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It's time for a Holiday event in the snow!! This year is the first year for the amazing WinterFest at Canada's Wonderland. Nick and Jeff got a sneak peek of the event a few weeks ago and this past weekend were there to take in the event, and had an absolute blast. The event runs select nights through December 31st and obviously is subject to weather restrictions. =) Let's head in for some fun!! Doesn't look too cold yet ...   No fake ice skating here!!   Yuuuuum!! !  Ready for the Tree Lighting  Check out a quick highlight video we put together  Ice Skating in front of Wonderland Mountain was so much fun          Lots of amazing sights and sounds all around the park     Be sure to check out Winterfest this season!! You won't be disappointed, and we'll for sure be back. Related Videos:
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Cedar Fair Parks announce all New Attractions for 2018 Season
Be sure to check back here all day for the running tally of all Cedar Fair parks announcements. We already have our first announcement from Canada's Wonderland.
We think it's pretty safe to say that the big "announcement events" at Kings Dominion, Cedar Point. California's Great America and Knott's Berry Farm will be for larger attractions. While announcements of smaller capital improvements will come out as press releases, as Canada's Wonderland did. This is a pretty good strategy we think.
6:00am Pacific - Canada's Wonderland Announces two new flat rides and Splash Works expansion for 2018 season
Lumberjack is a thrill ride that will take guests soaring to heights of 75 feet (21m) on two swinging axe pendulums, propelling them into a looping 360 degree experience.
Flying Canoes is an interactive family ride that will allow riders to control their journey of flight in two-person canoes that rotate speedily around a circuit. Splash Island’s children’s pool in Splash Works will be expanded to double its size and feature all-new interactive spray features.
6:45am Pacific - World's of Fun Announces Nordic Chaser
On Nordic Chaser, guests of all ages will board mini ships that rotate speedily around a circuit. The ride captures the imagination as guests experience the sensation of rising and falling along ocean waves. The ride will be placed in the park’s Scandinavia themed area.
“The new Nordic Chaser ride will allow parents and children the opportunity to make lasting memories together,” said Tony Carovillano, general manager, Worlds of Fun. “We strive to provide new and exciting changes at Worlds of Fun every year, and look forward to having more families experience every aspect we have to offer at the park.”
7:00am Pacific - Carowinds Announces Camp Snoopy Expansion
The Camp Snoopy playtime spot will feature five new rides:
7:00am Pacific - Valleyfair Announces Delirious
Valleyfair will introduce Delirious, a 70-foot looping thrill ride for its 2018 season.
Delirious will coil riders upside-down on a seven story, 360-degree freestanding structure with a high capacity, high speed train.
8:00am Pacific - Kings Dominion Announces Twisted Timbers for 2018
Twisted Timbers sits at the edge of Candy Apple Grove and gives riders a one-of-a-kind experience. Plummet down a 109-foot-tall barrel roll drop that sends you twisting across 3,351 feet of track with two more inversions and 20 airtime hills at speeds of 54 miles per hour. Hold on tight, because this is a ride with a twist… this is Twisted Timbers.
9:30am Pacific - Cedar Point Announces Steel Vengeance for 2018 Season
This Wild West thrill comes action-packed with a height of 205 feet above the prairie, a 90-degree initial drop down to the earth, almost 30 seconds of airtime (the most on any roller coaster on Earth), 4 head-over-boots inversions, ricocheting movements left-to-right, up-to-down and side to side…it’s a roller coaster only Cedar Point could build – and you have the chance to saddle up and take the ride of your life beginning in 2018!
11:00am Pacific - California's Great America announces Railblazer for 2018
RailBlazer will lift riders to a height of 106 feet before plunging them face down at a 90-degree angle. Throughout the 1,800 feet of track, riders will travel 52 miles per hour, experience an abundance of airtime and steeply banked turns, undertake three inversions and twist through a zero gravity roll.
8:00pm Pacific - Knott's Berry Farm Announces Hang Time for 2018 Season
HangTime will send riders up a vertical lift hill into a raised 96-degree drop - the steepest drop in California. The coaster’s train will come to a halt once the highest peak is reached, and will leave riders suspended at the crest for several seconds at a 60-degree angle, giving the illusion of a disappearing track. Then the train will suddenly descend in a beyond-vertical drop, through 2,198 feet of steel track and five gravity-defying inversions. HangTime will be only the second rollercoaster in the Western Hemisphere to feature a negative-g stall loop, which gives riders the sensation of floating.
