New rides at Wonderland

[MisterF]

I do like some of Wonderland's current stock of coasters, in particular the Wilde Beat, The Minebuster, Skyrider and Vortex. What I'm curious about is whether there's any precedence of taking a current coaster and somehow improving it a bit with some extra loops, twists/turns and perhaps even a larger hill?

I've heard of loops being taken out of roller coasters. Coasters without inversions tend to be faster and smoother.

I think by this time they will demolish the Dragon Fyre.

I don't see that happening yet. There's still room for more hyper coasters. There's empty land at the west of the park, north of Major Mac, and a coaster could go into the parking lot. I think Cedar Point has less area than Wonderland, and they even still have Corkscrew, which is actually smaller than Dragon Fire.

 

[wonderboy416]

I do like some of Wonderland's current stock of coasters, in particular the Wilde Beat, The Minebuster, Skyrider and Vortex. What I'm curious about is whether there's any precedence of taking a current coaster and somehow improving it a bit with some extra loops, twists/turns and perhaps even a larger hill?

Rides rarely get improved as they age... usually they get un-improved. Paramount has added so much breaking to Wonderland's rides that the same rides at other parks (top gun, the bat to name a few) are much better elsewhere. Maybe Cedar Fair will un-break them a little?

Also, in the case of the Minebuster it has gone from an excellent airtime filled classic woodie to a shell of its former self. Splashworks expansion saw its best airtime bunny hill removed and replaced with one looooooong boring hill, completely destroying the ride for me and many who loved it before.

 

[Chuck]

I too like some of Wonderland's coasters. Vortex is the fastest suspended roller coaster in the world believe it or not and is perfectly blended with the terrain. Among all of the wooden rides I have been on, including those twice the size, Wild Beast is my favourite and Minebuster is in the top five. Ghoster Coaster provides a surprisingly good time, as does the Bat. Having been on other similar rides, I would argue that the most redundant roller coasters are Top Gun, Skyrider, and Dragon Fire in that order.

 

[Dan416]

I also doubt they'd get rid of Dragon Fire any time soon. How does this coaster compare to the rest in Wonderland in terms of height, speed, etc?

EDIT: Was Minebuster physically altered when Splashworks was made?

 

[toforumer]

I also doubt they'd get rid of Dragon Fire any time soon. How does this coaster compare to the rest in Wonderland in terms of height, speed, etc?

EDIT: Was Minebuster physically altered when Splashworks was made?

Does anybody actually like riding the Dragon Fire? I always find it easy to get on that ride, there's never a long lineup for it because its such a shitty ride that does nothing but give you a damn headache. It's god damn old, and was one of the original coasters that debuted when the park had its grand opening with the Minebuster, Goaster Coaster and the Wilde Beast. It's time to get up to date. The first that needs to go is the Dragon Fire.

 

[Dan416]

Does anybody actually like riding the Dragon Fire? I always find it easy to get on that ride, there's never a long lineup for it because its such a shitty ride that does nothing but give you a damn headache. It's god damn old, and was one of the original coasters that debuted when the park had its grand opening with the Minebuster, Goaster Coaster and the Wilde Beast. It's time to get up to date. The first that needs to go is the Dragon Fire.

What I like about Dragon fire is the short-to-non-existent lines. I can ride it twice in a row. It's not as lame as people say. And are you prepared to ditch Minebuster and Wild Beast? They have been there since 1981 as well. Age doesn't matter. If you think Dragon Fire is boring, fine, don't ride it, but that's not a reason to ditch it. It's one of the original rides. To me that's a reason to keep it.

 

[toforumer]

What I like about Dragon fire is the short-to-non-existent lines. I can ride it twice in a row. It's not as lame as people say. And are you prepared to ditch Minebuster and Wild Beast? They have been there since 1981 as well. Age doesn't matter. If you think Dragon Fire is boring, fine, don't ride it, but that's not a reason to ditch it. It's one of the original rides. To me that's a reason to keep it.

The difference is The Minebuster and Wilde Beast are fun and entertaining. Dragon Fire doesn't even give any thrills, I honestly could yawn on that ride and close my eyes.

The park will eventually get rid of it. It's most definitely the coaster with the lowest amount of riders. Is it worthwhile to keep a coaster with a low ridership, meanwhile, its located in prime land and good location of the park near the front. If they plan on building a new coaster in the 5 years, this is the best spot.

 

[adma]

I miss the Exhibition Flyer.

 

[ShonTron]

Who owned the park when it first opened to when Paramount bought it out?

So Ghoster Coaster, Wild Beast, Minebuster (but different from what I remember) and Dragon Fire were the first. When were Bat, Vortex and Skyrider added? I really only remember the big deals when Top Gun first opened, because I wasn't interested in Wonderland until just before that time.

 

[toforumer]

Who owned the park when it first opened to when Paramount bought it out?

