Canada Wonderland has always been a huge success at it’s location in Vaughan, Ontario in Canada. The park has been adding many coasters as of late, including Tomb Raider: The Ride in 2004, and the themed Italian Job: Stunt Track in 2005. However, the park was lacking something big. After Cedar Fair acquired the park along with the other Paramount Parks in the summer of 2006, they decided to do something about it. With the park chain recently partnering with the Swiss firm Bolliger and Mabillard on many recent additions to their parks, including Talon and Hydra of Dorney Park, Silver Bullet of Knott’s Berry Farm, and Patriot for Worlds of Fun, Cedar Fair chose them to erect a coaster for the newly acquired Canadian park. The ride was chosen to be a hyper coaster rightfully named Behemoth.

© Canada' Wonderland

Mainly built as Cedar Fair’s response to a rival park, Six Flags owned La Ronde in Montreal, Behemoth is to surpass Goliath in all aspects; length, speed, height, and new trains. Possibly the most unique feature of this ride are the new trains. The train appearance in the front wheel assembly isn’t so new, but it is the seating arrangement that is special. Two riders sit side by side in the front portion of the cars as two more riders are positioned slightly behind and outside of the front seats. Many may be familiar with this arrangement from Vekoma’s seating arrangement on it’s Déjà vu clones, utilizing a similar seating arrangement for their cars. Another feature that is special on Behemoth is the first drop. With height comparable to Nitro, a more intense drop was to be added to the Canadian coaster, featuring a eighty-five degree drop, just five degrees short of B&M’s dive machines, but five more than Cedar Point’s Millennium Force, getting trains up to seventy-seven miles per hour during this incredibly steep dive. The rest of the mile of track features many camel backs, a hammerhead turnaround, an intense five hundred forty degree helix, and an inclined final brake run.

© Canada' Wonderland

Riders approach this massive steel giant by snaking around Italian Job: Stunt Track, easily aware that the new scream machine dwarfs the smaller launcher with height to spare. Riders then pick from one of thirty-two seats, the lap bars are secured, and the train heads off into a right hand turn to engage the two hundred and thirty foot chain lift. After rising above more than twice the height of most of Canada Wonderland’s other coasters, the train takes the first plunge of two hundred and thirty feet at eighty-five degrees and bottoming out at seventy-seven miles per hour. Curving slightly right to become parallel with the other track, the train rises again for it’s first camel back hill, providing that trademark airtime B&M’s are built for. After diving again by the water park’s wave pool, the train makes a one hundred and eighty degree turnaround through a high speed hammerhead maneuver. With a lake to the right, the train gets back into some airtime, following the hammerhead with three more camel backs before entering the mid-course brake run. After a slight breather , the slender trains lean to the right and enter the final section of the ride, beginning with a double helix maneuver, angled downward. The train then whips to the left through a carousel curve, rockets over it’s final camelback, then rises again to enter the inclined break run to enter the station.

If Canada is your destination, make sure to hit Canada’s Wonderland in 2008 and experience this giant for yourself!