It’s not every day that a record-breaking new roller coaster arrives at any theme park. Last month, Canada’s Wonderland, just out of Toronto, Canada, enjoyed such a privilege, with the long anticipated AlpenFury boarding its first riders. Last week, I was amongst the lucky few to ride the park’s first major new attraction since their brilliant 2019 dive coaster, Yukon Striker.
So is it any good? In the latest entry in our First Ride series, we’ll answer that very question.
We arrived at the Six Flags operated park a couple of hours after gates opened, and already the wait for the ride had ballooned to close to three hours. You also had the option to pay about for an express pass – though that wait was still 75 minutes – or use the single rider line.
I went for the last option, and ended up waiting about an hour and 45 minutes, though 20 minutes of this was due to the ride having mechanical issues. Which is not uncommon of roller coasters, and certainly of newly launched ones. And the same goes with the wait – it hadn’t even been three weeks since its opening when I visited, so naturally it’s going to be the most popular attraction in the park.
The distinctly blue steel coaster was developed by Premier Rides, and it’s their first “Sky Rocket” launch coaster developed for a Canadian theme park. Though they had built one other ride for the park – 2005’s Back Lot Stunt Coaster, another launch coaster. At the time that coaster launched, it was the first at the park to feature fire effects as part of the ride. As that ride has evolved in both names and popularity, those features were gradually removed, but now AlpenFury has picked up from where it left off, featuring a fireball that shoots out of the mountain as you fly over it just after the launch.
The ride features two launches and nine inversions, which is the most for any launch coaster in the world. It’s also the tallest (50 metres), fastest (reaching a top speed of 115 km/h), and longest (1k metres) launch coaster in Canada. And it is truly exhilarating, launching guests through and over “Wonder Mountain” that sits at the centre of the park, before tumbling through a series of incredible twists and turns that combine to make it feel like a completely unique experience.
And that’s because it is – there has never been a ride to feature this exact combination of launches and inversions. You’ll find everything from a “Fire Serpent Roll”, to a “Skyflyer Loop” (a shout out to the ride that formerly operated in the space, the Xtreme Skyflyer), and the “Ice Winder Roll”. And each one felt as exhilarating as the rest.
The names of the inversions are part of the ride’s “fire and ice” theming. This is further accentuated by the blue track, the fireball that shoots out of the mountain (though I didn’t see it while I was on the ride), and the toboggan design of the ride vehicles themselves. There’s also blue and red lighting effects in the launch tunnel, and part of the waiting area is designed to look like a chalet.
With the amount of time riders spend waiting in the line, I would have liked to have seen more elements that helped add to the immersion. But this isn’t Disneyland, and the general approach for most Six Flags rides.
Once you get on the coaster, things move very quickly. There is little to no wait for the launch, and the rolls come fast – but very, very smooth. You experience weightlessness on the “Skyflyer Loop”, and the vehicle design handles this well. There are some similarities to Orlando’s VelociCoaster, but you feel much better restrained here, even though it’s only a lap bar.
The lap bar is comfortable and I felt safe and secure as we flew through the air. But that didn’t make it any less thrilling. And as I mentioned, it is SMOOTH. This is such a well designed coaster. I can safely say it’s among the best I’ve ever been on.
And then, after about a minute twenty, it was all over. Which honestly is a great length for a coaster like this – at 1k metres in length, and with speeds of 115 km/h, you travel a decent distance around the park, and the thrills come one after another. It’s hard not to jump right back on it to experience it again – only the wait stopped me from doing it. As well as the other great rides throughout the park.
And of course, you exit through the gift shop and take a gander at the faces of pure adrenalin that are captured while on the ride.
Final Verdict
This is a perfect launch coaster, offering thrills that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. The track is smooth, the vehicles well designed and they’ve done well to build the ride in such a way that the footprint zig-zags its way through existing attractions with limited impact. It’s honestly a spectacular use of the space.
Any criticisms I have do little to take away from the experience of the coaster itself, though I wish the fireball was more noticeable while you were riding. It seems more for people on the ground – even in the above POV you’ll notice you don’t see it. I would have also liked to have seen more theming done to the queue area to bring you into the spirit of the attraction, and things to do during the long wait. But that’s where the criticisms end.
This is now the best coaster in Canada’s Wonderland, and amongst the best in the world. Don’t miss it if you have a chance to ride it.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
For more information on AlpenFury, Canada’s Wonderland park operating hours, tickets or Season Passes, visit their official website.
All photos by the author, except the aerial shot, which was provided by Canada’s Wonderland.
