 | This article needs to be updated.(August 2011) |
There have been several children's areas at Canada's Wonderland since opening in 1981.
| This article needs to be updated.(August 2011) |
There have been several children's areas at Canada's Wonderland since opening in 1981.
Hanna-Barbera Land is the original children's area in the park which opened with the park. Initially called "Happyland of Hanna-Barbera" cartoon characters such as Yogi Bear and Fred Flintstone provided the theme for children's rides. [1] When the section opened in 1981 it had three sections. The first section was "Yogi's Woods", based on The Yogi Bear Show . "Scoobyville" was the central town site, where a carousel and other attractions were included. On the opposite end of Scoobyville from Yogi's Wood was "Bedrock", based on The Flintstones .
Yogi's Woods was replaced in 1984 (see Kidzville), and Bedrock was replaced in 2003 (see Nickelodeon Central). Due to Cedar Fair's take over the park, many of the Hanna-Barbera references are expected to be removed in the near future. Until the end of the 2009 season, Hanna-Barbera Land has Aerofield, a ride with WWI style plans, Ghoster Coaster, Hanna-Barberry-Go-Round Carrousel, Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion, Jetson's Rocketport, Revolving Cages, and Swan Lake.
Canada's Wonderland is the last of the parks to have a Hanna-Barbera Land. "Happyland of Hanna-Barbera" was found at the sister Paramount Parks of Carowinds, Kings Dominion (replaced by Kidzville in 1997), and Kings Island (upper part renamed to Nickelodeon Central in 2001, and both sections renamed Nickelodeon Universe in 2006). In addition, the other sister Taft Broadcasting park of Australia's Wonderland, had a Hanna-Barbera Land, which was largely based on the layout of the Canada's Wonderland, until the park's closure in 2002.
Hanna-Barbera Land closed down following the end of the 2009 operating season, and has been replaced by Planet Snoopy in 2010.[ citation needed ]
In 1984, "Smurf Village" replaced Yogi's Woods; a themed area of Hanna-Barbera Land. The section featured the newly popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Smurfs and was a walk-through attraction. For the 1993 season, the Smurf Village section became "Kids Kingdom." The year 1998 saw the Kidzville (styled as KidZville) area replace the Kids Kingdom. While the two Kids Kingdom rides were kept, Kidzville also introduced Taxi Jam, Flavourator, Chopper Chase, Toucan Sam maze, and Swing Time (which removed Snail Trail). Today, it also has the rides, Frequent Flyers, Jokey's Jalopies, and Kidzville Station.
A fourth themed area is Zoom Zone. Quite small, it is part of Kidzville. Created in 2001 with the debut of Silver Streak, it also contains the small rides of Blast Off, and Jumpin' Jet. One of the Kidzville rides, and originally a Kids Kingdom ride, Jumbo Bumps, was removed to make way for these three rides and new section. Starting in 2004, the Zoom Zone was no longer printed on the park maps as an independent section, however since Cedar Fair's takeover each of the three rides mentions it is in Zoom Zone, and park signage continues to indicate the name.
For operational purposes, Kidzville, Nickelodeon Central, and Hanna-Barbera Land are all considered to be one operational area, known internally by staff members as "H.B.", for Hanna-Barbera.
Sister Paramount Parks of Kings Dominion, and California's Great America both have a Kidzville. Both created Kidzville by replacing Hanna-Barbera themed areas. Kings Dominion replaced their Hanna-Barbera Land in 1997, and Great America replaced their "Smurf Woods" themed area in 1999.
When Planet Snoopy opened at the park in 2009, KidzVille remained unchanged, being the only former Paramount park to retain the KidzVille name and theme following its transition to Cedar Fair.
