MisterSG1

Let’s sort of reset this thread, and explain why I thought based on what I saw on the other thread why Wonderland may have been in trouble. As described on the other thread, one user said that CGA is bound on all sides by residential and commercial and thus has no space to grow. This is PRECISELY the situation at Canada’s Wonderland, immediately to the south of wonderland is a subdivision, east of it is mostly suburban strip malls, north of it is now the hospital which I’ll speak about more in a second, and of course west of it is Hwy 400. I think wonderland in the past owned more property, they did own the land where the hospital sits, I’m practically sure of it as Wonderland had a huge giant variation of a trumpet interchange with Major Mack and the park. Ironically, this trumpet interchange was missing the most fundamental ramp, from EB Major Mack to the park which made it kind of pointless. The main way into the park is the access road off Rutherford and always has been. Furthermore, with the hospital, something to consider and I hope the government covered their bases which they honestly should have. Is that the hospital sits very close to Leviathan, I hope they introduced a significant level of soundproofing to the windows in the hospital or the healthcare sector (and the general public) will get very angry with Wonderland. As for the 49ers, why is that really an issue? The NFL only has 8 (or 9 every other year) regular season games or 2 preseason games. As CGA is a seasonal park, the NFL wouldn’t compromise that many dates in the grand scheme of things. Now as for real estate, go look up the price of houses in Vaughan and you’ll be shocked, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wonderland could get a 300 million dollar figure for the land it sits on as well. As for government red tape, others suggested that California is a complicated place to do business, I’d assume this would be the case of doing business anywhere in Canada as well. But this is a part I obviously don’t know much about. Now for examples for why Wonderland’s situation is different. For one, being in Canada creates a unique situation, the geography of Canada makes the only real nearby large city Montreal, and that city is a primarily French speaking city, and the park there honestly isn’t that good. Now when you look at the situation involving the border, which would naturally be a deterrent not only for issues with customs, but the whole anxiety is if one had problems while across the border as a non resident. Even those who don’t care about the border, the only real park you have nearby to the GTA is Darien Lake, and like La Ronde, it’s not all that good anyways. So this leaves an interesting situation where Wonderland basically has minimal competition, and its nearest major theme park is Cedar Point if not counting Darien Lake.

The exchange rate shouldn’t really change things that much because in general, prices have been higher for products here compared to in the US. For example, a game that comes out on PSN may sell for $25 in the US but be $35 in Canada. Im sure if we compared prices for Funnel Cakes for example between Wonderland and Kings Island, you’d see the dollar amount in CDN much higher than what the same product is at Kings Island. Anyways, why is CP’s wedge so big? Is it because of CP having accommodations onsite?

The situation is different but I’ve explained in the past in how difficult it was to even build Wonderland in the first place. I think anti-Americanism in Canada is so shameful, but this was a big reason why so many were against the park opening over 40 years ago. The situation is different now but I know the Trudeau Liberals would be indifferent to the closure. Again, with the huge housing shortage, I think many would clap to see wonderland be replaced by condos.

Consider that Wonderland wasn’t open a single day in 2020, and 2021 was watered down, required reservations, masks on rides, etc. There were NO mazes in Haunt, and during Winterfest they confirmed to government policy and a vaccine passport was demanded for entry. It’s not a stretch to see this come back in 2022 during the fall, but we’ll see. Wonderland because of regulation with governments in Canada has the same kind of baggage that CGA has.

As so far, we have seen Wonderand have something close to a post COVID season, no restrictions have been placed on the park at all. And with that, breaking the 4 million guest barrier does seem highly plausible, the situation at CGA causes concern for the future of Wonderland. Ignoring what the government chooses to do next here in Ontario should a new variant arise. Many have quoted the complications of California regulations as to why Cedar Fair sold the land CGA sits on. Now, the GTA has the same kind of crazy real estate situation that is seen in SF, watch any news up here and you’ll hear doom and gloom about Canada’s housing shortage and what not. Of course I won’t get into my opinions as to why this has happened and it really is a dark side to living in this area. The fact remains that Wonderland sits on prime real estate for condominiums. It’s not a stretch to say that Wonderland‘s land could easily fetch a sale price equivalent or higher of that in Northern California.

