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Poll: Are you excited about a Dive Coaster for 2019?
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Heck yeah! This looks awesome!
59.09%
13 59.09%
No, I wanted a different coaster type.
4.55%
1 4.55%
I don't ride roller coasters Sad
36.36%
8 36.36%
Total 22 vote(s) 100%
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Canada's Wonderland 2019
#1
Well, a real bomshell was dropped today, and I'll get right to it:

Canada's Wonderland is building a B+M Dive Machine for the 2019 season!

What we know:
  • The CEO of parent company Cedar Fair, plus the park GM and PR manager, have all hinted at a huge new roller coaster coming very soon.
  • 2018 attractions were announced at the end of the 2017 season - small flat rides.
  • Construction started this winter in the lake under Vortex.  Some track sections and supports of Vortex were removed, to facilitate construction, and the lake has been drained.  A flurry of construction vehicles are in the area.
  • Planning documents found submitted to the City of Vaughan revealed the park had applied for permission to alter the waterway and construct a tunnel, with 9 support pylons, in the lake, for a new roller coaster.
  • Today, someone flying a drone at the edge of the park (not over their property) discovered B+M Dive Coaster track sections, painted brown, lying in storage (more here).

It stands to reason that the park has moved quickly to take care of the tunnel construction this winter season, presumably so that they can restore Vortex and the water in the lake, and open for the 2018 season without anyone really knowing what happened.  Then, when the park closes this October, they'll resume construction full-bore on the rest of the ride, in preparation for the 2019 season.  The fact that construction has started a full season in advance speaks to the scope of this absolutely massive undertaking.

Bolliger & Mabillard are the Swiss engineering duo known for their ultra-smooth and absolutely massive rides - and are the brains behind the last two major roller coasters at the park, Behemoth and Leviathan.  Their last Dive Machine in North America is right across the lake - Valravn at Cedar Point.  The Dive Machine is characterized by its ultra-wide train (between 6 and 10 passengers wide), a true vertical drop with a holding brake at the top (actually a chain), and generally feature huge, sweeping inversions and water splash elements.

Here's a video I made more than 10 years ago of Griffon, the second Dive Coaster in North America (after Sheikra in Florida).



This is so exciting, and I'm sure the park is trying to figure out what to do now that the secret is out!
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#2
I get sweaty palms just looking at pictures of roller coasters. So this is not very interesting to me. Sad
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#3
I haven't tried Leviathan yet, but this summer we went on a perfect day (as in, just enough rain to keep the lines super low) and got to do Behemoth twice in a row during sunset and then mostly dark. The smoothness of it is remarkable, it made everything else about the ride even better.
Reply
#4
(01-29-2018, 01:31 PM)robdrimmie Wrote: I haven't tried Leviathan yet, but this summer we went on a perfect day (as in, just enough rain to keep the lines super low) and got to do Behemoth twice in a row during sunset and then mostly dark. The smoothness of it is remarkable, it made everything else about the ride even better.

Why didn't you try Leviathan? It's very, very similar to Behemoth... just taller.
Reply
#5
(01-28-2018, 10:24 PM)Canard Wrote: Well, a real bomshell was dropped today, and I'll get right to it:

Canada's Wonderland is building a B+M Dive Machine for the 2019 season!

What we know:
  • The CEO of parent company Cedar Fair, plus the park GM and PR manager, have all hinted at a huge new roller coaster coming very soon.
  • 2018 attractions were announced at the end of the 2017 season - small flat rides.
  • Construction started this winter in the lake under Vortex.  Some track sections and supports of Vortex were removed, to facilitate construction, and the lake has been drained.  A flurry of construction vehicles are in the area.
  • Planning documents found submitted to the City of Vaughan revealed the park had applied for permission to alter the waterway and construct a tunnel, with 9 support pylons, in the lake, for a new roller coaster.
  • Today, someone flying a drone at the edge of the park (not over their property) discovered B+M Dive Coaster track sections, painted brown, lying in storage (more here).

It stands to reason that the park has moved quickly to take care of the tunnel construction this winter season, presumably so that they can restore Vortex and the water in the lake, and open for the 2018 season without anyone really knowing what happened.  Then, when the park closes this October, they'll resume construction full-bore on the rest of the ride, in preparation for the 2019 season.  The fact that construction has started a full season in advance speaks to the scope of this absolutely massive undertaking.

