Wonder Mountain's Guardian
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Wonder Mountain's Guardian (also known as ''Guardian'' or ''WMG''; during
Halloween Haunt Halloween Haunt may refer to several Halloween events at Six Flags amusement parks: *HalloWeekends (Cedar Point) * Halloween Haunt (California's Great America) (Former) * Halloween Haunt (Canada's Wonderland) * Halloween Haunt (Dorney Park) * Hall ...
known as ''Zombies 4D'') is a 4D,
interactive dark ride A dark ride—or ghost train when horror themed—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 a ...
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, Taft Broadcasting Company and the Gr ...
amusement park located in
Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) 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 increa ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. 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 Art is a diverse range of culture, cultural activity centered around works of art, ''works'' utilizing Creativity, creative or imagination, imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an express ...
; 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 Triotech is a manufacturer of out-of-home multi-sensory interactive attractions. Since 2006, TRIOTECH has operated its own studio to develop custom content for its attractions. Founded in 1999, TRIOTECH is a privately held company based in Canada ...
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 (renamed Boo Blasters on Boo Hill after Cedar Fair's purchase of the park), which opened in 2000. It was designed by
Sally Corporation Sally Corporation (also known as Sally Dark Rides) 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 ...
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 and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...
'', 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 Matthew Anthony Ouimet (born 1958) is a retired tourism industry executive. Over his 40-plus-year career, Ouimet held leadership positions at both The Walt Disney Company and Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Early life Ouimet was born in 1958 i ...
's keynote address. The first pieces of track and other parts from Germany arrived at the park 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 24, the park announced that the ride had opened. 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 ...
. 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 th ...
'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-sensi ...
, 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 classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a physical object, body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word ...
. , 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 at
Legoland Billund Resort Legoland Billund Resort (also known as Legoland Denmark), 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 ...
and
Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number) * Any of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, or 2013 Music Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ''13'' (Blur album), 1999 * ''13'' (Borgeous album), 2016 * ''13'' (Brian Setzer album), 2006 * ...
at
Alton Towers Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often shortened to Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton, Staffordshire, Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments, Merlin Entertainments Group a ...
have vertical drop tracks that release riders into a drop.
Verbolten Verbolten is a Zierer multi-launched partially enclosed 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" i ...
at
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Williamsburg (formerly Busch Gardens Europe and Busch Gardens: The Old Country) is a amusement park in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States, located approximately northwest of Virginia Beach. The park w ...
has a drop track measuring .
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a multiple-launch steel roller coaster located in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade section of Universal Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando. Manufactured by Intamin, the ...
at
Universal Orlando Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. It is the flagship of the Universal Destinations & Experiences theme park chain. Following the succe ...
’s
Islands of Adventure Universal Islands of Adventure, often shortened to Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, United States. It originally opened as Universal Studios Islands of Adventure on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part ...
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 (720 lines progressive) is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards (such as SMPTE 292M) includ ...
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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' ranked Guardian as the ninth most anticipated new ride of 2014; Sarah Sekula from
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
ranked the ride in the top nine. Jody Robbins from
MSN MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...
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 ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon 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, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...
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, List of amusement rides, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspape ...
for the 2014 season.


See also

* Voyage to the Iron Reef


References


External links

{{Canada's Wonderland Amusement rides manufactured by Triotech Dark rides Six Flags attractions Roller coasters operated by Six Flags