Much of the vision and beautiful execution of the Frontier Canada section of Canada’s Wonderland can be attributed back to the exceptional leadership of Norm Pirtovshek, former general manager of the park. The original 1981 plans called for the park to have a Frontier Canada section celebrating the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, but due to budget cuts, the area was scrapped.
Behind the scenes, Norm had been pushing to introduce this highly themed area to guests.
A big part of that execution involved the design of Yukon Striker and its interaction with the landscape and diving underground and through the Vortex roller coaster. The area has continued to evolve with the reveal of the absolutely breathtaking Lazy Bear Lodge. This is of course in addition to the continual amazing collection of flat rides that added the massive Tundra Twister earlier this year.
What we failed to realize if the leadership of Norm recently came to an end, as he retired earlier this year. Absolutely great guy and we wish him the best in retirement.
It is rumored Norm campaigned to bring back former Canada’s Wonderland leader Phil Liggett, who had jumped between working for Cedar Fair and Six Flags throughout his career. Phil is now the assistant general manager for Canada’s Wonderland.
Under new leadership, the park is now looking to the future and recently sent out a survey to select Canada’s Wonderland passholders discussing possible new roller coaster concepts.
Blast Coaster
A strange, unexplained force has taken over the core of Wonder Mountain. Strap in to your winged coaster car and prepare for an exhilarating high-speed launch that propels you through a cavernous subterranean tunnel and into the heart of the mountain. Suddenly, you are blasted straight up and out of the summit’s highest peak. Experience awe inspiring views as you soar high above Canada’s Wonderland and encounter a thrilling series of heart pounding twists and dizzying turns!
All we can say is…can you even imagine how incredible this would be? Similar in style to the favorite Volcano roller coaster at Kings Dominion, this modern take could be absolutely incredible and a great addition to Canada’s Wonderland.
While many comments about this concept seem to be focused on the removal of Vortex to make it happen, conceptually looking at the photo would indicate it would be in the location of the International Showcase stage.
Of course snaking this coaster through Wonder Mountain, which already is home to three attractions (Vortex, Wonder Mountain Guardian and Thunder Run, might be a feat of engineering in itself. While we would be hopeful of all three attractions remaining, it is unclear if the new Blast Coaster could be engineered into the space.
Could you imagine the incredible views walking down International Street and seeing a coaster blast right out the top with the waterfall in the front and flames going off? Absolutely incredible concept to envision.
Concert Coaster
Live your greatest rockstar dream as you and your bandmates go backstage, behind the velvet ropes, hop on a winged coaster car and launch (literally) onto a concert-light-filled stage for the ultimate, thrilling, pulse-pounding rock experience. A classic guitar riff sends you zooming over spectators’ heads and into a series of intense, high-speed inversions, all accompanied by your wing coaster’s dynamic onboard audio system blasting multiple classic audio tracks played by some of Canada’s greatest bands.
Not sure what it is about this concept, but it just does not excited us. Does this mean the coaster would interact with either the International Showcase or the much larger Kingswood Music Theatre? While both prime plots of land, outside of the occasional concert the park may host, the theme sounds weak and would for 99% of guests not do anything except fly through and empty theatre.
Let alone for guests during a concert, how would the interaction of sound created as the coaster goes by play with their experience?
We have seen what happens when a park invests into theme elements that require a constant cash flow of upkeep or staffing, and we feel this concept does not pass the smell test of something Cedar Fair will maintain funding for and the experience would suffer.
Though we do like the onboard audio option please!
Eureka Ridge Ghost Town
Adventure and excitement await visitors to the small Canadian frontier mining town of Eureka Ridge Ghost Town and its signature wooden family coaster. Board your train car for a thrilling, harrowing, off-the-rails ride experience full of exciting drops, hair-raising turns and dynamic, explosive ending in the tunnels of an abandoned gold mine.
Conceptual drawings show this coaster likely going where we presume White Water Canyon is located. This would entail a completely new reimagined area with Ghost Town building and the potential for interactive storylines.
Honestly anytime you build an entirely immersive area, we are game. And the concept drawing shows so much promise.
The new coaster looks like it could potentially incorporate a similar round lift hill like the Zambezi Zinger constructed this year at Worlds of Fun. While there coaster hugged the ground, this coaster looks like it stays up off the ground through much of the layout.
New Canada’s Wonderland Coaster Concepts
At least two of the new roller coaster concepts are quite enticing to visualize and would be great lineups for the park.
Which would you be most likely to recommend?
If we had out top pick, it would be for the Eureka Ridge Ghost Town because a whole new area adds to much potential. Yes guests may lose the White Water Canyon attraction, but the addition of a major new coaster plus immersive land seems like an incredible opportunity.
Our very close second pick would of course be the Blast Coaster, adding an incredible visual to the guest.
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