Flashback: A 1982 guide to visiting Canada's Wonderland

Take a trip in our time machine, back to summer of 1982 with this article published by the Toronto Star. Reporter Diane McDougall recalled her trip to the park and offered readers her tips on how to make the most of their visit. 

A (whew!) day at Wonderland

By Diane McDougall

TORONTO STAR SPECIAL - July 18, 1982

MAPLE, Ont – Canada’s Wonderland! It’s a world of magical things to do and see. But the place is huge and you can get awfully tired, missing some of the best things, unless you get organized.

So here’s a plan of attack that will help you see the best of everything in about 6-8 hours – preferably starting at 10 a.m. when the gates open:

When your dad drives into the 12,000 car parking lot ($3 parking fee), the car attendant will hand you a Wonderland magazine.

Be sure to take down the letter on the lamp post where you are leaving your car and go to the main gate indicated by red and yellow sing.

At the ticket booths, consider carefully the kind of tickets to buy, bearing in mind how many people you are, what they like and the weather.

Next, go through the turnstiles, pick up a map and an entertainment schedule at the Guest Services counter. There are no billboard maps in the park, except those identifying the locations of the showplaces, so a map is essential.

Your first view will be of the 150-foot Wonder Mountain with a large pool and fountains. Don’t follow the crowds. Visitors tend to keep to the right, walking around the park in a counter-clockwise direction. Instead, go to the left of the pool and along the left side of International Street.

SCULPTING CLOWN

Roving entertainers enliven the street. A balloon-sculpting clown, magicians and a couple of juggling chimney sweeps are especially entertaining.

International Street gives you the opportunity to savor foods varying from Swiss Julienne Salad Bowl and Danish style sandwiches to Ranchero Burgers and frozen Cappuccino. And there are souvenirs from around the world. Choose what you want to buy but don’t buy it until the end of the day so you won’t have to carry anything around.

Make the base of Wonder Mountain your principal orientation point. It gives a panoramic view of the entire park and the five areas – Grande World Exposition of 1890, Medieval Faire, the Happyland of Hanna-Barbera, International Street and International Festival. Walk up the mountain on the circular trail to the summit. Strollers must be left behind.

The top of the mountain is the best point from which to take pictures.

Having got a general idea of how the park is laid out, leave the mountain by the exit walk and go directly ahead to the International Showplace, a Greek-style amphitheatre that accommodates 3,500 people on rain sheltered bench seating.

TRY A COOKIEGRAM

Every day (except Tuesday) at 11:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. the Grin ‘N’ Bear It show is presented. It’s intended especially for small children. Yogi and his friends put on an entertaining 15-minute musical about “being yourself” – a good warm-up for your day.

Exit at the rear and you will see the Cookiegram, a good place to get a morning snack. Cookies cost 56 cents each. Six Chippers (smaller chocolate chip cookies) cost 75 cents. Food and drinks are expensive. A small drink is 75 cents, and ice cream is 89 cents. But the quality of food is good.

Continue walking south toward the Mighty Canadian Minebuster Roller Coaster. It’s more than half a mile long and soars 10 storeys into the sky. It zips down the track at 60 miles per hour, drops 90 feet, banks at 45-degree angles and makes a neck-bending U-turn high above a grove of maple trees. On this, and on all roller coaster rides, children must be at least 42 inches tall.

When you exit, turn left and you are in the park called Grande World Exposition of 1890. One building houses a Moroccan Bazaar where you can shop for wickerwork, carved statues and brass souvenirs. A five-piece band entertains in a Victorian park setting. Four lively singers and a four-piece band perform TA-RA-RA-BOOM-DE-AY, a 20-minute program of music from around the world.

Ginza Gardens lies ahead – a Japanese-style building where chefs in white jackets prepare beef teriyaki, spicy chicken yakiatori and more. It’s one of the two restaurants at Wonderland licensed to sell beer and wine.

The rides range from mild to stomach churning: the Pharoah’s Eye of Egypt, the Swing of Siam, Shiva’s Fury. If you want to be cooled while taking your thrills, try the wild, wet Zumba Flume. You ride in a simulated hollowed-out log that plunges 40-feet into the water below.

READY FOR LUNCH

You will now be back at the south end of Intenternational Street, a good place to be if you started your day early and are ready for lunch.

After resting and perhaps browsing through the shops again, walk past the Pool of Fountains, along the righthand side of International Street. Notice the Dollshop where almost every kind of doll from many countries can be found, priced from $3.50 to $350.

If, while passing the bridge in front of Wonder Mountain, you see a crowd, it’s because cliff divers are preparing to dive into a deep pool. They vary their dives, from handstand cut-throughs to back flying tucks, plunging nearly 60 feet down into the water.

