Canada’s Wonderland graciously invited me and three guests to an exclusive Media & VIP Day on April 26, 2026. I always greatly appreciate the invitation as it gives a chance for me and my loved ones to sample all the new food coming this year, plus early access to the rides and atmosphere of the park after the long off-season!
Context
I was at the park with Emily (sister), Ryan (brother-in-law), and Meghan (girlfriend). For context, everyone was in town for my birthday, which we spent at Medieval Times on Saturday night. We also stayed up late playing games with lots of laughter. So getting to the park early Sunday morning, I was already a little tired and losing my voice. When I’m with family, the paths I take around the park and the rides I go on also changes a bit. I hope to do a more thorough visit next time, so this really is just a preview of the season.
Rides
Since we started out by heading into Medieval Faire to pick up our media day package from All’s Well Hall, my first ride of the season ended up being Dragon Fyre. We then moved on to Spinovator, which was barrels of fun for everyone! Having warmed up a bit, we hopped on Leviathan next, then back to another classic ride, Viking’s Rage. Emily and Ryan hadn’t been to the park since AlpenFury was added, so we took a look around Alpine Outfitters and the AlpenFest plaza, which has brought back the overhead bunting.
We didn’t end up riding AlpenFury though, partly because I didn’t think riding on an empty stomach was the best idea. Plus even with the single-use Fast Lane vouchers provided by the park, I was a little concerned about how long the line would take. Instead, we said hello to Herman on Thunder Run before heading back to All’s Well Hall for lunch.
After lunch, we were stuffed and wishing there was a show (outside of the kids’ park) we could sit and watch for a while, but of course those don’t start until June. So we walked over to The Grande World Exposition of 1890 to get a ride on Antique Carrousel with its freshly painted horses.
With Psyclone, Sledge Hammer, and Backlot Stunt Coaster all closed, we then got in line for Behemoth. Parker spotted me and sang happy birthday as the train returned to the station, which took me by surprise since I was waving to a couple other “home park homies” I saw in line.
The line for Yukon Striker seemed a bit long, so we went past it to grab a ride on Tundra Twister instead. The exhaustion was really setting in by this point so we got just one more ride in before Emily and Ryan had to start their long drive back home. Since Medieval Faire was sort of on the way, we ended up on the 1981 original, Wilde Knight Mares! It seems to have had the centre hub cap repainted or replaced during the off-season, so the button’s red colour really popped!
After Emily and Ryan left, Meghan went to rest in the car while I did one final lap to gather footage. During this time, I grabbed a ride on my favourite ride, Wilde Beast, where I happened to be sat right next to Parker! That brought my total rides at 10 for the day, which is certainly above average for me. I think it’s also interesting to note 70 per cent of the rides I did opened with the park in 1981 (depending on how you count Thunder Run, I suppose). They remain classics for a reason!
Food
We arrived about 15 minutes before our scheduled meal time but they let us in right away. Although the mealtime was only meant to be 45 minutes, no one was ushering us out to let the next group in. I think this was because the park had five different meal times you could choose from (compared with the two or three in previous years). There was also the option of taking a single-meal-deal voucher instead of the samplings buffet, which I’m sure worked better for some invitees and meant more space for those who chose the buffet. I heard there were still some issues with people finding seating, but overall I think this was a huge improvement over the stricter one-hour limit I’ve experienced at media days in the past. I can’t thank the team at Canada’s Wonderland enough for making these changes!
Now onto the food reviews which, in standard Wonderland Weekly fashion, will be placed on “Toronto Ty’s Tier List.”
Click on the name of each item below to read my full review.
Smoked Donair Kabob
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
I enjoyed this pretty well. I mean, I’m a fan of beef and this was basically just ground beef turned into a kabob, with lots of spices and a very sweet sauce. It was far from juicy and seems odd to call it donair when that’s typically served more as a wrap as far as I understand, but still good for a beef kabob. The sauce was a hardened sweet-but-garlicky drizzle that broke off in pieces. It was good, but I found there wasn’t enough of it to fully appreciate the flavours. But I want to emphasize that this donair is a spicy option, one that stays in your mouth for several minutes after, so if you have a low spice tolerance, probably stick to something else. I’d get it again, but I’m shocked this has completely replaced the beef brisket at Lazy Bear Lodge due to the spiciness. It’s not too spicy for me, but it will definitely be a problem for many guests. At the very least, it needs a “spicy” symbol on the menu to ensure people are informed before ordering.