As I’m a transit/road enthusiast and a student of civil engineering, there’s a few things I must say off The Bat. This kind of system is a commuter rail, it is not a subway/metro system as I think the OP was trying to make it sound. That is, if someone was using the Chicago example, this would be comparable to the Metra service there. In Toronto, we don’t have two way all day service on the majority of our commuter rail lines, that is service which runs both directions throughout the day. On my line, during the middle of the day, the trains are scheduled an hour apart. Now compare transit usage in Toronto to Cincy, Toronto isn’t exactly busting with great rapid transit despite its size. But still, when we compare say associates to Wonderland to Kings Island, the vast majority of Wonderland’s associates take the bus into work in some form, while I’m very well sure the vast majority of Kings Island associates drive. To expect at the very least, two way all day service (even an hour apart) on these rail lines is being very optimistic. But suppose it did, if you wanted to get to the western terminus of the green line after a day at KI, you’d first have to wait for your train to come to take you to another transfer point where you’d most likely have to wait a significant amount of time for a second train. You can see how this wouldn’t be practical even if the system existed. When KI has very low bus service already, again, this whole concept is wishful thinking and wouldn’t work in a place like Cincy.

My guess is that it is an incremental charge. The bylaw guys aren’t exactly fascists and spend most times “educating” before going straight to fines. In business settings, it is the responsibility of the business to make sure the protocols are being followed. This obviously puts Canada’s Wonderland between a rock and a hard place. As wonderland is a hospitality/tourism business, and guests are to believe it’s business as usual. How can wonderland enforce the rules sternly but yet satisfy the unrealistic needs of the guest? For example, the associates merely can only tell them to social distance, what is the associate supposed to do if the guest doesn’t listen? Any kind of further demanding and the guest will complain and the associate is in trouble. For an actual social distancing set up, I will admit that Wonderland has done an excellent job with ground markings and signage. But now people are starting to simply queue like normal.

Canada’s Wonderland fined $1,130 for lack of social distancing in accordance to the Reopening Ontario Act. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.newmarkettoday.ca/amp/local-news/aurora-keg-east-gwillimbury-la-fitness-wonderland-among-28-charged-for-covid-19-violations-4312751

As we are on the cusp of another shutdown, I think Wonderland has handled reopening very poorly. I will admit they were good at first but what I’ve noticed now is crowds are more similar to how I remember prior to COVID. Guests DO NOT social distance anymore. An acquaintance of mine is a ride op at Wonderland and he tells me they try to enforce social distancing but the guests don’t listen. But mentions that rides are outright stopped when guests remove their masks. Bylaw if they chose to could have a field day and charge Wonderland an exorbitant sum of money. Otherwise, Wonderland needs to smarten up! For starters, more security, anyone seen breaking the social distancing rules or mask rules on rides gets removed from the park immediately with no refund. Guests who are season pass holders have their pass revoked. Guests should also be banned for the rest of the season from visiting the park. ICU numbers are climbing and it is getting serious again. For those who can’t understand. Have you ever had your parents tell you why you shouldn’t prank call 9-1-1? Because it ties up potential people in crisis who need 9-1-1 immediately. Its the exact same idea, foolishly engaging in spreading the virus around in crowds fills our hospitals up with covid patients which like my 9-1-1 example leads to patients potentially not being able to receive life saving treatment.

My concern is moreso with the lockdown happy people. I’d be surprised at this point if the Haunt happens, but we’ll see. This entire covid ordeal has really brought out the true nature of Canadians in general and how my suspicions were always correct, that Canadians don’t believe in freedom.

Crowds there are concerning if you ask me. Vaughan By-law could have a field day there as I’m pretty well sure they aren’t adhering by the Stage 3 guidelines. Crowd looks to be greater than the 50% limit and people no longer social distance in lines.

Wowzers! An actual photo of Yogi's Cave/Smurf Cave. I remember going through the Smurf Cave when I was very young, was always afraid of the ending because of the music. As I'm a "model" type person, thought it would be cool if they sold some model rides, but I guess this is an improvement for now. I don't mean something that complex, but a model, like when you visit the CN Tower you can get a model of the tower itself. EDIT: The classic logo is a little different in the gear they have for sale. It's like a "retro-modern" logo so to speak. Like what the Blue Jays did, the actual text on the logo resembles the current logo of Wonderland.

