First Ride: Leviathan Unleashes Its Fury

Teal steel dominates the park's entrance.

Vaughan, Ontario - Canada’s Wonderland opens to the public on Sunday, May 7th with a trump card up its sleeve… Leviathan: a massive sea-themed monster. The roller coaster was the first from Swiss design firm Bolliger & Mabbilard to rise above 300 feet and cost an estimated $28 million (USD). When first announced, coaster enthusiasts questioned Wonderland’s decision to add a coaster which by design draws parallels to the park’s Behemoth built in 2008 also by Bolliger & Mabillard. Both use towering lifts to create speed with neither sending riders upside down. Though these same enthusiasts couldn’t wait to dig their claws into Leviathan. 

Tags: coaster, 2012, Canada's Wonderland, Leviathan, Bolliger mabillard, New, media day, sneak preview, opening day, Ken Jones, AHSN

Leviathan Opening Day Photos

CraveCoasters was at Canada’s Wonderland on Friday, April 27th when the park gave the world its first rides on its new 306 foot tall Bolliger & Mabillard giga coaster. Check out our photos below. Enjoy!

Photos are copyright 2012 Crave Cravak. Please do not copy, publish, or distribute without permission from CraveCoasters.com.

Tags: 2012, 306, archives, Bolliger mabillard, Canada's Wonderland, gallery, Leviathan, new coaster, photos, pictures, steel

Fun With Photos: Leviathan

To welcome Leviathan, Canada’s Wonderland’s 306 foot tall creature, to the coaster community, we’ve remixed some of our favorite photos. Enjoy!

 

Photos are copyright 2012 Crave Cravak. Please do not copy, publish, or distribute without permission from CraveCoasters.com.

Tags: 2012, Bolliger mabillard, Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Fair, coastering, Comedy, Cool Photos, Dragon Fire, Fun, Leviathan, photos

Canada’s Wonderland Sneak Preview Night 2012

Canada’s Wonderland opened its gates on Friday, April 27th from 5:30pm to 10:00pm. Sneak Preview Night, an exclusive event, gave season pass ticket holders the chance to experience the park over a week before the general public on opening day Sunday, May 7th.

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All rides were operational except for Windseeker, Sledgehammer and for weather related reasons Timberwolf Falls, and White Water Canyon. Likewise Splash Works was closed as was the new for 2012 Dinosaurs Alive up-charge attraction. It makes sense that the park would wait to open Dinosaurs Alive when they can command $5 a person. Regardless, Canada’s Wonderland didn’t treat its coveted guests as mere guinea pigs. A majority of visitors were there with one objective: ride Leviathan, the park’s new $28 million scream machine. The park did an exceedingly efficient job handling the crowd. In fact, the gates were and rides were opened at 5:15pm, before the advertised opening time. Officials escorted molded the crowd into lines and then escorted small groups through the Medieval Faire section to the Leviathan queue. In addition, most rides operated to capacity and supervisors were out throughout the night checking in on guests to ensure a pleasant filled night. The only major error park officials made was by not striking a deal with mother nature, for by the end of the night temperatures had dipped well below 40 degrees fahrenheit.

Even the chilling weather couldn’t stop park goers from taking full advantage of the minimal wait times. Especially on Behemoth, which during the regular season can see wait times exceeding an hour, was a walk-on Friday night. Some guests didn’t even have to exit the ride. It’s typical park policy to make riders exit the station and re-enter the line, but on Friday night, all bets were off. “Before we cruised back into the station I just crossed my fingers that no one was in line for my seat,” said one rider.

Overall, Canada’s Wonderland looks to be in great shape for the 2012 season when it will host millions of eager thrill seekers.

Tags: 2012, Behemoth, Canada, Canada's Wonderland, Leviathan, Season Pass, Sneak Preview Night, Toronto, Vaughan

Hangover 3: Sea World Australia

Breaking into Mike Tyson’s estate stealing his tiger is perfectly fine because it was caught on film, for a fictional movie. It’s another matter when you pretend your Goldilocks with a video camera and break into a beloved Australian marine park to swim with the dolphins and snatch a fairy penguin from its rightful breeding grounds. Three British tourists, aged 18, 20, and 21 decided to add to the negative stereotype of UK travelers being rowdy drunks by breaking into Sea World theme park in Gold Coast, Australia. Thankfully, they posted their “Hangover” exploits on Facebook allowing police officials to track them down. As for Dirk, the kidnapped male penguin, he had quite an adventure after being dumped in a shark filled canal before locals discovered him on the shore. In the end, the dolphins probably aren’t scarred from the skinny dipping intruders, Dirk is back with his mate Peaches, and the three tourists are in the hands of justice. It’s a shame Aquaman doesn’t exist, or he would have surely kicked the pearls out of these hooligans.

 

For more on this story, read the following articles: Huff Post, AOL Travel, and CBS News.

Special thanks to Screamscape for bringing this news to the coaster community. If you haven’t already, make sure to bookmark Screamscape, the best site for amusement park industry news, today!

Tags: Australia, dirk, Fairy Penguin, Gold Coast, huff post, kidnapped penguin, kidnapping, peaches, screamscape, Sea World, welsh

Leviamania!

