1890 and is one of the original four themed areas at Wonderland. It was made to resemble an old world's fair, with expositions from different countries, focusing on African and Asian themes. The restaurants and bathrooms were formerly true to the exposition theme. One of the restaurants was called Ginza Gardens (now The Backlot Cafe) and had a Japanese theme and a Japanese façade. There is also an arcade area within this section of the park. The Mighty Canadian Minebuster, one of the original four roller coasters, is on the outskirts of the Action Zone and was intended to be the centrepiece of the never-built Frontier Canada.

In 2002, Action Zone was created as a new themed area within the Grande World Exposition of 1890. However, the entire area was later renamed Action Zone.

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Rating
Antique Carousel	1981	Philadelphia Toboggan Company	A carousel that was originally located in Palisades Park, New Jersey. The ride features 64 original hand-carved horses; the lead horse’s name is Caesar.	1
Backlot Stunt Coaster	2005	Premier Rides	A family LIM-launched roller coaster based on the chase sequence of the 2003 remake of The Italian Job. Riders launch into a parking garage, dodge police cars, and are attacked by a helicopter, which ignites fire all around riders before hitting a second launch section, sending riders into pitch black darkness. Formerly known as The Italian Job: Stunt Track (2005–2007).	5
Behemoth	2008	Bolliger & Mabillard	A steel hypercoaster built by Bolliger & Mabillard, and the park's fifteenth roller coaster, beginning operation in May 2008. It is currently the second tallest and fastest roller coaster in Canada, with a maximum height of 70 metres (230 feet) and a maximum speed of 125 km/h (78 mph). Rather than the standard, four-seat-across setup common in most B&M roller coasters, Behemoth features a new, "prototype" seating arrangement that has four seats arranged in a "V" formation.	5
Flight Deck	1995	Vekoma	A steel inverted roller coaster. It is Canada's first and only inverted looping Jet coaster, and has been cloned 24 times for many parks around the world. It was the ninth roller coaster added to the park.	5
Mighty Canadian Minebuster	1981	Philadelphia Toboggan Company	A wooden roller coaster. It is one of the four roller coasters that debuted with the park in 1981, and is one of two wooden coasters at Canada's Wonderland modelled after a ride at Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio (the Shooting Star). Today, Minebuster is still the longest wooden coaster in Canada	5
Orbiter	1981	HUSS	A HUSS Giant Enterprise. It was dismantled in 2006 but reopened in 2008.	4
Psyclone	2002	Mondial	The 1 minute and 54 second ride features 40 seats facing outwards that rotate from a central pendulum as the ride reaches its maximum arc angle of 120 degrees.	5
SkyRider	1985	TOGO	A steel stand-up roller coaster. It was the park's fifth roller coaster. It was added one year after a near-identical coaster, King Cobra, was added to Kings Island to be North America's first stand-up roller coaster. However, King Cobra closed in 2002.	5
Sledgehammer	2003	HUSS	A HUSS Giant Jumper.	5
Swings of the Century	1981	Zierer	A Zierer Wave Swinger 36 model swing ride that rotates with a wave motion lifting riders up to 30 feet (9.14 m) in the air.	3
Time Warp	2004	Zamperla	A steel flying roller coaster. It was the thirteenth roller coaster added to the park, and Canada's first "Flying Coaster". Riders lie flat on their stomachs in a car suspended from overhead, in order to take in the experience face-first. The ride has no vertical inversions, but contains two Heartline rolls. Formerly known as 'Tomb Raider: The Ride'.	5
WindSeeker	2011	Mondial	A Tower swinger ride featuring two-person swings that slowly rotate and ascend the 301-foot (92 m) tower until reaching the top where speeds increase up to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). After several delays in May, it opened 21 June.	4
Xtreme Skyflyer	1996	Sky Fun	Pay-per-ride Double Skycoaster with a dive of 153 feet (47 m). Currently Canada's largest free-fall swing.	5

Medieval Faire

See also: Medieval Faire (Canada's Wonderland)

Entrance plaza of Leviathan

The Medieval Faire section of the park has a medieval European theme in both the setting and the rides. However, rides such as Drop Tower: Scream Zone have no Medieval theme. The two original roller coasters, Wild Beast and Dragon Fire had pseudo-old English spellings (Wilde Beast and Dragon Fyre) before 1998. The stores and restaurants follow the medieval theme, as does the castle theatre (Wonderland Theatre, originally Canterbury Theatre) and a pirate show in the middle of the lake. Wonderland Theatre hosted ice shows from 2006 to 2011, and will host Cirque Ambiente in the summer of 2012.

