Should Canada's Wonderland be replaced?

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by technomad

Indeed.. So unfortunate nothing like that or better could ever occur outside your Laurentian confines

• Video Link

Hm the geography looks strangely familiar .

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

That's fine, it's a relic of a bygone era like anything else, when TV was very uniform with limited options of culture being passed through one or two streams. Teens today have more outlets for information, culture, and entertainment and they're better off for it, even if it means less of an overall shared experience.

I think you are misunderstanding me, I'm not lamenting it, just observing the change that has occurred. I never cared for MuchMusic and have probably watched no more than a few hours of it over the span of my entire lifetime.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Quebec had the french version (Musique Plus), and you could watch some of the videotaping live from glass-walled studios on Rue Ste. Catherine (Montreal) back in the eighties.

I could still do that back in 2005. I am pretty sure it was stil a thing even in the early 2010s, but they were already slowly but surely moving away from music around that time so live broadcasts were not as common. And people didn’t care as much at that point.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

i think it is easy to envision that CWL could move someday. The land must be worth many billions of dollars. At some point, the cost-benefit analysis would reveal a business case to be made for relocation, despite the short term decline in traffic (on the other hand, they could (eventually) build something really world-class if they retain a land bank for expansion, like Disney (in Florida) did. Maybe London. Maybe Wootstock. Maybe Brantfart?

A lakeside location would be sweet. Lake Erie or Huron.

If they can do it at Cedar Point (essentially the same climate zone, on Lake Erie, in the no-growth state of Ohio), they can do it here.

Has a major theme park ever been moved?

The cost would probably be something like $1 billion. Even if they get more than that for the land, that doesn't tell the whole story. Wonderland's entire business case is built on daily visits from the GTA and southern Ontario. It's practically a babysitting service for teenagers during the summer. Moving to a rural location would mean giving that up completely. A rural park is a destination rather than a day or afternoon trip; it's a totally different business case and travel type. They wouldn't be moving their business, they'd be shutting it down and starting a brand new one. It would be like Volkswagen deciding to stop making cars and start making kitchen utensils.

Now if someone wanted to open another park on the rural destination model like Cedar Point, that might work. But it would never replace Wonderland.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

I could still do that back in 2005. I am pretty sure it was stil a thing even in the early 2010s, but they were already slowly but surely moving away from music around that time so live broadcasts were not as common. And people didn’t care as much at that point.

I believe at one point, Musique Plus (and also MuchMusic - they had the same parent company) were bought by MTV and started carrying a lot of its content. Much of it non-musical.

This started the decline of both networks and to me it was very striking on MusiquePlus where original programming slowly but surely dried up.

I mean, how many people are really that interested in watching Paris Hilton's BFF competition reality show dubbed or subtitled in French? Really?

Like MuchMusic, MusiquePlus was at its best with its original shows like Le Combat des Clips, Le Cimetière des CD (where critic Claude Rajotte had a device to ceremoniously smash CDs he didn't like) or Rocambolesque Le Quiz.

My friends still occasionally shout out some of the more famous replies from contestants on that quiz show.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Quebec had the french version (Musique Plus), and you could watch some of the videotaping live from glass-walled studios on Rue Ste. Catherine (Montreal) back in the eighties.
.

Owing to my life straddling Canada's two solitudes, I've appeared on both MuchMusic's Speaker's Corner and MusiquePlus' Guichet VoxPop.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Has a major theme park ever been moved?

I don't think it would be feasible to move the big rides, but some could be moved. Some of the water slides from Wally World were moved to East Park in London.

[Docere]

Is Six Flags vastly superior to Canada's Wonderland or something? How so?

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by Docere

Is Six Flags vastly superior to Canada's Wonderland or something? How so?

I've only ever been to Darien Lake, but no. It has camping on site which is different, makes a multi-day stay very easy. And you can bring your own beer into the park. Maybe a little less busy meaning you get more rides.

But CW has more, and better "big" coasters. Both have go karts and a water park.

Anything else is a waste of time and a distraction for me. Ride the thrillers, eat some overpriced pizza and fair-food, go home.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

i think it is easy to envision that CWL could move someday. The land must be worth many billions of dollars. At some point, the cost-benefit analysis would reveal a business case to be made for relocation, despite the short term decline in traffic (on the other hand, they could (eventually) build something really world-class if they retain a land bank for expansion, like Disney (in Florida) did. Maybe London. Maybe Wootstock. Maybe Brantfart?

