This past Thursday, Canada’s Wonderland officially opened The DareDeviler! I was there to cover the opening ceremony, get priority access through the Fast Lane, and engage with four characters created to tie into the ride’s new theme!
It’s a Grande World After All
There was a lot that felt different than previous ride openings and for the most part I think everything was well done. In many ways it felt far more grand than any opening ceremony since Yukon Striker, but it also felt more intimate in terms of attendees.
Front Gate opened at 9:30, with 45 minutes until the ribbon cutting for VIP’s to check-in while regular guests waited for rope drop right by the path leading to The DareDeviler’s entrance. This meant regular guests were able to witness the event without crowding the plaza. The characters did a great job trying to get guests involved.
Speaking of, four unique roaming characters were present for The DareDeviler’s first two hours of operation. This was incredible and really brought the story to life! They really made the opening ceremony feel “Grande,” with Vivienne Laurent as the socialite and face of The Grande World Exposition; Clara “Hawk” Redmond as the ace pilot from Alberta whose death-defying aerial acrobatics inspired the layout; brilliant inventor and innovator, Etienne Vallon, who designed The DareDeviler itself (meaning the plane) to perform manoeuvres never before possible; and Tommy Finch, the reporter in search of a headline worthy of this exposition’s headline attraction. Again, I’m glad regular guests were able to witness this event and engage with the characters instead of them being exclusively for media and VIPs. I really hope to see these characters again in the future. While Clara is closely tied to The DareDeviler, the other characters can easy be incorporated into the storyline of future attractions. Be sure to check out my video to see several fun conversations with each of them!
With the ribbon cutting ceremony itself, a microphone and speaker would have really helped everyone (including guests passing by) to hear Grace, Christopher, and the characters for their prepared statements. I think there could have been a little more scripting in terms of these speeches as well, but for a reimagined ride the effort put into this ceremony was greater than almost any other park would have done.
Once the ride opened, media and VIPs received exclusive access to the Fast Lane until noon. During this time, guests with Fast Lane had to use the regular line. This process seemed to work out well and the amount of time for exclusive access was perfect for the number of invitees. The only downside is lunch started at 11:00 a.m. and seemingly stopped serving guests around noon, overlapping with this exclusive ride time. This meant choosing between ride time and meal time. If the lunch had started at 11:30 or (preferably) noon, that may have worked out better. However I realize this may have caused Grande World Eatery to open later for regular guests since the number of servers could only manage one side at a time.
Unlike with AlpenFury, there was no scheduling for interviews with park management. I noticed others chatting with them on camera but for some reason it didn’t even cross my mind to interview them on camera. Instead I chatted with Peter, Grace, and Christopher more casually, though I didn’t get much information worth sharing since I mostly expressed gratitude for the work they did in getting the ride and ceremony prepared for us. I did learn the tech services team was responsible for coming up with and incorporating the sound-effects played as the ride goes by, so I’d like to express my gratitude to them as well.
Flight Deck-orations!
Similar to Snoopy’s Racing Railway, The DareDeviler features audio clips played during the ride cycle, timed to particular moments in the layout. Here it’s not voices, but the sound of a biplane engine roaring by which really is a wonderful detail! I wouldn’t mind if the volume was cranked up a bit louder since the screams from riders overpower the sound effects fairly often and I couldn’t hear them at all while riding. Still, this kind of theming during the ride is exactly what I’ve been hoping to see more of at Canada’s Wonderland so I’m one happy fan!
The detailing on the plane in the queue is immaculate! Literally zero notes; it’s perfect!
The ride’s colours work so well together and really make the ride pop far more than the previous shades of grey. Even the station feels more inviting and exciting.
I’m a little sad the radar dish was replaced by just a shed in The DareDeviler’s green colour, but the first couple quonset huts you pass through are perfect in that same shade combined with the red light fixtures. The control tower also looks great in its new colours!
The other quonset huts look great with the green only at the bottom and red trim all around, though the old numbers on the remaining grey portions stand out quite a bit. I hope the park can fix this at some point.