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 Last week while spending some time up in Canada we got to visit one of the theme parks that has been at the top of our "must visit" lists for a LONG time. And Canada's Wonderland sure didn't disappoint. It's easy to say this park is in our top 20 parks to visit, hopefully below you'll see why. Written by Gregg Condon Welcome to Canada's Wonderland  Home to two incredible B&M Hyper/Giga coasters. We'll touch more on Behemoth and Leviathan a bit more down below.      The entrance reminded us a LOT of Kings Dominion except in place of a tower, you've got a mountain. Very Canadian.  We happened to be visiting while Canada was celebrating their 150th birthday. Which meant lots of awesome Canada shows on their History Channel. It was a nice change from what we get on our "History" channel here in the states.  Mandatory Starbucks  An absolutely beautiful park   The first coaster we came to was Flight Deck, our first Canadian Coaster Credit  It wasn't the worst SLC we've ridden, but it's still an SLC  Right next to Flight Deck is Time Warp. It's nice they have the two worst coasters in the park right next to each other. =)  Have to admit, I was kind of looking forward to riding this, well until I rode it. I'll give it that it's an incredibly unique coaster, but nothing any of us in the group needed to ride again later in the day.    One thing that makes a park stand out for us is a park that has a great variety of different rides. And Canada's Wonderland has just that. Some amazing and unique flat rides like Sledge Hammer.  This was our second Backlot Stunt Coaster (after riding the one at King's Dominion) and I have to admit, I didn't remember the one at KD being quite as rough as this one. Still fun though.   Oh, Behemoth is over here too. One of the best B&M hypers we've ridden. In fact, this park probably has our top two B&M hyper/giga's. But more on that below. =)  More amazing flat rides. Love these giant enterprises and wish there were more of them.   Psyclone was fun, but kind of a short ride cycle.  After lunch at Coasters and seeing the Canadian Prime Minister (yes he was there) we came over to Vortex. Now as a fan of Ninja at SFMM this was probably one of my most anticipated coasters of the day.  And this did NOT disappoint. To put it bluntly, this ride hauls ass.  From start to finish it does not let up and could probably go another 1000 feet without breaking a sweat. We rode this multiple times throughout the day as periodic storms drove people away.  Sadly we only saw Soaring Timbers run once all day even though we passed this area multiple times. So we didn't get to ride.  Okay, Leviathan, where to even begin with this. First off, the long-standing rumor was that this coaster was destined for Knott's Berry Farm and for whatever reason was sent to Canada's Wonderland even though they had gotten Behemoth only a few years earlier.  Why it went here and not to some other Cedar Fair park is anybody's guess, but seriously Behemoth and Leviathan are easily top 15 coasters and they are BOTH in the same park. Either would be the best coaster in the state of CA with the exception of Twisted Colossus.  The rumor is that Knott's is FINALLY going to get it's Hyper/Giga next year, and if it is anywhere close to the greatness of these two rides then those of us west of the Mississippi are FINALLY going to have a Hyper coaster that is amazing.  Oh yeah, even with all these coasters and flat rides, we're still in a beautiful park. Seriously, it's awesome.  Speaking of awesome, our friend Nicholas from CWMania came by to hang with us for a bit until the big thunderstorm came. Then he took off along with probably 3/4 of the people who were in the park. Which made the rest of our afternoon/evening pretty amazing.  Dragon Fire was pretty awesome for an older Arrow   Nice themed area  Dudes and Dudettes, Beaver Tails ... amazing.  The Mountain, which has two rides in it and one that goes on top of it.  Speaking of one of the rides, let's talk a bit about Wonder Mountain's Guardian. The only video/pictures I'd seen of this ride were from it's first year when the media was some kind of "bugs" thing. As the first Triotech ride it was kind of a test and the media didn't fit the ride AT ALL. Well apparently since that first season they've updated the media to fit the theme of the mountain. And while some of the screens are far too visible, and some of the 3D needed a bit of help we all really enjoyed this attraction. WAY more than we thought we would. The coaster part is pretty fun and the media definitely fits the ride now. We actually enjoyed it more than Iron Reef if you can believe that (many of you will). =)  After a nice thunderstorm what else is one to do except go on some water rides. Love all the natural trees around the park.  You'd think in Canada the rain wouldn't drive people away, but it totally did.  Some rain, a classic Arrow, a fake mountain and a real rainbow.  We decided to seek wind because we could. =) I have to say, this one seemed to spin a bit faster than the ones at Knott's and Kings Dominion.  They had a lot of distance things like this around the park, apparently for physics day. Not sure what the "first arrow" thing was, because Dragon Fire wasn't the first arrow. Hmm. Anybody?  