Canada's Wonderland help

[musika]

Hi friends,

We will hopefully be traveling to Ontario in late July for a wedding. We're desperately missing Florida and hoping to check out Canada's Wonderland instead. Our family is myself, DH, DS6 and DD10. Our 6yo should hopefully be 48 inches at time of travel.

My current extremely tentative plan is to fly into YYZ then drive to Canada's Wonderland area. My kids are also super into Lego, so my thought was maybe to stay overnight in the area and hit up the Legoland on our fly day, then stay overnight and go to CW all day, then overnight again, then drive to our wedding in Guelph area. We'll probably also check out Niagara Falls with our friends later in the trip.

What would be your tips to maximize our CW day? Any hints on a good place to stay?

 

[thr33boys]

That sounds like a great plan!

There are a lot of hotel options near CW, the typical Marriott/Hilton/Holiday Inn's are all within close proximity. Aim to be at CW for opening as it gets pretty busy and the lines are crazy long as the day goes on. If you can swing it, the Fast Lane passes are really helpful but obviously you don't get as much out of it if you're kids aren't height eligible for the main attraction rides. Splashworks will be open, so if it's really hot, plan on bringing the necessities for doing some water rides. Food is crazy expensive but you can pack a picnic and leave it in your car, they used to have a few picnic tables, not sure if those still exist. Alternatively, you can walk across the street for some fast food options. You cannot leave by car without having to pay for parking again, unless you have a season pass for parking. The best case scenario is to have an overcast day with rain in the forecast as that tends to keep the crowds away. Last year, you had to make a reservation in advance, keep an eye out in case that's still applies this year.

I haven't been to Legoland so I can't comment on that. Other considerations in the area are catching a Blue Jays game, CN Tower experience, Ripley's Aquarium or the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Have a great time!

 

[kuhltiffany]

Honestly, CW is not that great, it's better for teens who love roller coasters. I would look at all of the Toronto attractions instead. Legoland is good for a couple of hours, there's not much to do. Ripleys and the CN tower are fun, Centre Island is a neat experience too. https://www.centreisland.ca

 

[Jrb1979]

Honestly, CW is not that great, it's better for teens who love roller coasters. I would look at all of the Toronto attractions instead. Legoland is good for a couple of hours, there's not much to do. Ripleys and the CN tower are fun, Centre Island is a neat experience too. https://www.centreisland.ca

I disagree. I think CW is a wonderful park and I'm 42 years old. Then again I think Cedar Point is the best park in the US.

 

[ellbell]

Honestly, CW is not that great, it's better for teens who love roller coasters. I would look at all of the Toronto attractions instead. Legoland is good for a couple of hours, there's not much to do. Ripleys and the CN tower are fun, Centre Island is a neat experience too. https://www.centreisland.ca

I'm with you. It isn't that great and I'm a season passholder but I get it for the halloween and Christmas events.

It has small children's areas that are constantly packed with large lines because the areas are so small and the rest of the park is geared towards thrill rides with a very small selection of family rides. The waterpark is ok but expect the water to be freezing regardless of when you go. I do love Ripley's Aquarium and if you are able to take a river cruise around toronto island that is also a good time. The CN tower is great too and a baseball game is fun. Wonderland is expensive and based on the ages of your children they won't get to do much together.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Hi friends,

We will hopefully be traveling to Ontario in late July for a wedding. We're desperately missing Florida and hoping to check out Canada's Wonderland instead. Our family is myself, DH, DS6 and DD10. Our 6yo should hopefully be 48 inches at time of travel.

My current extremely tentative plan is to fly into YYZ then drive to Canada's Wonderland area. My kids are also super into Lego, so my thought was maybe to stay overnight in the area and hit up the Legoland on our fly day, then stay overnight and go to CW all day, then overnight again, then drive to our wedding in Guelph area. We'll probably also check out Niagara Falls with our friends later in the trip.

What would be your tips to maximize our CW day? Any hints on a good place to stay?

Wonderland is fun and we go frequently. Get there when it opens for sure to get in a few rides before the lines get long. Fast lane would allow you to skip the line on most rides but it's pretty pricey. The water park is included with admission and on hot days it's nice to cool off midday.

If you're going to be in Guelph and you have time you may want to visit Elora which is very close. Niagara on the lake is very nice as well if you are going to checkout the falls.

