La Ronde (amusement park)
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| La Ronde | |
|---|---|
| Location | Saint Helen's Island, Montreal, Canada,  |
| Website | http://www.laronde.com |
| Owner | Six Flags |
| Opened | 1967 |
| Operating season | May – October |
| Rides | 41 total
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La Ronde is the largest theme park in the province of Quebec and the second largest in Canada after Canada's Wonderland, with about 2.5 million guests in 2006. It is owned and operated by Six Flags.
It is a 146 acre (591,000 m²) park located on Saint Helen's Island in Montreal, Canada. It lies on the former site of the 1967 Montreal World's Fair. The park hosts L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, unofficially the most important international fireworks competition in the world.
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[edit] History
La Ronde was opened in 1967 as a part of Expo 67 and now features 39 rides, including 9 roller coasters. Among them includes Le Monstre, a 40 metre (131 ft) high wooden double-tracked roller coaster which currently holds the record for highest double-tracked roller coaster in the world.
In May 2006, La Ronde opened its 9th roller coaster, The Goliath, a 53-metre (175 ft) high Bolliger & Mabillard Mega Coaster. It reaches speeds of 110 km/h (68 mph), making it the second tallest and the second fastest roller coaster in Canada.
La Ronde also includes a Nintendo-sponsored video game center. Inside are the latest Nintendo video games and attractions. For 2007, the attractions include the Nintendo DS, Wii and advertisements. The park opens from mid-May to late October, with peak admissions being in July. As of summer 2008, entrance costs $38.00 CAN for people measuring 1.37 metre (54 inches) or more and $25.50 CAN for people under 1.37 metre (54 inches). Family rides require a height of 36 inches (0.91 m), most intermediate rides require 44 inches (1.12 m) and high-thrill rides require 52 or 54 in (1.32 or 1.37 m).
La Ronde was owned and administered by the City of Montreal until it was sold to Six Flags, an American theme park chain, in a deal completed on May 4, 2001. They acquired all of the assets of the park for $20 million USD and have a long-term contract to lease the land from the city. Before the announcement of the Six Flags purchase, the city had considered offers from other bidders including Paramount Parks, Cedar Fair, and Parc Astérix. Since then Six Flags has invested millions of dollars in new rides and improvements, such as Vampire, Splash, and Goliath as well as a new main entrance. Since the takeover by Six Flags, prices of admission as well as on site food and beverages have skyrocketed. With the introduction of the Flash Pass, visitors can “hold their place in line” electronically allowing them to go elsewhere in the park while waiting for an attraction. They will be alerted by the Flash Pass device when it is almost their turn to ride. Two types of Flash Pass are available: Regular and Gold, a regular pass simply “holds your place in line” while gold holds your place as well as giving you a reduced wait time. The Flash Pass is purchased separately from your normal park admission, with Gold Passes being more than Regular Passes. There are only a limited number of Flash Passes available for purchase on a given day.
For the 2007 season, La Ronde painted its iconic observation tower bright orange to advertise Pizza Pizza, an Ontario pizza chain that, at the time, was just emerging into the Quebec market. As well, all of the pizza stands inside the park were renamed from Pizza Ronde to Pizza Pizza. Some[who?] see this as a bad move since the tower's previous red and white stripes better represented the ride's name and they do not believe in "selling-out" attractions.
[edit] Access
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A fee of $13.16 is required for La Ronde's parking that is often congested, but Saint Helen's Island (including La Ronde) is easily reached by metro. The island is only five minutes away from downtown Montreal. Most visitors arrive at La Ronde via Public Transit; to do this, one must take the Yellow line from either the Berri-UQAM or the Longueuil-Université-de-Sherbrooke metro stations to the Jean-Drapeau station then STM bus 167 La Ronde Shuttle [1] which takes one directly to the main gate. Another, less popular, route to the park via Public Transit is STM route 169, a seasonal route that travels back and forth between the front gate and the Papineau Metro station located east of downtown. (Currently on hold due to roads work on the bridge.) As is usual in theme parks, food is generally more expensive than at off-site locations. Bringing one's own food is allowed, but rigid coolers are forbidden in the park itself. Vehicular access is also possible by the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.
There is a marina near the rear entrance of the park, but it is not operated by La Ronde.
[edit] Features
[edit] Thrill Rides
- Bateau Pirate
- Boomerang (shuttle roller coaster)
- Cobra
- Goliath
- Manitou
- Monstre
- Orbite
- Super Manège
- Tornade
- Vampire
- Vertigo
[edit] Family-Kids
- Air Papillon
- Bob L'éponge 3D (SpongeBob SquarePants 3D)
- Grand Carrousel
- Joyeux Moussaillons
- La Danse des Bestioles
- La Grande Envolée
- Le Galopant
- La Marche du Mille-pattes
- Marais Enchanté
- Monsieur L'Arbre
- Ourson Fripon
- Pitoune
- Pommes d'Api
- Tasses Magiques
- Tchou Tchou
[edit] Intermediates
- Autos Tamponneuses (bumper cars)
- Condor--Huss Condor
- Disco Ronde
- Dragon
- Splash
- Toboggan Nordique (wild mouse roller coaster)
- Tour de Ville
[edit] Panoramic
- Grande Roue
- Minirail
- Spirale
[edit] Nintendo Megadome
The Nintendo Megadome moved to be replaced by a new haunted house that will open in October, but the Nintendo Megadome will replace Spongebob 3D.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- La Ronde official web site
- L'International Des Feux Loto-Québec (fireworks competition)
- Roller Coaster Database (listing La Ronde's coasters)
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