Canada's Wonderland | Alpenfury | Premier Rides Launch Coaster | 2025

[TPoseOnTantrum]

Out of curiosity @TPoseOnTantrum, how would you say it compares to the park’s other coasters? Is it beating out the likes of Behemoth, Leviathan and Yukon Striker for you?

I need more laps before I can really form an opinion, that opportunity will come on Thursday. Right now I can’t put it above Leviathan/Behemoth out of good faith, those coasters are more comfortable.

 

[TheAverageJuel]

Awright, I did opening day. Have a few things to say based on two laps, this is a copy pasta I wrote for another forum.

AlpenFury is great. Pacing is excellent and there is not a weak element on this ride, everything finds a way to keep you out of the seat. I was not blown away at first but liked it more on second ride, that opinion will grow more favorable with time. The shin restraints are an annoyance.

This does not feel finished. Dispatch sequences and programming are quite cumbersome, especially the front gates that swing out. The onside photo system needs a few more weeks and the queue really has no shade. Almost absolutely none.

Prepare yourself for lines when you ride. We clocked a six-hour queue today for standby, two hours each for FLP and single riders. They are prepared to accommodate huge queues. The standby cattlepen is hell on earth; it's extremely disorganized, hard to gage, surrounded by tall fences, and again has no shaded coverings of any kind and only one vending machine spot near the entrance. Today was stupid hot, 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The coaster is dispatching every 90 sec, about 700pph tops; each train seats 18, with 6-8 going to FLP and standby being left to fight the huge queue of exit passes and single riders for the remainder. So basically, that standby queue is capable of containing 3+ hours and the FLP around an hour. Demand is going to be high, this is absolutely a rope drop.

Opening day on the ground was handled as best as they could. Today was an extremely bad day to book a corporate buyout in the morning/evening, the former of which meant that the people who'd arrived hours early walked in on a 60 minute+ queue. Then the ride almost immediately faulted and was out of action for 40 minutes. Security however was strong around the ride, helping to stem queue jumping and calm some tensions. Crowds were well managed and a stampede was averted at rope drop.

This was the biggest ride opening we've had since Leviathan, CW hardly does scheduled dates and even Yukon was able to sidestep the demand due to a passholder preview and rough weather. I look forwards to more laps, but yeah it will be taxing.

I went on opening day as well! I had one ride before I had to leave for the day. Even if I was near the front, I still had to wait a long while.

But the ride was worth the wait. Shame I didn’t get to choose my row, but I managed to get a rollback on said ride! (As in, the train stopped on the launch track and we launched backwards to get enough momentum). But there isn’t a dull moment on the ride. Every element hits like a truck going 80 mph! I got upside down ejector airtime! That’s something you’d only see on RMCs!

Safe to say, AlpenFury has cemented itself as my favourite roller coaster of all time.

 

[CrashCoaster]

This is undoubtedly Premier's magnum opus it looks absolutely fantastic.

 

[Slamming Coastercore]

So gutted to have missed this by less than a week Anyone want to gift me a return flight from the UK to Toronto? I'll write a TR... promise

 

[TPoseOnTantrum]

Went to media day today, was a pleasure to see Scott and others. The event has some delays but after seven laps today (three in the front) I can confidently say we have a banger of an attraction on our hands. Come to Canada, just be prepared to wait in line… the wait exceeded three hours on an overcast Thursday today.


I also learned today that ART Engineering was subcontracted for the folding/retracting floors and airgates in the station today. They do add time to dispatches but the park is working to speed them up a bit.

 

[CanobieFan]

Why does it need retractable floors? None of the others have them?

 

[rollercoaster.jpg]

Conjecture: Looks like the AlpenFury trains don't have the guard rails that theoretically prevent a passenger from sticking out their foot and getting it pinned in between the train and station platform.

Probably to make the trains just a bit easier to shuffle in and out. My suspicion is the retractable floors are required to make that possible.

 

[bratcurry]

In that case, the guard rails would add more capacity than retractable floors, no?

