What a dive.
That may not sound like a particularly complimentary statement. But Canada’s Wonderland, located near Toronto in Vaughan, Ontario, will welcome the declaration beginning in spring 2019. That’s because the theme park announced today that it would open Yukon Striker, the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster next year.
What, you may wonder, is a dive coaster? It's a diabolical type of thrill machine that capitalizes on the nervous anticipation riders experience as they scale the lift hills of coasters. Instead of click-clacking up and immediately dropping down the other side into a gravity-fed frenzy, a dive coaster stalls and halts the train just over the precipice to let passengers stew over the impending mayhem for a few knee-knocking seconds.
Yukon Striker’s riders will stare down a 245-foot, 90-degree drop that will accelerate them to 80 mph. What a dive, indeed.
The coaster’s massive trains will include three rows of eight riders. The floorless design will allow passengers to dangle their legs. The cantilever trains will extend beyond the track and will leave riders in the seats at both ends of the rows feeling especially open and vulnerable.
After climbing the lift hill, Yukon Striker will perform a slow half-carousel turn at its apex and offer dramatic views of the park as well as the Toronto skyline. Although it will dive 245 feet, the coaster won’t climb quite that high. That's because the drop will extend below the ground into an underwater tunnel. Riders will then experience four disorienting inversions that will deliver both sensations of weightlessness and bone-crushing positive G-forces. They will also get a second dive and navigate a helix before returning to the station.
The coaster will be part of Frontier Canada, a newly themed land that will evoke the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 19th century. It will incorporate other existing rides, including the wooden coaster, Mighty Canadian Minebuster, and the river raft ride, White Water Canyon.
Yukon Striker will be the park’s 17th roller coaster. That’s a lot of coasters. In fact, it will give Canada’s Wonderland international bragging rights.
A few years back, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, and Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, were engaged in a heated war over which park could lay claim to the most coasters. There were rollicking debates whether certain rides could legitimately be deemed coasters. Six Flags ultimately pulled ahead and holds the world record for the biggest arsenal with 19 coasters.
In typical north-of-the-border fashion, however, Canada’s Wonderland politely opened a bunch of rides and discreetly entered the fray. With Yukon Striker, it will tie Cedar Point for second place on the most number of coasters chart. Not that it’s bragging too loudly.
The somewhat under-the-radar park, at least to people outside of the Toronto area, is actually quite popular. “We’re among the top seasonal parks in the world for attendance,” says Dave Phillips, VP of marketing for Canada’s Wonderland.
With so many other coasters on its midways, how will the park’s latest entry stand apart? “When people see Yukon Striker, they’ll very quickly realize it’s a unique and different ride,” Phillips notes. He adds that it will include stadium-style seating, will be the first coaster in the park with a 90-degree drop, and will be the first dive coaster in Canada. Compared to similar dive coasters at Cedar Point, Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia, and Busch Gardens Tampa in Florida, Yukon Striker will be the only one to dive underground and include a 360-degree loop as well as go taller, faster, and longer than its counterparts. Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, opened what it called a dive coaster this year, but a different manufacturer built the ride.
Along with its reveal of Yukon Striker, Canada’s Wonderland also announced today that it would remain open through December in 2019 and offer its first holiday event, WinterFest. Among the features will be ice skating, live shows, seasonal treats, loads of lights, and weather-permitting, a selection of the park’s rides.
About the Great White North weather, some disbelievers may be wondering how an outdoor Canadian theme park could be open in December. “It gets cold,” acknowledges Phillips. “But people who live here, we’re used to it.”
