Wonder Mountain's Guardian (also known as ''Guardian'' or ''WMG''; during
Halloween Haunt known as ''Zombies 4D'') is a
4D,
interactive dark ride
A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, suc ...
roller coaster at the
Canada's Wonderland
Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life As ...
amusement park located in
Vaughan
Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. Park management first proposed a dark ride located inside Wonder Mountain around 2004. Technology and budget limitations at the time delayed the project's planning and design stages until 2011. The steel track was manufactured by Art Engineering; it is approximately long and has a maximum height of about . The ride also features one of the largest drop tracks in the world reaching a height of .
Triotech designed the ride's interactive 3D animations, which are accompanied by other special effects such as wind, adding the fourth dimension. During the park's Halloween Haunt event in October, the animations are replaced with zombie-themed effects. Delays during construction delayed the ride's opening until May 24, 2014; three weeks after the 2014 season began. Guardian was inspired by the dragon in
Thunder Run—another roller coaster located in the mountain area of the park—and
Starlight Spectacular—a nightly light-and-sound show focused on Wonder Mountain.
History
Canada's Wonderland's first interactive dark ride was
Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion
Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion is a Scooby-Doo-themed interactive dark ride series created by Sally Corporation based on Hanna-Barbera's long-running animated television series. The ride transports guests in a vehicle equipped with light guns tha ...
(renamed
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is an interactive family dark ride designed and manufactured by Sally Corporation. The ride is located at four Cedar Fair amusement parks — Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, and Kings Island. The ride wa ...
after Cedar Fair's purchase of the park), which opened in 2000. It was designed by
Sally Corporation
Sally Corporation is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The company serves amusement parks, attractions, museums, and retail clients worldwide. It offers complete design/build service ...
and relies entirely on physical sets and theming rather than projected animations, and uses basic, moving props.
About four years later, park management began discussing the addition of a new attraction inside Wonder Mountain. The technology available at the time meant the cost of building a more advanced dark ride was too expensive for a regional amusement park. In 2011, as technology improved and the costs decreased, the park started planning a second interactive dark ride. Several companies were contacted to design the audio-visual portion of the future ride; park management chose Triotech to do so.
Speculation that Canada's Wonderland would build a new attraction for the 2014 season began at the end of July 2013 when maintenance work on the western side of Wonder Mountain was discovered. On August 8, Cedar Fair confirmed an interactive dark ride would be built at one of the company's parks. Wonderland officially announced Wonder Mountain's Guardian—a ten million dollar attraction—on August 30, 2013, on ''Breakfast Television
Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...
'', a morning news program for the Toronto area. During the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) represents over 6,000 amusement-industry members in more than 100 countries worldwide and operates several global attractions-industry trade shows. Its annual IAAPA Expo in ...
(IAAPA) Attractions Expo 2013, the characters of the ride were revealed during president and CEO of Cedar Fair Matt Ouimet
Matt Ouimet is executive chairman of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded company that owns 12 amusement parks in the United States and Canada.
Early life
Born in 1958 in Cooperstown, New York and raised in Unadilla NY. His first ...
's keynote address.
The first pieces of track and other parts arrived at the park from Germany in mid-January 2014. A month later, installation of the track began inside the mountain.[ By the end of February, erection of the framing for the 3D screens began.][ By the beginning of March, support columns for the outside portion of the ride were installed.][ The lift hill was completed at the beginning of April.][ The park opened to the public on May 4 but the opening of Guardian was delayed. On May 23, the park announced the ride would open the next day.][ The entire project involved 10 contractors and at least 47 workers.
On November 7, 2013, Cedar Fair announced that during Halloween Haunt, Guardian would be altered to a zombie-themed ride.] The name of this version of the attraction was later revealed to be ''Zombies 4D''.