Monster, I had to say it. Long live that ride.

From the MUTCD, pay attention to section 2 “Section 2A.14 Sign Borders Standard: 01 Unless otherwise provided, each sign illustrated in this Manual shall have a border of the same color as the legend, at or just inside the edge. 02 The corners of all sign borders shall be rounded, except for STOP signs.” So yeah, that’s the reason, you might ask why don’t they simply “trim” the edges to make the signs round? Well good luck trying to do that with those extruded signs (with the ribs on the back). Some states have rounded signs like New York and Florida, but don’t use extruded signs. I know off topic but I figured I’d answer the question.

Fine then, do you know why the signs on the interstates are rectangular with square edges but yet have a rounded border? (And don’t reference the Ohio Turnpike, signs there have square edged with a square border like here in Ontario)

The Ohio DOT makes the BGSs (what roadgeeks call big green signs) or big brown signs for a reason. Which usually appear between the advance sign and the turn off sign. That is the exit you take if you want to go to Kings Island, it really is that simple. The reliance of everyone using Navigation systems makes everyone dumber in getting around. In a sense it is similar to what spellcheck has done. How many nowadays would even know how to get to Chicago from Cincy without using a NAV system? I don't mean a specific address but to Chicago in general,. Heck, I wonder on this very site how many understand how I-5, I-95, and I-10, I-90 get their route numbers from. I could also argue that Kings Island should have a green sign and not a brown sign, because according to the MUTCD, brown is reserved for "Recreational and Cultural Interest". In other words, I assume brown signs refers to actual natural recreation like National Parks. While I personally see a theme park as an entertainment destination, in the same vein of a sporting venue.

Such a program already exists, it’s called NEXUS and I’ve been a member for a long time….

I don’t think that’s entirely unheard of. When you consider how the border works on either side, any increase of traffic can lead to huge lineups especially now with probably some trying to cross without using ArriveCAN, I can see it being a huge quagmire.

I'm considering if I'll return for the Haunt like I did a few years ago......it was an enjoyable weekend gig.

As of yesterday, the border has reopened to fully vaccinated US citizens, they need to upload their information to the ArriveCAN app as well as have a negative PCR test 72 hours before crossing the border. Yes it is a pain and Canadians are subjected to those same rules too. This was a unilateral move and the US has not came up with a reciprocal agreement. Having said that I advise against any visits to Canada for the time being because of anger. Take a look at any video about the border reopening from a Canadian source and you’ll always see more dislikes than likes, some by a large margin. There were stories before of people vandalizing cars tbat had US plates on them.

What a bummer. To be fair I heard about this on the news today. So I hope they’ve been able to get their stock since. But yeah that is unacceptable.

For the 40th Anniversary, Wonderland is now bringing back the blue ice cream and some other creations. https://www.canadaswonderland.com/blog/2021/july-2021/new-drinks-and-desserts-coming-to-canadas-wonderland-for-its-40th-anniversary

Esports, whoever heard of such nonsense.. if esports is considered sports, than McDonald’s is considered fine dining in my eyes.

This story has been floating around about Lumberjack being stuck upside down for a few minutes and social media is treating it like it’s as severe as the Demon incident at SF Great America. https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2021/07/wonderland-ride-stuck/ it’s sad how often this place receives unfair bad press.

Basically, Wonderland has a very simple design to its international street, symmetrical on both sides for branching paths. There are four ways out of I Street, the paths between the two buildings on either side which lead to Medieval Faire or Action Zone. And the two paths behind the mountain. I could continue on and do the rest of the park at a future date if you don’t mind. These are my ideas on future video series where I walk around and try to give histories of the attractions. -Possible road video showing the immediate area from Hwy 400, as well as the area from Major Mackenzie and Jane Street. Road video would also show the access road entrance into the parking lot, and also the future bus terminal under construction (which is supposed to be for the hospital but arguably better serves Wonderand) -Tour of Medieval Faire -Tour of Action Zone -Tour of International Festival (completely around the mountain and down by the ‘no man’s land’ that WindSeeker is in) -Tour of Frontier Canada (encompasses the former White Water Canyon area) -Tour of Planet Snoopy -Tour of KidZville (these two areas arguably saw the most change throughout the years and thus need to be separate) -Possible Tour of Splash Works