Paramount Canada's Wonderland
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Paramount Canada's Wonderland is an amusement park in Vaughan, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Originally known as Canada's Wonderland, the park was purchased by Paramount in 1993 and became a part of its network of Paramount Parks. The park's former connection to Hanna-Barbera productions was reduced after Paramount purchased the park in a successful attempt to bring families back to the park by providing children with cartoon characters that were familiar to a new generation. As of February 2005, it was rumoured that Viacom had considered selling its portfolio of Paramount Parks, including Canada's Wonderland, but no official request for bids was ever submitted.
Wonderland is 13 km (8 miles) north of Highway 401 and 64 km (41 miles) south of Barrie. It is bounded by Highway 400 to the west, and has three entrances.
The park season runs from approximately early May to mid-October.
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Attractions
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Wonderland has over 200 attractions, including over 60 thrill rides. The Park has North America's 3rd greatest variety of roller coasters with 14 in total. 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 m&sups;) of heated water, Canada's largest outdoor wave pool measuring 36,000 square feet (3,300 m²), a lazy river, and 16 water slides.
Many concerts used to be held at the Kingswood Music Theatre during the summer months, in recent years, the number of "big-name" concerts has dwindled to none at all, as many have chosen to play at the downtown Toronto Molson Amphitheatre. For the past few years, Kingswood has played host mainly to cultural events. The SplashWorks waterpark is featured in the southwest quadrant; a small artificial mountain forms the park's central feature.
- Kingswood Theatre, a theatre in the south-central where concerts are performed.
- Nick Central, a new attraction to the Wonderland.
- Grande World Exposition, a section with exciting & new rides. Includes the Action Zone.
Water slides
Roller Coasters
- Bat - Steel, Shuttle Coaster with two loops and a cobra roll, built by Arrow/Vekoma
- Dragon Fire - Steel, Double Loop and Double Corkscrew with a downwards Helix, built by Arrow/Vekoma
- Fly -Wild Mouse style coaster
- Italian Job: Stunt Track (Opened 2005) - powered launch, steel
- Mighty Canadian Minebuster - Wooden, Modified Out'n'Back, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company
- Scooby's Gasping Ghoster Coaster - Wooden, Children's Coaster, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company
- Silver Streak - Steel Family Inverted, built by Vekoma
- SkyRider - Steel Stand-Up, Single Loop with downward Helix, built by Togo
- Taxi Jam - Steel, Children's coaster, built by Miller
- Thunder Run - Steel, Themed to a Mine Train Theme, No lift, built by Mack Gmbh
- Tomb Raider: The Ride - Steel, Flying, built by Zamperla
- Top Gun - Steel Suspended Looping Coaster, 5 Inversions of various types, built by vekoma
- Vortex - Steel Suspended, no special features, fastest coaster in the park, built by arrow dynamics
- Wild Beast - Wooden, Modified Bearcat/Wildcat, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Flat Rides
- Antique Carrousel - Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carrousel #84, built originally in 1928. This is the oldest ride in the park, and comes to Paramount Canada's Wonderland by way of Happyland Hastings Park (Vancouver, BC: 1928-1934), Palace Playland (Old Orchard Beach, ME: 1934-1945), Palisades Amusement Park (New Jersey: 1948-1971). It was purchased by Taft Broadcasting who were 50% owners in Canada's Wonderland when it was built, and was moved to Wonderland in time for the 1981 opening.
Former attractions
- The Zumba Flume, a classic 'water log ride', was removed to make way for new rides. It was located where the current 'Top Gun' ride is situated.
- Wonder Mountain walkway. Prior to the construction of 'Thunder Run' visitors could walk a pathway that led to an observation deck on the top of the mountain. It was closed to make way for relocated mechanical equipment that was taken from the inside of the 'mountain' and placed in the public areas.
- HotRock Racewy was closed in 1999 to make way for Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion
- Wipe Out was removed by the end of the 2004 season
- The Fury and The Great Whale of China was removed by the end of the 2003 season to make way for Tomb Raider: The Ride
External links
- Paramount Canada's Wonderland official site (http://www.canadas-wonderland.com/)
- Official park map (http://www.canadas-wonderland.com/i/map_pcw_inside.pdf)
- Roller Coaster Database (http://www.rcdb.com/)
- PCW Junkies - Great Canada's Wonderland fan site (http://www.pcwjunkies.com)