Canada's Wonderland
"This place is colossal!"
Matthew, at eight years old loves words like "colossal" - his eyes lit up like fireworks when we pulled off the highway and on to surface streets and he first saw the tops of the highest roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland on the horizon.
I too felt a little giddy as I watched the train of coaster cars zip over the top of a loop - upside down.
The first of our single parent holidays was about to get started!
After paying the $20.00 parking fee, you can't help to feel the kid inside when you see this place for the first time.
Excitement is literally in the air in the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.
The 330 acres of Vaughan land devoted to this magical place are jam packed with 17 coasters (more than any other park outside the US, second most in the world), 20 acres of Water Park, and two kids areas known as KidZville and Planet Snoopy.
KidZville is geared to the younger crowd with ride height requirements from 36 inches up, where Planet Snoopy usually requires a rider's height in the 46 inch range, however both offer hours of entertainment for the single parent holidays.
Touting the accomplishment of "most visiting amusement park in North America", Canada's Wonderland is very, very busy.
As tested with a two year old and an eight year old, average wait time for kiddie rides was six minutes and adult rides was 29 minutes on the sunny and warm Friday that we attended.
As a Dad and kids team, we opted to rent the available stroller from the front gate area for $15 plus $5 deposit and it made life a bit easier.
Of course no food or drink is allowed in so we had to spend money at the large number of food and drink options in the park.
Baby change tables are available in every rest area we visited and most restaurants were happy to warm up bottles for us, however there are no baby care providers on site to operate as a daycare for babies while the parents take in a few of the world renowned rollercoasters.
Location
Canada's Wonderland is on the east side of Highway 400 between Rutherford Road (Exit 33) and Major Mackenzie Drive (Exit 35), 13 km (8.1 mi) north of Highway 401, 6 km (4 mi) north of Highway 407 and 64 km (40 mi) south of Barrie. Our Garmin was able to get us there by just entering "Wonderland".
Prices
Canada's Wonderland tickets are about $60 at the gate or $40 advanced.
They can be printed at their website.
Overall we spent about $300 for our Single Parent Holiday at Canada's Wonderland which included our day at the park and a stay in a local hotel, the Vaughan Holiday Inn.
Conclusion
Having been to a few other Amusement Parks, if posed the choice in the future we would likely go to Cedar Point the next time around as it was a little more kid friendly and felt like we walked a lot less to get from place to place.
Ease of use hurt this destination a little due to its shear size and popularity.
It is an amazing and very magical place however, so a final score received:
- Cost per adult: $40 advanced, $60 at the gate
- Cost per child over 3: $40 advanced, $60 at the gate
- Kid friendly: Yes
- Amount of walking: Large
- Food Variety: Good
- Childcare available: No
- Structure to make single parenting easy: No
For more information about this area are found in the book HERE
For more information about this area are found in the book HERE
Read more at http://www.singleparentholidays.org
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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_LabuteFor more information about this area are found in the book HERE
Read more at http://www.singleparentholidays.org