Ok, take this for what it is at this point. On the weekend I was talking with two guys, one being a developer and the other a construction worker and both filled me in on some interesting news.
Each have been contacted about land in Woodstock or the London region to be used in relocating PCW in the London region. The land is to be on a scale that will be able to house the large park, plus several hotels on-site.
From what they have seen, the PCW site in Vaughn is no longer viable, high costs and the park is unable to build their own hotels to host guests. Moving the park to the London region will capture Michigan, New York and make it an easier sell to Northern Ontario visitors with the much shorter route of driving thru Michegan to get to London. Being able to house guests on-site also adds a huge source of revenue that the park is not able to take part in as of now.
Both of their companies have been put on notice that it looks very strong that this will happen in the not to distant future. They learned of this in the past week as well.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

I have also heard rumours to this effect early this year. I have family who lives in Lynden, Which is close to Brantford and the 403, they had heard rumours of PCW moving into their area. I agree the curent site is no longer viable as there is no room for expansion.

I heard rumours a year or two ago that they were looking at moving to Niagara Falls.

Whoa imagine Wonderland near Brantford...that's just a few minutes car drive from Hamilton. Maybe than it would be more affordable for me to get a season pass.

Maybe these are as true as the whole PCW building a bubble for all-seasons fun rumor. If they moved to London, they'd certainly get Michiganers, but not necessarily WNYers. Six Flags Darien Lake's in their backyard, and not too shabby. I say stay in GTA. That's the majority of their attendence base.

The only Northern Ontario residents who would benefit from the park relocating to London would be those in The Sault Ste. Marie area and points west. Right now the park is only a three hour drive south of North Bay, but moving it to the London area will add a couple of more hours to the trip from anywhere in the North Bay/Sudbury area and points North.

It would be great for london region but. I think its BS!

:eek2:

While it may gain attendance form Western Ontario and parts of Michigan, it would lose a huge amount in the GTA. Many now take the GO transit to go to PCW. As well, families don't mind a short ride by car to Vaughan, however London is about 2 1/2hrs. Many won't want to come in from Toronto when there are other alternatives such as the CNE and Wild Water Kingdom for family entertainment.
If they ever did move, another company would probably just build there own initially smaller amusement park in the GTA to compete directly with the new PCW

It would be great for London but I'll beleive it when I see it.

i agree completely, doesnt sound very likely that london would have canadas wonderland just because of population base. if this did happen i wonder how long it would take to fill the old grounds with sprawl

I believe wonderland opened up in Vaughn in 1980. The sprawl didn't reach there until the early-mid nineties. It basically farmland that whole time.

Despite rumours, the park is not headed to Woodstock -- or anywhere else.




The folks at Paramount Canada's Wonderland are wondering what they have to do to kill a persistent urban myth.

The latest version of the myth is the huge amusement park, just north of Toronto, is packing up and moving to Woodstock or Brantford.

The rumour was just one of many that swirled around Woodstock and Oxford County this spring when officials were scrambling to assemble 1,000 acres of land. Other rumours concerned an IKEA store, a NASCAR speedway and a giant Wal-Mart distribution centre. Last week, Toyota announced it would build an $800-million assembly plant near where Highway 401 meets Oxford County Road 2.

Kris Williams, Wonderland's manager of public relations, said she received many calls about moving to the Woodstock-Brantford area this spring. She said there has never been a shred of truth to the moving rumour, which surfaced about five years ago and was first linked to Niagara Falls and then Barrie.

"The rumour is frankly quite disturbing because people really believe it. I don't understand why it doesn't go away," said Williams.

Wonderland officials were getting so many calls from the public, media, politicians and developers in 2002 they were forced to place ads in several Toronto papers in a vain effort to quash the rumour.

Williams said Wonderland's site in the city of Vaughan was carefully selected in 1980 to serve the fast-growing area surrounding Toronto. Twenty-five years later, park management welcomes three million visitors a year and likes the location just fine.

"It really doesn't make sense for us to be anywhere else," said Williams.

Williams said she has never been able to track the source of the myth, but it seems to be based on several bogus assumptions.

- Canada's Wonderland is running out of space. Wrong: The park has always had 79 acres of vacant land.

