Welcome + Some Thoughts on Canada's Wonderland

Welcome!

Welcome to The Coaster Report, a place where I can self-document all my various theme park and roller coaster-related adventures. Similar to how my mom used to keep a running diary of all our family vacations, this blog is designed to capture all my initial experiences as I venture out into various parts of America, seeking the tallest, fastest, and most intense roller coasters on offer.

For my first post, I wanted to look back at my experiences during the 2023 season that was at Canada's Wonderland, my home park. Overall, it was a great time. It was the place where I discovered my love for coasters after living within an hour of the park for most of my life. So, I'd like to talk about some of the best and worst coasters I had the pleasure of experiencing at Wonderland in 2023!

Coaster Thoughts

Leviathan

The original B&M giga-coaster Leviathan is the best ride in the park. While on the shorter side, its first half is spectacular and right up there with some of the best coasters I've ridden. The first drop is genuinely elite. It feels like it goes on forever and has a nice mix of floater and ejector airtime. The following pullout into the tunnel into the super forceful banked turnaround is excellent as well. While not as intense as the similar combo of elements on Millennium Force, it'll still make you start to grey out, especially on a hot summer day.

Everything up until the second turnaround is really great, but after that, it is more ride-dependent. Most notably, on colder days, the second half can be somewhat weak. It can feel like the train crawls into the station. Also, annoyingly, the trims on the camelback after the second turnaround are always on, even when the train is absolutely crawling.

But those are pretty minor grips you can’t really complain when your park has a giga-coaster. Leviathan always gives consistently great rides regardless of conditions and seat. I can’t wait to compare this to other B&M gigas, most notably Orion at Kings Island in 2024!

Flight Deck

On the completely other end of the spectrum is Flight Deck, a 90’s Vekoma SLC. This ride has a terrible wrap even amongst other SLCs, a model reviled by theme park goers nationwide. I had low expectations for this going in, and while they were not exceeded, this coaster is bad. It's not the torture device that a lot of people would have you believe, but it's simply just not fun.

I’m on the taller side, so I think this saved me from the headbanging that this ride is known for, but compared to Raptor, the other invert I’ve ridden, it's a poor experience. Flight Deck has intense and whippy elements, but they are executed in such a janky manner that you end up tensing your entire body to avoid potential injury.

If you only have limited time at Wonderland, this one is very skippable. Ride it for the credit if you must, but it's not worth your time beyond that.

Yukon Striker

The biggest and baddest of the B&M dive coasters, this initially was my favourite at the park. Even with a giga-coaster, I still think this is the most intimidating ride Wonderland has to offer, as the sheer angle and size of the first drop made me sweat buckets going up the lift for the first time.

Speaking of that first drop, it is right up there with Leviathan. While it doesn’t offer much in the way of airtime, the angle always makes my stomach drop as I descend into the tunnel. I would strongly recommend the front row on this one. There really is nothing like when you’re dangling at the edge of the lift with that view of the ground hanging long enough to make you nervous.

While Yukon Striker is the biggest dive, it is not immune to the classic short and somewhat gimmicky ride that the model is known for. While all the elements are grateful and well executed, especially the vertical loop and the first Immelmann, the ride kind of lacks intensity. The second half, especially when you get past the mid-course brake run, is meh. The second drop really does nothing, and the final helix, while it looks cool, is very tame. Valravn is the other dive I’ve ridden, and it suffers from similar issues, albeit to a much larger degree.

Still, with all that being said, this ride is fun as all hell, and I’m always down for a front-row ride! Also, this ride may be one of the best-looking coasters I’ve ridden, so bonus point for that.

Time Warp

To me, this is the undisputed king of shit coasters. It's not fun, it beats you up and is ugly to look at. There are no redeeming qualities about this ride.

The day Wonderland takes a bulldozer to this (hopefully with Flight Deck shortly to follow) will be an excellent day for the park.

Behemoth

I wanted to close with Behemoth, a significant coaster in the history of Wonderland. It was the first major investment the park got after being sold to Cedar Fair. It marked a new era that has seen major rides brought to the park, including Leviathan, Yukon Striker, a metric ton of flats, and unfortunately Wonder Mountain’s Guardian.

I remember driving past Wonderland growing up and seeing those signature orange camelbacks from the 400. Although it took me 15 years to get on it, I’m glad I did. To me, this is still the signature ride at Wonderland.

Now, in terms of my experience with Behemoth, it was very mixed. My first and last rides were not great. The coaster is definitely starting to show its age and, unfortunately, has developed the signature B&M rattle. The rattle, particularly on cold days, is really pronounced and kind of makes it hard to focus on anything else.

On other days, however, I got fantastic rides. When the coaster is in top condition, you get that amazing first drop into the endless series of camelbacks. This thing is really a floater airtime machine. I also find that Behemoth, unlike the other B&M’s at the park, is a great ride from start to finish. After all that fantastic airtime, you get the incredible finale of the very forceful helix into two great ejector airtime hills.

Probably my favourite ride on any coaster at Wonderland this year was a night ride in the back row. Getting yanked by the rest of the train over each hill really took me by surprise and is definitely the way to experience the ride.

I look forward to comparing this to Diamondback later this year, one of my most anticipated coasters of 2024!