Chicken Drumsticks
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: A
My family ended up visiting Medieval Times on Saturday for my birthday and I have to say, this drumstick tasted nearly identical to the chicken we had there. I think it’s quite tasty, though I’ll have to see how many drumsticks they give you at the Lodge before I can say if it’s “worth it.” Still, this is certainly a more mild option than the donair so it should satisfy a wider range of guests.
Rice Pilaf
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
It’s white rice with some chickpeas and carrots. Very mild which paired well with the donair. I wish we had naan bread at the Lodge instead of the usually-stale ciabatta roll so I could make a more proper donair out of the kabob, rice, and naan/pita.
Beef Burger Slider
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: A
I was a bit concerned about this one when I heard it was going to have KD cheese sauce. (I’m really not a fan of Kraft Dinner…) But my goodness, this is a huge improvement over standard, barely-melted cheese slices! It wasn’t a lot of cheese, but that’s exactly how I like it, and the pickles were a great feature! I still miss the days when Coasters Drive-In had a condiment bar so you could customize your burger, though. Not everyone’s a fan of pickles. And I’d love to add tomato and a bit of lettuce.
Chickpea Veggie Slider
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
This veggie version of the above option was quite good in its own right, seemingly with a slight spicy kick to it. (Though I’ll admit my mouth was still kind of tingling from the donair.) Not too severe, though, so I think the vast majority of people won’t have a problem tolerating this level of spice.
Fresh Cut Fries & Popcorn Chicken Bites
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
Now I’m not the biggest fan of sweet chili Thai flavour, but I’ll definitely be getting this again! I love popcorn chicken and fresh cut fries. Similar to the donair kabob, this is a sweet and spicy combo, though the sheer amount of sauce made it sweeter than the former option and a lot more mild in terms of spice. Hopefully there’s a BBQ (or sauceless) version of these chicken bites also available once Mess Hall opens.
Montreal Smoked Meat Shawarma (Celebration Canada)
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: S
This is by far my favourite thing we tried! Granted, I’m a huge fan of Montreal smoked meat, shawarma, and naan bread so… yeah, this was made for me! The pickled radish was a fantastic garnish (coming from someone who would never choose to add that) with the flavour pairing perfectly with the meat! The naan was perfectly soft and pliable, so it worked great as a wrap! I’m even more excited for Celebration Canada to return this July so I can eat this again! (Hopefully as a much larger serving size, though.)
Chicken Tender Taco
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: A
Essentially an open-faced chicken wrap, with just a bit of chipotle sauce. Probably serving it this way is easier than a proper wrap so the food line can move faster. It was good and I’ll almost certainly get it again.
KD Macaroni and Cheese Cone (KidZfest)
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: F
I don’t give out this rating unless something is really objectively wrong with the item… and this was just wrong. Kraft Dinner is one of the easiest possible things to cook yet the members of my group who tried it agreed it was too watery. Then there’s the cone. Instead of being a bread cone of some kind like most places seem to use, this is full on an ice cream sugar cone. That does not go well with mac and cheese so everyone in my group just ate the cone separately… and didn’t eat much of the mac and cheese. This really feels like a failure to understand what this item is even supposed to be.
Pork Ribs (Brew & BBQ)
Guest Taste Tier: C
I generally don’t eat pork so I relied on Emily and Ryan to give me the scoop. Apparently pork chops get tough pretty quickly if they get cold and that’s exactly what happened here.
Tanghulu Fruit
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: F
I was so excited to try this! I love fruit and I love candy, with this seemingly being a more manageable take on the traditional candy apple. It’s apparently a popular treat elsewhere, but I don’t think Wonderland’s figured out how to make this properly yet. Each of us found the candy practically glued our teeth together and didn’t dissolve in any reasonable time frame. So we ended up finishing the fruit and picking our teeth, swallowing whole globs of the candy coating separately. You can’t really enjoy the fruit because you’re trying not to pull your fillings out. And then you’re sticking your finger in your mouth to clean your teeth which is the opposite of a manageable handheld treat. Hopefully the park can figure out the proper way to make this before Sweet Spot opens.
