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. 

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:

• Camp Bus: Buckle up on the wacky camp bus and take a ride that will lift guests into the air and back down to the ground in smooth extensions.
• PEANUTS™ Trailblazers: Get behind the wheel of a Jeep-themed vehicle and burn rubber on a small, round speedway.
• Kite Eating Tree: Ride along in a kite vehicle that travels up and down a tree.
• Pig Pen’s Mud Buggies: Take a trip in a “mud buggy,” where guests will rotate around the popular Pig Pen character while bouncing on a bumpy ride.
• Woodstock Whirlybirds: Spin around in an oversized birds nest on this classic ride.

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.

​Related Updates: 

• California's Great America 2018 Rumor Roundup and Construction Update
• Trip Report: Canada's Wonderland - A Beautiful Park with two Top 20 Coasters
• Ghost Town Alive Makes a Triumphant Return to Knott's Berry Farm
• Red, White and Brews at California's Great America 
• Knott's Soak City Opening Day and quick Berry Farm Update ​​

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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.