On August 26, I made my first ever trip to La Ronde in Montreal. My good friend Coaster Circuits (Matt) had planned everything out ahead of time and asked if I’d like to join. Since this is the last year La Ronde is included with a Six Flags season pass, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!
Rides
We started with the B&M invert Le Vampire since it was at the top of both of our “must ride” lists. This worked out well since it’s at one of the two main dead ends of the park. The queue winds through some overgrowth and I was delighted. It fits the ride very well and adds some natural beauty to the area.
We walked right past the two sets of switchbacks and straight into the station. Operations weren’t speedy, but that was fine since it was a walk-on.
My goodness, this ride is powerful! It’s intense and almost too much for me, making me a little light headed and sending blood rushing to my feet. Having said that, I was running on four hours of sleep and just got out of a five hour car ride so I may not have been in the best state to be riding things just yet.
Still, this ride clearly illustrated why this layout has been cloned so many times; it packs a punch in a very compact footprint, running fairly smooth decades after its first opening.
Titan, a Zamperla Giant Discovery, was right next door so we took a swing on it. The pre-load area is quite wide with four separate gates, but there’s no direction as to where guests should sit so it becomes a free-for-all when the gates open. By contrast, there’s only one exit gate leading to suboptimal efficiency.
The simple design of the platform is pretty impressive, though it doesn’t seem to be any faster than Psyclone’s entire floor dropping. The seats were very uncomfortable in my opinion, being made of hard plastic and positioned at an odd slope. The restraints weren’t any better, putting pressure on my chest and shoulders.
The ride itself wasn’t much better. It wasn’t bad, but the top of each swing didn’t have the same floating sensation as Psyclone or the HUSS Frisbees I’ve been on. Instead, it felt like the top of each swing immediately had a pull back down to the ground. On the plus side, it has a pretty long cycle! But it takes a surprising amount of time to get back into final position.
Next up was Démon, a Mondial Roll Over which was bought used and opened in 2014. Seeing the similarities to Riptide, I wasn’t too excited about it. But I’ll never turn down trying a new Mondial.
The restraints were different than any other Mondial I’ve been on and they weren’t the most comfortable. I had an end seat which I think caused the already tight seats to keep my one arm pinned even more.
As the cycle started, we were taken upside down and held there as we went over the top, and then held even longer as the ride paused for far too long for my comfort. The rest of the cycle wasn’t too bad that way, but starting out with that moment was very off-putting. I’m glad I did it, but I have no desire to do it again.
I did like the tree encroaching over the ride’s large billboard-like sign, creating a fun visual as we flipped around.
After a couple hours of weather delays, we made our way onto Dragon, an Intamin indoor family coaster. It appeared the outdoor queue had been recently repaved, though I can’t confirm since this was my first time seeing it. The covered section of the queue is covered in spider webs, surrounded on either side by metal grating, and features wooden floor boards. It’s perfect for a classic attraction like this! The last section of the queue and station reminded me of the exit side of Wonder Mountain’s Guardian, with some plain black or grey walls. Meanwhile, the side of the building bordering the pathway resembles a castle which is great!
The ride experience is actually more similar to Thunder Run, taking you through an almost pitch black interior with strobe lighting effects. But Dragon is superior to Thunder Run in some ways, with very clever lighting and wire mesh designed to resemble dragons overhead as the train swoops below. There are a couple dragon statues seemingly made out of stone, a pile of gemstones which glow orange as you pass by, and some bloody skeletons at the very top of the ride. Oh, and the ride ends with you heading straight into a dragon’s mouth, with material on either side of the train evoking the throat of the beast.
Overall, Matt and I had a blast and it’s the only ride we ended up doing twice! I’d love if Wonderland could take some inspiration from Dragon to spruce up Thunder Run and help Herman hold his own. (We still love Herman just as he is, though!)
Despite my better judgement, Matt convinced me to try Ednör: L’Attaque. Having experienced The DareDeviler with its new trains, I wasn’t thrilled about heading back on the same layout with original Vekoma trains.
As with Flight Deck, Ednör boxed my ears and gave me a bit of a headache. While The DareDeviler isn’t exactly smooth, it’s by far a better experience in my opinion and I am so incredibly grateful for its new trains!
As we waited for the bigger coasters to reopen, we made our way to Condor, built by HUSS Rides. The queue nicely weaves through some trees, though we didn’t have to wait in that area since the line was quite short.
Wonderland fans may see similarities in these gondolas to those of the now former Orbiter (originally known as Sol Loco). However unlike Orbiter, this ride is on a tower with gondolas remaining in a horizontal position, plus or minus some swinging out to the sides. Condor’s gondolas also have a nice bird design which is fairly common on this model.
In my opinion, this is a great family ride, with high capacity and a unique ride experience. It can be a little dizzying, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. If Wonderland were to get one, I’d prefer the 2GH version where two of the gondola hubs are replaced by outward-facing seats for an added thrill factor.