And we'll leave you with one last shot of the beautiful mountain with some amazing clouds behind it.  We had an AMAZING time at Wonderland and we'll probably be going up to Canada at least once a year for the foreseaable future and we will for sure be visiting this park when we do visit. We hope you enjoyed and if you make your way up to Ontario this park should definitely be on your to-do list. We'll have more updates from our trip later this week from the Hockey Hall of Fame and from Seabreeze park in Western New York. Related Updates:  We are now almost to the 3rd year of this website being in existence (wow) and this is now the 3rd time we've had to write an article about issues at a Halloween event or something being removed from an event because it "offended" somebody. In 2014 it was the Auctioneer at the Purge at HHN Hollywood, last year it was scare actor abuse (that sadly still goes on). This year a group of "concerned citizens" has gotten FearVR removed from Knott's Scary Farm, Halloween Haunt at California's Great America and Canada's Wonderland. We definitely have some thoughts on the closure that we're going to share below. But first, we want the hard work of those who created this experience to be highlighted, because they deserve it and luckily Stephen was able to check out the experience at California's Great America and Matt and Rose were able to experience Fear VR at Knott's Scary Farm. California's Great America Fear VR Review by Stephen Harrington Knott's Scary Farm Fear VR Review by Rose Costello Commentary by Gregg Condon Review of Fear VR at California's Great America So now word on the street is that FearVR has been closed at both Knott’s Scary Farm and California’s Great America. It’s a real shame because it was a very well done and unique attraction. We weren't going to give spoilers so people who wanted to experience would go in with a fresh viewing, but what's the point now. Spoilers below.  Clever "office co-pay" As you enter the pre show which gives a back story of the Mental Asylum. Long story short, one of the patient’s get’s possessed and is on the loose. After the pre-show, groups of 8 were led into the “medical ward.” That is where the real fun begins. You sit in a “wheelchair”, place the GearVR on, followed by earphones, your wrists are strapped to the wheelchair and then the fun begins.  Logan, able to separate "real" from "fake". A tribute to his awesome parents. You are given a panic button if the experience get’s too intense, but during my visit no one had to use it, including my son, and everyone was enjoying the experience. You are a patient in the mental institute and chaos has started. You are watching a “nurse” give you a shot in your arm and there is an actual little bump on your forearm. You then “wheeled” into the next room where it’s "safe". As your chair moves forward, slowly about a foot or so you can look around and see things during the course of the attraction. The attraction ends with a typical jump scare, with you on an elevator, and the possessed patient does a final “scare.” The End. The staff at FearVR owned their roles. Just amazing in the pre-show and when the experience was over. The anticipation leading into the experience was making everyone nervous because it was new, and not a single person knew what to expect. It made the attraction that much better. The attraction itself was fun and unique. From the start of the pre-show to the conclusion was around 10 minutes and was definitely worth the $10 price. It was nice looking around, with always something to look at. For example, if you looked in front there was a door with nothing going on, turn your head to the left, a hallway filled with zombies coming toward you. It also appeared that they filmed actors and implemented it onto the GearVR, not CG characters. The video quality was much better than on the VR coasters. Plus, like a lot of haunts where you can catch up to the group in front of you and start the “conga line." that's not the case here as it’s an individual experience where you have no one to grab onto. You are completely on your own. At CGA it’s sad because now that area is going to be nothing more then an empty space for the remainder of Halloween Haunt. FearVR was housed in the building across from the kids bumper cars, the old shooting gallery in the Kidzone area of the park. Thank you Cedar fair for at least trying something new, hopefully they can find a decent replacement, or at least for next season try a different theme. There are plenty of options to choose from. Review of Fear VR at Knott's Berry Farm I was one of the lucky ones who experienced Fear VR at Knott's Scary Farm over opening weekend. Fear VR is an experience and not a maze. There is an up charge of $10. Much to myself and my husband Matthew Nelson's surprise they had openings for the entire night. I don't know why we didn't look for the kiosk reservations on actual opening night but I was sure glad we did on our second visit. After finding out the extra charge was $10 each I gladly paid for us both with a reservation time of 9pm. (It was 8:40pm by the time we had paid and gotten our receipt, tickets and special wristband.) We went over to the tables and chairs to wait. Thankfully