Ride	Year Opened	Manufacturer	Description	Rating
The Bat	1987	Vekoma	A classic Vekoma Boomerang roller coaster. It was the seventh roller coaster added to the park	5
Dragon Fire	1981	Arrow Dynamics	A steel roller coaster. It is one of the four roller coasters that debuted with the park in 1981. Uniquely, unlike the other roller coasters produced by Arrow that contain corkscrews, Dragon Fire's corkscrew runs counter-clockwise. While the ride came with 3 trains, only two are used for this ride, with the third being used for The Bat.	5
Drop Tower: Scream Zone	1997	Intamin	A drop tower ride. All the former Paramount Parks have a ride similar to this with different heights. Formerly known as 'Drop Zone: Stunt Tower' (1999–2007).	5
Leviathan	2012	Bolliger & Mabillard	A steel giga coaster. It is the park's sixteenth roller coaster and Bolliger & Mabillard's first Giga Coaster. It is also the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Canada and the seventh tallest and eighth fastest coaster in the world.	5
Night Mares	1981	HUSS	Riders are lifted 49 feet (14.94 m) in the air while spinning from a horizontal to vertical position.	4
The Rage	1981	HUSS	A HUSS swinging ship ride.	3
Riptide	2000	Mondial	A Mondial Splashover Top Spin.	5
Speed City Raceway	1997	J&J Amusements	Go karts	4
Spinovator	1981	Heinrich Mack GMBH & Co	A Mack Calypso Teacups ride	3
Wild Beast	1981	Philadelphia Toboggan Company	A wooden roller coaster. It is one of the four roller coasters that debuted with the park in 1981, and is one of two wooden coasters at Canada's Wonderland modelled after a ride at Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio (Wildcat)	5

White Water Canyon

Main article: White Water Canyon (Canada's Wonderland)

Matching with the tree cover, a rural-look building.

This section of the park is thickly surrounded by trees. It was introduced in 1984, when the White Water Canyon ride debuted. It is where the Frontier Canada themed area had been promised (along with Splash Works).

Ride	Year opened	Manufacturer	Description	Rating
Action Theatre	1994	Iwerks Entertainment	A 3D theater which houses the new Dinosaurs Alive! 3D movie which was introduced in 2012. (This movie uses a pay-per-use system).	4
Timberwolf Falls	1989	Hopkins Rides	A Shoot the chute water ride.	4
White Water Canyon	1984	Intamin	A river rafting ride originally named White Water Rafting Adventure.	4

Children's areas

Main article: Children's attractions at Canada's Wonderland

The children's areas in Canada's Wonderland all began as The Happyland of Hanna-Barbera. The three areas were themed as Yogi's Woods, Scoobyville, and Bedrock; the first was converted to Smurf Village in 1984. In 1993, the Smurf area transitioned to Kids Kingdom, which became Kidzville in 1998. In 2003, Bedrock became Nickelodeon Central. Planet Snoopy, based on the comic strip Peanuts, replaced Nickelodeon Central for the 2010 season, standardizing the park with the rest of the Cedar Fair chain. A fourth themed area is Zoom Zone. Quite small, it is part of Kidzville. Created in 2001 with the debut of Silver Streak, it also contains the small rides Blast Off, and Jumpin' Jet. One of the Kidzville rides, and originally a Kids Kingdom ride, Jumbo Bumps, was removed to make way for these three rides and the new section. Starting in 2004, Zoom Zone was no longer shown on park maps as an independent section. However, since Cedar Fair's takeover, each of the three rides mentions it is in Zoom Zone, and park signage continues to use the name. Currently, KidZville and Planet Snoopy are the only children's areas.

The first ride accident in the park's history occurred on 23 August 2003, when the Jimmy Neutron Brainwasher (now Woodstock Whirlybirds) fell apart. Three children were sent to hospital as a precautionary measure.

KidZville

A Peanuts-themed stage show, at Canada's Wonderland.

KidZville is one of the two current children's areas at Canada's Wonderland. The current rides are:

Ride	Height Requirement	Manufacturer	Rating
Blast Off	Over 36 in or 91 cm	S&S Worldwide	2
Chopper Chase	Under 48 in or 122 cm	Caripro Amusement Technology	2
Flavourator	Under 44 in or 112 cm	Zamperla	2
Frequent Flyers	N/A	Bradley & Kaye	2
Jokey's Jalopies	Under 46 in or 117 cm	Bradley & Kaye	2
Jumpin' Jet	Under 42 in or 107 cm	Zamperla	3
KidZville Station	Under 40 in or 102 cm	Mack Rides	2
Silver Streak	Over 44 in or 112 cm	Vekoma	4
Swing Time	Over 36 in or 91 cm	Zamperla	1
Taxi Jam	Over 36 in or 91 cm	Miler Coasters Inc.	2

