Canada’s Wonderland Continues Work on Yukon Striker; World’s Tallest, Longest, Fastest, Dive Roller Coaster
Today, we visited Canada’s Wonderland to check out construction progress for the all new Yukon Striker. The new coaster (the world’s tallest, longst, and fastest dive coaster) is set to debut this spring.
As the winter progresses, the park is set to wrap up construction of the new coaster and start landscaping along with the fine details of theming. We took a walk around the new ride to see some of the new features such as the underwater dive element!
The ride is mostly complete at this point. Everything but the final two inversions and helix is completed. When the ride opens in 2019, riders will start their adventure by going through this diving turn, and then they’ll approach the record breaking 223 foot lift hill.
At the apex of the lift, riders will get a stunning view of Canada’s Wonderland before they’ll be temporarily stopped at the apex of the signature drop.
Riders then will drop 245 feet through the helix of Vortex (soon to be renamed) and into an underwater tunnel. This drop will be a signature element of the ride and a park landmark. The tunnel was actually one of the first parts of the ride to be built. The tunnel and track was installed in early 2018, and covered up until construction resumed.
At the base of the tunnel, riders will be reaching speeds in excess of 80 MPH. After exiting the tunnel, the train will travel into one of the world’s largest immelmann elements!
After going through the immelmann, the riders will spiral into a zero-g roll that ends with a wraparound diving curve. The element will tower above the adjacent Timberwolf Falls.
Next, riders will go through the first ever loop found on a dive coaster. After exiting the loop, rider’s will descend another 20 feet before entering the second immelmann element that leads directly to the Mid-Course Break Run (MCBR). As of the tour, only the pull out of the loop has been constructed out of the stretch of track between the zero-g stall and the MCBR.
After flying through the MCBR, riders will experience a parabolic zero-g hill that will provide some awesome floater airtime. After this airtime moment, riders will soar into a helix that is directly above the park midway before entering the final brake run.
During the tour, construction workers were still assembling the final parts of the ride’s finale. When constructing a segment of ride, the support segments are hauled onto the construction site. They are then assembled, the connection bolts are placed and tightened, and then the column is then lifted into position, where it is attached to a footing. From there, a track piece is lifted and attached to both column and adjacent pieces of track in a similar process.
Furthermore, additional details about the new attraction have been released by the park. Dave Phillips, Vice President of Canada’s Wonderland, tweeted out an image of one of the trains of the new ride. The same train was featured in promotional animations released by the park.
Along with the coaster, it seems that another area of the park is receiving an upgrade as well. Vortex, will be receiving a new name and a new train paint scheme. Furthermore, work was being done in the area surrounding the Canyon Trader store. It is unknown what the work is for, at the current time.
For tickets and more information, visit the official Canada’s Wonderland website by clicking here.
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