O Canada, you are to the north. You have lots of roller coasters, but not that many restrooms. We stand on guard for thee.
Outside Entrance restrooms are to the left.
I recently took a little road trip to the Great White North to visit a Great Big Park and to ride its Great Big Roller Coasters for a Great Big Cause – I participated in “Coasting for Kids” to benefit Give Kids the World Village. If you don’t know what that is, then click the link and then give them money.
What a welcome!
This is an overview as to what Canada’s Wonderland is and what you can expect. Here’s the first thing to know: Canada’s Wonderland is huge. This park is larger than the Magic Kingdom by more than twice. It is Epcot-ish, if Epcot had no lagoon.
It has a fantastic park icon, fountain, and Floral Maple.
Here’s another thing to know: It is consistently the most visited Cedar Fair park, rivaling Cedar Point and Knott’s Berry Farm. One thing to note – Canada’s Wonderland is seasonal, while Knott’s is open year-round, which makes the attendance figure all the more amazing. Perhaps the 16 roller coasters (whoa!) help with the draw, as well as with dispersing the crowd.
This Behemoth is where we did our coaster-marathoning.
Since you are reading this blog, here’s the most important thing to know: It does not have very many restrooms. Including outside the park entrance, there are but 9 restrooms in this park – roughly one per land. Compare that to Magic Kingdom’s 16, and you might think Canada’s Wonderland has a crowding problem. Though it was fairly crowded the day I was there, the restrooms did a good job of handling said crowd.
They’re called “washrooms” in Canada, which makes more sense. I’ve never rested in a restroom, but I’ve certainly washed!
Canada’s Wonderland is a step up from most regional amusement parks. They do a great job with theming their lands. They also do a great job of theming their restrooms to match these lands.
Action Zone restroom. See, she’s engaged in action.
Located in “Planet Snoopy”. I heard no muted trombones.
There are several things here that remind me of Disney. Among them are:
This sign (no other sign in the park said “Cast Member” – they all said “Authorized Personnel”, etc)
and:
Even the “Cast Members” were calling it “Fastpass”.
and:
There’s something magical about this…
and:
Backlot Express? No, Backlot Cafe!
One downside – there are not a lot of “family rides” – most of the rides are either high thrill or kiddie – not much for everyone. This is common among amusement parks, which is just one of the reasons that Disney is set apart from them.
An exception is Wonder Mountain’s Guardian (Haunted Mansion font?). Fun for all, I feel.
The future of Canada’s Wonderland is supposedly more of these types of rides – ones that appeal in one way or another to the whole family. I’m looking forward to seeing what Cedar Fair can do. In the meantime, if you have small children or you like to be upside-down or flung around, then this is the place for you!
This sucker is a 300 foot, 90 mph monster.
And one more time: Please give to Give Kids the World. The place rocks.
See you next year!