 

[Frozen2014]

We quite like the waterpark - good variety of slides plus lazy river, but it can get busy.
We went to Wonderland a lot when our kids were young. Then they got to a stage where our older one outgrew the kiddie section but our younger one didn't so we stopped going. Once they both got to the older section, we could spend the day there and had fun. It's definitely not Disney (although my favorite ride is Boo Blasters as it is the closest thing that is themed similarly....lol) but can be a good day. It depends on your kids and what rides they like/can go on. They have some shows running as well which can be nice to sit down for a bit.

 

[RetiredChipmunk]

Right now it's $40.00 (Canadian!) for admission in 2022. At that price point, it's definitely worthwhile - https://www.canadaswonderland.com/daily-tickets

We've stayed at the Novotel right by the mall Vaughan Mills and that was like a $10 Uber ride over to the park, but that said it was still a bit of a walk from where hey dropped us off. They've added a bunch of rides for younger park guests and our 4 Y.O. loved it all. Mind you, it's definitely not Disney level theming but you're also going here for sheer thrills (it has among the biggest/fastest/tallest rides in North America) if your kids are into that. If you go in with the expectation of Disney pricing, then Admission + FastLane will be worth it just to skirt past lines - there are higher priced FastLane passes for the biggest rides which will inevitably have the biggest lines.

This year they upped ALL the food prices - ex: 11.00 for two slices of pizza, 17.99 for chicken tenders and fries, but again this is in CAD so with the exchange rate it might not be as painful as it is for us.

Splashworks was great and the water was warm when we went this July. It was just..... packed and the only part of the park without masks right in the thick of the pandemic so it just felt weird.

Our plan with kids?
-Make them watch some of the POVs of the rides on Youtube to see what they think
-Ropedrop first the ones that will have nutso lines during the day (Yukon Striker, Leviathan, Behemoth)
-After you get the big rides done, spend 1-2hours at Splashworks (Your locker there is good for the WHOLE day so consider this instead of paying for a locker elsewhere in the park!)
-When the day is at its warmest, you can dry out and explore the park and even go to Kidzville/Planet Snoopy

-I'd recommend against Legoland. If Canada's Wonderland is selling tickets right now at $39.99, that's only like $10 more for a whole park as opposed to the really abbreviated experience the Legoland Discovery Centre is for about $30. You might appreciate it more if you spent some time downtown Toronto as they've built a bunch of locations and attractions at the Lego Discovery Centre that represent them - but if you're not actually staying down in the city, I wouldn't head down with kids just to check these things out in the middle of the summer and deal with the traffic. May use that fly day to check out the mall (Vaughan Mills) near Canada's Wonderland for any last-minute things you need for the wedding, have a nice dinner nearby.

 

[Silvermist999]

We’ve been seasons pass holders for years. Our kids really enjoyed the children’s ride areas and the fun games where they can easily “win“ prizes such as squishmallows. As they got older, we got the seasons passes mainly for the water park in the summer. During a heatwave the water is so refreshing! We got the seasons passes again in 2021 and went so many times last summer (once we were all fully vaxxed). We booked a reservation to check out the waterpark once but did not feel that comfortable in there since everyone was unmasked and certain areas felt way way too crowded. Certain things like the lazy river were closed due to COVID but the wave pool was open. I think you can easily spend a full and fun day there, do rides in the morning and then spend the afternoon at the waterpark, there are food options inside the waterpark as well if you wanted to eat lunch and dinner there. Plus definitely get the all-day drink offer and refill as many times during the day, 10 minutes apart. Our seasons pass for 2021 is also valid for 2022, we are looking forward to going again this summer (fingers crossed it will be open!).

 

[musika]

Apparently I forgot to come back to this thread, oops! I really appreciated all the replies. Our kids have been begging to go so we are going to try it out. Just measured DS and he's still holding strong at just under 47 inches so I really hope he grows an inch in the next 4 months!

We decided to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn mainly for its proximity to the TTC station so we can walk and leave the rental car if we choose to go downtown for the day, but also be a relatively short drive from CW.

Thoughts on whether Fastlane is worth it for a one day visit with one kid who may or may not be 48 inches? Should we get fastlane plus for 2 of us so an adult can go with our bigger kid on the marquee coasters?