Leviathan open at Canada's Wonderland - April 27th, 2012

The Leviathan entrance sign

Taken in front of a roaring dinosaur, (l-r) Kevin May, Jordan May, Paul Schroeder, and myself, Ken Jones are ready for the Charity ride. Jordan and I were in the first to ride auction, Kevin and Paul got to ride after as our guests.

April 27th was the day the beast was finally released. Over 18months of planning and construction went into the newest ride at Canada's Wonderland. Leviathan has risen from the depths to become a top coaster at the park. Canada's Wonderland teamed up with the Sick Kids Foundation and auctioned off seats for the first ride on the new coaster. 96 people were given the chance to bid, and they came from all over Canada, and parts of the US. This B&M coaster stands 306' high, the first drop is an impresseve 80degrees, and you travel at 148 kilometres an hour. There are only 2 camel back hills, but there are the high speed curves that make this ride impresseve and fast. Built at a cost of $28million, this new ride is sure to thrill visitors all season, and beyond.

The American Coaster Enthusiasts group was well represented, with all 4 ACE Canada reps being present, along with a number of ACE members. The American Coaster Enthusiasts, Canada Region will have thier event at Canada's Wonderland on Saturday September 15th, 2012. Be sure to check it out on the official ACE site at www.aceonline.org in the events section. It's a great, affordable day, which offers Exclusive Ride Time (ERT) on many of the coasters at the park, and we are expecting Leviathan to be one of them.

The station and lift hill. CW did a great job making Leviathans station look like it's always been there.

The bottom of the drop off the 306' high lift hill. Not in place for the event, this is the location of a 100' long tunnel

Looking at the high speed (128kph) left hand curve before entering one of 2 camel back hills.

Looking at the same curve as above, as a train comes flying through.

One of the "media" trains going over the first camelback hill, right before the hammerhead turn.

The hammerhead turn brings you right out into the entrance plaze of the park.

The ride was still being run with the test dummies, right up to the start of the first ride. Here the water is emptied from the bodies, and they are removed from the ride.

Leviathan is located in the Medieval Faire section of the park. It is seen here through the entry gate to that section.

The lift hill and brake run of Leviathan tower over Spinovator, and the lift hill and loops of Dragon Fyre.

Towering over the entry plaza, the first camelback hill leads into the hammerhead curve, which is out of sight to the right..

Charlie Brown and Snoopy were wandering through the Marketplace restaurant before and after the event, posing for pictures. Here we see Jordan May, Charlie Brown, and Ken Jones before the first ride.