Growing up in Barrie, Canada’s Wonderland was a summertime staple. Armed with our season passes and mom’s cooler-packed lunch, my family would head out for a day on the rides.
Each visit included the classics. For me, this was rides like Viking’s Rage, Vortex, Thunder Run, and Timberwolf Falls. Even when I was tall enough to ride every ride, I made sure to visit each of these at least once. They weren’t the most thrilling rides the park had to offer. But each had memories that were close to my heart.
As I got older, my visits became less and less frequent. Not because I didn’t want to experience the thrill of a good roller coaster ride … I couldn’t wait for my next trip. The problem was, nobody in my circle enjoyed roller coasters as much as I did and I wasn’t a fan of visiting the park solo.
Still, I visited often enough to stay up-to-date on the latest rides.
Some rides weren’t what I was expecting, like the head-knocking flight on Tomb Raider, now called Time Warp.
Others were big wins for the park, with Leviathan topping the charts for many (myself included).
Regardless of what my personal opinions were about each ride, I found a childlike pride in being able to say I had experienced every ride the park had to offer.
So … when I got invited to try Tundra Twister, Canada Wonderland’s newest ride, there was no way I was going to say no.
Researching The Ride
The last time I had been to the park was early in the 2019 season. This was the year that Frontier Canada officially opened at the park. Oddly enough, this section was always intended to be included in the park. In fact, many of the rides and elements that were to exist here were already scattered around the park by the time it actually opened. This included the wooden Mighty Canadian Minebuster and newer rides like Lumberjack.
While researching Tundra Twister, I learned that it’s what many call a “flat ride”. This is a ride that moves passengers on a plane parallel to the ground. It’s a pretty all-encompassing term that includes anything from the Antique Carrousel and Krachenwagen (bumper cars) to Skyhawk and Soaring Timbers.
While the technical term isn’t anything to swoon over, what is interesting is that Canada’s Wonderland is seen by some as the Flat Ride Capital Of The World. It also has the second most roller coasters, which is pretty neat considering all of the parks we have to compete with worldwide.
But that’s enough of the fun facts about the park … at least for now. Let’s get back to what you really want to know about – the Tundra Twister!
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About The Tundra Twister
The Tundra Twister is a swinging pendulum thrill ride manufactured by Mondial. (The same people who brought us Psyclone, Windseeker, Riptide, Soaring Timbers, and Shockwave).
The ride is a prototype so there are currently no others like it in the world. A fact that made me want to learn more about how exactly the ride was tested. (I’ll talk about that in more detail a little later on).
Tundra Twister swings guests round and around 47 meters in the air at 75 km/h. At the same time, the gondolas, which hold 40 people, twist and turn.
While the 360-degree pendulum movement is always the same, the gondola movement is always changing based on a number of factors. This includes weight distribution, the way that the gondolas are interacting with the pendulum, forces of gravity, and more.
Seeing The Ride For The First Time
The media event was held before the park opened for the day, which made for an interesting experience. Aside from other media, the only other people in the park were staff getting the place prepped for guests to arrive in a couple of hours.
Upon arriving in Frontier Canada and seeing the ride in-person for the first time, I had mixed expectations. Part of me expected a thrilling ride that would take my breath away as I was swung upside down high above where I was currently standing.
Another part of me thought that it would feel familiar. Especially as it resembled many of the other flat rides I had already tried out in previous years. Think Lumberjack, Shockwave, and Psyclone mixed into one.
Before trying out the ride, I had a chance to speak with Grace Peacock, the park's Director of Communications, who addressed my concerns about these similarities.
“[Tundra Twister] really is unique. I have been on it a bunch of times now and I do feel like there are some similar elements … There are some times when this ride will cycle slowly and leave you dangling at the top and I get all kinds of Jet Scream (the 360° pendulum ride that was replaced by Windseeker in 2011) throwbacks. But I think what’s really cool about this one is that not only is it swinging you 360° on that pendulum but the gondola seats themselves are also spinning 360°.”
Grace continues, “The pendulum is preprogrammed but the gondola seats are spontaneous so you’re getting a different experience every time.”
How The Tundra Twister Was Tested
While chatting with Grace, I took the opportunity to ask about the kind of testing that goes into rides.
This isn’t something I am usually concerned about seeing as the estimated number of deaths from roller coasters is 1 in 750 million people. And (knock on wood), there have never been any ride-related deaths at Canada’s Wonderland.
Still … when I read this was a prototype ride, I started to think about the testing process.
According to Grace, testing the Tundra Twister involved more than 500 cycles. During this time, the operations team worked closely with the ride’s manufacturer, Mondial.
But before Canada’s Wonderland can test rides with people, they have to first do it with water dummies.
Grace explains, “We do cycles with water dummies first because we have to simulate the weight of people. So these water dummies get positioned in there and then we go through hundreds of cycles with them. Once they're ready to come off, the first riders are usually the ride engineer and our Director of Maintenance. Then it’s staff that get to do all that testing before we open it up to the public.”
Riding Tundra Twister
With no lines to contend with, me and my ride partner were able to try out the Tundra Twister multiple times.
The first time on the ride, we managed to stay upright for most of it. In fact, it ended up being an almost relaxing experience (though there may have been a scream or two). This surprised us seeing as the ride received the park's highest thrill rating of 5 out of 5.
That wasn’t to say it was a bad experience. I actually really enjoyed it. The seats were surprisingly comfortable. We didn’t have to face the feeling of impending doom as we swung back towards the ground at 75 km/h. We were able to maintain a conversation about the experience at a normal volume. And, as an added bonus, we got to take in a pretty amazing view.
Having tried some ride-themed snacks, including a sip of the Tundra Twist Mango Dragonfruit Cider, a bite of potato twisters, and some Tundra Twister Dippin Dots, we decided to hop back on.
It was this second ride that taught us the true uniqueness of the ride.
As I mentioned earlier, the gondolas aren’t preprogrammed to move in a certain way. They move around of their own free will based on factors like the number of people on the ride, weight distribution, etc.
The second (and third) time around, the gondolas moved a lot more than the first. We were thrown round and around as the pendulum rotated 360°. The result was a thrilling ride that better met my initial expectation and its thrill rating of 5 out of 5.
Ride Specifications
Tundra Twister is designed for riders that are 54” or taller. The constraint design resembles that of many in the park. A shoulder harness comes down across the chest and a safety belt connects the harness to the seat between the legs.
While the ride may not accommodate guests of a larger size, due to the constraints, it is equipped with specially designed seats for bigger passengers.
All guests must have one functioning arm and one functioning leg. Two-functioning arms are also sufficient if you meet other criteria. If you have a prosthesis, you must talk with a Ride Associate or Guest Services before riding. Wheelchair access to the ride is available but guests must also be able to take several steps on their own or with a companion to board the ride.
Would I Recommend Tundra Twister?
Tundra Twister is definitely worth a try … multiple if you really want to get a sense of its unique value.
While other rides, like its neighbour Yukon Striker, provided more thrills overall, Tundra Twister is an exciting, comfortable, and thrilling ride (most of the time).
As someone who has never been ride-adverse, I can’t really speak to those who are. However, I can say that this ride had less effect on my gut and balance than many of the other roller coasters that day. It was also much smoother and offered better views than a lot of the other flat rides in the park.
