Canada’s Wonderland moves mountains for wild, new coaster
Canada’s Wonderland moves mountains for wild, new coaster
AlpenFury set to open in 2025
With its snow-capped peaks and cascading waterfalls, Wonder Mountain beckons as the iconic centerpiece at Canada’s Wonderland, the huge theme park just outside of Toronto. The rambling range serves as a hub for a number of the park’s ride’s and attractions, including the roller coasters Wonder Mountain’s Guardian and Thunder Run. In 2025, a new thrill machine will capitalize on the imposing structure, AlpenFury.
According to Canada’s Wonderland, the ride will be the country’s longest, tallest, and fastest launch coaster. And it will hold the world’s record for most inversions on a launch coaster. Based on its stats and other details shared, AlpenFury is high on the list–if not at the summit–of North America’s most anticipated coasters in 2025. Let’s break it down.
The ride will feature two LSM launches. The first will propel the train out of the station and into the mountain, while the second will goose the speed to nearly 72 mph. That will send passengers soaring out of the top of the mountain and up a 164-foot-tall top hat tower. Just before reaching the apex, the train will pivot into the first inversion and hang riders upside down as it crests the top hat. That will be followed by a series of elements, including some that have been given fanciful names coined by the park.
For instance, the Fire Serpent Roll will twist and invert passengers as it delivers some soaring airtime, while the Ice Winder Roll will twist in one direction, then reverse twist. The Skyflyer Loop, meanwhile, will incorporate an ascending helix that will morph into a zero-G stall, followed by an inverting, descending roll. Many newer coasters have been featuring zero-G stalls (among them, Universal Orlando’s glorious VelociCoaster), in which the train inverts and remains upside down as it races forward for what seems like an eternity, but is really just a few seconds. If you’re like me, you can’t get enough zero-G stalls.
As for the record-breaking claims, AlpenFury will handily take the crown as Canada’s tallest, fastest, and longest launch coaster. With nine inversions, not only will the new ride lay claim as the launched coaster with the most inversions in the world, it will also be among the rides that boast the most inversions of any coaster in the world. There are only six coasters with 10 inversions and one with 14 inversions (The Smiler at Alton Towers in England) ahead of it.
Blasting into, out the top of, and encircling Wonder Mountain, AlpenFury’s sprawling layout looks to be stunning. It will weave in and out of some of CW’s other coasters, bringing additional energy and spectacle to that part of the park.
Manufactured by Premier Rides, the new attraction will be among the company’s line of Sky Rocket launched coasters. Stellar examples of the model include Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando and Full Throttle at Six Flags Magic Mountain. In terms of stats, AlpenFury will more closely resemble the Six Flags ride, although both have custom layouts and are distinct from one another. Premier Rides’, er, track record with the Sky Rocket line is among the reasons I am highly anticipating the 2025 newbie.
It would seem that Canada’s Wonderland is getting the Volcano: The Blast Coaster sequel that Kings Dominion fans had been hoping for. I guess it helps that the Canadian park has an intact mountain to serve as the ride’s base.
Have you been on Full Throttle, Ice Breaker, or any other Sky Rocket coasters? Were you surprised by the announcement of AlpenFury?