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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Leviathan: Monstrous Construction

Canada’s Wonderland, just north of Toronto, always boasted a large collection of coasters. As opposed to quality, their specialty was sadly quantity. Things shifted when the park introduced its first Bolliger and Mabillard designed coaster with Behemoth in 2008. This trend will continue to a record breaking height of 306 feet (93.26 meters) with the park’s second B&M steel gem, Leviathan, set to fly in May, 2012.

On January 9th, CraveCoasters was fortunate to snag some shots of the construction. For more detailed shots and information on Leviathan’s construction be sure to head to CWMania.