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Paramount Canada's Wonderland is located near Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, slightly north of Toronto, Ontario. It is one of North America's premier amusement parks, holding more than 200 attractions. The park attracts 3 million visitors a year from May through October.
Park history In 1972, the Taft Broadcasting Company first proposed building a 1.50 km² (370 acre) theme park in the small village of Maple, now part of Vaughan, Ontario. Several other possible locations were considered, including Niagara Falls, Ontario and Milton, Ontario, but the site in Maple was finally selected because of its proximity to the City of Toronto and the 400-series of highways. Other companies had seriously considered the greater Toronto area as a spot to build a park, including the Conklin family (whose Conklin Shows ran various midways around North America) and Walt Disney, who eventually decided that the area would not make a suitable park site, the main reason being that the climate was too cold, thus the operating season too short to be sustainable. The construction of the park was fought on multiple fronts. Many cultural institutions in Toronto felt that the new theme park would put them out of business. Many of the institutions included Ontario Place, the Royal Ontario Museum and the operators of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) who felt that the Toronto market wasn't large enough to support more competition. Other groups that fought the building of Wonderland included a Vaughan residential association (called 'SAVE') who felt the increased traffic would reduce property values. Some of the concessions from the company included the building of a landscaped berm around the park to reduce noise and the visual sight of the large parking lot. Taft was concerned about opposition, going as far as to fly a group of opponents and regional councilors out to Cincinnati to show residents and town councilors the impact of one of their theme parks on the local community (it should be noted that up until the 1970s, amusement parks had the reputation of being poorly designed and 'unsavory'). People in the region were concerned that the new park would be similar and aesthetic to that of a carnival and midway like the CNE. Wonderland was also responsible for changing the master development plan for the Province of Ontario. The government had wanted to increase residential and commercial development to the east of Toronto in the Oshawa/Pickering region while having the lands to the North of Toronto remain agricultural. Wonderland was able to convince the province to amend the planning policy for the region, and secured infrastructure improvements (including a highway overpass, and sewage systems) to be expanded and built out to the site. The subsequent improvements paved the way for increased developments throughout the region. Concerns were also raised about the cultural implications of allowing an American theme park to open in Canada. Many felt that it would be a "Trojan Horse" for American culture. To offset the criticism, Taft planned to open Frontier Canada, a part of the park devoted to Canada's history. Early park maps show the area encompassing what is now Splashworks, White Water Canyon, Paramount F/X Theatre and the southern part of Kidzville, as well as proposed attractions, including a steam passenger train. While Frontier Canada was never built, several elemental themes remain in the area, including White Water Canyon, the "Frontier-style" theming of the walkways and path railings, The Mighty Canadian Minebuster roller coaster, as well as the area's "Deep in the Forest" setting. Other elements to the park which were never built include a hotel and conference centre (to have been built north of the park). Construction and opening The initial construction of the park began in April of 1979. During construction, Canadian companies partnered on the preliminary design and engineering of the project. Two years later, on May 23, 1981, Canada's Wonderland was officially opened by then Premier of Ontario William Davis. The spectacular opening ceremony included 10,000 helium balloons, 13 parachutists, 350 white doves, and a pipe band. Four children representing the Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes regions of Canada each poured a vial of water from their home regions into the park's spectacular fountain. Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky also appeared as a special guest, helping to raise the Canadian flag. Recent History The park's former connection to Hanna-Barbera productions was reduced after Paramount purchased the park in a successful attempt to bring families back to the park by providing children with Nickelodeon cartoon characters that were familiar to a new generation. While the Nickelodeon channel is not available in Canada, many of the network's shows air on YTV, making this decision logical. YTV had previously been involved in numerous projects at the park, including the 1992 direct-to-video Festival of Friends concert, raising money for Kids Help Phone. Attractions
Shows Water slides Roller Coasters Children-Geared Roller Coasters Flat Rides Besides the large amount of roller coasters it has, it also has a huge variety of flat rides, such as bumper cars, carousels, many of these relying on centrifugal forces, and other funfair ride. Such as: Location Wonderland is on the east side of Highway 400 between Rutherford Road (exit 33) and Major Mackenzie Drive (exit 35), 13 km (8 miles) north of Highway 401, 6 km (3 miles) from Highway 407 and 64 km (41 miles) south of Barrie. It is bounded by Highway 400 to the west, Jane Street to the east and has three entrances. Regular transit access is provided by York Region Transit, while GO Transit, Brampton Transit, and Mississauga Transit all run special services, as does YRT from Newmarket and Markham. Transportation Transportation to the park has improved with more options: Facts and Figures | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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