Six Flags Entertainment Corporation - "Canada's Wonderland"
LOCATION: Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Photo above is property of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
📸 EXPERIENCE: Canada's Wonderland
📅 DATE: August 17, 2026
🕒 HOURS OF OPERATION: Varies - Click HERE
💰 PRICE: $49/ pp (General Admission)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Public
This summer, we visited various locations in Ontario, stopping in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Sudbury and Ottawa. Fitting all of this into two weeks was already tight, but we knew we wanted to spend a day at "Canada’s Wonderland" in Vaughn. We had one day to maximize the fun without spending a ton of money. Here is what we learned and found.
🎭 THE EXPERIENCE
"Canada’s Wonderland" opened on May 23rd, 1981 in Vaughn, Ontario. When it was originally opened, it was built around Wonder Mountain (which is still there today) and had four different areas; International Street, Medieval Faire, International Festival, and the Grande World Exposition. Over the years, the themes have changed from Hanna-Barbera Land and Smurf Forest to Planet Snoopy and others.
The rides have also changed over the years. The park has had a variety of roller coasters such as The Bat and Dragon Frye, both of which are still there today as well as a bunch of rides that have come and gone, renamed and re-themed and redesigned.
Today, it is the only Six Flags park in Canada and has some highlight rides such as:
AlpenFury – The newest roller coaster, which is the longest, tallest and fastest launch roller coaster in Canada as well as nine inversions, the most in the world.
Leviathan – Canada’s tallest and fastest roller coaster at 306 feet and speeds of 148 km/h, you will be able to feel the zero gravity during the 80 degree drop at the start.
Mighty Canadian Minebuster – One of the original wooden roller coasters from 1981 when the park opened, which still offers a great thrill with its turns and hills.
Yukon Striker – With a 3 second hangtime over a 90 degree drop of 245 feet, it’s the world’s tallest, fastest and longest dive roller coaster.
Should I get Fast Lane (Plus)? Is it worth it?
Fast Lane pass is a paid front-of-the-line access that lets you bypass the standard line for certain rides, through a separate queue. Regular admission into the park costs $49 while a Fast Lane pass costs an additional $149 on top of that. Furthermore, it doesn't cover the big 5 rollercoasters, which requires you to get the Fast Lane Plus pass which is $200. Overall, this could be pretty pricey.
After some thought, we decided not to get the Fast Lane passes as we were going on a Monday in mid-August. The park offers same day Fast Lane purchases, though they are limited. They also offer Fast Lane passes for individual rides. We found it was difficult to pinpoint the cost of individual Fast Lane passes for different rides so here are the ones that were available that day.
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$11 - Vortex, Backlot
$14 - Yukon Striker
$17 - Leviathan, Behemoth
$50 - Alpenfury
Depending on what you want to do with your day, it can affect your decision. If you are fine waiting a little for each ride and only riding the big 5 roller coasters once, then you shouldn’t need a Fast Lane pass. If you want to ride everything as much as you want, then a Fast Lane (Plus) pass is what you want. Putting this into perspective though, in the middle of the day, there was a 60 min wait time for Behemoth while the Fast Lane would only be 10 mins. Below is a list of our wait times throughout the day from morning to evening.
Our wait times throughout the day
AlpenFury - 65 mins – Backpacks need to stored away before joining line
Yukon Striker - 30 mins – Backpacks need to stored away before joining line
Mighty Canadian Minebuster - 20 mins
Behemoth - 45 mins
Psyclone - 20 mins
Leviathan - 70mins
Dragon Fyre - 30mins
The Bat - 20 mins
Vortex - 20 mins
Bohemeth - 40 mins
General tips of the day
There is an app that you can download that will give you the wait times for a large amount of rides.
The first ride we hit was their newest rollercoaster, Alpenfury. At the start of the day, we waited about 65 minutes. After that, we never saw the ride line be less than 90 minutes.
Though the park times are listed as 10AM to 10PM, the park opens at 9:30am to allow people to start lining up for rides and the final rides are at 10:05PM. Near closing, we saw many people running back into line after each ride of a roller coaster. In the last 15 minutes of the park closing, my kids rode Yukon Striker four times.
Some things that would be helpful to bring in a backpack are a fan or umbrella for the heat/sun, a hat, water bottle, snacks, sunscreen. Keep in mind that they don’t have water bottle fillers currently and you have to fill at a water fountain. They also allow food to be brought into the park.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
For longer lines, which can reach 90 minutes, kids and adults may want something to help pass the time. Some favorites we played and saw others playing included Heads Up! (an app), online trivia, or requiring no phones was 20 Questions, Rock Paper Scissors, or simply chatting to pass the time.
Alpenfury and Yukon Striker required you to put backpacks and large bags into a locker prior to joining the line up. The lockers cost $3 to use. There are also lockers near the entrance you can use.
This was my first time seeing this feature: a moving storage box at the front of the line where you can place your cellphone, hat, sunglasses, and pocket items. Once you board the ride, the box moves up and away so no one can access your belongings, then returns them to you at the end of the ride.
Conclusion
Overall, we were really happy with our choices and our day at "Canada’s Wonderland". Skipping the Fast Lane passes saved us a lot of money, and we were fine with the longer wait times. At my age, my stomach could only handle some of the biggest roller coasters once anyways. Buying two All-Day Dining Passes also worked well, letting us eat throughout the day without getting too full for the rides. While places like Disneyland and Universal Studios offer more heavily themed attractions, it had been a long time since I’d visited a park with this much pure ride and roller coaster thrill.
(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Canada’s Wonderland sounds like a great place for thrill seekers and fun rides. After reading about exciting places like this, I often play Subway Surfers which is a fast paced endless runner game.