Ride experience
When Guardian first opened, Fast Lane was available to guests but within the first week of operation the Fast Lane option was removed. Riders must be at least tall to ride with an adult or to ride alone.[
The experience is dependent upon the location of rider's seat on the train. Screens are located on both sides of the track but the only continuous screen on the track is on the right-hand side. The train makes several tight turns during the ride; riders facing forward experience all the animations while riders facing backward miss some scenes because of the lack of screen space. The cars rotate 90 degrees clockwise to face the screens; forward-facing riders rotate toward the continuous screen.][
]
Wonder Mountain's Guardian
In the ride's narrative of events preceding those that occur during the ride, King Adelsten entered the mountain to fight a dragon called Ormaar. During the battle, the king lost his crown. Stansein, one of the king's servants, guides riders through the mountain to find and retrieve the crown.[ Throughout the ride, riders can score points by hitting objects on the screen with their light guns. At the end, the highest scores are placed in the 'Wonder Mountain's Guardian Hall of Fame'.][
After the train leaves the station, it turns 180 degrees right and exits the mountain, leading into a ]chain lift hill
A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...
.[ Once at the top, the train enters a shallow, right-hand drop, crossing over ]Vortex
In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in ...
's first drop as it runs along the side of the mountain. It makes a banked right turn back into the mountain, then a tarpaulin drops, blocking the entrance to prevent light from entering. The train slows and the cars rotate 90 degrees to face the screens. Stansein tells riders to prepare to battle the enemies. The first scene takes place in forest environment where riders fight Sneaky Spiders and Beasty Bats. At the end of the first scene, riders who began the ride facing forward see Stansein's first appearance, in which he points in the direction riders should go next. Backward-facing riders do not see this transition. In the next scene, riders—who are surrounded by a lake inside the mountain—battle Wet Ones and Crazy Crabs. The scene starts above the surface of the water but later moves downwards. As the scene ends, the train passes two waterfalls; this transition is absent for backward-facing riders.
Riders then arrive in an underground city named Draconian City, where they battle against Draconians and Archers. Nearing the finale, forward-facing riders see Stansein making his final appearance, following the train. Riders are then confronted by more Draconians and Archers before entering a gold-covered area where King Adelsten's crown is found. Soon after, Ormaar arrives and breathes fire toward the ground. After a few seconds, the drop track releases the train into a free fall, escaping from Ormaar. As the train leaves the drop track, the trains are rotated to their original positions and all of the riders' scores are displayed on both sides of the track. After turning left into the station, riders disembark and the next riders board. One cycle of the ride lasts approximately three-and-a-half minutes.[
]
Zombies 4D
In the ride's ''Zombies 4D'' version, riders score points for shooting zombies and police badges found throughout the ride, but lose points if they shoot civilians.
After the train is dispatched and enters Wonder Mountain, riders find themselves in a graveyard where zombies are roaming. At the end of the scene, riders who began facing forward see a survivor directing them to the next scene. Riders who were seated backwards do not see this transition. The next scene takes place in a house overrun by the zombies and large spiders. At the end of the scene a truck crashes into the house. Riders then leave the house and pass the survivor; this transition is again absent for backward-seated riders. The train continues to a road with zombies, where three cars with zombies on them join the riders. Two of the cars crash at the end of the scene. The train then passes through a tunnel with abandoned cars; this scene is absent for riders facing backward. Riders then battle the zombies for the final time before entering the drop track sequence. The names of the highest-scoring riders are displayed on a leader-board for this version of the attraction.[
]
Characteristics
Trains
Guardian operates with five trains, each containing two cars that were manufactured by Art Engineering. Each car seats four riders back-to-back in seated rows; each train can seat eight riders. Every seat has a lap-bar restraint, a light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol.
Early history
The first light guns were produced in the 1930s, following the development of light-sensin ...
, and a loudspeaker that provides sound during the ride. This configuration allows the ride to theoretically carry 650 riders per hour. The cars can rotate 90 degrees in both directions. The trains' light guns are programmed to display a unique colour on the ride's screens to indicate where each rider is shooting and to distinguish between shooters.[
]
Track
The steel track of Guardian is approximately long and the lift is about high; it was manufactured by Kubes Steel located in Stoney Creek, Ontario.[ The outside portion of the track is grey and has beige supports; indoor portions of the ride's infrastructure are painted black.][ When the train is inside the mountain, drive tires move the trains along the track.] The drive tires and other moving parts within the track system were manufactured by Art Engineering.
At the end of the interactive part of the ride, there is a free-fall drop track, a movable piece of track that can be released into free fall
In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on ...
