[tarheel1231]

VAUGHAN, ON, Aug. 6, 2014 /CNW/ - After almost 23 million riders, Canada's Wonderland will be saying goodbye to the iconic stand-up looping roller coaster, SkyRider. Monday, September 1, 2014 will be the last chance for riders to experience one of the legends in the roller coaster collection at the park.

SkyRider opened for riders in May, 1985 and was instantly a hit for coaster enthusiasts across North America. It was the first stand-up coaster to be built in Canada, and second in the world with a loop.

"As the park evolves each year, we continue to focus on future park enhancements that will provide our guests with innovative entertainment and leisure experiences. To accommodate these enhancements, we need to make difficult decisions when considering redevelopment of the land for an improved guest experience in future years. After creating 29 years of memories for our guests, we wanted to make sure thrill seekers of all ages had advance notice of the SkyRider retirement, and an opportunity to enjoy one last ride before it closes at 8 p.m. on September 1," Norm Pirtovshek, General Manager at Canada's Wonderland.

I think the park is planning to build a new coaster in 2016.

[arby]

The credit whore in me says NOOOOOOOOOOOO! since I haven't ridden it yet.

Reality:

[Edwardo]

It was a near clone of King Cobra. That's a loss. I didn't get to ride, and Cobra was notoriously good.

[arby]

I am truly sad to see it go, then.

I'll be in Canada in two weeks but unfortunately I'll be about 7 hours from Toronto so I can't just shoot over there and get a ride on it.

[Jay]

Don't be sad, this ride isn't that good. I didn't ride King Cobra but I have ridden Skyrider and it's nothing to write home about. It's slightly better than Shockwave at Kings Dominion. So if you need to get your fix of being beaten about the head and body go up to Richmond. Hope that one gets removed soon too.

I'm excited for whatever they are planning though. It will be hard to beat Behemoth and Leviathan, but if those two rides are any indication it will be fantastic.

[arby]

Thanks, Jay. That's good to know I absolutely hated Shockwave and after the fact I kind of wished I had skipped that credit. Well not really since I'm a credit whore but kind of.

[Jonathan]

Skyrider was one of the weirdest rides I've ever been on. Ejector airtime on a stand-up coaster. Bizarre. Pretty brutally rough, though. This is no loss. That park has a lot of terrible rides that need to gradually be purged and replaced with something better.

[coasterchitchat]

Happy. This ride is horrible, has airtime which is bizarre, and has a horrible ride layout. Shame on you TOGO!

[RollerBee]

Hmm, removal is starting before the season ends, why wait until 2016 to replace it. Couldn't they start on a smaller coaster for 2015.

[Firechaser]

Seeing as this will be the first coaster Canada's Wonderland has ever removed, maybe we will be able to say goodbye to Flight Deck as well.

[Tosu97]

Although I've never been up to Canada's Wonderland, I've been quite a few places. Until Leviathan I never really had the urge to visit. I always thought it looked like the mediocre coaster capital of the world. This will probably end up being a good move. Quality over Quantity

[Jonathan]

It was pretty much that until Behemoth. Leviathan, Behemoth, and Vortex are all amazing coasters, though. Vortex was the real surprise of my trip there. It's basically the exact same layout as Bat at Kings Island, but 13 feet taller so that it can get over Wonderland Mountain and 4 MPH faster, which as it turns out makes a huge difference at how fast and intense it is through the course. Just relentless.

Behemoth and Leviathan are probably my two favorite B&Ms, but hopefully that changes next year. I will also say that I found Canada's Wonderland to be the nicest of the former Paramount parks. Wild Beast was also a decent woodie.

They do need the sheer quantity though simply because of how insanely crowded the park gets.

[Tosu97]

Good to hear about Vortex^. I enjoyed your Photo TR earlier this year (If I remember right).

I still need to visit Wonderland and CGA to complete my former Paramount collection count.