The fine folks at CWMania are pulling out all the stops for arguably the season’s best Coaster Event: Leviamania! This year, Canada’s Wonderland unveil’s Canada’s first 300 footer, a Bolliger & Mabillard (respected steel coaster designers from Switzerland) hyper coaster. On Sunday, May 27th, Leviamania will force open Canada’s Wonderland’s gates at 7:30am for mind blowing exclusive ride time (meaning the rides are open for event goers only!) on Leviathan, classic Arrow Dymanics looper Dragon Fire, Intamin Drop Tower, and the revered wooden twister Wild Beast. If that wasn’t enough, seasoned coasters and even a novice enthusiast will faint during the Wonder Mountain walk-up, behind the scenes tour of Leviathan and Dinosaurs Alive (incl. admission to this brand new pay extra attraction), and a Q&A session with park officials. Your stomach will also be treated as an honored guest with breakfast, lunch, in addition to classy coffee and cake. In case you show up topless, you’ll even receive a Leviamania T-shirt! But that’s not all, there’s even more exclusive ride time in the evening on 200+ hyper coaster Behemoth, the launched Backlot stunt coaster and Skyrider stand-up coaster.

As a teacher in Florida, I served as Activities Director and organized heaps of events. Just looking at this itinerary, I’m aware of how much blood, sweat and tears have gone into putting on this event. As fellow amusement park enthusiasts, we all should show our appreciation by getting in on the action and registering today for Leviamania!

Registration is open now until May 6th. To register for this event simply visit CWMania. PayPal, Mastercard, Visa accepted. Spots are filling up fast, so be sure to sign-up today! Please note, you must first active a CWMania membership (absolutely free). Be sure to join their Facebook page as well.

For construction photos and video of Leviathan click here.

Tags: 2012, Canada's Wonderland, coaster events, CW, CWMania, Leviamania, Leviathan

Name that Coaster: Round 2

Welcome to CraveCoaster’s “Name that Coaster.”

We show you a photo of some track, and you guess which coaster it is. Keep track of your points and comment below, so the world can know who is the SUPREME COASTER SPOTTER!

POINTS:

• +10: Correct Name (allow yourself 3 guesses)

Bonus:

• +2: Designer/Maker
• +2: Park
• +2: Year

Minus:

• -1: for each hint used

HINTS:

1.) ”Why is there a man standing in the middle of the coaster?”

2.) It wouldn’t be strange to rock a vegemite sandwich after riding.

3.) Its host park has a “sister” on the eastern coast.

4.) Last of its name still operating.

5.) Picturesque Tramline

Click here to reveal the answer!

Tags: challenge, Games, guess, Name that coaster, Roller Coasters, wooden

Name that Coaster: Round 1

Welcome to CraveCoaster’s “Name that Coaster.”

We show you a photo of some track, and you guess which coaster it is. Keep track of your points and comment below, so the world can know who is the SUPREME COASTER SPOTTER!

POINTS:

• +10: Correct Name (allow yourself 3 guesses)

Bonus:

• +2: Designer/Maker
• +2: Park
• +2: Year

Minus:

• -1: for each hint used

HINTS:

1.) The smallest and newest of its kind

2.) A Japanese Tolkien would have approved this coaster

3.) Its name is actually an acronym

4.) Its park has studio-sized competition

5.) エルフ

Click here to reveal the answer!

Tags: game, guessing, identify, mystery, Name that coaster, Roller Coaster

SUPPORT TOY COASTERS!

“As men get older, the toys get more expensive.” – Marvin Davis

The creative geniuses over at CoasterDynamix are letting the public get their hands on some of their hot model coaster trains and tracks for a fraction of the cost. Visiting KickStarter and pledging to purchase an item helps the toy maker survive in this difficult economy. Without our support, we may lose the world’s finest coaster toy maker. I encourage all COASTERERS to back this company by pledging anywhere from $15 and beyond. Your kindness will be rewarded with some of their finest creations. Click here to get involved!

URGENT: You have only till Apr 10, 03:56pm EDT to back this project!

From the KickStarter site:

CoasterDynamix was started by two roller coaster enthusiasts (one of which actually designs real roller coasters!). The company has existed as an in-development side project for many years. Every dollar made has gone right back into the company to develop the system. We believe the product is finally perfect. In order to actually get a production run of these things, we need Kickstarter’s help!

 All of our models are interchangeable! Using our screw-together rigid track combined with our super-flexible ‘flex-track’, you can design a coaster of your own!

For a pledge of $15 or more, you get one of our cool Statix train models. For a pledge of Pledge of $35 or more you get the Sidewinder! For $75 or more you get the Dive Bomber! For $175 or more you get the Scorpion! For a pledge of $500 or more you get a very limited-edition, hand-build Comet!

If you REALLY like our stuff, and have $5000 to play with, we will personally work with you to design your very own working roller coaster model! This could be something REALLY cool for your entertainment room, or for your restaurant front window! You design it, we build it. Simple!

Overseas shipping will have to be a bit extra, usually $20-30 to Europe or Australia.

Tags: Charity, CoasterDynamix, Fun, Fundraising, KickStarter, Models, Roller Coasters, Toy Roller Coasters, Toys

Big & White Ride

Back in 1986, Wild World amusement park, now Six Flags America, unveiled their big and white wooden roller coaster the “Wild One.” What better way to promote this ride than with a big and white wrestler, namely the late Big John Stud.

For those interested in professional wrestling be sure to check out our sister site The RingWriters.

Tags: Adventure World, Big John Stud, commercial, Roller Coaster, Six Flags America, Wild One, Wild World, wooden coaster, wrestling, WWE, WWF