Next up was Manitou, a Zamperla Nitro which, although it’s another pendulum ride, gave a very different experience. Unlike Titan, Manitou has seats facing inward and focusses on spinning more than height or speed.
It was a great ride, spinning just enough without getting us dizzy, and I appreciated the variety in the ride cycle. At first it spins slowly with smaller swings, then when it reaches a certain height the gondola almost entirely stops spinning, and then it starts spinning faster than before while doing the larger swings. It felt like three different ride programs put into one cycle! Overall, I think this is the far superior pendulum ride at La Ronde.
While in the area, we took on Le Boomerang, being identical in layout to The Bat at Canada’s Wonderland. There’s no theming on this one though, and the sheet metal station roof doesn’t even cover the guests waiting for the next cycle.
But what really sets this ride apart from The Bat is the train. This is a newer model of train from Vekoma, the ride’s manufacturer, featuring vest restraints so there’s no chance of banging your ears. They look quite nice, but don’t ride much smoother than The Bat’s train, built by Arrow Development.
Toboggan Nordique had practically no line so we decided to get the credit. It’s a fairly standard Wild Mouse coaster made by Zamperla, featuring cars representing four countries: Canada, Italy, Jamaica, and the USA. Unfortunately we got stuck with the USA car.
The ride’s station is quite compact as is the track layout. The narrow exit ramp squeezing through the centre of the ride is pretty neat as well. The ride experience was fun with plenty of hairpin turns, but I personally prefer The Fly.
On our way back to Goliath, I made sure we took a ride on Le Monstre. The operations are atrocious with just one side of the twin wooden coaster open and only one train in operation. This train, a newer model from Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, features just five cars of four seats, meaning the ride is only serving 20 guests every four or five minutes. That results in an abysmal 240-300 riders per hour. For what it’s worth, the associates were doing a serviceable job and it wasn’t their fault at all.
In terms of the ride experience, it’s a wooden coaster and feels like it, but not too rough overall. The twisting track through the structure is wild and beyond what I’d expect from a 40 year old wooden coaster. Honestly, during the ride you can see the next elements coming up and wonder “how is that going to work?” Very good banking with snappy transitions. There are even some good airtime moments!
I really hope this ride gets some attention in the near future, restoring the second track and running more trains. Also I have to mention the iconic sign, with red eyes staring out at guests as they approach. Wonderful!
We finally made it to Goliath which was a walk-on. Thank goodness as a full queue would probably take ages. Signs close to the station (after all the switchbacks) state the wait would be 15-30 minutes if it’s running two trains, or 30-60 minutes if running one train. I truly don’t understand how it could possibly take that long and thankfully we didn’t have to find out.
The ride, built by B&M in a traditional hyper style, actually comes in at just 53m (174.8 feet) tall meaning it isn’t technically a hyper coaster. Nevertheless, the ride packs a lot into its layout, with many hills, twisting drops, and a very fun “flattened hammerhead” turnaround! There’s no mid-course brake run or helixes, and the airtime generally wasn’t very strong (though we were sitting in the second row so that may have impacted things), but it’s probably the most re-rideable coaster at the park. Not that it’s in the park very much, with the lift hill taking you beyond the border and out over a parking lot that doesn’t seem to be used anymore. And yet for a “parking lot coaster,” there was a decent amount of greenery.
We decided to take a second ride on Dragon before grabbing food. Had we known the park would close an hour early, we may have booked it to Le Vampire instead, but we had a great time regardless.
Food
I was shocked at the variety of food options available at La Ronde. It’s far more broad than Wonderland’s selection, though not everything was open during our visit. Drink stations are all indoors, featuring exclusively Freestyle machines. I also got an ICEE at a regular snack stand which slightly confused the associate but my drink plan still worked. Having a proper ICEE branded cup was fun for a change, and it had a lid! The regular drink stations also gave out lids.
One of the most interesting aspects of La Ronde is Ford Edmonton, functioning as an outdoor food court. There’s a bar, a Greek place, a more traditional “park food” stall, and an indoor dining location. I think it works really well! Everyone in a group can find something they’d like from one relatively central area. Of course the downsides are more kitchens to maintain and staff, and it may not be as convenient as having locations more spread out through the park, but La Ronde pulls it off pretty well from what I experienced.
Also fascinating was a microphone being used at one dining location to call out order numbers. They only used it if no one responded immediately, which was honestly awesome to see! Order numbers are great, and the microphone ensures guests don’t have to crowd the pickup area!
Kafta Plate
For $20, this is great portion! Two fairly large pieces of minced meat, served with rice, salad, and potatoes! The garlic sauce had some bite to it and I still had that garlic flavour in my mouth for a while after I was done. Unfortunately when I went to get a replacement wooden fork (after mine broke), a seagull pinched almost the entirety of one piece of meat. Without me asking, Matt gave me half of one of his, saying “if they only gave us one, I wouldn’t, but because there are two I don’t mind.” I do feel bad for the seagull because that’s probably not good for them, and I appreciate Matt giving me part of his but I honestly would have been okay with just one piece because of the portion size being so large.