Planet Snoopy

Planet Snoopy is the newest children's area that opened in 2010. The current rides are:

The Pumpkin Patch ride

Ride	Height Requirement	Manufacturer	Rating
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill	Over 46 in or 117 cm	Sally Corporation	2
Character Carrousel	Over 46 in or 117 cm	N/A	1
Dinosaurs Alive!	No Height Requirement	Dinosaurs Unearthed	N/A
Ghoster Coaster	Over 40 in or 102 cm	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters	4
Joe Cool's Dodgem School	Over 36 in or 91 cm	Lusse Brothers Incorporated	2
Lucy's Tugboat	Under 48 in or 122 cm	Zamperla	2
Peanuts 500	Over 42 in or 107 cm	Zamperla	2
The Pumpkin Patch	Under 48 in or 122 cm	SBF Visa Group	2
Sally's Love Buggies	Over 42 in or 107 cm	Eureka	2
Snoopy vs Red Baron	Over 32 in or 81 cm	Herschell	2
Snoopy's Revolution	Under 42 in or 107 cm	Zamperla	2
Snoopy's Space Race	N/A	Intamin	2
Swan Lake	Under 48 in or 122 cm	Bradley & Kaye	1
Woodstock Whirlybirds	Under 40 in or 102 cm	SBF Visa Group	3

Splash Works

Main article: Splash Works

Opened in 1992, Splash Works is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) water park. The water park is home to Whitewater Bay, the largest outdoor wave pool in Canada, and 16 water slides. It is included with the price of admission to Canada's Wonderland.

Fast Lane

Further information: List of Fast Lane attractions#Canada's Wonderland

Fast Lane is Canada's Wonderland's new 'two line' system for 2012, which is also implemented at other Cedar Fair parks. For a cost between $40 and $60 (in addition to normal admission charges), visitors receive a wrist band that enables them to bypass the 'normal-wait' line and enter the 'Fast Lane'. Opting for this benefit essentially allows purchasers to cut in at the front of the line on 18 of the most popular attractions without waiting. An unspecified limited amount of passes are sold each day.

Timeline

Today, Canada's Wonderland has over 200 attractions (including games), with over 60 thrill rides. The park holds a number of Canadian records, among them the most roller coasters, with 16. The park encompasses eight themed areas on 330 acres (130 ha) of land, with an artificial mountain as the central feature. In the southwestern quadrant, a 20 acres (8.1 ha) waterpark called Splash Works has over 2 million US 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.

In 1983, Canada's Wonderland added the Kingswood Music Theatre, a 15,000 seat amphitheatre that has hosted many "big-name" concerts. After the Molson Amphitheatre opened on the grounds of Ontario Place in 1995, cultural festivals at the theatre became less prominent.

Major attractions by year

The Rage (2007) opened with Canada's Wonderland in 1981.

The Jet Scream "looping starship" ride (2003), removed at the end of the 2010 season to make room for WindSeeker.

Psyclone (2005), built for the 2002 season.

Current name in (brackets)

• 1981: Park opens with:

Antique Carousel, Balloon Race (Frequent Flyers), Bayern's Curve, Bedrock Dock now operates at Carowinds as "Snoopy's Yacht Club", Thunder Run, Dragon Fire, Flintstone's Flyboys, Ghoster Coaster, Great Whale of China, Happy Landing (Swan Lake), Hot Rock Raceway, Klockwerks, Krachenwagen, Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Wilde Beast (Wild Beast), Quixote's Kettles (Spinovator), Scooby Choo (KidZville Station), Shiva's Fury (The Fury), Sol-loco (Orbiter), Swings of the Century, Wilde Knightmares (Night Mares), Viking's Rage (The Rage), Wonder Tour, and Zumba Flume.