Lemon Bar
Guest Taste Tier: B
I’m told this was under-baked, but was otherwise good and tart. I’m not a fan of lemon bars so I didn’t bother trying it.
Oreo Biscoff Parfait
Guest Taste Tier: A
I skipped this option as well since it seemed like a lot of chocolate (which I’m not the biggest fan of). I’m told it was good for what it is, but not really special.
Celebration Vanilla Cake
Guest Taste Tier: B
I kind of filled up on the main course and the cake didn’t look too appealing to me, so I didn’t try this one either. Besides, I still had plenty of birthday cake at home, which Meghan made from scratch. I’m told the park’s cake was good for what it is, but nothing special.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Guest Taste Tier: C
I’m relying on Meghan’s opinion here. She asked me if it was supposed to be a regular chocolate chip cookie because it was a bit too salty. If it’s meant to be a salted caramel chocolate chip cookie, I guess the caramel didn’t come through. Not something I’d be going out of my way to try.
We also got six samples of the park’s alcoholic beverage options to split between us (with an extra two drink vouchers we didn’t use). While I’m not a big theme park drinker and it’s extremely unlikely I’ll buy any of these of my own accord, I was pretty satisfied overall!
DareDeviler IPA
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: C
Do you like beer? Because this is straight beer. The most beer-tasting beer I’ve ever had. The park’s description of it said it’s “inspired by the popular beer styles of the Grande World Expo era” with “bright citrus aromas.” The can ingredients simply list water, hops, barley, and yeast. If you like IPAs, this is a great option. I’m just looking for a slightly broader flavour profile when I drink beer, I guess. But hey, the can looks awesome!
Fire & Ice Raspberry Vodka Cocktail
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: C
It’s basically a sweet drink that has vodka. I can’t say I tasted any raspberry or other specific flavours, instead being a more general “sweet” taste which completely masked the vodka.
Wondermelon Splash Cider
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: A
I really enjoyed this! Very sweet and goes down smooth! I think I tried it last year, or the year before as well and it’s a solid option.
Pineapple Punch Cocktail
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
Pretty good. I’m glad there’s a mocktail version available as well.
Ginger Peach Whiskey
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: C
This one wasn’t too bad, but just didn’t stand out as much as the others.
Blackberry Rum Smash
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: S
This is one of those dangerous drinks that just tastes like juice. I could drink this all day if it wasn’t alcoholic. Well, and if it came out of a Freestyle machine.
Updates
As I mentioned, this really was more of a “preview” visit where I was focussed on the food and spending time with my family. Many rides were closed and some coasters were operating with reduced capacity (Leviathan and Wilde Beast for example), which I expect is purely due to maintenance still finishing up their off-season work on the absent trains.
The larger projects the park is working on for 2026 (The DareDeviler, Minebuster, Sweet Spot, and the new KidZville Refresh Centre) are all still in progress. Swing of the Century’s new double seats have been installed, but weren’t available from what I could tell. Antique Carrousel appeared to be missing a few horses, which I’m sure will return once the repainting is complete. I noticed Snoopy’s Space Race was missing gondolas as well, which are also being repainted.
The biggest news nugget I received was from Grace Peacock who clarified the status of Speed City Raceway: “We’re not saying ‘permanent,’ but it is closed for 2026.” Take that as you will, but I got the impression it really could go either way. It may return in the future, or it may be demolished. All the park is saying at this time is that the ride will not operate in 2026.
Again, I plan to have a more thorough update (with more photos) after my next visit, once the park is officially open. I’ll also have a short video coming out soon so stay tuned for more updates.
Once again, I’d like to thank the park for their excellent hospitality in hosting me, Meghan, my family, and the other “Media & VIP” guests. It was great to be back in the park and I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity to try so many of the new food and beverage options all at once! From enhanced ride experiences to live entertainment, there’s a lot to look forward to at the park this summer!
If you don’t already have one, you can get a gold pass for the price of silver pass if you buy before May 18. That’s four seasons of fun and access to every park in Six Flags’ Midwest Region for just $89*! There’s also a brand new Pre-K Pass for guests between the ages of 3-5, available for free to anyone who registers before May 31. Visit canadaswonderland.com for more information.
*plus applicable fees and taxes
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