we only had to wait about 10 minutes before checking in. (You go over to the person holding the Fright Lane sign for Dead Of Winter and they let you into a second line that leads you to Fear VR.) From there we waited a few minutes while the rest of our group who had 9pm reservation times check in. We were then led into another room (remember the first room of Trapped from the last year it was held?) There were couches, chairs, a huge flat screen tv, and signs saying "MeadowBrook Medical Institute". Of course I knew a little bit about Fear VR and of course my mind was already wondering just what would take place. A nurse enters the room telling us it will be just a little while until they are ready for us and to please watch a safety spiel. She turns on the tv and we all watch explaining how to put on and also adjust the oculus glasses focusing them as well as headphones. We would have a panic button just in case it was too intense and we needed to press it. We are told a patient named Katie has escaped possessed by a demonic force or entity. (Think any kind of movie or tv show on possession.) The nurse returns and says we weren't supposed to see that. They are ready for us.  We follow her into a hallway where each wheelchair is curtained off much like an E.R. I was hesitant about being strapped down at first. Just the fact that I wouldn't be able to move my arms freely. I sat down in a chair and put on the headphones first before the oculus glasses. I used the focus wheel on the top of the glasses to make sure everything was nice and clear. Unfortunately I had to focus twice since for some strange reason when I had my glasses in focus they came out of focus. But no big deal. I grabbed the panic button but held it by the base not near the top just in case I would "accidentally hit it". Once everyone was ready they strapped us in. The experience starts with you being wheeled in and are asked how you feel. You look/ follow a light as a nurse checks your reflexes/eyes. Everything didn't feel CGI but was more real and super clear. If you look straight ahead I think that bed/cubicle was Katie's but i wasn't sure. Next she administers a shot. Yes you do feel an actual pinch. Also if you look to the right there what appears to be a dead person covered up with a sheet on a gourney. But much to my surprise he comes to life but he is a zombie not human. As you are then pushed which feels as if your wheelchair is actually moving is when you're told it isn't safe that Katie has escaped. I looked to my left and saw doctors but they were like zombies. You are pushed to the elevators as your nurse is injured. She pushes you inside the elevator all alone and I knew then that I would come across Katie. Sure enough and she gets closer and closer until she's directly in your face. The experience ends and you are unstrapped. I removed my oculus glasses and headphones. Told to gather in the middle of the room single file. And then to run. As I ran down the hallway to the exit you encountered Katie not once but twice as she tries to get you before you can escape. In my opinion everyone in our group including myself and my husband really enjoyed and had only positive things to say. Fear VR was definitely worth the extra cost. I am very upset at hearing that Knott's removed Fear VR from Scary Farm for the remainder of the run. It was brilliant and the employees who took the time to create and make this amazing experience from start to finish deserves credit. The employees I hope are placed somewhere so they can actually work. I am so afraid that Knott's now won't try anything like this in the future which saddens me. This experience shook me. Yes afterwards my heart was racing and I was shaking. It took me awhile to actually calm down. Commentary: To say we're disappointed in this is an extreme understatement. Personally I'm not a huge fan of VR but that's just me, but I would never try to take that experience away from somebody. I'll admit, when we posted the original story from Mercury News I was a bit upset. Then when we saw the article that came out a short time later from the LA Times I was livid. In this article we learned that the person who was one of the spearheads of this "protest" never even experienced the attraction and instead supposedly waited outside of the attraction to bug people who were leaving and used their words to get this taken down. Look, we're not insensitive. We all have people in our lives who have had issues with mental health. Many of us have as well. But we're able to separate the very real issues of Mental Health in this world with a fantasy (make believe) scenario in a theme park Halloween event which involved telekinetic abilities. And then of course it came out that Rick and Kay Warren (google them if you don't know who they are, they're a "treat") were also behind this, and that set off the Angry emotion something terrible. Look, from a purely business standpoint we of course understand where Cedar Fair is coming from. But the people who are upset about FearVR were NEVER going to experience it. They are using the parks for their own personal agenda against everything that the event stands for. Just look at the comments on Kay Warren's Facebook post about this. It's filled with people who