Ultimate PCW Guide: Secrets and Tips To Enjoying Wonderland
Let us begin by stating that there really are no top secrets to enjoying Wonderland. What we have to offer is common sense tips to make your trip(s) to Wonderland the most enjoyable/fun day(s) that it possibly can be.
Season Pass; Parking; Dress; Sunscreen; Backpacks; Crowds; Best Day; Eats; Shopping; Smoking
Season Pass: Three words - "BUY A PASS" This is the biggest and best tip we can give. If you go at least twice you will get your monies worth. When you are a PCW Junkie and go upwards to 50 times a season pass is a must. When you have a season pass you can go when you want, stay however long as you want, or stay however short you want. We proved to our neighbours that you didn't have to go to Wonderland for the whole day to enjoy it. That even going for a couple of hours in the evening or the first couple hours when the park first opens is excellent.
Your PCW season pass is also good for admission at the other four Paramount Parks in the US and vice versa an US Paramount Pass is also good for admission to Wonderland.
The PCW Junkies also recommend that you buys next years season pass as soon as they become available for sale. This is normally the first weekend Wonderland is open after Labour Day. This price will be the lowest it will be offered for the season. Be sure to also get them processed because you will be able to use them at the other Paramount Parks next year even before Wonderland opens. We like to attend the opening weekend at PKI in early April which is normally a full month before PCW opens. But you must have it processed (pictures taken) before the other Paramount Parks will honour them. Return to Top
Parking: It costs $7.50 to park at Wonderland. A parking pass costs $28.75. You do the math - if you plan to go more than four times then buy a parking pass. Season pass holders are offered discount coupons, by mail, during the year on parking but, for The PCW Junkies the parking pass is the best deal.
On the topic of parking there are two parking toll gates at Wonderland even though most people think there is only one. The main parking toll gate is located off Jane Street and is accessible from either Rutherford Road or from Jane Street. This gate can get pretty busy especially when the park first opens. Why waste valuable coaster time when there is a second non-busy gate? We don't use the main gate anymore, instead we use the little known North gate that is only accessible to the west bound traffic on Major MacKenzie Drive. The entrance to this gate is just before the north bound exit to Highway 400. If you use exit 35 on highway 400 at Major MacKenzie Drive you cannot enter at the north gate because of a median and you must turn right (south) at Jane Street and proceed to the Main Gate. Please see our PCW Directions Map for the locations of these entrances and exits. Return to Top
Dress: Dress comfortably and appropriately for the time of the year. Wear comfortable shoes - sneakers/running shoes & sandals are best. High heel shoes look good almost everywhere else but, are not really practical for walking around at Wonderland. You may want to have an extra set of clothes in the car to change into after the wet rides.
Dress according to the weather forecast. Late spring and early fall can be either really nice at Wonderland or can also be quite chilly. We always take a coat/sweater with us to Wonderland regardless of the time of the year. We generally leave them in the car and Kevin retrieves them if and when required. Return to Top
Sunscreen & Sunglasses: During those hot and sunny days don't forget your sun block. Sun glasses and hats are also highly recommended. If you wear glasses we also recommend a strap to keep your glasses from falling off. Return to Top
Backpacks etc.: Wonderland offers coin operated lockers at the front entrance and in the water park to store your belongings. We prefer to use the trunk of our car instead. The Reids have a rule when we go to a park - Don't ask anybody else to carry your "stuff". If you want to take "stuff" into the park then you are responsible for carrying your "stuff". We go into a park as light as possible no backpacks, no shopping bags, no Coleman Coolers, & no "stuff". We carry what we require for our visit in our fanny packs. The only time we take a backpack with us is when we are going to the water park. Then when we are finished at the water park Kevin takes the "stuff" back to the car. Return to Top
Crowds: So when is the best time to come to Wonderland? Our answer to that is easy - Everyday the park is open. If you mean how are the crowds? The least amount of crowd will be experienced in the late spring and early fall. (click here for schedule) But, the water park is closed during this period. The park starts to open during weekdays around the end of May and this is an excellent time to go to the park. As soon as school is let out and summer vacation is in full swing and there is not much difference in the crowds from a weekday to Weekend. Sundays are generally a little less crowded than Saturdays. August is usually a busier month than July. We find that the crowd begins to start leaving around 5:00PM. We normally get to PCW on Weekdays around 6:30PM and usually can get a parking spot in our normal location. Return to Top
Best Day to go to the Park?: Our experience has shown that Friday evenings are the best. Friday evenings before a long weekend are even better. Friday evenings in late spring are one of our favourite times to go to Wonderland. Firstly, because it was a long coaster less winter and secondly the park is generally not busy. We will get to the park a few minutes past 6:00PM and even though the park closes at 8:00PM we are able to do more and get on more rides in that time period than you could spending a full day at the park on a busy day. Bottom Line - PCW Junkies highly recommend Friday evenings.
Rainy/Overcast Days! That's right we said, "Rainy or Overcast days". Nobody wants to go to a park when it is raining right? Except for the PCW Junkies. Who wants to pay full price when it is raining? But, when you have a seasons pass you can go when you get home form work. Some of the best evenings we ever have at Wonderland are when it has been raining all day and the park is not very busy when we get there. It is like having the park to ourselves ETR on any ride we want.
There is never a bad day to go to Wonderland but, there are days you may want to avoid if you don't like a packed park. Victoria Day Fireworks and Canada Day Firework usually draws a huge crowd. Much Music's annual PCW Electric Circus-Live draws a huge crowd on a Friday night in July. TLN in July and Italian Festival during Labour Day is also very busy. Lets face it PCW draws more than 3 million guests a season and you are bound to run into some crowded days.
The park is only open on weekends from Labour Day through the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. If the weather is nice the place can get pretty busy. On these weekends get there when the park first opens stay a few hours and leave when the park get busy. Return to Top
Eats: PCW in our opinion has some of the best theme park food we have ever come across in our traveling to different parks. Wonderland along with your traditional theme park food also have food outlets such as: Pizza Pizza; New York Fries; Mr.Sub; Mrs. Vanellis; Teriyaki Experience; Tiny Tom Donuts; Java Joint; and Yogen Fruz. Wonderland has one licensed sit-in restaurants, Southside Grill, located across from Top Gun in the Grande World Exposition of 1890. Southside Grill offers air condition which is a great place to either escape the hot sun during the summer or to remove the chill on those cool evening during the late spring and early fall. The food is a little more expensive in the park but, heck don't be so cheap and spend a few bucks on your kids.
For the best value the PCW Junkies recommend Pizza Pizza. (the pizza so good they had to name it twice) Pizza Pizza is sold at three locations in the park. On International Street pizza maybe purchased by either the slice or whole pizza. While in Kidzville and Hanna-Barbera Land personal size pizzas may be purchased. Return to Top
Shopping: Don't forget to use your season pass for a 25% discount on regular priced merchandise. (excluding food) PCW is also one of the best places to buy "ty Beanie Babies" with your 25% season pass discount the price can not be beaten. Return to Top
Smoking: Smoking is not permitted in any building, including all shops, theatres and restaurants. Smoking is also not permitted in any queue lines. Unfortunately there are a lot of guest who don't know that smoking is not permitted in the queues. Wonderland should have signs up in the ride queues to inform the guest of their no smoking policy. Return to Top
Have Fun: Return to Top
To contact the
please send your comments to: TheReids@PCWjunkies.com