Nickelodeon Central is another children's section of the park carved out of part of Hanna-Barbera Land in 2003. It replaced "Bedrock", a Flintstones-themed area of Hanna-Barbera Land. Only the bumper cars were kept, turned into the Rugrats Toonpike. The Barney's Burgers restaurant was de-themed, and turned into a Pizza Pizza. The rides and area have a Nickelodeon theme. It also includes the rides Wild Thornberries Tree Top Lookout, Jimmy Neutron's Brainwasher, Dora's Dune Buggies. The area also had various signage of Nickelodeon characters from a specific show on them, with one side featuring a random quote on it.
The first ride accident in the park's history was August 23, 2003, when the Jimmy Neutron Brainwasher fell apart. Three children were sent to hospital as a precautionary measure. [2]
A Nickelodeon Central section is also found at the other Cedar Fair theme parks of Carowinds (in 2003), Kings Dominion (in 2000), Kings Island (in 2001 and then expanded to Nickelodeon Universe in 2006), and California's Great America (in 2003). It is also found at the Australia theme park of Dreamworld, where through an alliance with Nickelodeon, they created a Nickelodeon Central in 2002 based on a similar concept on the Paramount Parks theme parks. As with most things "Nickelodeon", the word is often shorted to "Nick" and hence the area is often called "Nick Central". Nickelodeon Central is unrelated to the Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America in Minnesota.
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company acquired Paramount Parks from Viacom in 2006, for $1.24 Billion. [3] In an August 2007 article with FunWorld, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) magazine, they said that they were excited about the Nickelodeon and Hanna-Barbera licenses, pointing out that the model for their children's areas was Kings Island's Nickelodeon Universe. [4]
Nickelodeon Central was closed down following the end of the 2009 operating season, and was replaced by Planet Snoopy in 2010. [5]
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023) |
Planet Snoopy opened in 2010 as a replacement for Nickelodeon Central and Hanna-Barbera land.
Kings Island is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park was built by Taft Broadcasting and opened in 1972. It was part of a larger effort to move and expand Coney Island, a popular resort destination along the banks of the Ohio River that was prone to frequent flooding. After more than $300 million in capital investments over the years, the park has grown to feature over a hundred attractions including fourteen roller coasters and a 33-acre (13 ha) water park.
Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amusements-owned Viacom assumed control of the company as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1994.
Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a 134-hectare (330-acre) amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life Assurance Company, it was the first major theme park in Canada and remains the country's largest. Cedar Fair purchased the park from Paramount Parks in 2006, and they have owned and operated the park since then. In 2019, it was the most-visited seasonal amusement park in North America with an estimated 3.9 million guests. The park still retains this record, with an estimated 3.8 million guests in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, 20 miles (30 km) north of Richmond and 75 miles (120 km) south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the 280-acre (1.1 km2) park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre (81,000 m2) water park. Its name is derived from the name of its sister park, Kings Island, and the nickname for the state of Virginia, "Old Dominion."
Carowinds is a 407-acre (165 ha) amusement park primarily located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on March 31, 1973. Carowinds straddles the state line between North and South Carolina, adjacent to Interstate 77, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. It was constructed at a cost of $70 million following a four-year planning period led by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall. Carowinds also features Carolina Harbor, a 27-acre (11 ha) water park that is included with park admission. Annual events include the Halloween-themed S-Carowinds and the Christmas-themed WinterFest.
California's Great America, often shortened to Great America, is a 112-acre (45 ha) amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. California's Great America features over 40 rides and attractions, and one of its most notable is Gold Striker, which has been featured as a top-ranked wooden roller coaster in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards publication. Other notable rides include RailBlazer, a single-rail coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction, and Flight Deck, an inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard. The park appeared in the 1994 films Beverly Hills Cop III and Getting Even with Dad.
Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) owned and/or operated six theme parks around the world. The company was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting and in 1984 was purchased for $167.5 million by senior executives and general managers of Taft's Amusement Park Group.
Wonderland Sydney, was an amusement park in Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia. Officially opened in December 1985 by the Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran, the park was the largest in the southern hemisphere. It remained open for over 18 years and was the premier theme park in New South Wales for much of its life until its closure in 2004.