feel that Halloween is evil, is of the devil and they aren't going to rest until the entire event is shut down. And if parks and events continue to cave, that's going to be just what happens. (Of course, we would NEVER suggest you let your opinion be known on her page. ;) ) There are so many talented people who work on these events, and now their months and months of hard work has gone away. In an instant. Not to mention the people who were staffing these attractions for the next month at 3 different parks. People who despite working the event for the love of the event maybe needed the extra pocket money for a school textbook, to pay some bills, buy some clothes for their kids. Are the Warren's and those who got this shut down now going to pay their salaries? Luckily we're already hearing from some friends who work Knott's Scary Farm that those who worked in FearVR will be moved to other roles at the event. Let's hope this also includes the line control people and those who worked the experience at CGA and Canada's Wonderland. There's going to come a time where these talented people are going to say forget it and leave. Everybody who does events like Scary Farm or Haunt does it for the love of the event. If you've never spent any time scaring people at an event I suggest you do it. It's exhilarating to give so many people a great time, and that's exactly what this attraction was about. It's just funny that out of all the things at this event, FearVR is the one that they focused on. A few years ago somebody tried to get the Dia De Los Muertos maze and scare zone shut down because it was "offensive to Hispanics". The park wisely ignored that but it would be interesting if that person had gotten the backing of the Warren's if Cedar Fair would have caved on that too. But where does it end? There are things in EVERY maze or experience at a Halloween event that is bound to offend somebody. Voodoo, Ghosts, Kids killed by the Tooth fairy, Sexual innuendo, Graphic Violence ... so what's going to get shut down next? Sadly we don't have an answer but if the last 3 years of political correctness is any indication when it comes to these events, we haven't seen the last thing removed. Update: September 30, 2016 - While all of the attractions are still closed and any maze/attraction at any Cedar Fair park that has anything to do with mental health has been closed or had the name changed, there is a petition to bring back FearVR with over 4,000 signatures so far. While the likelihood of Cedar Fair bringing back the attraction is very small let's hope this petition lets them know that as fans of these types of events, we're not going to let people dictate how we spend our time and money and censor events like this. Related Updates:  We have a special treat for you today as our friends at CWMania have sent us some more great pictures and video from media day of SkyHawk and Flying Eagles. Check out the great pics and video below and be sure to check out CWMania for all of your Canada's Wonderland needs. ALL Pictures and Video courtesy of CWMania.com Hey everyone! Jeff and I were invited to a special preview event for Skyhawk & Flying Eagles today. Both rides were a great time. Skyhawk took some practice to get the hang of but will be a huge hit this season. The current record is 59 flips in one cycle. I was only able to hit 24. Flying Eagles are a larger version that have larger gondolas allowing for two full-sized adults to fit comfortably. It's amazing how well it interacts with the Treetop Adventures (formerly Chopper Chase).  This is the view looking down the path from the Mountainside Bakery & Cafe (former Cookie Cafe).  And this is the entry plaza to the ride. Queuing to the left of the operator booth & the exit gate is immediately to the right of the booth. And those big TV screens are where you'll see your "flip stats." Be sure to check out the preview of Skyhawk and Flying Eagles complete with POV of both rides. Can Jeff and Nick beat the flip record? See below.  The marquee sign/logo looks fantastic! Are you ready to "Earn Your Wings?"  The covered queue looks great and will provide much needed relief from the hot, summer sun. There will be signage in the queue area that shows aspiring pilots how to maximize their flips when riding. And don't worry, the railings will all be installed for the first public rides coming up soon.  The entire ride area looks great.  Here are the red seats.  And here are the blue seats. The decals look fantastic!  A view of the base of the tower.  And of course, the cables have been run & attached.  It was a bit cloudy today but everyone that rode Skyhawk agreed that it's a great addition to the parks awesome lineup of flats/thrill rides.  And here's a reverse POV shot the park provided us from a nicer day a couple days ago. After checking out Skyhawk, we made our way over to Kidzville to give Flying Eagles a spin. The entire area looks much better than previous seasons. Flying Eagles fits right in  Snoopy & the Peanuts gang were all waiting for us.   Thanks again to Nicholas and everybody else at CWMania.com for allowing us to piggy back on their already awesome coverage. Be sure you give all their social media a "like" or "follow". |
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