Most of the railings in the queue have had the top rail painted grey, which I’m confident is to cover the rusty look they acquired over the past three decades. It’s a good move, but I’m more appreciative of last stretch of queue railings since the regular queue has fully green rails and the Fast Lane has fully red rails. It’s a small detail, but it’s nice.
The former armoury building has been painted over in The DareDeviler’s colours which looks nice, though it’s unfortunate the old lettering is still pretty clearly visible. This is also the case for writing on a station post reading “Remove all earrings and hearing devices.” Thankfully that instruction is no longer relevant. (More on that below.)
Signage throughout the ride is very nicely themed, including over the entrance, on the station roof, and throughout the station itself.
I noticed a couple oddities though, such as some signs and the back of the seats reading “do not reach arms or legs” which clearly needs the word “out” added somewhere. The other notable one isn’t so much an error, but makes me laugh because apparently Fast Lane users seemingly aren’t considered pilots.
There were a couple large displays by the main path which I assumed were only for opening day, however they haven’t been removed as of this writing. Along with them were some “balloons” which I think fit the ride really well and I hoped would stick around, but they’ve unfortunately already been removed…
There was also some bunting above the entrance which I understand has also been removed. That was a nice detail, fitting the world expo theme quite well. With AlpenFest still featuring bunting above its plaza, I expected this to stick around but I’m not surprised it was taken down.
WHAT YEAR IS IT?
Such a great question! The ride’s story is inspired by the biplanes and barnstorming of the 1920s, but the auto spiel on the lift hill confirms the area is still known as The Grande World Exposition of 1890. As I’ve stated previously, it was a massively tall order to take a ride with runway lights in the queue back to an era before the Wright brothers’ first flight. I stand by my preference for calling the ride Zeppelin since that’s more period-appropriate, but a slow-moving aerial vehicle doesn’t fit the exhilarating ride experience itself so… I get it. The ride is clearly set in the 1920s even though the area is set 30 years prior. This is just about the best the park could do given the circumstances.
No, the ride isn’t linked to one specific country, but it is based on the spirit of world expos; the sharing of innovations to the masses.
We’ll have to wait and see what might come next for The Grande World Exposition of 1890, but I’m confident the next ride built from the ground up in this section will have a clearer tie to the era and international concept originally envisioned for this themed area of the park. We already have themed music that’s now been introduced, so the future (or rather the past) is looking bright!
How Was Your Ride?
My first ride was in the front row of the orange train. It was so smooth! There was only one moment that felt a little “janky,” but not too bad. Some shakiness still exists, but thanks to the new restraints, I wasn’t bothered by this at all. There is zero possibility you will hurt your ears like I often did when the ride operated as Flight Deck and Top Gun.
My second ride was in the very back on the red train. It was noticeably rougher, but still not bad. There was that same particularly rough spot (after the dive down next to the station) and it was a good reminder of how bad the ride was before without actually getting up to that level. Again, there’s zero possibility of hitting your ears!
My third ride was later in the day, again in the very back row but this time on the orange train. This was by far the roughest ride of the day. I honestly don’t know why there was such a massive difference, but it was far from the smoother rides I had that morning. That one spot was particularly jarring and has me second-guessing my whole opinion of the ride. But, once again, the restraints on these new trains make even the roughest moment tolerable.
After that third ride, I can no longer say it’s a smooth ride, but it’s definitely more comfortable than ever! The restraints are very nice, providing good security while allowing a much better view and absolutely zero head banging! I honestly underestimated how different the visuals would be with these new restraints. I could see the person sitting next to me! I could look around on the lift hill and notice the support columns as we passed them at high speeds! (On that note, the notches in the support columns are particularly awesome to see from the front row because even those seem very close to you and there’s no way to see how the train will narrowly miss the supports!)
I highly recommend trying The DareDeviler. Although the layout is identical to Flight Deck and Top Gun before it, the new trains and theme make a Grande World of difference.
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