So basically the idea of Ontario Place as an major amusement park and cultural attraction where families can go for fun all summer long is over! It's now basically gonna be just more parkland with an Imax theatre and weekend, sponsored events, like beer festivals or food events. Is that the bigger and better year round attraction we were promised? I don't think so, it's just the cheapest option they could find. The government has turned what was once a daily summer major attraction into a weekend, foodtruck event space and I think it's a really bad idea because we already have many places for that, much closer to the core, as well as some new ones like The Bent and the container park going up at Bathurst. This new Ontario Place will provide a similar purpose, so what's the point?
 
The kids adventure playground sounds like a cool idea. It would be cool to extend that adventure playground idea and provide something for the adults as well. For example, they could lease some space for outdoor rockclimbing and bouldering. Perhaps a zipline adventure company could install a couple of towers. Beautiful Inflatable structures like they had at the PanAm games at Harborfront Centre would be a good warm weather fixture. There should be careful design to make it a great place to hang out, enjoy people watching, and the water. One of the unaddressed problems is that not many people live close, so most people will have to take the car. The plan for this area should include bringing the city closer to Ontario Place, integrating new residential into the surrounding area. I'd like to see the Exhibition Place parking lots turned into a 24-hour community, burying the parking lots. Ontario Place needs to offer distinct alternatives that cannot be found at the Toronto Islands, Sugar Beach, Harbourfront Centre, etc.
 
Torontovibe said:
So basically the idea of Ontario Place as an major amusement park and cultural attraction where families can go for fun all summer long is over! It's now basically gonna be just more parkland with an Imax theatre and weekend, sponsored events, like beer festivals or food events. Is that the bigger and better year round attraction we were promised? I don't think so, it's just the cheapest option they could find. The government has turned what was once a daily summer major attraction into a weekend, foodtruck event space and I think it's a really bad idea because we already have many places for that, much closer to the core, as well as some new ones like The Bent and the container park going up at Bathurst. This new Ontario Place will provide a similar purpose, so what's the point?
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OP was closed because attendance had started to lag, it was bleeding red ink, and it needed a lot of investment.

I have fond childhood memories of it too, but in its previous form, its time had passed.

I don't mind the idea of a real 'theme/amusement' park close to downtown. However, if that were the chosen course of action, I think you'd have to give (sell/lease) it to a private operator. Government investing hundreds of millions, if not more, to compete w/Canada's Wonderland would be a tough sell, I think.

But even if one were to pursue that, I think most of the area best suited to 'rides' would be where the CNE midway had traditionally gone. Not only because it's much closer to public transport, and that's a traditional use, but because it's essentially flat. The OP lands are highly variable from a topographical perspective and less well suited to flat rides in particular.

I think there are many real issues to be resolved to achieve the best use of this site, most notably involving public transit further south, and/or far more connectivity between the Exhibition Grounds and OP.

I suspect expense, and timelines precluded those options from the perspective of Queen's Park.

That brings us back to what might be done within the mandate the current government has brought forth.

I would personally have preferred a bit more Stanley Park vibe, particularly for the East Island.

Keep Cinesphere, the pods, and one set of restaurants/food concessions and then add one Beach and make the rest a full-on forest, give or take one picnic area.

To me this is a bit over landscaped if you're not doing more active programming.

But that's a matter of personal taste.
 
Towered said:
Uninspired. Unambitious.

Toronto.
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Really?

For a generation, world's tallest free-standing structure.

First retractable roof stadium.

Currently naturalizing the Don River mouth, an enormous project and achievement.

Sure there are things we could be more ambitious about or more demanding concerning.

That said, this city does not lack for bold gestures, it sometimes lacks the RIGHT bold gestures, but that's a different story.

This is not a bold gesture, but don't throw our beloved City under the bus on account of that.
 
To be honest, I’ve been to Ontario place more times last year than I ever did in its past life. I’ll take the park that it has become, over the tacky amusement park it was.
 
The amusement park idea died a long time ago. People want hyper coasters . They go elsewhere for a learning experience. Also, The world is a smaller place and Toronto is a helluva more cosmopolitan than it was. We don't need an Ontario Place. Free, public, green space is much needed in our intensifying urban areas. Who cares how world class it is.
 
Will we still have to safari across a vast asphalt desert from the streetcar loop/Exhibition GO Station to and from Ontario Place? Probably.
 
Yawn. Bored.

Like, I guess I'll go here instead of Toronto Island, because it is a bit easier to get to?

maestro said:
The amusement park idea died a long time ago. People want hyper coasters . They go elsewhere for a learning experience. Also, The world is a smaller place and Toronto is a helluva more cosmopolitan than it was. We don't need an Ontario Place. Free, public, green space is much needed in our intensifying urban areas. Who cares how world class it is.
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Some of us were kids with moms who couldn't take us to Canada's Wonderland because it was i) too far, ii) too expensive, iii) couldn't drive.

Ontario Place was where many of my summers were had.

Instead of trying to replicate the hyper coasters experience, maybe it would have been worth exploring how Ontario Place could function as a place worth strolling for a day. Activities, restaurants, and general sources of amusement for tourists, families and anyone on a day off, without the need to replicate something else such as Canada's Wonderland or the EX.

Instead, we get a Victorian inspired grass park (not a destination) in a location of the city where you have to actually travel to (which one typically does towards a destination). If I place this in slightly different terms, why would anyone exiting the EX or a game at BMO Field ever come here afterwards instead of going directly home?
 
W. K. Lis said:
Will we still have to safari across a vast asphalt desert from the streetcar loop/Exhibition GO Station to and from Ontario Place? Probably.
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121 Fort York route will be servicing Ontario Place as of next month, with two stops right at the park. No need for walking!
 
WislaHD said:
Instead of trying to replicate the hyper coasters experience, maybe it would have been worth exploring how Ontario Place could function as a place worth strolling for a day. Activities, restaurants, and general sources of amusement for tourists, families and anyone on a day off, without the need to replicate something else such as Canada's Wonderland or the EX?
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Not against that idea, but without proper and convenient access doing it is premature and setting it up for failure.

AoD
 
I would have liked to have seen greater beach development and swimming access on the water's edge. Beaches and swimming act as a draw in the summer and would bring people to the park regardless of programming.
 
This is all pretty moot since in 2 months we'll probably have a Premier who loves ferris wheels.
 
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