Everything tasted good even if it wasn’t my favourite meal. I’d like to try something different next time and La Ronde has enough variety that I already have ideas of what I’d like to get when/if I go back.
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: A
Fried Chicken Poutine
I actually wanted to get a gyro from a Athena, but they were having some trouble with their machine so they couldn’t take any orders while we were passing through. Besides, when in Quebec, it seems appropriate to get poutine. The fries were not hand-cut though, with Matt describing them as Costco fries. Still, they worked well with the cheese curds and gravy. The popcorn chicken on top is a nice bonus. The portion size was also decent.
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
Atmosphere
La Ronde has a lot of character, reflecting its origins as the midway section of Expo 67. There are so many little stalls throughout the park, a large set of bleachers looking out on the central lake (used for the annual fireworks competition), and no cohesive themed areas. In many ways it reminded me of the CNE, but it’s clearly more permanent than that.
The rides feel carefully built to use as little space as possible, leaving plenty of room for people to get around while many pathways still feel almost comfortably narrow, or nestled in the trees. One of my favourite efficient uses of space is with La Ronde’s Shoot-the-Chute, with guests able to walk under most the the lift hill, turnaround, and drop.
On that note, Le Splash also has a large shark hanging by its tail outside the entrance, which is pretty awesome!
I didn’t explore the kids’ area, but I love that it’s secluded, surrounded by trees. It seems quite small and unfortunately doesn’t have much room to expand as a result, but I certainly appreciate the atmosphere it seems to create.
While there are some areas using interlocking pavers or concrete slabs, most of the park’s pathways use blacktop. Thankfully the blacktop is a little worn, providing less of the hot, melting tar texture I’ve experienced at some other parks. Part of that is how shaded most of the park feels. The landscaping was nicely done, with plenty of beautiful flower beds and rides built around tall trees.
Even though the park doesn’t really have themed areas (with the exception of signs for Avenue Adventure), Dragon and Ednör create a nice castle atmosphere, complete with stone walls and climbing vines. Ednör has some storytelling in the queue, Titan has a fantastic station on its entrance building, and Le Monstre has its iconic sign. When the park cares, it seems to do a really great job of setting the scene.
Not All Good
While I enjoyed my time, it’s not a park I’ll be rushing to visit again. With so many small stalls throughout the park, it’s inevitable most of them wouldn’t be open, especially during a Thursday forecasted to be rainy with thunderstorms.
But there are some areas that feel completely abandoned, like the show venue that may have been a dive show, or the huge two-storey building right across from it. None of the back areas are hidden from sight, which is fine since this isn’t trying to be a theme park, but they don’t look well cared for. The former Minirail station by Ford Edmonton is being overrun by plants as the vehicle still sits on the track.
Meanwhile a vintage carrousel is closed “for preservation.” I’m glad it hasn’t been removed, but it’s odd to see it sitting quiet.
Seeing the massive creepy clown face of Maison Rouge made me wish they still had it as a year-round attraction. It looks so good, and the big top in the back is neat as well! But then it’s mostly bland shipping containers blocking view of the tent. It’s strange seeing such a creepy sign during a regular operating day, but I think it works in part because of how the kids’ park is so secluded from everything else.
The entry process feels slapped together and far from permanent. It was also confusing, but only because there was no line. We walked back and forth through the entire queue space when we could have simply entered through the prestige path. There was no one monitoring the merge point after all, so we just got some extra steps in for no reason. Bag check is on folding tables and I was kind of surprised the ticket scanners are just phones. There were no turnstiles or anything that felt like a “gate,” it was just associates standing in a line (not behind a computer or in any kind of booth) with phones to scan you through. Again, it just felt very temporary.
Then there’s the back entrance which looks nice but I don’t think it’s been used in a long time. The parking lot Goliath soars over confuses me because I’m not quite sure how guests would have accessed it even when it was open. (Unless it’s somehow still used occasionally?)
Some rides used handheld microphones, others were speaking into telephone receivers. Most rides had loud speakers blasting top 40 hits, reminding me of the CNE. Meanwhile other sections of the park had no music at all, possibly because there were no rides nearby.
At no point did I feel unsafe. Ride staff in general were pretty efficient, at least for a quiet day. I’m scared to visit on a busy day, though. The way Le Monstre is run is unacceptable and waiting for it feels unsatisfying. Not because the ride is terrible, but because I could be getting on other rides much faster.
Next Time?
I enjoyed my time at La Ronde and I’m very glad I made it there while it’s included with my Wonderland pass! I would have liked to get more rides on Le Monstre, Le Vampire, Goliath, Dragon, Condor, and maybe Manitou, but I feel satisfied with my trip and I likely won’t return until some new attractions are built. There are things La Ronde does a little better than Wonderland, but overall my trip makes me even more grateful to have Canada’s Wonderland as my home park.
I’ll have a video from my visit posted to the Wonderland Weekly YouTube channel soon, so make sure you’re subscribed!
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