The bridge, which is close to the International Showplace, is a good place to check your entertainment schedule in case you wish to see another show performed there.

The major show at the International Showplace is Jubilee, a 30-minute musical tribute to 50 years of pop music. It’s enjoyable for adults as well as children. From the Roaring 20s with Alexander’s Ragtime Band, through the Depression years with Buddy Can you Spare a Dime, the music takes on the Fabulous 40s and 50s (Jailhouse Rock) and on to the Beatles’ era (Yesterday), finishing with current songs. The show is not performed on Tuesdays, but on all other days it is staged three times. The first performance is at 1pm.

On leaving, keep to the right of the bridge and International Street and walk to the International Festival area. Continue to the Rainbow Arch which marks the Happyland of Hanna-Barbera. It gears to younger children and has mild merry-go-round type rides. The theme is the cartoon world.

YOGI’S WOODS

On your left is Yogi’s Woods, a tree-shaded area that is handy if you wish to rest out of the sun for a while. Walk through Yogi’s Cave and you will see a few more rides, including the Ballooon Race merry-go-round.

On your way out of the woods you may wish to play miniature golf at the City Zoo Golf course – 18 holes for $1.

The Hanna-Barberry-Go-Round is one of the favourite carousels. Children ride on the backs of Scooby Doo or Dino, in Yogi Bear’s lap, in Jabber Jaws’ flippers and in a trolley car conducted by Fred Flintstone.

Scooby Doo Ghoster Coaster is a relatively gentle roller coaster ride. Other rides include the antique autos of the Wonder Tour, the Swan Boats, and Boulder Bumper Cars. All are intended for small children.

Don’t leave Happyland until you have visited Saltwater Circus, which accommodates 2,000 people, to see Under The Big Top, a 25-minute dolphin and sea lion show. It’s presented six times a day, the first show being at 11:15 a.m.

Since it’s easy to get lost when leaving Happyland, use the double loop roller coaster called the Dragon Fyre for orientation and walk to your left when leaving the Rainbow arch. You will eventually reach the Medieval Faire theme park.

A swashbuckling melodrama, the Plight of the Land Locked Pirates, is a 30-minute show that plays outdoors six times every day, commencing at noon on Arthur’s Baye.

THE PIRATE SHIP

If you arrive late in the day, site to the right of the pirate ship so the sun won’t be in your eyes when you are watching the show. It tells the story of Billy, a boy who is captured from the audience by pirates and is eventually rescued by his mother who winds up the performance wearing the pirate captain’s hat and raising her own flag, diplaying a heart instead of the skull and crossbones. All the pirates are trapeze and trampoline acrobats and of course they all get thrown into the water, much to everyone’s delight.

Rides in Medieval Fiare include a Viking ship that wings precariously over the water, the Quixote Kettles, a spinning, tipping platform of barrels, and the most unnerving of Wonderland’s roller coasters, Dragon Fyre.

Around midday, you may have to wait half-hour for the Dragon Fyre ride but that’s probably the longest wait you will have for any ride. If you tour the park in a clockwise direction, you should arrive there in the mid-afternoon when lineups are shorter. It’s generally recognized as the best ride, assuming you enjoy being turned upside down at 50 miles per hour in two 360 degree loops, then hurled through two complete gravity-defying barrel roll turns.

Across from the Canterbury Theatre – where 200 dancers perform a musical tribute to the silver screen – is All’s Well Hall, Wonderland’s second licensed restaurant.

From there you can walk across the drawbridge to International Street to purchase souvenirs. It’s also the point from which to make a return visit to any specific area or ride, or to get a last view from the top of Wonder Mountain.

Exit to the car park through the main gates.

(Diane McDougall was a journalism student at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute)

1982 GUIDEPOST

• Canada’s Wonderland is approximately 30km northwest of Toronto’s City Hall. Drive north on Highway 400 to Exit 33, Rutherford Road, and go straight ahead – the entrance is directly in front.
• Open daily until Sept. 6 (Labour Day) from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.. After Labour Day, weekends only, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Sept. 26.
• Admission to grounds is $10.95. That includes admission to all shows except two – Those Magnificent Movies and Under the Big Top. For those two, you need the D coupons that are included in all the other plans. Books of coupons for all shows and rides are available inside the park.
• The Deluxe 12-Attraction Coupon Book at $12.95 represents a value of more than $22 if rides etc. are paid on a single coupon basis. The 16-Attraction Jumbo Book is $14.95.
• A One Day Passport is the most popular package. It offers unlimited use of all attractions (shows and rides) for $17.95. A passport for children 3-8 and for seniors is $13.95.