. , this roller coaster element has only been used on eight coasters in the world. Once the train exits the drop track, the track returns to its starting position for the next train. Both Polar X-plorer
''Polar X-plorer'' is a steel roller coaster at Legoland Billund in Billund, Denmark. It opened on 29 April 2012 as Zierer's first coaster with a freefall drop track section.
History
On 11 October 2011, Legoland Billund announced that the pa ...
at Legoland Billund Resort
Legoland Billund Resort, the original Legoland park, opened on 7 June 1968 in Billund, Denmark. The park is located next to the original Lego factory and Billund Airport, Denmark's second-busiest airport. Over 1.9 million guests visited the par ...
and Thirteen
Thirteen or 13 may refer to:
* 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14
* One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013
Music
* 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band
Albums
* ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013
* ...
at Alton Towers have vertical drop tracks that release riders into a drop. Verbolten
Verbolten is a Zierer multi-launching steel roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. The concept was jointly designed by the park's creative design team and by Zierer of Germany. "Verbolten" is a play on words ...
at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly known as Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park located in Williamsburg, Virginia, James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Located approximately ...
has a drop track measuring . Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a multiple-launch steel motorbike roller coaster located at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade section of Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park. The attraction o ...
at Universal Orlando
Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort Building#Complex, complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operate ...
’s Islands of Adventure
Universal's Islands of Adventure (also known as Islands of Adventure or IOA), originally called Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part of an ...
also contains a drop track measuring . While only a few roller coasters contain this element, the drop track used on Guardian is the largest one of its kind.[
]
Screens
Guardian uses 64 720p
720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...
projectors to display interactive content on the ride's screens.[ As the train enters the mountain, the cars rotate to face the screens. Because riders are seated both forwards and backwards, two sets of screens—one for each side— are required. Because Guardian makes tight turns, only the screen on the right-hand side of the track continuously shows content until the end. This screen holds the record for being the longest continuous interactive screen in the world, with a length of approximately and a height of .][ The other screen is set up so that as one scene finishes, the transition scene that is seen on the continuous screen is skipped and the next scene begins soon after, keeping both screens in synchronization.][ Because no physical sets are used in the attraction, the park management can change the film and theme of Guardian at any time.][
]
Characters
The ''Wonder Mountain's Guardian'' version of the attraction features eight characters. Stansein is the riders' guide who leads them through the mountain. Crazy Crabs are characterized as attractive but dangerous. Beasty Bats are recognizable by their oversized fangs compared to those of regular bats. Sneaky Spiders have the ability to ambush riders and their bites contain venom. Archers fight with bows and arrows, and can move around quickly. Wet Ones are reptilian creatures similar to fish but they can walk on land. These reptiles are most dangerous when they are in the water. Draconians protect Draconian City and carry swords and shields. Ormaar is the dragon that lives inside the mountain and confronts riders at the end of the ride.[
In the ''Zombies 4D'' version of the ride, a survivor of the zombie apocalypse replaces Stansein as the guide character; zombies are the enemy.][
]
Reception
Brady MacDonald from ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' ranked Guardian as the ninth most anticipated new ride of 2014; Sarah Sekula from Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
ranked the ride in the top nine. Jody Robbins from MSN
MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95.
The Microsoft Net ...
ranked Guardian in the top 11 best new attractions in Canada.
According to Triotech and Cedar Fair, the response from the public during the ride's opening weekend was positive. Children and parents interviewed by Adam Martin-Robbins from Yorkregion.com said they enjoyed the ride. Jeremy Schoolfiiled from the IAAPA said, "Cedar Fair seems to have figured out how to create a lavish dark ride on a regional theme park budget".[
During the 2014 season, attendance at Canada's Wonderland dropped one percent—a loss of approximately 36,000 visitors—compared to that of the 2013 season. The park's most recent increase in attendance was in 2012, the season ]Leviathan
Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...
debuted, where there was a five percent increase. Wonder Mountain's Guardian did not place in the top 50 roller coasters in the world, nor was it in the top five new roller coasters in the Golden Ticket Awards
''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
for the 2014 season.
See also
* Voyage to the Iron Reef
References
External links
{{Canada's Wonderland
Amusement rides manufactured by Triotech
Dark rides
Cedar Fair attractions
Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair