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Construction has already started. Official announcement to be made in 12 days. This is big news for amusement park enthusiasts. Canada's Wonderland will have the 4th Giga Coaster in the world, 3rd in North America. BIG!

For those of you who do not know what a Giga coaster is. Read below:

A Giga Coaster is a complete-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop greater than 300 feet. The term was coined by a Cedar Point and Intamin AG partnership after the construction of Millennium Force. There are three Giga coasters worldwide: Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan, and Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion. Millennium Force and Intimidator 305 were built by Intamin AG while Steel Dragon 2000 was built by Chance-Morgan.

Rumour is the drop will be in the 330-340feet range. This is bananas considering all the years of the lame new rides Wonderland used to install but that was Paramount. Cedar Fair taking ownership of Canada's Wonderland is the best thing that could have happened since we got Behemoth not too long ago, Wind Seeker, etc.

http://www.canadaswonderland.com/2012/

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They're eliminating a chunk of parking as its needed for the new coaster.

I don't think Dragon Fyre is going. The new coaster will be worked around it.

I'm quite excited. I never thought we'd see the day where we get a 300+ foot roller coaster here in Canada.
 
Good to see real investment in Wonderland.

I haven't been able to be bothered to go in several years, Behemoth got my attention, but still not enough to drag myself up there.

As you get older (and more jaded) its naturally more difficult to impress. Those of us who have had the good fortune to travel have become acutely aware of Wonderland's shortcomings.

It was, shortly after being built, a first-tier park behind then Disney World, in its own class.

But it has fallen far since, by largely stagnating, or initiating one-off improvements but not sustaining any momentum.

Though I doubt it will ever happen, what Wonderland needs is all that land it sold-off, back.

As it needs, I would argue, to add at least one more whole area for adults, perhaps one for kids as well.

It could also use some sort of resort/hotel service...(if Darien Lake can manage it...)

But for now, contracting the parking, and perhaps decking the lot to free up a few acres would be the right move.
 
330-340 ft?? I'll believe it when I hear it. I am sure CW is getting a giga coaster, but I think it's going to be around 300-310 ft.
 
There are no details yet announced, so that number is clearly just rumour based.
 
Let's hope it's something grand.

If Wonderland can put in a massive wooden one after this - one along the lines of El Toro, Mean Streak, or even Le Monstre - that would be fantastic. It would go a long way towards making up for all the mediocre rides put in under Paramount. Maybe buy The Comet back from The Great Escape, and put it back on Canadian soil while they're at it. The park badly needs a new, gigantic wooden coaster, IMO.

Great news though - sounds really exciting!
 
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Northern Light said:
Good to see real investment in Wonderland.

I haven't been able to be bothered to go in several years, Behemoth got my attention, but still not enough to drag myself up there.

As you get older (and more jaded) its naturally more difficult to impress. Those of us who have had the good fortune to travel have become acutely aware of Wonderland's shortcomings.

It was, shortly after being built, a first-tier park behind then Disney World, in its own class.

But it has fallen far since, by largely stagnating, or initiating one-off improvements but not sustaining any momentum.

Though I doubt it will ever happen, what Wonderland needs is all that land it sold-off, back.

As it needs, I would argue, to add at least one more whole area for adults, perhaps one for kids as well.

It could also use some sort of resort/hotel service...(if Darien Lake can manage it...)

But for now, contracting the parking, and perhaps decking the lot to free up a few acres would be the right move.
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This is exactly what i mean with Torontonians not having a single clue to what great things they have available to them.
Disney is nowhere near as thrilling for a young adult as other US amusement parks or Wonderland is.
 
CanadianNational said:
Let's hope it's something grand.
If Wonderland can put in a massive wooden one after this - one along the lines of El Toro, Mean Streak, or even Le Monstre - that would be fantastic. It would go a long way towards making up for all the mediocre rides put in under Paramount. Maybe buy The Comet back from The Great Escape, and put it back on Canadian soil while they're at it. The park badly needs a new, gigantic wooden coaster.
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Yes yes yes! Although I'd rather see a woodie like The Voyage personally ;)
 
Thanos said:
This is exactly what i mean with Torontonians not having a single clue to what great things they have available to them.
Disney is nowhere near as thrilling for a young adult as other US amusement parks or Wonderland is.
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EXCUSE ME?

I will avoid the temptation to start a flame war; as those pollute the board too much already.

But perhaps you might have noted that I said "those of us who HAVE HAD the good fortune to travel"

Put simply I've visited many places (and theme parks) in several countries.

I didn't say Wonderland was crap; I said it was stagnating due to inattention.

I didn't say Wonderland didn't have good rides; and indeed I applauded both this new coaster and Behemoth as well.

Rather I was pointing out that other parks have been advancing at a greater rate; and include certain things Wonderland lacks.

Both of which are true.

I included the reference to Disney, not for its coasters (many parks do that better, Wonderland included)

What Disney does better is the 'package'. Hotel, resort, casual to fine dining, all sorts of things around the periphery of the rides themselves. They also invest more in the 'theatrical' side of the park.

While Six Flags Texas and Cedar Point, among others, out muscle (if only slightly) Wonderland on Coasters.

I'm looking for Wonderland to be the best season theme park on earth. Nothing more, nothing less.

My hope is this new investment may take us in that direction, but only time will tell.
 
Northern Light said:
I included the reference to Disney, not for its coasters (many parks do that better, Wonderland included)

What Disney does better is the 'package'. Hotel, resort, casual to fine dining, all sorts of things around the periphery of the rides themselves. They also invest more in the 'theatrical' side of the park.

While Six Flags Texas and Cedar Point, among others, out muscle (if only slightly) Wonderland on Coasters.

I'm looking for Wonderland to be the best season theme park on earth. Nothing more, nothing less.

My hope is this new investment may take us in that direction, but only time will tell.
Click to expand...

A lot of those parks that are booming now went through a period where they barely got any attention and are only playing catch up.
The parks in the southern US have an advantage that CW will never have and that is all year round summer weather. I don't see many hotel chains being interested in setting up inside CW or next door. I hope i can be proving wrong. I just don't see people wanna visit CW for half a week or so. Also, many young families who visit the parks in Florida or Cali do it as part of a bigger vacation package that includes visits to the beach and outlets, two things that are nowhere to be found in Canada.
 
It makes perfect sense that Cedar Fair wants to invest more in Wonderland, given it has the highest attendance for a seasonal park in North America. Wonderland is a very good selection of rides, but it's just in the coaster department that they're lacking the wow factor. Behemoth was a great addition, but this sounds even better. It's likely a giga as well, look at this photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58668025@N05/5988585384/
 
CanadianNational said:
Let's hope it's something grand.
If Wonderland can put in a massive wooden one after this - one along the lines of El Toro, Mean Streak, or even Le Monstre - that would be fantastic. It would go a long way towards making up for all the mediocre rides put in under Paramount. Maybe buy The Comet back from The Great Escape, and put it back on Canadian soil while they're at it. The park badly needs a new, gigantic wooden coaster.
Click to expand...

Cedar Fair is not known for building wood coasters, the last one was the Prowler at Worlds of Fun park. Mean Streak was not a success for them, a really rough ride, and I think Cedar Fair is weary of building woodies. I would love to see a new wooden coaster at Wonderland, GCI, and the Gravity Group have built masterpieces within the past 5 years, and they are considerably cheaper than steel coasters.

Of course, Cedar Fair seems to have a good relationship with Intamin and Intamin's "Plug and Play" woodies get rave reviews for coaster enthusiasts, so there might a chance of a massive woodie at a Cedar Fair park someday.
 
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I haven't been back to Wonderland for a few years. I loved Behemoth but the one thing that sucks the fun out of Wonderland are the long wait times. Popularity is considered a positive so there's not much you can do to reduce the amount of people in the park, but scheduled queue jumps would be something I'd be willing to pay more for. Allow you to schedule a time to ride for a per ride fee and give that feature to season pass holders for free.

Waiting hours in the sun for 60 seconds on a ride isn't my idea of fun.
 
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