• 1982: Kings Courtyard (The Courtyard)
• 1983: Kingswood Music Theatre
• 1984: White Water Canyon, Smurf Forest (until 1990s)
• 1985: SkyRider
• 1986: Thunder Run (formerly Blauer Enzian)
• 1987: The Bat
• 1988: Racing Rivers
• 1989: Timberwolf Falls
• 1990: Jet Scream
• 1991: Vortex
• 1992: Splash Works: Whirl Winds, Body Blast, Splash Island Kiddy Slides
• 1993: Kid's Kingdom play area (later renovated and renamed Candy Factory)
• 1994: "Days of Thunder" – Motion Simulator Movie Ride (Action Theatre – Currently Playing "Dinosaurs Alive 3D")
• 1995: Top Gun (Flight Deck)
• 1996: Xtreme Skyflyer; Splash Works Expansion: Wave Pool, The Pump House, Black Speed City Raceway
• 1997: Drop Zone: Stunt Tower (later renamed Drop Tower: Scream Zone)
• 1998: KidZville, James Bond – "License To Thrill" (feature at Action Theatre), The Edge Climbing Wall
• 1999: The Fly; SplashWorks Expansion: Super Soaker and The Plunge; "Escape from Dino Island" (feature at Action Theatre)
• 2000: Riptide, Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion (Boo Blasters on Boo Hill)
• 2001: Shockwave; Zoom Zone (new kids area) including: Silver Streak, Blast Off and Jumping Jet; "7th Portal" (feature at the Action Theatre)
• 2002: Psyclone; SplashWorks Expansion: Riptide Racer, Barracuda Blaster and Kids Sprayground
• 2003: Sledge Hammer, Nickelodeon Central (replacing Bedrock), "Warrior of the Dawn" (in Action Theatre), "SpongeBob SquarePants 3-D" (feature in Action Theatre), Launch Pad (trampolines; requires separate fee)
• 2004: Tomb Raider: The Ride (later renamed Time Warp)
• 2005: Italian Job: Stunt Track (later renamed Backlot Stunt Coaster)
• 2006: "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbara" (feature at the Action Theatre), Nickelodeon Celebration Parade
• 2007: Coasters 50s Diner, International Marketplace Buffet, Picnic Pavilion
• 2008: Behemoth
• 2010: Planet Snoopy
• 2011: WindSeeker, Starlight Spectacular, VIP Tour Program,
• 2012: Leviathan, Dinosaurs Alive!, Starlight Spectacular, "Dinosaurs Alive 3D" (In Action Theatre), Fast Lane

Current name in (brackets)

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 (8.1 mi) north of Highway 401, 6 km (4 mi) north of Highway 407 and 64 km (40 mi) south of Barrie. It is bounded by Highway 400 to the west, Jane Street to the east, Major Mackenzie Drive to the north and Rutherford Road to the south. Formerly quite isolated when the park opened, it has been surrounded by housing on all sides since the mid-2000s. It has two public entrances and one entrance for staff, deliveries, and buses.

Public transportation

Regular transit access is provided by York Region Transit (YRT), while GO Transit and MiWay run special services. The bus loop at Wonderland is located near the northeast corner of the park, and is accessible from the service entrance on Jane Street, north of Major Mackenzie Drive. Transportation to the Wonderland Terminal is available from the following regional transit organizations:

• Toronto Transit Commission on behalf of York Region Transit: Toronto – Route 165 Weston Road North bus to Canada's Wonderland from York Mills subway station via Wilson subway station. Extra fare is required north of Steeles Avenue.
• Mississauga Transit: Route 88, express, non-stop trip between Canada's Wonderland and Mississauga's Square One Shopping Centre.
• York Region Transit: Route 20 Jane-Concord provides service along the Jane Street corridor from York University to Teston Road. YRT Route 87 Langstaff-Maple serve the park from nearby stops on Jane Street during rush hours only. YRT Route 760 Vaughan Mills/Wonderland services the park from Vaughan Mills Mall, Richmond Hill Centre, Finch Station and Yonge Street from Highway 7 to Finch Avenue.
• GO Transit: Wonderland GO Bus Service (Route 60) from York Mills Bus Terminal and Yorkdale Bus Terminal.

York Region Transit used to provide a express Magic Wonderbus service from Newmarket and Markham, but this service was discontinued for the 2007 season. Route 4 Major Mackenzie no longer serves the Wonderland bus loop however it still runs up and down Jane Street past the park.

Logos

The park, from its opening in 1981, was known as Canada's Wonderland. In 1994, when it was sold to Paramount Pictures (later Viacom), they changed the name of the park to include the word Paramount, something Paramount Parks did with all of its other parks in 1993. Prior to that, none of the Paramount-owned parks had the Paramount prefix.

In 2003, Viacom updated the logo of Paramount Parks, and all its theme parks, including Wonderland, to include an updated Paramount logo, even though the logo for Paramount Pictures, the film studio, remained unchanged.

In 2006, CBS Corporation (split from Viacom in 2005) sold all of its theme park properties to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, which in turn, dropped the Paramount prefixes from all five parks (and thus reverted to their original names), and gave the logos the Cedar Fair logo and font style.

1981–1993   1994–2003   2003-2006   2007-present

See also

• List of Canada's Wonderland attractions
• Paramount Parks
• Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
• Incidents at Canada's Wonderland
• List of amusement parks in the Americas

External links

• Official website
• Park map
• Canada's Wonderland at RCDB
• CW Mania, fan forum about Canada's Wonderland