- Canada's Wonderland can easily be moved like the midways that travel between county fairs. Wrong: 80 per cent of Wonderland's infrastructure is permanent and largely underground.

- The move is being triggered by new ownership. Wrong: The park has had several owners over the years and none wanted to move it.

Williams is worried even discussing the rumour with the media will extend its life.

"We're a little tired of it," she said with a sigh.





Copyright © The London Free Press

Tourism London better get out the FREE BEER STOP HERE signs.

Despite rumours, the park is not headed to Woodstock -- or anywhere else.




The folks at Paramount Canada's Wonderland are wondering what they have to do to kill a persistent urban myth.

The latest version of the myth is the huge amusement park, just north of Toronto, is packing up and moving to Woodstock or Brantford.

The rumour was just one of many that swirled around Woodstock and Oxford County this spring when officials were scrambling to assemble 1,000 acres of land. Other rumours concerned an IKEA store, a NASCAR speedway and a giant Wal-Mart distribution centre. Last week, Toyota announced it would build an $800-million assembly plant near where Highway 401 meets Oxford County Road 2.

Kris Williams, Wonderland's manager of public relations, said she received many calls about moving to the Woodstock-Brantford area this spring. She said there has never been a shred of truth to the moving rumour, which surfaced about five years ago and was first linked to Niagara Falls and then Barrie.

"The rumour is frankly quite disturbing because people really believe it. I don't understand why it doesn't go away," said Williams.

Wonderland officials were getting so many calls from the public, media, politicians and developers in 2002 they were forced to place ads in several Toronto papers in a vain effort to quash the rumour.

Williams said Wonderland's site in the city of Vaughan was carefully selected in 1980 to serve the fast-growing area surrounding Toronto. Twenty-five years later, park management welcomes three million visitors a year and likes the location just fine.

"It really doesn't make sense for us to be anywhere else," said Williams.

Williams said she has never been able to track the source of the myth, but it seems to be based on several bogus assumptions.

- Canada's Wonderland is running out of space. Wrong: The park has always had 79 acres of vacant land.

- Canada's Wonderland can easily be moved like the midways that travel between county fairs. Wrong: 80 per cent of Wonderland's infrastructure is permanent and largely underground.

- The move is being triggered by new ownership. Wrong: The park has had several owners over the years and none wanted to move it.

Williams is worried even discussing the rumour with the media will extend its life.

"We're a little tired of it," she said with a sigh.





Copyright © The London Free Press


Thank you for clearing that up. Honestly I never even heard of the rumour before this thread and it just seemed a bit strange that PCW would actually consider relocating. It's like Disney moving shop...a bit ridiculous.

Probably since the Toyota deal was announced, somebody probably persisted those incorrect rumours. It wouldn't make real good sense to move it anyways, because hotels are actually easily accessible and convenient to Canada's Wonderland whether it would be by a bus from cities surrounding it, GO train, or a car. Not only that, it would take forever to tear down or move everything from Vaughan to the Woodstock area, like the article says.

I was there this year {1 month ago }hotel people were telling us within two years this will be one big parking lot !

I was there this year {1 month ago }hotel people were telling us within two years this will be one big parking lot !

I work right next to it and my dad has many contacts with managers from wonderland. Any rumour of the park moving is just that... a rumour. It would cost way too much to transport the entire park and rebuild foundations for everything. The rides have aged into their current locations at Wonderland and to start over would just be a mess. It would be a logistical nightmare and its not something PCW is willing to undertake now, or in the immediate future.

And by the way, there is room for expansion at wonderland. The parking lots can still be developed to include hotels and underground parking, or even above ground parking structures. There are also numerous areas within the parks fences that can still accomodate rides.

when are they going to lose the paramount in the name is what I want to know. and what will it be called when they do lose that part of the name? will they keep "canada's wonderland"? can't wait to find that out.

don't think i have anything to add that hasn't already been said, but i just wanted to say it would be insanely stupid to move Canada's Wonderland. If it had needed more space for expansion, they would have bought it initially, when the land was cheap, or at least before suburbia reached its doorstep. It's pretty convenient as is, and moving it would likely spell disaster. London would be just too far to drive there and back too often.

I love this rumour.

It just will NOT go away.