Bolliger & Mabillard are the Swiss engineering duo known for their ultra-smooth and absolutely massive rides - and are the brains behind the last two major roller coasters at the park, Behemoth and Leviathan.  Their last Dive Machine in North America is right across the lake - Valravn at Cedar Point.  The Dive Machine is characterized by its ultra-wide train (between 6 and 10 passengers wide), a true vertical drop with a holding brake at the top (actually a chain), and generally feature huge, sweeping inversions and water splash elements.

Here's a video I made more than 10 years ago of Griffon, the second Dive Coaster in North America (after Sheikra in Florida).



This is so exciting, and I'm sure the park is trying to figure out what to do now that the secret is out!


Great investigation! looking forward to it.
Reply
#6
(01-29-2018, 05:59 PM)urban Wrote: Why didn't you try Leviathan? It's very, very similar to Behemoth... just taller.

Just timing. We were there with my son and his friend, and neither of them had much roller coaster experience. The fact that we tried Behemoth at all was a bit remarkable. It was time to go and they decided at the last minute to try it, and we didn't have time to go across the park to get to Leviathan. It gives them something to look forward to this summer.
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#7
Announcement is set for August 15. Lots of construction going on at the park, and track pieces have been steadily arriving for the last month or so, stored in the parking lot near Behemoth's helix.
Reply


#8
Yukon Striker, the world's tallest, fastest and longest Dive Coaster is coming to Canada's Wonderland in 2019!

https://www.canadaswonderland.com/play/r...on-striker



Quote:Be exhilarated by Yukon Striker's epic journey high above the park's skyline where you'll hang over a 90-degree drop for three breathtaking seconds, staring 245 feet 75 m down into an underwater tunnel. Then suddenly you dive, reaching speeds of 130 km/h and soaring through four dynamic inversions, including a complete 360-degree loop – the only one of its kind for a dive coaster. Be prepared for the ride of a lifetime beginning in 2019!

   

Quote:The launch of Yukon Striker coincides with the official opening of Frontier Canada, a gold rush-themed attraction area in Canada's Wonderland. Originally conceived of for the park's opening in 1981, Frontier Canada was never realized until now. Other attractions to be featured in the section include Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Lumberjack, Soaring Timbers, Flying Canoes, Vortex, Timberwolf Falls and White Water Canyon.
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#9
(08-15-2018, 06:40 AM)Canard Wrote: Yukon Striker, the world's tallest, fastest and longest Dive Coaster is coming to Canada's Wonderland in 2019!

https://www.canadaswonderland.com/play/r...on-striker



Quote:Be exhilarated by Yukon Striker's epic journey.... Timberwolf Falls and White Water Canyon.

So, I heard on the radio they're doing something over Christmas too. I guess are Decembers are warm enough to chance to open this place up.

Also in the pipes going forward, Hotel Wonderland.

Damn...I might have to visit at least twice in 2019...hopefully with enough Gravol and T1's I'll be OK...plus proper diet.

Damn you Wonderland, Damn you! I'm 47, too old for this stuff, yet you tempt me with more crazy rides...
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#10
Hey, my folks are pushing 70 and will still ride anything. There's no age limit! Tongue

The hotel will be located in the triangular parcel of land at the entrance off Rutherford, bordered by 400, Rutherford and the drive leading into the parking lot.

Winterfest will be neat, I really hope they at least have a few flat rides open (coasters generally don't like the cold).
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#11
(08-15-2018, 12:17 PM)Canard Wrote: Hey, my folks are pushing 70 and will still ride anything.  There's no age limit! Tongue

The hotel will be located in the triangular parcel of land at the entrance off Rutherford, bordered by 400, Rutherford and the drive leading into the parking lot.

Winterfest will be neat, I really hope they at least have a few flat rides open (coasters generally don't like the cold).

No no no...they need to have the rides open, all of them, especially if it's icy. Can you imagine the speed you'd get with the tracks all slick? Plus, likely it wouldn't stop at the end, so they'd have to let you go a second time around.

They need to open the water park too, the "Polar Dip..."
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#12
...except that the ice build up would jam the wheel assemblies, and the magnetic braking on many of the rides would still work fine regardless of grip since they don’t rely on friction. Tongue
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#13
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#14
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#15
Your logic is sound!
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