So Ghoster Coaster, Wild Beast, Minebuster (but different from what I remember) and Dragon Fire were the first. When were Bat, Vortex and Skyrider added? I really only remember the big deals when Top Gun first opened, because I wasn't interested in Wonderland until just before that time.

The company that owned it before was Taft.

I hope this list of additions helps you out:

1981 - Park Opens with:
Antique Carousel (originally built in 1928), Balloon Race (Frequent Flyers), Bayern's Curve (R), Bedrock Dock (R), Blauer Enzian (Thunder Run), Dragon Fyre (Dragon Fire), Ghoster Coaster, Great Whale of China (R), Happy Landing (Swan Lake), Hot Rock Raceway (R), Klockwurker (Klockwerks), Krachenwagen, Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Wilde Beast (Wild Beast), Quixote's Kettles (Spinovator), Scooby Choo (Kidzville Station), Shiva's Fury (The Fury (R)), Sol Loco (Orbiter), Swing of Siam (Swings of the Century), Pharaoh's Eye (R), Wilde Knight Mares (Nightmares), Viking's Rage (The Rage), & Zumba Flume (R)
1982 - Kings Courtyard (The Courtyard)
1983 - Kingswood Music Theatre
1984 - White Water Canyon
1985 - Sky Rider
1986 - Thunder Run (formerly "Blauer Enzian", was relocated inside the mountain)
1987 - The Bat
1988 - Racing Rivers (R)
1989 - Timberwolf Falls
1990 - Jet Scream
1991 - Vortex
1992 - Splash Works
1993 - Kid's Kingdom play area(later renovated and renamed Candy Factory)
1994 - Days Of Thunder (Action FX Theatre)
1995 - Top Gun
1996 - Xtreme Skyflyer; SplashWorks Expansion: Wave Pool, The Pump House, Black Hole Water Slide
1997 - Drop Zone, Speed City Raceway
1998 - Kidzville, James Bond - License To Thrill (feature at Action FX theatre (R)), The Edge (rock climbing (R))
1999 - The Fly; Splashworks Expansion: Super Soaker and The Plunge; Escape from Dino Island (feature at Action FX theatre (R))
2000 - CliffHanger, Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion
2001 - Shockwave; Zoom Zone (new kids area) including: Silver Streak, Blast Off and Jumping Jet; 7th Portal (feature at Action FX Theatre)
2002 - Psyclone; Splashworks Expansion: Riptide Racer, Barracuda Blaster and Kids Sprayground
2003 - Sledge Hammer, Nickelodeon Central (replacing Bedrock)
2004 - Tomb Raider: The Ride
2005 - Italian Job Stunt Track
2006 - Paramount's Hollywood Stunt Spectacular, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbara (feature at the Action FX Theatre (R))
2007 - Coasters 50s Diner, International Marketplace Buffet, "Twistin to the 60s" show, "Endless Summer on Ice" show, and Picnic Pavillion
2008 - Behemoth, which will become Canada's biggest, fastest and tallest roller coaster[5]

Current name in (brackets); R= Removed/Closed

 

[scarberiankhatru]

I think the last time I went to Wonderland was in 1996...I've never even been on Top Gun.

 

[JasonParis]

1986 - Thunder Run (formerly "Blauer Enzian", was relocated inside the mountain)

I think you you mean outside the mountain. I do remember this though and remember Blauer Enzian being far more exciting than Thunder Run.

Antique Carousel (originally built in 1928), Balloon Race (Frequent Flyers), Bayern's Curve (R), Bedrock Dock (R), Blauer Enzian (Thunder Run), Dragon Fyre (Dragon Fire), Ghoster Coaster, Great Whale of China (R), Happy Landing (Swan Lake), Hot Rock Raceway (R), Klockwurker (Klockwerks), Krachenwagen, Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Wilde Beast (Wild Beast), Quixote's Kettles (Spinovator), Scooby Choo (Kidzville Station), Shiva's Fury (The Fury (R)), Sol Loco (Orbiter), Swing of Siam (Swings of the Century), Pharaoh's Eye (R), Wilde Knight Mares (Nightmares), Viking's Rage (The Rage), & Zumba Flume (R)

Some of the original names were great. I'll never understand why they felt the need to change them.

 

[wonderboy416]

I think the last time I went to Wonderland was in 1996...I've never even been on Top Gun.

If you've ever been on a Vekoma SLC then chances are you've already ridden top gun without knowing it, this same ride appears at least a dozen or so times throughout north america alone.

 

[Chuck]

I have a very, VERY early childhood memory of Thunder Run, so early that I could be remembering something completely different. Did Thunder Run used to have nothing but flourescent tubes illuminating its tunnels? I think that the dragon theme came later.

 

[JasonParis]

I think it always had the silly dragon and I don't really remember the flourescenet tubes to be honest.

Do you remember the pre-Thunder Run outdoor version Blauer Enzian?

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BTW, I've moved this thread to Out & About as it seems a more appropriate place for it.