A lakeside location would be sweet. Lake Erie or Huron.

If they can do it at Cedar Point (essentially the same climate zone, on Lake Erie, in the no-growth state of Ohio), they can do it here.

Man, you write some actual good thoughts, but your childish name-puns make it really hard to take anything else you write seriously.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Man, you write some actual good thoughts, but your childish name-puns make it really hard to take anything else you write seriously.

I actually get a good laugh at them, especially the London themed ones.

[MolsonExport]

If I cant have a bit of fun here, what is the point? I have to be serious all day, every day, in my profession...well, ok, I do engage in a lot of "childish" name-puns, when the situation warrants it.

[esquire]

MolsonEx's puns have rubbed off on me... I referred to "Shoppers Dog Fart" in conversation with my wife recently and she looked at me like I was crazy

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by esquire

MolsonEx's puns have rubbed off on me... I referred to "Shoppers Dog Fart" in conversation with my wife recently and she looked at me like I was crazy

I now regularly call Mississauga "Missingsausage" much to the delight of friends who live there.

[technomad]

Originally Posted by Acajack

LOL at the GTA as "Laurentian"! But sure, I suppose according to certain political axe-grinders, it fits perfectly.

BTW I still think that to teenagers specifically the unique mix of a huge dance party amidst theme park rides is probably hard to beat.

Finally. I am sure many here will be amused at the notion of Acajack as a shameless Toronto-centrist....

I consider anything and everything within the TO<>OTT<>MTL triad to be 'laurentian'
think of it as my way of treating old stock anglos and francos equaly!

I don't doubt the wonderland party is fun, certainly better than the old rock&rides at the WEM park (indoor events can never truly compete)

I just found the notion that this would be a huge draw to people in remote areas amusing as the 'why travel to TO when disney exists' argument had just been made, and in the case of outdoor techno events, disney already exists in canada, and in a pretty remote place...

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

somebody must have temporarily run out of guns to play with.

run out.... firearms aren't bagels bro, they don't go bad or get consumed if treated right. I have a swiss rifle that's as old as Canada ffs

Originally Posted by Denscity

Hm the geography looks strangely familiar .

jelly. really wish I'd made the move to the neighborhood a decade ago... prices have just gone insane in every valley since

hopefully the pandemic softens up the real estate market soon!

[blueandgoldguy]

As stated by MolsonRad, Wonderland is only open full-time 4 months of the year with another couple months of weekend openings in April and October. Disney Parks around the world are open year round. With daily highs around -1 to +2 in Toronto during the dead of winter year-round openings are not viable.
For comparison, Disney Paris has daytime highs of +7 in January - just warm enough to remain open all 12 months.

The only place in Canada that might be viable for a 12-month theme park would be Vancouver (daytime highs around +6 in January) ....if its metro population were double to triple its current number.

As it currently stands, there is no place in Canada suitable for a year-round outdoor theme park. The economics for it would make little sense given our weather and mostly scattered population. It's pretty telling that a wealthy province like Alberta with a young population doesn't even have an outdoor waterpark on par with Winnipeg's Fun Mountain. An incredibly short summer with not particularly warm weather would not allow one to be profitable or at least not significantly so.

I had never heard of that theme park Acajack posted in France. I have to admit I was fascinated by it once I watched the video. It's kind of like a Renaissance Fair on steroids. It would be nice to have something like that in southern Ontario or Quebec.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

The only place in Canada that might be viable for a 12-month theme park would be Vancouver (daytime highs around +6 in January) ....if its metro population were double to triple its current number.

Except for the rain! I don't know the story in Paris, but LA is near perfect year round for an outdoor park like Disney. Just a bit hot in the summer.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by esquire

MolsonEx's puns have rubbed off on me... I referred to "Shoppers Dog Fart" in conversation with my wife recently and she looked at me like I was crazy

Personally, I enjoy saying Donbald Trump. I just love the way it sounds. Pretty that one came from MolsonEx too.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

LOL at the GTA as "Laurentian"! But sure, I suppose according to certain political axe-grinders, it fits perfectly.

The quite literal definition of Laurentian Elite is someone from Toronto, Ottawa, or Montreal, or the areas therein.

But if you want to gatekeep that status to just Ottawa and Montreal I can't stop you.

[MolsonExport]

Maybe. I have called him Dumbald Trump for years (years before becoming president, after which I switched to Tronald Dump, which I must have borrowed from elsewhere, as it merely transposes the first two letters of his last name with the first letter of his first name)