 

[Trax]

In that case, the guard rails would add more capacity than retractable floors, no?

Depends how much they slow down the operation in exchange. The Premier trains are for sure on the tighter side, especially if you sit in the second or third row of a car. Taking away even half an inch will easily result in guests taking a few seconds longer to get in and out of the train.

 

[MLDesigns]

The floors on the side of the train simply pivot downward, in under 1 second. It's the sliding floor & swinging gate in front of the train that's the problem, it's 7-8 seconds from the time the floors start moving until the train moves.

Anyway- this thing looks incredible. Pacing looks absolutely nutty, hopefully they don't slow the thing down before I can get up there

 

[The_bullgod]

It's the sliding floor & swinging gate in front of the train that's the problem, it's 7-8 seconds from the time the floors start moving until the train moves.

When that is it, it has nothing to do with the train itself. it is only there for the crew to get from one side of the station to the other, without using the train.

 

[ECG]

No one was allowed to film a POV, but here's Scott's reaction to riding the coaster during the media event, and his review is in CF's Instagram story he posted.

 

[emoo]

The 2025 opening days/hours only go up to 1st September. Recent years they went to weekend operations but do they normally announce this late? Perhaps waiting to see the reaction to this amazing looking ride but I'd like to make plans.

 

[Climb]

Not sure if anyone has seen this but CW (and Alpenfury) are getting quite a lot of heat on social media right now regarding the “poor safety checks” and negligence by a ride operator. The OP claims her child wasn’t secured properly in the seat but the ride was dispatched anyway.

TikTok - Make Your Day

I wouldn’t usually pay too much attention to this kind of thing, but given it’s nearing 5 million views and 450,000 likes and picking up a lot of traction on social media it’s unfortunately making the rounds. There’s a lot of fear mongering in the comments about the safety of coasters with just a lap bar.

 

[Hyde]

Not sure if anyone has seen this but CW (and Alpenfury) are getting quite a lot of heat on social media right now regarding the “poor safety checks” and negligence by a ride operator. The OP claims her child wasn’t secured properly in the seat but the ride was dispatched anyway.

TikTok - Make Your Day

I wouldn’t usually pay too much attention to this kind of thing, but given it’s nearing 5 million views and 450,000 likes, but it’s picking up a lot of traction on social media and fear mongering the safety of coasters with just a lap bar.

While I don't doubt the mom's concern (former Guest Services staffer here, who got a lot of "I swear my lapbar wasn't down!" complaints), I am quick to doubt and be dismayed at social media algorithms that award sensational hit pieces like this; all still based on heresay.

To state the obvious to this coaster informed community - it's a miraculous amount of actions and steps you would have to take to be in a position where your restraint is not positioned to keep you in your seat. And given that Alpenfury starts with a great, high-g force launch - that g-force will further cement your lapbar than it's placed in the station, gratefully keeping you ever more safe.

What a casual park goer thinks in terms of roller coaster and ride operation vs. how ride operation and safety systems actually work can be two different things.

 

[Climb]

While I don't doubt the mom's concern (former Guest Services staffer here, who got a lot of "I swear my lapbar wasn't down!" complaints), I am quick to doubt and be dismayed at social media algorithms that award sensational hit pieces like this; all still based on heresay.

To state the obvious to this coaster informed community - it's a miraculous amount of actions and steps you would have to take to be in a position where your restraint is not positioned to keep you in your seat. And given that Alpenfury starts with a great, high-g force launch - that g-force will further cement your lapbar than it's placed in the station, gratefully keeping you ever more safe.

What a casual park goer thinks in terms of roller coaster and ride operation vs. how ride operation and safety systems actually work can be two different things.

Oh absolutely, I don’t doubt the child was absolutely safe - from the ride system’s failsafes in addition to the trained member of staff’s own assessments.

How the staff member necessarily handled the mom’s concern is another discussion - but unfortunately this kind of hysteria feeds and influences the general public’s perception of rides and it’s not ideal PR for the park when they’ve just opened the attraction.