I drove by PCW on my way up to Sudbury at the beginning of July, and one of my friends said, 'Hey guys, you know PCW is moving to Woodstock, right?' So I immediately quoted the article that Idoto posted previously in the post, which I read in the newspaper last year. Sure enough, this was met with 'Well, I heard it was moving, etc. etc.', and then it turned into one of those situations where you KNOW that you are right, but the other person continues to persist that such-and-such a rumour is true.

Long story short, I went on a 5 minute tirade about the logistics involved in such a move, and how, as mentioned in the article, much of the 'infrastructure' of the park is underground (tunnels for performers, etc., think Beverly Hills Cop III... *shudders* terrible movie...).

Anyhow, that park ain't goin' no wheres!

Isn't this deal already dead? If it isn't it should be. They can easily build hotels near Wonderland.

I've never heard of any of these rumors.

Any sensible person should have dismissed such a stupid rumor, the logistics of moving such a massive park would immidately be cost prohibitive.

i've never hurd of this rumor but my question is... why dont they build ANOTHER big theme park there? maybe inbetween windsor and london.. maybe a 6 flags?

Six Flags isn't going to be building any parks anytime soon. They're already in the process of A) Changing ownership B) Studying selling parks in Southern California, Buffalo, etc. I'm not sure how big the makeup of Canadians is in Darien Lake, but between DL and CW, I don't think there's that big a market for another park.

Well, there's already a 6 flags in Canada (Montreal), why would they build another one only 200 miles away?

200 miles? it's a lot further than 200 miles to london :P but yes they would not build another six flags there though, not with darien lake and canada's wonderland so close.

but as ppl sed its mostly gta ppl at PCW.. what about the hamilton, niagra, london, windsor ppl let alone detriot, buffalo.... theres big market jsut saying it 'could' happen .. wont but could

when are they going to lose the paramount in the name is what I want to know. and what will it be called when they do lose that part of the name? will they keep "canada's wonderland"? can't wait to find that out.
Wasn't it Canada's Wonderland before Paramount bought it?

Wasn't it Canada's Wonderland before Paramount bought it?

Yeah that's what he was saying. It's always been Canada's Wonderland, when Paramount bought it they just added Paramount to the beginning. But now that ownership is changing, phunky is just curious if they'll keep the name Canada's Wonderland at all. I personally think they will.

I'm guessing Cedar Point Canada's Wonderland


http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060523/BIZ/605230332

More likely Canada's Wonderland, back to the good ol' days. The other theme parks CF own don't carry the CP or CF name on it, no such corporate branding.

This past weekend It was mentioned to me in conversation with a friend that he had noticed a sign on Hwy 403 westbound at Paris Road in Brant County.

This sign was pertaining to Canada's Wonderland in further conversation he mentioned about land being purhcased there for $1.00 off of the county. Im not putting this up to re-start a rumor or anything. Im just curious to know if anyone else has noticed anything on the 403 going towards Woodstock.

$1 for land? How was it mentioned it was for PCW? Was it on the sign or.. ?

There are no plans to move wonderland at the moment... so maybe someone misread the sign.

Another thing... The name is once again just Canada's Wonderland. Staff will still be wearing the same uniforms though.

This past weekend It was mentioned to me in conversation with a friend that he had noticed a sign on Hwy 403 westbound at Paris Road in Brant County.

This sign was pertaining to Canada's Wonderland in further conversation he mentioned about land being purhcased there for $1.00 off of the county. Im not putting this up to re-start a rumor or anything. Im just curious to know if anyone else has noticed anything on the 403 going towards Woodstock.

Sounds like crap to me. I don't believe this at all. Not til I have proof.

Same. Though, if by the trillionth to one chance it does move, I'll have all the more reasons to visit more ofter :D

And by the way, there is room for expansion at wonderland. The parking lots can still be developed to include hotels and underground parking, or even above ground parking structures. There are also numerous areas within the parks fences that can still accomodate rides.

Exactly, Wonderland has sooo much room to expand... should be no problem to keep growing (with a little creativity) for the next 80 years or so.

Thanks for getting back to me everyone.

As i said it was just a question of curiosity. I did hear before though, that vaughn is most sought after area in Ontario for housing and that the land is just leased, But as you know like everything else who knows. anway, thanks again