{"id":134,"date":"2026-02-27T00:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/?p=134"},"modified":"2026-04-15T14:56:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:56:25","slug":"world-expo-expose-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/world-expo-expose-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inspiration Behind Grande World Expo (World Expo Expos\u00e9! – Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally posted to the Canada’s Wonderland website on September 9, 2021.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Canada\u2019s Wonderland opened on May 23, 1981, the park featured five themed areas: International Street, Medieval Faire, Hanna-Barbera Land, International Festival, and The Grande World Exposition of 1890 (often shortened to World Expo or just Expo). As the park grew and changed, World Expo\u2019s presence became less and less pronounced, finally resulting in its removal from the park map in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in 2019, Canada\u2019s Wonderland redesigned its map once again, returning the coloured pathways distinguishing each themed area (including the new Frontier Canada section) and bringing back the World Expo label. Located between International Street and Action Zone, World Expo features: rides such as Flight Deck<\/a>, Antique Carrousel<\/a>, and Swing of the Century<\/a>; an extensive games collection including Whack-A-Mole and the classic Fool the Guesser; and dining locations with international cuisine<\/a> (available at Backlot Cafe) and delicious desserts<\/a> (Fightertown Funnel Cakes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the reintroduction of The Grande World Exposition of 1890 in 2019, I started thinking about the history of this original themed area at Canada\u2019s Wonderland. What\u2019s the inspiration? What\u2019s the story? What\u2019s with the flags?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Flags
Flags at the entrance to The Grande World Exposition of 1890<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like me, you may be familiar with the term \u201cworld expo,\u201d but you\u2019ve never experienced one firsthand or really understood what type of exhibits they have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, world expos are large-scale events featuring pavilions from any eligible country who wishes to present their latest innovations and discoveries. Because of the broad international appeal of such events, countries often feature iconic architecture, art pieces and other displays which give a small glimpse into their unique national identity and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Postcard
An Expo 67 Postcard. (Credit: Joe Haupt on Flickr.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

World expos have a long history, with 2021 marking the 170th anniversary of the original event: \u201cThe Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations,\u201d held in London, England in 1851. Just like Canada\u2019s Wonderland\u2019s regular operating season, this original expo ran from the beginning of May through October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To host the 17,000 exhibitors from 25 participating countries, a brand new facility was built, known as the Crystal Palace. At 563 metres long and 124 metres wide (1,847 feet by 407 feet), the Crystal Palace would cover nearly a third of the Canada\u2019s Wonderland parking lot! And with a height of 39 metres (128 feet), the iron and glass building would stand taller than Minebuster<\/a>, Flight Deck<\/a>, and even The Bat<\/a>! Within World Expo, Canada\u2019s Wonderland pays homage to this original facility with the Crystal Palace Arcade, located directly in front of Swing of the Century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Crystal
The original Cyrstal Palace in Hyde Park, London housed the Great Exhibition of 1851 (Source: Public Domain)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Crystal
The Crystal Palace Arcade circa June 8, 1981. (Credit: City of Toronto Archives<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Crystal
A recent photo of the Crystal Palace Arcade. (Credit: Canada’s Wonderland)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now that we know the inspiration, what\u2019s the story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officially, there was no world expo in 1890. Unofficially (and completely fictionally), The Grande World Exposition of 1890 was held in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, on the site of what\u2019s now Canada\u2019s Wonderland. Due to some strange magic called \u201ctheming,\u201d guests are now able to step back in time and see these pavilions in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like other world expos, countries from around the world brought a small sample of their culture to fill their allotted pavilion space. Some chose innovative mechanical rides, others brought delicious dishes, and nearly all brought full-scale samples of their unique architecture. (More on that in an upcoming post.) Seems like a lot of effort, but there\u2019s a good reason for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For people in the 19th century who couldn\u2019t afford or weren\u2019t able to spend the weeks (or months) travelling to exotic locales, they had to rely on sketches and illustrations in newspapers and journals to see how something looked. As such, a world expo allowed countries to bring their architecture to millions of people who would otherwise never experience it. I distinctly remember being in awe of the architecture at the entrance to The Great Whale of China until it was removed at the end of the 2003 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Above left, the Great Whale of China archway (credit: hash2283, Flickr) and at right, one of the lions gets finishing touches before the park opened in 1981 (credit: Toronto Star).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thank goodness photography became possible! Speaking of which, Mr. George Eastman was able to secure a spot in the Morocco pavilion to show off his 1889 invention, the \u201cKodak\u201d film camera. If you visit the location today, you can get an \u201cOld Time Photo\u201d as a souvenir of your time at the 1890 expo in the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Old
A recent photo of the Old Time Photo building at Canada’s Wonderland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but I now have a much better understanding of what a world expo is, generally speaking. Now if only I could figure out what all those flags at the entrance represent\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continued here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted to the Canada’s Wonderland website on September 9, 2021. When Canada\u2019s Wonderland opened on May 23, 1981, the park featured five themed areas: International Street, Medieval Faire, Hanna-Barbera Land, International Festival, and The Grande World Exposition of 1890 (often shortened to World Expo or just Expo). As the park grew and changed, World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[9,8,23],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-park-history","tag-park-history","tag-world-expo","tag-world-expo-expose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":371,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandweekly.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}