Hanna-Barbera Land was a theme park based on the cartoons of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. It was located in the Spring, Texas, United States, north of Houston, and operated for the 1984 and 1985 seasons. After the park's closure following the 1985 season, the rides were sold and the land was reused as a water park, which is now operating as Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown.
Woodstock Express is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. It opened as Scooby-Doo in 1974 after the famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon character. Despite being classified as a family roller coaster and located in the children's area of the park, the ride notably has a ride rating of 4 out of 5.
Woodstock Express is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island and designed by John C. Allen. It is located in the children's rides area of the park known as Planet Snoopy. The coaster has undergone four different name changes as the children's area in which it resides has been renamed and rethemed multiple times since the park opened. It has also been painted a number of different color schemes since its debut.
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida and one of the park's original attractions. The story line tells that Dick Dastardly and Muttley have kidnapped Elroy Jetson. Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo give chase and the audience is in for the ride of their lives. The attraction opened on June 7, 1990 and closed on October 20, 2002.
Since the 1990s, Nickelodeon, a worldwide children's television network and franchise, owned by Paramount Global, has had an involvement in the creation and theming of amusement parks rides.
Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion is a Scooby-Doo-themed interactive dark ride series created by Sally Corporation based on Hanna-Barbera's long-running animated television series. The ride transports guests in a vehicle equipped with light guns that are used to shoot at various targets to collect points throughout the ride. At its peak, the ride model was located at seven amusement parks around the world including Canada's Wonderland, the location of the first installation that debuted in 2000. Initially known under a variety of names, the ride's Scooby-Doo theme has been replaced by Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at several locations and removed from others. The last remaining installation is La Aventura de Scooby-Doo at Parque Warner Madrid in Madrid, Spain.
The Smurfs is a Belgian comic book series created by Peyo in 1958. It became well-known worldwide with the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series in the 1980s. With the popularity of the Smurfs came a wide range of toys and spin-off products and use of the Smurfs in merchandising. In 2020, ViacomCBS partnered with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS to manage licensing rights to the Smurfs in several territories, as part of a deal that will also see the company's Nickelodeon channel air the IMPS-produced animated Smurfs series.
Halloween Haunt, previously known as "Fearfest", is a Halloween event at Canada's Wonderland located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It runs after the park's regular operating hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings in October until the end of October or early November – up to, and recently in the 2019 season, NOT including Halloween night. It is Canada's largest haunted theme park featuring over 300 monsters, nine walk-through "maze" attractions, six uniquely themed atmospheric scare areas, and three live shows. During its operation, the grounds are transformed via decorative props, thematic music, eerie lighting to further create its scary atmosphere.
Through its history, Hanna-Barbera has operated theme park attractions, mostly as a section in Kings Island, Carowinds, California's Great America, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, and, recently, Six Flags Great America.
Flying Ace Aerial Chase is an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, and at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Vekoma, the Suspended Family Coaster model debuted at Kings Island in 2001 and was followed by another identical installation at Carowinds in 2003. Both rides originally opened as Rugrats Runaway Reptar, themed to the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats and its two-part episode "Runaway Reptar". Following Cedar Fair's acquisition of both parks in 2006, the roller coasters were eventually renamed Flying Ace Aerial Chase for the 2010 season, themed after the 1960s comic strip series Snoopy vs. the Red Baron by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. The Carowinds installation was renamed again to Kiddy Hawk for the 2018 season.
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is an interactive family dark ride designed and manufactured by Sally Corporation. The ride opened in 2010 at four Cedar Fair amusement parks — Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, and Kings Island. The ride was a slight alteration and replacement of Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted Castle after Cedar Fair chose to remove all Hanna-Barbera branding from each of their parks by 2010.
Woodstock Express is a steel kiddie roller coaster located at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. The coaster has slight drops and turns and uses a lap bar for guests' safety.